Showing posts with label Fast Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fast Food. Show all posts
Freebird versus Chipotle?
Zankou Chicken
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
NorCal Trip: High-Brow and Low-Brow!
Few things get me more excited than leisure trips. I absolutely love the thrill of exploring new places, eating new foods, planning how to get there, where to stay, how to find the best bargains, and how to maximize every waking second of time I get to escape whatever reality my life is in, and simply enjoy another reality for awhile. So imagine my thrill and surprise when DD decided to take a trip with me, hopefully our first of many together!
We decided to take a trip to Northern California together. Both of us being ambitious and determined people, we decided on several main stops in a span of four short days: San Jose, Napa, San Francisco, Berkeley, and back to San Jose. ...And we decided to drive.
The good news is, with each other's company, the drive went by like a breeze. It felt like a drive, but it felt like a much shorter drive than 5-6 hours. And the further good news is (since with DD I hardly ever have bad news), there was heinously good food on this trip!
Only after looking at the website to research the address and phone number of this place did I discover that this is a chain restaurant with SoCal locations! Woot! I had one of the best Louisiana hot links I have had in my entire life. Well cooked, well seasoned, tender and moist.... I'm salivating just thinking about it! This hot link was a rich shade of red, looking just as appetizing as it tasted. I shared some with DD who also admitted that it was one of the best sausages he'd ever had. I didn't care too much for the ton of onions and peppers they had on top, but I swept it to one side and enjoyed my sausage. The side of coleslaw was pretty good too, though I confess that may at least be in part due to the delirium of happiness upon eating the sausage.
DD had the tri-tip, which was remarkably tender. I confess I don't remember much of it since our trip was at least a month ago and I wasn't eating it as my own main course, but I do recall that in addition to the meat's tenderness, the BBQ sauce made it that much more heavenly.
We ate our food with some beers in one of the outside patio seats, and even though the table was lopsided and annoyed the hell out of us, it was such a beautiful day, sunny with slight winds, that you couldn't help but to just enjoy it and take it all in. So we did, when we walked to the pier on the beach, just a couple storefronts away. Pismo Beach was an amazingly relaxing choice for a pit shop, exactly halfway along the coast, and it fed us well!
It's like the resident In-N-Out, with more options! This is the oddest, and yet cutest 50's diner cafe, in a prime location--directly in the middle of the Napa strip. High traffic passes by the location, and there's always a line. But with good reason! The line goes fast, and once you get to the front, you can order anything from garlic fries to a salmon burger.
DD and I had already eaten lunch, but we were determined to have some food here in between Reverie and Hartwell. So stop we did, and we only got a light snack--which in our world is two orders of fries and a drink. Sweet potato fries, garlic fries, and a root beer float! Oh, I'm salivating just thinking about it again! The sweet potato fries were freshly cooked and extra crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the garlic fries were SMOTHERED in garlic. I can't vouch for whether it's better than Dodger fries, since it's been awhile since I've been to Dodger's Stadium, but I can say it comes pretty damn close. And the root beer float? What better way to finish off a wildly unhealthy meal at a 50's diner joint while sitting out in the open on a sunny, beautiful day? The root beer may as well have been wine for how good it was to us.
Duck fat fries.
Okay, maybe that last one deserves a fuller description: filet mignon topped with Hudson Valley foie gras and glazed in a pinot noir wine reduction. Toss it on a tower of seared potato and sauteed spinach and you have a recipe for LEGEND. This was not only one of the richest items you will ever eat, but it was also a dish that simply melted in your mouth for as long as you would let it before taking it all in. Yes, it was that good. The filet mignon was tender, the foie gras left nothing to be desired, and the wine reduction was such a flavorful and yet delicate complement to the meal that it brought out all the subtle richness of the filet and foie gras, without making it overbearingly rich. In short, the dish sang perfect harmony at a perfect tempo and a perfect volume. It was magnificent.
Also magnificent was how beautiful the dessert was. It was just a couple of mini doughnuts, but it was arranged so beautifully, with hazelnut ice cream and crushed nuts all around the plate... It was rich and decadent without being too sweet or too salty. A good mix of flavors and textures.
Book a reservation next time you're ever in the San Jose area. You will not regret it. The decor could use a little work, but if you ignore the fact that it's a hotel's continental breakfast bar by day, you can eat a meal that will knock your socks off. Needless to say, I recommend the steak rossini.
