Cheesecake Factory
1141 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
I admit it: I like the Cheesecake Factory. Many of you think it could be better, that you can make better things at home, that the menu is too extensive, and so on. I have always liked the Cheesecake Factory. I like big menus, and the food has always been good. Hopefully, this trip will be the same.
Chris and Adrienne wanted to meet up with us, and since they had a gift card for Cheesecake Factory, that is where we headed. It might be a sign that the economy is turning around, or this might be a busy location for the Cheesecake Factory, but we had to wait about thirty minutes. Of course, it was a Saturday night, at seven, so we could hit their rush hour. On to the food!
Here is a shot of their famous bread basket. I am in the minority here because I like their sourdough bread better than their brown bread. I know I am outnumbered on this hot topic of the day because they bring you two loaves of brown bread and only one sourdough. That is fine with me because I get the sourdough all to myself.
Our first appetizer choice was the Avocado Egg Rolls. Avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, and cilantro are fried in a wrapper and served with a tamarind-cashew dipping sauce. If you like avocado, this appetizer is for you. The creaminess of the avocado was incredible, and the sauce paired well with this starter.
For the second appetizer, we got the fried macaroni and Cheese. Four breaded macaroni and cheese balls were served with a creamy marinara sauce. These were good, but when you opened them, there was not a lot of macaroni inside; there was just a lot of cheese in them. Not bad, but not great either.
Adrienne chose the Santa Fe Salad. This salad comprises mixed greens, chicken, tortilla strips, black beans, corn, green onions, and cilantro. The dressing is a spicy peanut cilantro vinaigrette. Adrienne liked this salad but did not rave about it. I did not get a chance to try it.
Chris ordered the Chicken Marsala and Mushrooms. Oh, wait. Do you not see any mushrooms in this dish? He ordered it without them to keep the peace with his wife, Adrienne, who does not like them (what a good husband!). This dish is served on a bed of bow-tie pasta with chicken breast and a marsala sauce. I tried a bite of this and thought it was plain tasting. The mushrooms would have helped out here a lot.
I'm sorry these pictures are so blurry. It was really dark where we were sitting. Katie opted to get the Crusted Chicken Romano. She felt that the breading on the chicken was too salty, but the pasta was cooked perfectly. I liked the light tomato sauce, but I wish there was more of it.
For my entree, I got the Cheesecake Factory's most popular chicken dish, the Chicken Madeira. This tasty chicken dish is topped with asparagus, melted cheese, and mushrooms. The Madeira sauce on this is delicious, and the four pounds of mashed potatoes that come with it are equally good. It's a wonderful dish.
The Cheesecake Factory has a vast menu, so everyone can eventually find something to their tastes. I have had their burgers and other chicken dishes before and really liked them all. We got cheesecake on this trip and found that to be good as well. I am not much of a cheesecake guy, but this had a smoothness that is unlike other cheesecakes. The service was good, for as busy as they were.
Out of five Golden Girls (because cheesecake was the Golden Girls' favorite late-night snack), five being best to zero being worst, Cheesecake Factory gets 3 Golden Girls.
For more information on the Cheesecake Factory, click here: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/
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