The Unvegan

‘Chains’

Currying Favor at Ajisen Ramen

October 26th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Curry in a hurry.

Not too long ago (at least in my head), Ajisen Ramen opened its doors at the Century City food court. I’m not sure where else this Japanese ramen chain exists in the US, but I do know it is a pretty popular and slightly upscale chain in the land of Asia. I decided to check it out to see how it held up against its Asian brethren and found that the menu was pretty similar to what I remembered from Asia. It had a variety of ramen options and some tasty-looking Japanese appetizers. Continue Reading»

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Century City, Chains, Curry, food courts, Japanese, Los Angeles, meat, ramen, restaurants

Fast Foodery at Ono Hawaiian BBQ

October 6th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Please don't lay on that cabbage.

Growing up, fast food either meant burgers or Taco Bell. For the most part, this is still true, but more and more I find that not only has the quality of fast food improved, but so has the variety. Chains like Yoshinoya and Jollibee are good examples of this, and recently I experienced another: Ono Hawaiian BBQ. The menu has a lot of Asian-inspired dishes and some things that looked distinctly Hawaiian, but all in the setting of a fast food joint with fast food prices. My eyes quickly found their $5.00 meal special, that included a choice of four different dishes, which were Lemon Chicken, Chicken Katsu, Kalbi Short Ribs and Hawaiian BBQ Beef. Continue Reading»

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BBQ, Beef, Chains, Culver City, Fast Food, hawaiian, Los Angeles, meat, ono hawaiian bbq, restaurants

Burned by Burger King

September 10th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

This is a well-done burger. And not in a good way.

So apparently it’s been a while since I’ve had Burger King. In fact, since starting my meat blog I hadn’t set foot into a BK until now. Was there a reason for this? No, not really, except for the fact that I feel like LA has such better options for fast food burgers. Yet, with their new Smoky Cheddar Steakhouse XT, I felt like they deserved a visit.

I ordered a combo meal and made sure to order the burger my way. Hey, if any place is going to cater to an unvegan like me, it should be the place that once boasted, “Have it your way.” Continue Reading»

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Beef, BK, Burger King, Burgers, Chains, encino, Fast Food, hamburgers, Los Angeles, meat, smoky cheddar steakhouse xt

King Taco, Not Nacho

August 19th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Red means hot.

In the mood for some authentic Los Angeles tacos, my buddies and I set off for King Taco near downtown in the McArthur Park area. Although this wasn’t the original location, we figured they still served up some pretty good tacos. I could tell it was pretty authentic because it was mostly filled with Hispanic people and everyone seemed to speak Spanish at the counter. By the time I figured out what I wanted, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to order in English, but luckily the cashiers turned out to be bilingual. Continue Reading»

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Chains, Downtown LA, king taco, Los Angeles, mcarthur park, meat, Mexican, restaurants

Avoiding Baked Goods at Corner Bakery

August 6th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Have spiral with my noodles.

For a quick lunch idea to please a few people, the girlfriend and I decided to pick up food from Corner Bakery. Although the place is pretty well-known for its sandwiches, I was in no mood for such food. Instead, I found that they had a little selection of pasta dishes that looked like a good lunch to me. Of these, the Pesto Cavatappi looked best to me. Continue Reading»

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Chains, Chicken, Corner Bakery, Italian, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, pasta, restaurants, Sandwiches

Ignoring Fortune at P.F. Chang’s

July 19th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Minus gluten. Plus vegetables.

To many people, P.F. Chang’s is just phony, mainstream, American Chinese food. And for all those things, I agree. But in truth, my last trip to P.F. Chang’s was about ten years ago and since the girlfriend and I were given some lovely little gift cards to the place, it was time to pay the Changster a visit. We walked in on a Friday night and found the place surprisingly empty. I know it’s a recession and all, but I would think that any decent restaurant in Beverly Hills should have a decent number of people on a Friday night. I guess not; we were seated immediately. Continue Reading»

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Beverly Hills, Chains, Chinese, Los Angeles, meat, p.f. chang's, restaurants

A Nightcap at Smoke’s Poutinerie

June 25th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

I like my poutine with gravy and curds.