Read more »
We decided to take a trip to Northern California together. Both of us being ambitious and determined people, we decided on several main stops in a span of four short days: San Jose, Napa, San Francisco, Berkeley, and back to San Jose. ...And we decided to drive.
The good news is, with each other's company, the drive went by like a breeze. It felt like a drive, but it felt like a much shorter drive than 5-6 hours. And the further good news is (since with DD I hardly ever have bad news), there was heinously good food on this trip!
Side Stop #1:
Pismo Beach: Mo's SmokeHouse BBQ
Pismo Beach: Mo's SmokeHouse BBQ
Only after looking at the website to research the address and phone number of this place did I discover that this is a chain restaurant with SoCal locations! Woot! I had one of the best Louisiana hot links I have had in my entire life. Well cooked, well seasoned, tender and moist.... I'm salivating just thinking about it! This hot link was a rich shade of red, looking just as appetizing as it tasted. I shared some with DD who also admitted that it was one of the best sausages he'd ever had. I didn't care too much for the ton of onions and peppers they had on top, but I swept it to one side and enjoyed my sausage. The side of coleslaw was pretty good too, though I confess that may at least be in part due to the delirium of happiness upon eating the sausage. 
DD had the tri-tip, which was remarkably tender. I confess I don't remember much of it since our trip was at least a month ago and I wasn't eating it as my own main course, but I do recall that in addition to the meat's tenderness, the BBQ sauce made it that much more heavenly. We ate our food with some beers in one of the outside patio seats, and even though the table was lopsided and annoyed the hell out of us, it was such a beautiful day, sunny with slight winds, that you couldn't help but to just enjoy it and take it all in. So we did, when we walked to the pier on the beach, just a couple storefronts away. Pismo Beach was an amazingly relaxing choice for a pit shop, exactly halfway along the coast, and it fed us well!
Mo's SmokeHouse BBQ
221 Pomeroy Street, Pismo Beach, California 93449 - (805) 773-6193
Side Stop #2:
Napa: Taylor's Automatic Refresher
It's like the resident In-N-Out, with more options! This is the oddest, and yet cutest 50's diner cafe, in a prime location--directly in the middle of the Napa strip. High traffic passes by the location, and there's always a line. But with good reason! The line goes fast, and once you get to the front, you can order anything from garlic fries to a salmon burger. DD and I had already eaten lunch, but we were determined to have some food here in between Reverie and Hartwell. So stop we did, and we only got a light snack--which in our world is two orders of fries and a drink. Sweet potato fries, garlic fries, and a root beer float! Oh, I'm salivating just thinking about it again! The sweet potato fries were freshly cooked and extra crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the garlic fries were SMOTHERED in garlic. I can't vouch for whether it's better than Dodger fries, since it's been awhile since I've been to Dodger's Stadium, but I can say it comes pretty damn close. And the root beer float? What better way to finish off a wildly unhealthy meal at a 50's diner joint while sitting out in the open on a sunny, beautiful day? The root beer may as well have been wine for how good it was to us.
Taylor's Automatic Refresher
644 First Street, Napa, CA 94559 - 707-224-6900
Side Stop #3:
San Jose: Arcadia
I hardly even need to actually describe them. I just need to say their names.
Foie gras sliders.
Duck fat fries.
Lobster corndogs.
Ahi tuna tartare.
Steak Rossini.
Okay, maybe that last one deserves a fuller description: filet mignon topped with Hudson Valley foie gras and glazed in a pinot noir wine reduction. Toss it on a tower of seared potato and sauteed spinach and you have a recipe for LEGEND. This was not only one of the richest items you will ever eat, but it was also a dish that simply melted in your mouth for as long as you would let it before taking it all in. Yes, it was that good. The filet mignon was tender, the foie gras left nothing to be desired, and the wine reduction was such a flavorful and yet delicate complement to the meal that it brought out all the subtle richness of the filet and foie gras, without making it overbearingly rich. In short, the dish sang perfect harmony at a perfect tempo and a perfect volume. It was magnificent.
Book a reservation next time you're ever in the San Jose area. You will not regret it. The decor could use a little work, but if you ignore the fact that it's a hotel's continental breakfast bar by day, you can eat a meal that will knock your socks off. Needless to say, I recommend the steak rossini.
