Dear Power Alley Grill: QUIT OVERCOOKING MY FOOD!!!
I first blogged about the Power Alley Grill shortly after they opened back in April. As you may recall, I was quite fond of their juicy hamburgers, and eager to try a few other things from the menu.
Well, I've been back a few times since then, and I haven't been as impressed. Simply put, the Power Alley Grill consistently overcooks their beef. A hamburger, even if ordered medium-wel
l, should be juicy and have at least a faint trace of pink in the center (see the annotated picture of juicy goodness taken upon my first visit).
Now there are some establishments which flat out refuse to cook a burger anything less than well done. Fine. Be that way. Just tell me when I order so I don't get my hopes up.
So on my second visit to the Power Alley Grill, my burger (ordered medium) was bone dry and cooked well done. Grey throughout. A hockey puck. Now you can feel free to call me a whiner, but I'm just not the kind of guy who's going to haggle with the kitchen about a 7 dollar burger. I quietly ate my meal with a side of disappointment. (Things were made worse by the pale, unappetizing and positively flavorless piece of salmon on Jenn's salmon salad. But the greens were fresh and crisp--something even the most expensive places in Charleston have trouble with.)
But I hadn't yet lost hope--maybe it was just all a fluke. When I ordered a hamburger last Monday, I was emphatic--"Please" I begged my server. "Ask the kitchen to cook my burger medium. I want it pink in the center. Pleeeassse?"
"Certainly!" she said, while scribbling intently on her pad, nodding affirmatively.
Well I'll be damned if all of our burgers (there were 3 of us) weren't severely overcooked. Grey. Grey like the hair on Taylor Hicks' head. The buns were dry. Oh, and the steak (ordered medium) on my friend's steak salad? Positively overcooked as well. We're talking full-on Emmylou grey. Sigh.
The Power Alley Grill is a place with a lot of potential. It's a nice room with a great atmosphere. The service is good. I like the bar. There's really no place like it in Charleston. And with Robert Wong's name attached to the menu, I think my expectations are reasonable. So please--quit serving meat that might as well been cooked beneath the engine of an F-16 on full afterburner.
Well, I've been back a few times since then, and I haven't been as impressed. Simply put, the Power Alley Grill consistently overcooks their beef. A hamburger, even if ordered medium-wel
l, should be juicy and have at least a faint trace of pink in the center (see the annotated picture of juicy goodness taken upon my first visit).Now there are some establishments which flat out refuse to cook a burger anything less than well done. Fine. Be that way. Just tell me when I order so I don't get my hopes up.
So on my second visit to the Power Alley Grill, my burger (ordered medium) was bone dry and cooked well done. Grey throughout. A hockey puck. Now you can feel free to call me a whiner, but I'm just not the kind of guy who's going to haggle with the kitchen about a 7 dollar burger. I quietly ate my meal with a side of disappointment. (Things were made worse by the pale, unappetizing and positively flavorless piece of salmon on Jenn's salmon salad. But the greens were fresh and crisp--something even the most expensive places in Charleston have trouble with.)
But I hadn't yet lost hope--maybe it was just all a fluke. When I ordered a hamburger last Monday, I was emphatic--"Please" I begged my server. "Ask the kitchen to cook my burger medium. I want it pink in the center. Pleeeassse?"
"Certainly!" she said, while scribbling intently on her pad, nodding affirmatively.
Well I'll be damned if all of our burgers (there were 3 of us) weren't severely overcooked. Grey. Grey like the hair on Taylor Hicks' head. The buns were dry. Oh, and the steak (ordered medium) on my friend's steak salad? Positively overcooked as well. We're talking full-on Emmylou grey. Sigh.
The Power Alley Grill is a place with a lot of potential. It's a nice room with a great atmosphere. The service is good. I like the bar. There's really no place like it in Charleston. And with Robert Wong's name attached to the menu, I think my expectations are reasonable. So please--quit serving meat that might as well been cooked beneath the engine of an F-16 on full afterburner.
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