The Unvegan » meat

Sandwiched by Handy Market

The Unvegan — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:00:01 +0000

You look familiar.

LA is a huge place and just when I think I know all I need to, it hits me with a surprise. Sometimes that surprise is unwanted, like closing a lane on the highway that I take to work every day. But more often, it is a pleasant surprise like Handy Market. This local market in Burbank has all the looks of any regular, old-fashioned grocer, but if you head to the back, that all changes. Back there is one of LA’s best-kept secrets, a meaty sandwich lover’s dream.

But first, I want to say that this place reminded me on many levels of another meat paradise called Superior Meats in Wisconsin. Whether it was the grill out front that supposedly is used in full force over the weekends, the friendliness of the staff, the selection of meats or the prices, I kept seeing signs of Wisconsin and the simpler life everywhere I turned.

It's kind of hard to tell, but that is meatload of meat.

As for the sandwiches, I decided to get some cotto salami, mortadella and cheddar in a roll with just oil and vinegar. I watched as the woman behind the counter sliced off half a pig’s worth of cured meat and stuffed it into the roll. Then she went to work on the cheese and made me salivate heavily. Then, I decided to match that with half a pint of mac and cheese for good measure.

By the time I got back to work and took out my sandwich, I couldn’t wait to devour my meal. I quickly learned I wouldn’t be devouring this too easily. The meat was sliced so thin and filled so much of the sandwich that they kept squeezing out. If this was the price I had to pay for so much meat, I was happy to pay it.

The meats themselves were crazy-delicious and went really well with each other. Cheddar turned out to be a good choice of cheese, as it added a degree of extra flavor to an otherwise meat-dominated feast. Really, the only thing that stood between this and my favorite sandwiches in LA from Bay Cities was the roll it was on. While worthy, it just couldn’t compare to those crunchy, yet soft fresh-baked rolls from Bay Cities. Yet, the amount of meat, the hidden gem feeling I had from eating it and Wisconsin nostalgia I felt nearly made up for it.

Stop looking at me, look at that sandwich.

The mac and cheese, on the other hand, was pretty much “whatever.” I didn’t dislike it, but it didn’t leave me wanting more like the sandwich had. Fortunately, the mac and cheese wasn’t exactly the pride of Handy Market like the sandwiches were. To that end, it didn’t disappoint me because I really didn’t have any expectations for it.

Now that I’ve tackled Handy Market, I’m pretty sure all the other valley sandwich shops have been rendered worthless to me. Some are pretty good, but Handy Market reigns supreme.

Delivery Upgrade at Lago D’Argento

The Unvegan — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:00:58 +0000

...and in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.

My buddy, DCo, is a bit of a pizza snob. It works out well for me, because he likes to point me in the direction of awesome new and old pizza places. Recently, he told me about a new place called Lago D’Argento over in Silverlake. It took a bit of convincing, but finally I had a real reason to go to that part of town and decided to make a run for pizza while there. I invited another buddy, Jeff, to join and we checked the place out.

I was happy to find a good few pizza options on the menu that weren’t just the basics. One of these was called Good Morning and was topped with Serrano ham, fried egg, Vermont cheddar and some pesto and Jeff and I decided to split that. But we weren’t done there – we also went with their version of a meat lover’s called the Carnivore. This pie had salami, fennel sausage, crispy bacon and Wisconsin mozzarella. If nothing else, this place knew the states to get cheese from.

Before going any further, I should note that upon my first bite of pizza at Lago D’Argento, it was clear that this was not the kind of place for pizza snobs. If you’re looking for classic Italian pizza, do yourself a favor and don’t be fooled by the Italian name of the place. If, on the other hand, you are a huge fan of American-style pizza, this place might just be for you and you should keep reading on.

Basically, when you break it down, the dough is nothing special. Think Dominos pizza, but fancied up a bit. Sure, I know that doesn’t sound very good, but also realize that the ingredients are many levels above “fast food” pizza. While I love the fact that I’m seeing fried eggs all over the place, this was the first time I saw it on a pizza and they kept it nice and juicy. Good Morning could have used some more sauce to add flavor and actually impress me, but it was still an interesting pizza that I was glad to have eaten.