A few more beers into the night and not yet having satisfied my craving for poutine in Toronto, my drunken munchies search became a quest for poutine. The quest ended when we discovered Smoke’s Poutinerie in the Queens West area. This place was a chain, but still had the look of a greasy hole-in-the-wall style poutine joint. Their menu had a few different variations of that delicious treat, even one including bacon, but we decided that the traditional was the way to go. We got a large for 8 loonies and waited about 30 seconds for them to toss the fries, curds and gravy into a box for eating. Continue Reading»

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Canada, Chains, fries, ontario, poutine, restaurants, smoke's poutinerie, toronto, Travel

A Big Slice at Big Mama’s & Papa’s

May 3rd, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Notice the paperclip to demonstrate the size.

Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria sells pizza by the slice. But it’s not just any pizza by the slice. It’s Big Mama’s Slice and it is massive. Signs outside the place say that their slices are the size of three regular pizza slices. Unfortunately, the picture of the slice on the sign didn’t give give any scale and only showed the price, at $3.99. So for all I knew, as I ordered the slice, it could have been the size of three tiny pizza slices. Continue Reading»

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Chains, Italian, Los Angeles, north hollywood, pepperoni, Pizza, restaurants

Steak Night at Outback

April 30th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Steak heaven.

Since there appears to be no Outback Steakhouse in LA (seriously LA?!), the last time I was in Palm Desert I managed to convince my grandparents to take me to Outback. Of course, I have had Outback in the past, but not since I’ve been writing my glorious meat blog. I’ve never had a bad experience at Outback and I hoped this one would be no different.

The place was set up just like any other Outback and although there was a short wait, we were seated soon and ready to order some beef. Of the delicious-sounding steaks, the Outback Special looked especially tasty. This special cut of steak, that I think is a sirloin, comes in 7 or 9 ounce cuts. It also comes with a choice of two sides. I went with the larger of the cuts and then decided to load up on carbs for my sides. I chose both the garlic mashed potatoes and the dressed baked potato. I’m sure this meal was an accurate reflection of the typical Australian diet. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Chains, Coachella Valley, meat, outback steakhouse, Palm Desert, restaurants, steak, Travel

Whatalunch at Whataburger

April 13th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Whatabuilding!

In much of the south, there is a burger chain called Whataburger. Completely unknown to people of the north and even to people in Southern California, Whataburger definitely has been cooking up burgers for quite a while. Last time I was in Phoenix (which is the south as far as I’m concerned), I made it a goal to visit Whataburger and see how their burgers stand up to the rest of the fast food world. Continue Reading»

6 Comments

Arizona, Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, hamburgers, meat, phoenix, restaurants, scottsdale, whataburger

Rants and Raves

Driving on Meat

December 27th, 2010

I would rather eat than drive this car.

One of the biggest complaint that vegan and vegetarian environmentalists have against meat-eating is that eating it causes a huge amount of waste. Well, for those of you who have been avoiding meat for that very reason will soon be able to get back on the meat wagon. Well actually the meat car.

You see, Tyson, the largest meat company in the world, has decided to get into the diesel-making business with a company called Syntroleum. This effort will use meat fats that were just going to be dumped and actually turn them into diesel. The key is that this waste was already going to be created and now has the potential to not be waste at all.

Going Global at Plan Check

Fries of the world.

A couple of weeks ago, The Backyard Bite invited me to The Burger Culture Clash, sponsored by Stussy (which apparently still exists) and Plan Check. Plan Check, by the way, is a sort of new (since February) restaurant in West LA with Chef Ernesto Uchimura of Umami Burger fame. As my love of burgers, especially those of the umami variety, I jumped at the opportunity.

Although I arrived alone, I was not the only lone eater. Just next to where I was seated, I met e*star LA and we decided to share a meal called loneliness, because it’s better than eating alone. We made quick friends over our respective blogs and Midwestern roots, then got to work at dissecting the special menu, which Plan Check will be featuring for the next month if anything tickles your fancy.

‘Chains’

Currying Favor at Ajisen Ramen

Fast Foodery at Ono Hawaiian BBQ

Burned by Burger King

King Taco, Not Nacho

Avoiding Baked Goods at Corner Bakery

Ignoring Fortune at P.F. Chang’s

A Nightcap at Smoke’s Poutinerie

A Big Slice at Big Mama’s & Papa’s

Steak Night at Outback

Whatalunch at Whataburger

Rants and Raves

Driving on Meat

Going Global at Plan Check

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Unvegan Friends