Arcadia
Marriott, 100 West San Carlos Street, San Jose, CA 95113 - 408-278-4555
Mr. Baguette: A Worthy Adversary
Don't be fooled by this adorable smiley face with his chef's hat and a huge, almost phallic, loaf of bread. Behind this chipper exterior is the face of a beast. A fat-mongering, grease-loving evil mastermind. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to brilliance. Brilliance has a name, and it is Mr. Baguette.The fact that he's not named Monsieur Baguette (to continue the French theme) only adds to his rebellious nature. The crime? The rebellion? The absolute anarchy masked in a smiley face and a quiet, small restaurant in Rosemead, CA? Fried EGG! Sesame! In a banh mi sandwich!
DD and I were foraging for something to munch on, when he remembered a place that he swore would put Lee's Sandwiches to shame. Now, having grown up with Banh Mi Cali Sandwiches and Lee's Sandwiches, I was leery of anyone who tried to intrude on my already comfortable niche market. If I wanted lots of meat and a full loaf of bread, I went to Banh Mi Cali. If I wanted crunch bread and a quick fix in a rapidly expanding franchise, I went to Lee's Sandwiches. And if I couldn't get to one of those, I would go without.
So needless to say, I was a little reluctant to try out this intruding sandwich shop in the middle of the asian capital of Los Angeles, Rosemead/Alhambra/Monterey Park. The outside was unassuming, which is bonus points in my book. Once inside, it looked remarkably like a Lee's Sandwich, clean, well designed menus with color pictures of each item, everything clearly labeled, and a front counter displaying foods you could buy to make your own at home.
And then I saw it. There, in the refrigerated counter, food-saver sealed with their own meat-market looking label, was a chunk of pate--5" in diameter and 2" thick. Lucious, savory, and delicious looking.
SOLD.
And thus, I concede defeat. Yes, Mr. Baguette, you can come play with my other banh mi favorites. And somewhere in my head, the scene plays:
"Do you expect me to talk?"
"No, Mr. Baguette, I expect you to feeeeeed me!"
Mr. Baguette
8702 Valley Blvd., Rosemead, CA, (626) 288-9166
www.mrbaguettesandwiches.com
#2, Spread Only, Cheese, Grilled Onions
Really, need I say more?
For those of you who have the pleasure of visiting the West Coast, make it your Harold and Kumar mission to find an In-N-Out. It will change your life.
For those of you familiar with In-N-Out, doesn't just seeing the red palm trees on white cups and wrappers make you drool? That's because they offer fresh meat that's never been frozen, handcut fries, handcut lettuce, and all sort of other tough manual labor and suffering that makes everything apparently taste better. (Actually, they manually run the items through machines and manually pull levers and crank devices to cut and churn everything, so the machines do virtually all the work. So much for claim to fame.)
The result?
A luscious, juicy burger topped with American cheese made to your liking. How do you know it's going to be to your liking? Because you can not only custom-order the food, but you can also order items not on the menu! In-N-Out is notorious for only having something like 10 items on their real menu, relying on attendees to know there's a secret menu with all sort of other items or combinations of existing arrangements. You can get fries ordered extra crispy or burgers "animal style" with tons of sauce and cheese and onions or fries ordered "animal style". The sky is the limit!
The end result? One of the best fast food meals you'll ever have for something in the general range of $6-7. Toss in a chocolate milkshake, and you know you'll be working extra long at the gym tomorrow.
Read more »
For those of you who have the pleasure of visiting the West Coast, make it your Harold and Kumar mission to find an In-N-Out. It will change your life.For those of you familiar with In-N-Out, doesn't just seeing the red palm trees on white cups and wrappers make you drool? That's because they offer fresh meat that's never been frozen, handcut fries, handcut lettuce, and all sort of other tough manual labor and suffering that makes everything apparently taste better. (Actually, they manually run the items through machines and manually pull levers and crank devices to cut and churn everything, so the machines do virtually all the work. So much for claim to fame.)
The result?
A luscious, juicy burger topped with American cheese made to your liking. How do you know it's going to be to your liking? Because you can not only custom-order the food, but you can also order items not on the menu! In-N-Out is notorious for only having something like 10 items on their real menu, relying on attendees to know there's a secret menu with all sort of other items or combinations of existing arrangements. You can get fries ordered extra crispy or burgers "animal style" with tons of sauce and cheese and onions or fries ordered "animal style". The sky is the limit!
The end result? One of the best fast food meals you'll ever have for something in the general range of $6-7. Toss in a chocolate milkshake, and you know you'll be working extra long at the gym tomorrow.
Posts