Yes, I am an obligate carnivore. What of it?

The Carnivore was a definite step up on that. Damn, meat is just so good. Each of the meats worked in delicious harmony with each other, but it just felt unfortunate that they weren’t on an equally good dough conduit.

So here’s the deal…when it all adds up, Lago D’Argento gets the job done. It’s a level up from regular delivery, but fails to be much of a worthwhile enterprise. And again, if you’re a pizza snob, you really shouldn’t have even read this far into this review.

Burger Aid at Salt’s Cure

The Unvegan — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:00:22 +0000

Why are there pickles on this plate?

My continued quest for amazing burgers took me to a place called Salt’s Cure in West Hollywood. At this particular intersection, only one of the corners lacks burgers, as the other two are populated by Fatburger and Astro Burger. And while Salt’s Cure isn’t strictly a burger place, a quick look at the high priced menu on the wall when I walked in all but guaranteed I would be eating their burger.

Shoulder of pork and elbow of fiancee.

We began by ordering one of their homemade pretzels and a plate of cheese and meat to join it. We went with all three cheeses on the menu, two of which were creamy and the third was blue-ish. As for the meat, we chose the pork shoulder, which turned out to be prepared as a cured meat dish. Not exactly the pork shoulder I was accustomed to seeing, but it certainly fit the bill of the restaurant. These were also served with homemade bread sticks (the crunchy sort), homemade raisin bread, plus some walnuts, raisins and a fruity jam. Basically, it was an awesome spread, except for one thing – pickles. Never before had I seen pickles on a cheese plate and I hope to never see them again. These unwanted veggies ruined at least two slices of bread with their juices (fortunately the fiancee ate those) and generally turned the assortment ugly. Luckily, the cheeses were delicious, as cheese tends to be, and the pork shoulder was also quite stellar. It wasn’t overly salty or seasoned, but cured in a way that released the natural flavor of the piggy in a really delicious manner.

Just look at that bacon girth.

As for the main course, I went with their Bacon Cheeseburger. At 17 bucks, this clocked in as the cheapest entree and was topped with lettuce and onion, with a side of homemade fries. I ordered mine without the lettuce and onion, and was pretty surprised when the burger arrived and wasn’t the size of my head. Not that the thing was small, but for some crazy reason I still associate price with size. I guess I’m just old fashioned like that. The burger was topped with one thick slice of bacon and the white cheddar cheese was oozing down the sides of the guy. I must admit that the burger was quite thick and had been perfectly shaped to fit the upscale poppy seed bun.

This picture is so grainy and that burger is so cheesy.

As far as the taste breakdown, the burger was definitely awesome. The cheese and bacon were both of the highest quality and flavor. The meat itself had been cooked to more of a medium than medium rare, but was still impeccably juicy. So juicy in fact that I feared for the life of the bun. Fortunately, these fears were unfounded, as the bun held up strong against the onslaught of burger juice. The meat also had a nice, thick grind to it and had clearly been pressed into a perfectly round shape. I’m always torn when places do this. I know it makes the burger easier to cook and fit into a bun, but it also sometimes makes me feel as though the burger had been sitting in the back for a while rather than being made just for me. Nonetheless, the burger was great.

Then there were the fries. Quite often, homemade fries wind up in strange sizes and uneven cooking (likely due to the strange sizes). As opposed to the burgers, it seems to be better to have uniformity to fries. At Salt’s Cure, though, the fries were nicely sliced into crunchy-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside pieces. This made me a happy man, and they also lived up to their name by seasoning the fries with just the right amount of salt.

The burger at Salt’s Cure was definitely one worth having. I loved the place’s stress on doing things in-house or local, but they were not without flaw. For one, their menu was incredibly limited. Sure, the meaty options were there, but seriously there were only like 5 entrees and the burger was the only one under 25 bucks. And that brings me to my next issue. Yes, the burger was delicious, but $17 delicious? Not quite. It was absolutely worth the visit, I’m just struggling with finding a reason to go back.

