The Unvegan

8/1/2011 Reviews Mobile

No Veggies at No Tomatoes! (CLOSED)

By name and color, No Tomatoes! has the makings of an amazing food truck. The name implies an amazing lack of the vegetable known as the tomato (I don’t care if it’s anatomically a fruit, so is a cucumber and you don’t see anyone calling that a fruit) and the orange coloration that enshrouds the truck makes it look beautiful. Oh and if the name doesn’t give it away, it serves up Indian food. But hidden in this supposed gem of a truck is deception. For there is one dish at No Tomatoes! that actually contains tomatoes: Tikka Masala. So while they were serving up lies with Tikka Masala, I looked to other options.

Food Trucks Indian Los Angeles Meat Mobile No Tomatoes! North Hollywood

7/28/2011 Strange Eats Culver City

Strange Meats: Frog Legs

For my birthday, my lovely girlfriend got me something called a beer class at L’Epicerie Market [EDIT: Now Closed] in Culver City. This was exciting as it turned out to be a multi-course set meal with a glass of beer per dish. Yet, as exciting and delicious as the beer and meals were, there was a particular course worth its own blog. It was one of the strangest meats I had ever eaten: frog legs.

Culver City French Frog Legs L'Epicerie Market Los Angeles Restaurants Strange Eats

7/26/2011 Reviews West Hollywood

A Birthday Burger at Comme Ça (CLOSED)

Ever since I conceived of the notion of a to-eat list, Comme Ça (pronounced comb-eh sah) has resided on that list. The reason is because once upon a time, Jane Sigal of the New York Times called The Comme Ça Burger “perfect.” That is no small claim and no small publication. But how would it fare against my unvegan palette? Would it crumble to the ground and beg for mercy like the Father’s Office Burger or would it leaving me begging for more like Umami Burger? I hoped it would be the latter.

Burgers Comme Ã‡a Comme Ca French Hamburgers Los Angeles Meat Restaurants West Hollywood

7/25/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Going Meatless at BLD

Ok, I have a confession to make. Longtime readers know it already, but newcomers may be a little surprised. That confession is that…well I don’t eat meat for every meal. Yes, it’s true. Sometimes, a breakfast of pancakes or a dinner of mac and cheese satiates my appetite just as much as a steak. But most importantly, these meals are devoid of vegetables. After all, unvegan principles are more anti-veggie than pro-meat. One such meatless meal occurred at BLD.

Beverly Hills BLD Breakfast Los Angeles Pancakes Restaurants

7/22/2011 Reviews Culver City

Not Turning Japanese at Akasha

Perched on a corner in downtown Culver City, I have somehow managed to avoid Akasha. “Why?” you ask. Well the answer isn’t so simple. I have no excuse. With a Japanese-sounding name and the knowledge that Akasha wasn’t a sushi place, I should have flocked to Akasha much sooner, but it took a tour of Culver City with my mom to finally come face to face with the place. What I found was truly intriguing. Akasha wasn’t Japanese at all.

Akasha American Culver City Los Angeles Mac and Cheese Macaroni and Cheese Restaurants

7/21/2011 Beers United States

Beer Me Some 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Imperial Stout

Ordinarily, I avoid the stouts. Why, you ask? Well it’s not only because they come with ridiculous names like Karl Strauss 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Imperial Stout (you don’t exactly see bock or ambers like that). No, the real reason is that I consider beer a sort of refreshment. And being a refreshment, there should be something inherently refreshing about the beer. Sorry, stouts, you are not exactly refreshing, and it’s not just because some of your subtypes are Oatmeal, Chocolate and Coffee.

But refreshing or not, when I was offered some 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Imperial Stout, I had a hard time turning it down. Why? The vanilla. Like I said earlier, Chocolate Stout is a pretty common stout choice and I have no need for chocolate in my beer or otherwise. But vanilla is a completely different story. I claim Cream Soda as one of my favorite non-alcoholic beverages and the chance to drink that flavor combined with a high ABV percentage was too good to pass up. But first I had to get in the bottle.

22nd Anniversary Vanilla Imperial Stout Beers Karl Strauss

7/20/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

The Scoop About The Coop

If you saw a pizza place on a corner in LA called The Coop, would you think it was pronounced like scoop without the s or more like co-op? I’m leaning towards co-op, and it probably has something to do with the medical marijuana dispensary, Kind for Cures (KFC), across the street. Besides, what is a coop anyway? Pronunciations aside, I knew The Coop had pizza, and supposedly it was pretty good, so while my buddy and I’s ladies were eating something vegetable-like, we ordered some Coop.

Italian Los Angeles Meat Palms Pepperoni Pizza The Coop

7/15/2011 Reviews Beverly Hills

Scaring Vampires at The Stinking Rose

This is the story of when I ran away and joined the garlic circus.

With the ever-growing popularity of vampires in silly stories like Twilight and edgy television like True Blood, it seems that something important to our very human survival has fallen by the wayside. That is garlic, the fabric of our lives…errr…the thing that vampires hate. For some reason. One place you’ll never see a vampire hanging out at is The Stinking Rose, a restaurant in Beverly Hills. The reason is that apparently “stinking rose” is another term for garlic. I disagree with calling it stinking because I like the smell of garlic, as long as it hasn’t yet been eaten, but perhaps pungent rose was already taken.

Beef Beverly Hills Chili Garlic Los Angeles Meat Restaurants The Stinking Rose

7/14/2011 Reviews West Hollywood

A Personal Burger at Irv’s (RELOCATED)

EDIT: Irv’s has relocated, so the address here has as well. Hopefully not too much has changed.

Legend tells of a burger shack in West Hollywood. This legend says that this burger place has been around since 1950, but retains everything that made it great in that bygone era, with at least one great enhancement. This place is Irv’s Burgers and the enhancement is a little something special for every customer. This something special is that rather than giving you a number, the people behind Irv’s draw a little picture of you on your plate so they know who to bring each burger out to. This makes Irv’s a refreshing gem in the middle of the fast-paced cafes and generic boutiques of West Hollywood.

Beef Burgers Hamburgers Irv's Burgers Los Angeles Restaurants West Hollywood

7/13/2011 Reviews Saint Paul

Apparently, I was Thinking Arby’s

Arby’s has always been kind of a fringe fast food chain. You can find it all over the country, but it isn’t exactly on every corner. Perhaps this is the reason it has taken me so long to review them. Or perhaps the reason is because I once heard their meat begins its life as a liquid. Whatever the case, a golden opportunity to chow down on some potentially formerly liquid meat presented itself at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.

Airports Arby's Beef Fast Food Meat Minneapolis Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport Minnesota National Chains Sandwiches St. Paul Travel

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