Category: Reviews

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Originally uploaded by Gridman.

Yuck!

Worse: Sickly sweet yuck with lumps!

They were handing these out free at 99 Ranch Market today, so I (foolishly) thought I’d give it a try.

Originally uploaded by Gridman.

Lee’s Sandwich Shop is part of a California-based chain of sandwich shops which has recently opened a branch in Chandler.

As you might imagine, Lee’s stock and trade are sandwiches, but not just any sandwiches, these are Vietnamese-inspired. (The French colonial period in Vietnam’s history has apparently indelibly left the baguette and croissant in their cultural heritage.) Their menu consists of roughly four main areas, European sandwiches, Asian Sandwiches, Specialty Drinks and some miscellaneous items such as appetizers, ice creams and pastries.

There are 30 types of European sandwiches, 15 Asian sandwiches, 2 columns of specialty drinks including coffees, iced drinks and a dizzying 26 flavors of smoothies (ranging from avacado to taro by way of such choices as carots, durians, green beans, mangos and strawberries) to choose from. The choice of 30 European sandwiches is a bit deceptive as there are only 15 types of sandwiches, but each is offered on either a baguette or croissant. The Asian sandwiches are all on baguettes.

I’ve only had baguette-based sandwiches and although the baguettes themselves are not the most flavorful, they are always fresh and crusty. In fact, one of the centerpieces of the enormous 8,000 square foot establishment is what I call, “the Infernal Baguette Machine” which is prominently displayed behind glass in the center of the restaurant. The claim is that baguettes are made every 30 minutes. Considering how busy this restaurant is, I can believe it.

The European sandwiches are quite tasty, and come standard with lettuce, tomato, mayonaise and cheese (the default cheese is American, so it you want Provolone or Swiss, make sure you ask for it.) On the side you get pickle, pepperoncini, red onion and mustard. Unlike other sandwich chains that prepare the food in front of you, Lee’s has a vast work area where your sandwich order disappears to for 10 minutes or so until they call your number. Good luck keeping your receipt as they insist you turn it over to pick up your food.

The Asian sandwiches are topped differently, coming standard with their house pickle (a mixture of pickled daikon and carrot), onion, jalapeño, cilantro, house mayonaise, salt, pepper and soy sauce. Some of the sandwich types include “sliced jambon, headcheese & pate”, “shredded pork” and “sliced chinese BBQ pork.” the Asian sandwiches are very different from the European ones and can be quite spicy for the unsuspecting.

For some reason, Asian sandwiches are served wrapped in paper, while the European sandwiches are served in large, wasteful, ecologically unfriendly plastic serving containers. Although there is plenty of seating, all food is packaged “to go.”

The restaurant itself is always clean, modern, and almost always busy. (I was there at 9:30 AM on a Monday and there were only 15 people eating.) On the weekends, especially around lunchtime, it’s packed. The crowd seems to be predominently asian and I most commonly hear Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese being spoken by the other patrons. They have free balloons for the kids, 3 available computers for free internet access and a large plasma TV showing CNN.

Lee’s takes cash only.

My conclusion: recommended.

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Originally uploaded by Gridman.

Preface
Each morning, on my way to work, I pass a billboard for Holiday Inn Express, bragging about… their showerhead. The statement being something to the effect of, “#1 guest rated showerhead.”

Each morning, I think two things:

1. Is their showerhead really the best thing they have to offer?
2. What new innocuous item in a hotel room can I come up with today to mock them with? (#1 guest rated doorknobs or acoustic ceiling tiles for example)

I also frequently wonder why I never get to participate in a comparative review of hotel accomadations.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived at our hotel in Flagstaff, I looked in the bathroom and there was the showerhead I see each morning on the billboard staring back at me!

The Review
My first impressions of the showerhead are that it is big and sturdy-looking. While neither of those criteria immediately seem like something that make much difference in the performance of its duties, I can see how a hotel chain could value durability.

The showerhead has three settings, a traditional spray, a more stream-like configuration and water masage. The controls are simple, almost intuitive, the entire outer ring of the showerhead rotates changing the settings, each position “clicks” into place with firm resitance, providing the user with positive feedback that they have set the control correctly.

The showerhead itself is very large, promising a very large water pattern; however, the actual area of the spray appears no larger than a traditional showerhead. As the controls move from spray to masage, the area actually decreases, moving from the outer spray ring inwards.

Performance was acceptable in all settings, although the spray mode was its best performer. I find the stream mode rather useless, but that’s true with all showerheads. The masage was adequate, but hampered by a lack of water pressure.

The ball-joint for adjusting the position of the showerhead was fluid and held its position with ease.

The unit itself appears to be custom-made for Holiday Inn, the words “Stay Smart” is molded into the unit. There are no other obvious identifying marks. There also appeared to be no anti-theft devices incorporated into the design – that surprised me.

Some years ago, hotels started puting alarm clocks in the rooms. I don’t know if, long ago, hotels used to put clocks in rooms and finally removed them because too many jackasses stole them, or if they just never had them, but when they did start putting them in rooms, many of them had stickers on them that said something like this:

This clock is placed here for your convenience. For the convenience of other patrons who come after you, please leave it here. If you would like to purchase a clock just like this one, they are available for sale at the front desk when you check out.

I’m really surpised Holiday Inn doesn’t sell their showerheads. Even if they aren’t as great as they might like you to believe, they are good, and they have been bragged up a lot. I would be good advertising/merchandising if they sold them to weary travellers who have been sold on their magnifigence.

Conclusion
I wouldn’t stay at Holiday Inn Express just for the showerhead, but without doubt, it is the finest hotel showerhead I’ve ever used.

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