Weighing in at Libra

The Unvegan — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:00:05 +0000

Dem bones, dem bones.

I have a confession and this may come as a surprise to all of you: I love Brazilian BBQ. Yes, I know it’s shocking that a menagerie of meat such as Brazilian BBQ could be one of my loves, but it’s true. Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy love. Firstly, it ain’t cheap like Korean BBQ, which is equally meaty. Secondly, I can’t go without eating an insane amount of food. Sorry, it’s just how I work at such things, which means my body usually needs a fair amount of recovery time before going back. But, when I saw a sweet Travelzoo deal for Libra in Culver City, at least my first problem with Brazilian BBQ was taken care of.

Glistening garlic chicken.

Upon entering, we were immediately seated and our head waiter came by to see if we knew the ways of churrascaria. We assured him that we did and set out to peruse the salad bar. This thing was vast and had surprising options like mac and cheese to go with the more typical items like yucca and beans. Per my usual, I avoided the entire salad bar (save for a little cheese and salami) as I planned on filling up completely on meat.

Sure, I can start with that.

I shan’t get into each individual meat we were offered, but I will certainly highlight a few. In fact, one of the first things we were served turned out to be one of the best – garlic beef. This stuff was perfectly cooked to a medium rare and had just the right amount of garlic to add flavor but not so much to frighten off the ladies/vampires.

Not picanha, but still amazing.

Another highlight was their picanha steak. As with every other churrascaria I’ve been to, the waiters referred to this as the house special and as always it really was special. I don’t know what they do with it other than lightly season it with salt, but it was as good as I expected it to be and I definitely went back for seconds.

Sausage party!

One thing that was surprisingly good was their smoked sausage. This stuff just melted in my mouth and was packed with smokey awesome flavor (insert sexual innuendo here). It was sliced super thin (end sexual innuendo here) and completely blew away the other sausage offering, which was the Brazilian sausage. I tend to think based on the restaurant we were at that both sausages were Brazilian, but this full, unsliced Brazilian sausage was a poor comparison to the smoked.

Yes, that pineapple is chilling on meat.

I could go on about the chicken hearts, lamb chops, pork ribs and beef ribs, but that would be pretty long-winded. Just know that pretty much everything was awesome. Yet, one of the most awesome things of all wasn’t meat at all. It was their grilled pineapple, which I experienced for the first time at M Grill. Here at Libra, it was no less amazing. Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and packed full of pineapple juice, my taste buds jumped for joy.

The adobo's in the back.

Oh, and I won’t forget about the salad bar, in which I certainly saved room to dabble. The best thing I found over there was a pan full of chicken adobo. Chicken adobo is a big deal in just about every Latin-influenced county and interestingly enough they all taste different. And also interesting is that they are all delicious. This stuff had a great taste to it and was just moist, tender and delectable.

Just desserts.

Finally, the Travelzoo deal included a dessert and we opted for the berry meringue. This was a wise choice because it was not only light, but also worthy in taste. The strawberries and blueberries were fresh and perfectly ripe, while the whipped cream was simple, unsweetened and a perfect companion to the meringue. It was a great way to wrap the meal up.

In closing, go to Libra. If you eat meat, you won’t regret it. If you don’t eat meat, one sweet look at the waiters’ skewers will convert you. Plus, even the regular price of the place is a whole lot cheaper than a lot of churrascarias.

Letting it Rip at Fab Hot Dogs

The Unvegan — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:07 +0000

Fablurry

Over in New Jersey, they like to deep fry their hot dogs. When I found out about this I first thanked the heavens that the state has contributed something to the world besides Jersey Shore. Then I bided my time until I could make the journey out to Reseda to try one of these deep fried “rippers.” You see, Reseda is home to Fab Hot Dogs, where they ship their rippers straight from New Jersey. These rippers are specially made for deep frying and no normal dog will suffice. Of course, Fab Hot Dogs serves tube steaks from other regions of the country (conspicuously missing Detroit Coney Dogs), but on my first time I needed a ripper.

