‘Travel’

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Giordano’s, for Real This Time

December 21st, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Thanks for the memories.

A long, long time ago, I was a fledgling meat blogger just getting his bearings.  In a desperate attempt to eat Giordano’s and get it on the blog, I bought a half-baked pie in Chicago, packed it in ice and brought it back to LA to finish the baking myself.  The result was delicious, and while I reviewed it, I always felt that it was unfair to judge a restaurant in which much of the cooking was up to me.  Since those, very little has changed, but my desire for Giordano’s has only grown stronger.  So on my last visit to Chicago, I made sure to hit Giordano’s for real, or to at least have some of my family pick it up for me in Evanston. Continue Reading»

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A Night in Province

December 20th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Provincial breads.

And now you may be wondering why an unvegan such as myself would choose to leave sunny Los Angeles for a December weekend foray into the Windy City.  With very good reason, in fact, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of my sister’s birth.  Yes, it makes me feel old to have a sister so old.  But I was delighted at the opportunity to spend a special event with her and a good portion of my family.  For the celebration, we headed to a restaurant called Province in downtown Chicago. Continue Reading»

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Yolk-y with a Chance of Hair

December 19th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Hairless, I'm sure.

In the Windy City for a cold and lovely weekend, some friends, family and other converged upon a brunch place called Yolk in River North.  On such a cold day, I was surprised to find such a long line of people waiting to get a piece of Yolk’s action. Despite claiming to have a 20-minutes wait, it was a good 35 minutes until we were seated.  It was not a good sign of things to come, but a quick glance at the menu made me immediately forgot the wait it took to get there. Continue Reading»

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Found at Lost Dog Cafe

November 30th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Mmm cheesy.

Out in Arlington, Virginia, a friend brought us to a restaurant called Lost Dog Cafe.  Knowing quite literally nothing about the place beforehand, I was happy to see that it not only had a huge selection of beers, but also a vast selection of sandwiches and pizzas.  And I do mean huge.  The sandwich list had 53 options, and that doesn’t include the “Create Your Own Sandwich” section.  Not only that, these were some pretty creative sandwiches and not just your simple pastrami and turkey.  After a long deliberation and just a quick peak at the pizza menu, I settled upon a sandwich that I hoped would be worthy of an unvegan like myself. Continue Reading»

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Ending on a Low Note at Tumunu

October 28th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

More like the poo poo platter. Am I right?

Anytime you leave a place, you want to end on a high note.  In the Cook Islands, we were planning on doing the same.  After dropping off our motor bike and heading back to our hotel, we had one more meal in us before catching out red-eye back to the homeland.  Fortunately, there was a restaurant in walking distance that had been recommended to us by a local and by a couple of travelers.  It was called Tumunu and boasted a seafood platter as its house special. Continue Reading»

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Currying Up at Tamarind House

October 28th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Another terrible view.

Situated in the village of Tupapa on Rarotonga is an old colonial home.  Built back in 1910, at one time, it was even the home of the British Consul.  But all that changed in 2004, when a couple of restauranteurs decided this old colonial home needed to serve up some food.  Tamarind House was born, and has been dealing in Pan-Asian culinary delights ever since.  When we got ourselves seated, we quickly learned that Tamarind House was going to be a unique experience, and not simply because we were in an old colonial home. Continue Reading»

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A Late Lunch at Roadhouse

October 27th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Just like Patrick Swayze.

Little-known fact: restaurants in Rarotonga generally close their lunch doors after 2:00 pm.  This fact would have been great to know before the girlfriend and I rode our motor scooter around half of the island in search of a late lunch.  Just when we had given up hope, I recalled a place called Roadhouse that we had passed many a time on our way from our hotel to Avarua.  If they were closed, we were just going to have to snack ourselves away until dinner time.  Fortunately, Roadhouse was open (from 11 am to 2 am every day) and sadly devoid of Patrick Swayze (RIP). Continue Reading»

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Eating Big at Little Polynesian

October 26th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Poolside dining.

In the windy town of Titikaveka, there is a restaurant called Little Polynesian, that also doubles as a hotel.  Just like nearly every spot on Rarotonga, Little Polynesian offers amazing views of the ocean and numerous palm trees.  While fine views are usually followed by only decent dining, Little Polynesian was supposed to be quite good, and we hoped the meal would be half as good as the view.

Just as we had done at Windjammer, a quick look at the menu made us realize that this was a meal for splitting.  We ordered two dishes and an appetizer, then sit back, relaxed and soaked up our evening of Little Polynesian. Continue Reading»

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Local Fast Food at Palace Takeaways

October 25th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Rush hour.

One amazing thing about Rarotonga in the Cook Islands is the lack of chains.  No Starbucks.  No Subway.  No McDonald’s.  It’s enough to make a coffee-loving, fast food-devouring American feel dizzy.  Fortunately, I don’t care for coffee and this also doesn’t mean Rarotonga doesn’t have fast food.  Yes, even this slow-paced island that runs on even slower-paced “island time” is not without its fast food, but this fast food is local.

Our awesome bartender/sample-giver from the Cooks Lager Brewery, Wendy, recommended Palace Takeaways.  Situated on the outskirts of Avarua, this little shack served burgers, fish and chips and not much else.  Wendy told us they were the best burgers in town, so I had to find out for myself. Continue Reading»

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Island Italian at Spaghetti House

October 24th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

A strong start.

For some reason, despite being on a tropical island, Bina was craving Italian food.  Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that we had a 15% off coupon to Spaghetti House or perhaps it had something to do with taste buds.  Whatever the case, I was happy to mix up our Rarotonga grubbing with something different, so we walked on over to Spaghetti House in Arorangi to see what sort of Italian the were serving. Continue Reading»

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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.

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It doesn't taste like wool.

What is this?»

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