The Purple Turtle

Address:

85 E State Rd.

Pleasant Grove, UT 84062

Price Range:

Under $10 per combo meal

The Purple Turtle. I'd been wondering about this place ever since I had moved to and away from Pleasant Grove. We finally found an afternoon to go. I know my posts have been rather gooey and lovey-dovey about almost all the restaurants I've tried. I've been lucky to get a bunch of restaurants that I particularly tickled my tastebuds. I'm not going to say that The Purple Turtle wasn't good because I only ate their once, but it may not be a place I choose to go to again for a burger. I may be tempted to try their fish and chips.

It's basically a fast food place/drive in. Expectations shouldn't be high because of such, but for the price, I would say they were definitely a little higher than if i were to go to McDonalds.

Menu:

The Mile High: A 1/4 pound patty with American Cheese and your choice of ham or bacon. Craig went with ham. The ham really completed the burger and added a saltiness I think it needed. He got the plain fries which were just your run of the mill shoestring fries. My opinion about the fries were that they were a little greasier than I was comfortable with, but still tasted like fries. Actually they tasted a little like McDonald fries if I recall, so if you're a fan of McDonalds fries, this is the place for you...other than McDonalds. Craig's opinion was that they were a too salty, which I do see his point. Since they're shoestring and not regular cut fries, there's more surface area than potato so a little salt would have gone a long way. Craig also said that there was a little too much ketchup but the bites that didn't include ketchup were good.

Super Deluxe Cheese: My burger was basically The Mile High, except ham/bacon-less. What I could taste of the burger seemed delicious. I was a hungry girl when we got to the restaurant so I was looking forward to having some food in my belly. Unfortunately, they put way too much ketchup on my burger. I mean, it was literally dripping from my burger. This caused my burger to taste strongly of vinegar. I'm not a huge fan of lots of ketchup, but if you are, this is the burger for you. I also got the sweet potato fries. They were not that remarkable (don't get me wrong, sweet potato fries are delicious) but if I could change some things I would say more salt and a little crispier, they were almost a little too soft. And finally the fry sauce. I'm not from Utah or Idaho so I had never heard of fry sauce until I moved to Utah. Since then I have been to many restaurants with different variations on fry sauce all of which have been delicious in some form or another. The Purple Turtle's fry sauce is not my favorite. It tastes strongly of onions and mayonnaise which I suspect it is, we added a little ketchup to it and that seemed to help. All-in-all, not my favorite fry sauce.

I was bound to run into a restaurant that I wasn't too impressed with. I'm hoping that I am wrong and whenever I go back there I will find something to my liking. The service was a little friendlier than what you would find at a fast food restaurant but not to the point where it really made a difference. I did mention to our cashier that we had never been there and she didn't really seem to care and seemed a bit reluctant to interact with us, but what can you expect from a fast food restaurant. So this isn't a bad review, this is just a review where I am not as impressed with the food as I've been at other places. If you try it and find something good, let me know, I would love to be wrong!

Sushi House

Address:


705 S 500 E
American Fork, UT 84003

Price Range:


All you can eat Lunch: $13.95
All you can eat Dinner: $18.99
Additional Menu Items: Under $10

This is definitely one restaurant I've been excited to share with people. I usually share it with as many people as I possibly can I love their sushi so much. It's Utah, you're not going to find fresh out of the ocean fish, but this place is pretty fresh and their rolls are fantastic. We always get the all you can eat Lunch because we feel it's more worth our money. With the Dinner, it feels like there are too many choices and to fully explore the dinner menu, it's not worth the extra money. Lunch's rolls are still pretty extensive and we sat and did the math one time when we went with some friends and everyone ends up walking away with approximately $23 of sushi in their bellies.

Menu:

(Top going clockwise then center) Spider Roll, Crystal Shrimp roll, Vegas Roll, Tuna Nigiri, Salmon Nigiri, California Roll

(Bottom) Funky Roll and two Godzilla Rolls (yeah...it's that good)

I'm sorry but I cannot recall absolutely every roll we ordered (yeah we ordered that many) but I can tell you about a few of our favorites.

Crystal Shrimp: This is usually our sinker for when we bring new mouths to this restaurant. It's their house roll and is fantastic. When we went with some friends of ours on a separate occasion we ordered three on one plate (we figured we would order it every time anyways). They don't tell you what's in it because it's their house roll but what we figure is tempura shrimp with some lovely sweet sauce that it just drips with. If you're going there, get it.

Godzilla Roll: This is a regular for us as well. This go around we ordered two of these on one plate. It's a tempura fried roll with tempura dipped tuna, their house special sauce and topped with some hot sauce. It's spicy and crunchy and warm. Very much a comfort roll. I would also like to note that unlike many other places when they say "tempura" they really do mean tempura. Not this pancake batter "tempura" that too many places have sold out with. Ick.

Spider Roll: This roll is a new find and love. It involves deep fried soft shell crab, cucumber, eel, and onion with some mayo sauce. It may not have a super note worthy sauce, but the whole roll compliments its self and is delicious none-the-less.

Their Lunch and Dinner menu also include Nigiri or Sashimi (or raw fish on a ball of rice for those that only know it by sight). Personally, I'm a fan of the Nigiri. I trust it, I've never gotten sick from it, it's pretty good for being in a land locked state.

So those are just a few of the rolls we love. There are plenty more and the list is pretty delicious. If you've been looking for a good sushi bar, I would and always highly suggest Sushi House.

Sweet & Savory

Address:


182 W Center Street
Orem, UT 84057

Price Range:


Under $10

Website

Crepe hot-spots have been popping up around Utah lately. We decided to give this one a try. It was conveniently located and had a coupon to it. Therefore, it won the favor.

Menu:


City Hunter: Craig decided the City Hunter was the Crepe for him. It had breaded chicken, lettuce, tomato, cream cheese, bacon, BBQ sauce, and ranch. Those sound like a weird combination however, it worked. It was tender and savory and even a little sweet thanks to the cream cheese. It came with a side of seasoned potatoes which completed the meal nicely. There is an option to add a salad or a soup for an extra $1.75 but we were full enough with just the crepe and seasoned potatoes.

Chicken Cordon Bleu: This Crepe was filled with chicken, ham and swiss (obviously). However, it was topped with a very nice alfredo and a hand full of bacon pieces. I really liked this crepe not only because chicken, ham and swiss go together perfectly, but because the crepe surrounding it doesn't weigh it down at all. It helps keep everything together and soaks up the alfredo sauce so that every bite includes the flavor of Parmesan cheese and heavy cream. These were also served with roasted seasoned potatoes and together were just enough to make me full.

The place seemed really clean as do most new restaurants. The staff were friendly and accommodating and the menu was varied in that it not only featured savory and sweet (ah ha!) crepes but it also provides pastas and desserts for those that want something a little different. If you're looking for another niche restaurant, try sweet and savory!