There were a number of house specialties available, but they all seemed to involve ingredients I had no need for. Instead, I opted to build my own dog. The topping choices were vast and reasonably prices so I went with shredded cheddar, pastrami and a fried egg. On the side, I chose tater tots, because only a crazy person chooses fries over tots when tots are so rarely available.

Gooey cheese, but solid egg.

When my food was ready, it looked beautiful. I loaded up on both curry ketchup and the regular type, then brought my food back to the table. The first thing I noticed was that the egg had been fried into the perfect shape to fit inside the bun. These guys were pros. And the hot dog was stellar. I don’t know how this ripper would have tasted grilled, but deep fried it was juicy, flavorful and did not at all feel overly greasy or anything. In fact, it didn’t taste any heavier than an ordinary dog. The pastrami was alright, but the flavor was definitely overpowered by that of the hot dog itself. I loved the addition of the egg, but wouldn’t have minded if it had actually been runny instead of cooked through. One thing that was awesome, though, was their placement of the shredded cheese. Instead of tossing it lackadaisically on top of the egg, it was place in between the pastrami and egg, which melted the cheese into gooey bliss during my devourment.

Looking at these makes me hungry.

This hot dog was definitely a win and I can’t wait to go back and see what other concoctions I can cook up with their topping options. And of course there were the tots. These, like the ripper, had been perfectly deep fried. The outside was a perfectly crisp and golden brown, while the insides were both soft and solid at once. They went great with the curry ketchup and I knew I had made the right choice in choosing them over fries.

If only Fab Hot Dogs wasn’t all the way over in Reseda. I’m glad I was able to make it over to the place, and the people of the valley sure do deserve some sort of happiness in their lives, but it might be a long time before I can make the journey again.

Mozzarella Time at Obika

The Unvegan — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:43 +0000

Lotsa mozza!

While the Century City food court is always a winner, there is another restaurant within that mall that has been intriguing me for a while. It’s called Obika and calls itself a mozzarella bar. While I love me some mozzarella, I think I’ve stayed away simply because I didn’t think mozzarella alone was cheese enough to sustain a bar. But now that Obika has been around for a while, it has proven its staying power and I knew it was worth checking out.

There are three mozzarellas on hand; regular, smoked and burratta and we decided to get all three with some side fixin’s to join them. One of these was some strange eggplant concoction that I stayed away from, but the other was prosciutto di Parma. We also ordered some carpaccio and since I didn’t know how full I would be after all this, I also ordered orecchiette and cheese. The more cheese and cured meats, the merrier!

After ordering, Raimondo, the CEO of the place (according to his business card) came out to see how everything was going and proceeded to tell us about how they get their meats and cheeses. It was quite fascinating, and we learned that the mozzarella comes directly from Italy, while many of their meats come from Uruguay due to NAFTA regulations. It was so interesting that I didn’t even worry about the global warming implications of such importation.

I'm cured.

Anyway, the cheese and prosciutto arrived soon after our chat and looked awesome. It’s hard to say which I liked the most, because each was so unique, but I think the smoked mozzarella was my least favorite. That doesn’t mean it was bad by any means, just not as good. The cheeses all had that perfect mix of moisture and solidity. Clearly, this mozzarella had been handpicked and crafted with care. The prosciutto made a nice pairing, but this cheese truly could have live a nice life in my stomach on its own.

So this is how Italians do mac and cheese?

Next up was another dose of cheese with my orechiette. This pasta dish was oven-baked with three cheeses. It also had a sprinkling of pepper to it. Basically, it was a glorified mac and cheese, and that meant it was pretty awesome. I couldn’t even begin to guess what three cheeses were in there, but I do know that they went well together.

Thinly-sliced beef? Yes please!

Finally, on an incredibly full stomach, the carpaccio was served. I am not usually a fan of raw beef, but this carpaccio turned out to be of the thinly sliced and cured variety. In other words, it was good. It was a bit on the oily and salty end, which certainly was not helped by the parmesan cheese shavings that were served with it, but made for a very good dessert.

Obika was pretty delicious, but while I liked it I don’t particularly feel the need to go back. I don’t mean this in a bad way, just in a “I’d get bored if I went there often” way. Perhaps I’ll feel differently after a few months without it, but only time will tell in that matter. At the very least, it is definitely worth checking out.

Eating the Old West at Tinhorn Flats

The Unvegan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:00:42 +0000

But really, it's not gimmicky.

There’s something about a gimmick that alienates people. You go to Hooters and while they have good wings, a small part of you feels dirty because it was a gimmick that brought you in in the first place. Many times I drove by Tinhorn Flats in Burbank and wrote it off because it looked like an Old Western saloon, which to me screams out gimmick. Little did I know that Tinhorn had been around since 1939, which makes it one of the oldest things in LA. If it was simply a gimmick, it never would have lasted these 70+ years. So when my coworker encouraged me to check it out, I roped in the troops at work to head east on Magnolia – straight for the Old West.

Having your own beer is awesome.

We headed out to the back of the place and took a seat at one of their picnic tables. Before checking out the food selection, I ordered myself a Tinhorn Blonde, which is their signature beer that may or may not be brewed specially for them by the Karl Strauss Brewing Company. It was a pretty good beer that hung kind of on the sweet end for a blonde, but had a crisp finish.

For my main course, I made my way to their burger menu. This consisted of a solid variety of bar burgers, from Western Bacon to their most creative Mushroom Blue. Needless to say, nothing here was gourmet, but a truffle burger with some sort of snazzy aioli would have felt way out of place here. Cowboys don’t eat that shit. Blue cheese was as fancy as it got and as fancy as I would have wanted it to be.

Brings back memories of 1939.

I chose their Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger, which differed from the regular bacon cheeseburger by adding Swiss cheese and doing away with stupid toppings like lettuce, tomato and onions. Basically, this burger was made for a man like me. There was no “how would you like it cooked?” at Tinhorn, so I hoped for the best while kind of expecting the worst. It came to the table with a fatty knife stuck through it like a toothpick and looked quite delicious. The bun was classic sesame seed and was just big enough to contain the huge patty that had clearly been formed by hand in the kitchen. The bacon was stellar, perfectly crisped without getting burnt and pretty much all you could ask for in burger bacon. The cheddar and Swiss cheese melted well together and the patty itself was delicious, albeit a bit dry. It felt like the only thing the burger was missing was BBQ sauce, but when I didn’t find any in the array of condiments on the table, I settled for a blend of ketchup and steak sauce. I would have asked the waitress, but service was a bit lacking. It was a bar first and foremost, after all.

The steak fries made for a nice side, with a bit of seasoning on them. I had had the option to upgrade to onion rings, which I turned down, but was able to try one or two from someone else and can vouch for them being damn good. The best part of all this was the price. Tinhorn offers all of their sandwiches, salads and burgers for $5.95 at lunchtime on weekdays, which is a goddamn steal. Seriously, I’ll a burger like this at that price any day. Sure, I wouldn’t complain if the burger was a little juicier and the service was a little better, but the value was undeniably amazing. I left the place knowing that if they kept things up like that, they could easily make it to 2039.

LA’s Best BBQ at J “N” J Burger and Bar-B-Q

The Unvegan — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:00:47 +0000

Welcome to Adams.

The Eagles once wrote “If you call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye,” so it is with great trepidation that I roll out my review here. The meaning I have always taken from that line is that if you tell people about a great place, that place will cease to be great because more people will go there and ruin the experience. On the other hand, I feel the need to tell the world about J “N” J Burger and Bar-B-Q and hope that this review will not kill paradise, but simply give it more customers.

Make sure you go out back for the bar-b-que

To many, Culver City is only downtown Culver City, a place of shiny newish restaurants, a couple of posh bars and deep gentrification. But Culver City is bigger than that, and whenever a city is big, it is bound to have a “questionable” area. In Culver City, that happens when you cross over to Adams Boulevard, a street that runs through a lot of LA and is synonymous with sketch. Yet, going to J “N” J is not simply sketchy (with its well-gated shack), it is like crossing into some back woods part of Louisiana. Mind you, I’ve never been to Louisiana, but the back area of J “N” J where you order bar-b-q (the front register is for burgers and grill items not associated with bar-b-q) is how I’ve always pictured it. Back there is a pile of wood from the lumber place next door, a locomotive used for smoking and a man hanging out on a lounge chair whose sole purpose seems to be to answer when you ask questions like, “How many ribs come in the pork rib lunch?”

Smoke on a train!

I’m not sure I could have been more excited about this meal, and while the burgers in the front of the place, specifically the JNJ 4 Finger Burger (2 patties, 2 hot dogs, 2 slices of cheese, 3 slices of bacon and an egg) intrigued the hell out of me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the rest of the menu reminded me of the countless little burger shops strewn about LA that are good, but rarely amazing. On the other hand, LA isn’t exactly known for bar-b-q and J “N” J just felt like the right place to get it. Plus, I figured if the bar-b-q was awesome, I would be back to tackle that burger another day.

Nothing beats a neighbor with good wood. For smoking.

I decided to order their baby back ribs lunch, with was $8.25 and came with baked beans or potato salad and two slices of bread. I went with baked beans, then ordered white bread when I was given the option of wheat. As for sauces, they offered mild, hot or mixed. I asked the woman if the hot was really hot and when she nodded her head I opted for the mixed. To top it all off, I got a side of mac and cheese.

Is this heaven or Louisiana?

After ordering, we headed out to the side of the place, where they had some plastic patio seating set up like those I had in my backyard growing up. Before long, our ribs were brought out on some sectional styrofoam plates and looked nothing short of amazing. I could only hope they tasted as good as they looked. As far as money-to-rib size value, my buddy had done much better with a $6.00 set of pork ribs, but my baby backs were certainly nothing to complain about, especially when it came to taste. For the must part, these succulent bits of meat fell right off the bone and any gnawing at the bone that I did was a direct result of me just trying to find any more juicy morsels of meat. The meat took on a delicious smoky taste that only tasted better because of the scent of the freshly chopped cedar next door.

Get in my mouth.

The sauce was also quite impressive. I was glad I went with mixed on my first try, but if this was truly a 50/50 blend of mild and hot, I could handle the hot without a problem. The sauce had a great blend of sweet and spicy, but also a hint of smokiness that really made it taste as though this individual batch had been custom-made for my ribs and mine alone. Of course, this was not the case, but it sure tasted that way.

Worthy, but not the highlight.

The mac and cheese made for a nice addition to the meal, and I am glad I got it in addition to the baked beans. This is not to say anything bad about the baked beans, which were delicious, but simply to say that the mac provided a nice balance to the bar-b-q flavors. It wasn’t too special in any regard, but certainly had no trouble filling its role as a bar-b-q sidekick.

If J “N” J is one of LA’s best-kept secrets, that secret is officially out. I’m telling everyone about this place, whether they like bar-b-q or not. I’m not even sure I ever need to go to Louisiana now, because I simply can’t imagine it being better than this.

Not Addicted to Chili Addiction

The Unvegan — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:00:44 +0000

I'd like some chips with my salt.

My quest for challengers to the Chili John’s and Coney Dog empire of LA chili led me to Chili Addiction in West Hollywood. Their menu of insane chili concoctions really pulled me in the first time I saw their menu online and I really thought I had found myself a contender. I convinced my buddy to give it a try with me, both for company and so we could get multiple things to test out.

Upon arrival, we tested out a few different chilis. The nice thing about the place is that they have a rotation of different chilis, and offer 6 up fresh daily. The best of the day we were there was the Texas Filet. Billed as pretty spicy, it had a bit of a kick to it, but really nothing too potent. I decided to get this with their chili cheese fries, and then a side of mac and cheese, while my buddy opted for their Truffle Burger (which had caramelized onions and truffle aioli). The wait to get our food was far longer than expected, especially considering the simple things we ordered, but we were brought out some chips while we waited. These chips had a great consistency, but had been greatly over salted and I could only take down a couple before screaming for water.

Kraft, are you there?

When the meal did come, the chili cheese fries and burger looked mighty tasty. The mac and cheese, though, looked really basic. As it turned out, this book matched its cover. To say that the mac and cheese wasn’t good would be a lie. But to say I could make better mac and cheese from a box in my kitchen would not be a lie. I hoped the rest of my food would fare better.

Perhaps Burger Addiction?

Which brings me to the burger. Of course, I scraped the onions off of my half and got to work with the remainder. To my surprise, the burger was really quite delicious. The aioli was pretty lacking in truffle, but still provided a nice little mix of flavor to an otherwise well-cooked and executed patty of meat. It had been cooked medium rare, and despite having a pretty thin grind turned out really well.

Ok, break it up guys.

Finally, I took on the fries, which wound up to be a pretty big disappointment. The chili was as good as it had been when I tasted it, but it simply did not mesh well with the fries. This wasn’t because they became soggy, over salted or anything, so I chalked this up to being good chili that simply did not go well with fries. I didn’t know such a thing existed, but Chili Addiction proved it to be true.

Segregated pickles.

At this point, I was not content to be done eating. In true unvegan fashion, instead of opting for a dessert, I decided to order some more meat. This time my meat sense took me to their Chili Cheese Dog. Once again, I went for their Texas Filet chili and hoped it would go nicely with the hot dog. It didn’t. Was I doing something wrong? Was I being punished somehow? No, this was simply a case of a restaurant trying to do too much. This chili simply did not play well with others. It would have been better suited in a bowl on its own, maybe with something like pasta or a flat bread that would only enhance the flavor and not compete with it. Oh and did I mention the dog came with pickles? They were separated out into a little cup, but I would be lying if I said their presence at my table didn’t bother me.

As it was, I suppose if I am looking for a simple bowl of chili, I may make my way back to Chili Addiction, but likely as not I would head to Chili John’s or Tub’s Chili, where they know exactly what they’re doing. For burgers, though, I wouldn’t mind revisiting Chili Addiction, but I will have to get over the fact that best thing a chili place had to offer me was a Truffle Burger that didn’t even taste like truffles.

Tacos Por Favor, Please

The Unvegan — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:00:16 +0000

Por supuesto.

Santa Monica doesn’t exactly have a reputation for good food. And what reputation it does have usually tends to lean on the upscale. But reputation alone does not simply make a city, and Santa Monica actually has a surprising number of little gems hidden in its nooks and crannies. One of these, I had heard, was Tacos Por Favor.

Yet, aside from actually hearing of Tacos Por Favor, I hadn’t really been told what was good on their menu, so when I arrived and found a vast menu full of nearly every Mexican dish I had ever heard of, I was in trouble.

So I did what any rational gringo lost in a sea of Mexican food would do – ordered tacos. In this case, I went for their 2 Soft Taco Combo, which came with beans and rice. The tacos were topped with meat of my choosing (one carne asada and the other al pastor), salsa, cilantro and onions. As always, I had no tolerance for onions, so I ordered without and then got a side of guacamole to make up for it.

Pretty soon, my combo was ready and I grabbed it along with a couple of additional salsas to accompany my meal. To say that I was disappointed by the portion of my $1.25 side of guacamole would be an understatement. If there was more than one ounce in there, I would have be shocked. But maybe the guac was awesome, so I forked it out onto my tacos and went to work. It was good, but nothing near awesome and nothing close making the $1.25 worth it. The tacos themselves were good and packed pretty nicely with meat, but didn’t exactly offer much more than I could get at your average taco truck. This is not to knock the tacos in any way, but to simply say that such tacos are a dime a dozen.

So maybe I ordered the wrong thing and Tacos Por Favor has some intensely amazing burrito that deliciously sat in the corner crying as I ordered the wrong thing. In any case, Tacos Por Favor is worthwhile if you happen to be nearby, but if not you can probably do better in your own part of LA.