The Unvegan

Featured Reviews

Merging Cultures at Chino Bandido
Back to Asia with Taiwan Food Express
A Big Ass Burger at Roaring Fork
Damn Near Perfection at Tokyo Fried Chicken

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10/13/2009 Los Angeles

Taco Tuesdays at The Spanish Kitchen (CLOSED)

Objects in picture are smaller than they appear.
Objects in picture are smaller than they appear.

Looking to once again find a winning Taco Tuesday, I headed to The Spanish Kitchen near West Hollywood to see what they had to offer.

What they had to offer was pretty impressive. They had a huge selection of tacos ranging from adobo grilled chicken to spicy shrimp and all were priced at 2 bucks. At the time, each meat automatically came with its own salsa, but I see now that the menu offers every salsa with every meat so the eater can customize to their heart’s content. Despite not having this option before, they still had some fun-looking tacos.

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10/12/2009 Ann Arbor

The Glory of Zingerman’s

Looks just like a corner store.
Looks just like a corner store.

Perched on the corner of Detroit St. and 5th St. in the little town of Ann Arbor is the seat of an international empire. It is the Zingerman’s Delicatessen and the little nondescript building that houses it has spawned an entity known by lovers of good food and business everywhere.

When I went to college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, I knew of Zingerman’s, just like everyone did. I knew it was good, too, but I really never comprehended the magnitude of it until I left Michigan. Since then I have learned that they are nationally renowned for their mail-order service, business practices, overall quality of their food and more. So when I returned to Ann Arbor recently, I knew I had to revisit the wondrous little deli and reacquaint myself with its delectable foods.

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10/9/2009 Los Angeles

Bamboozled

Just what the bamboo ordered.
Just what the bamboo ordered.

Hidden behind faux bamboo stalks that protect the restaurant from the noise pollution of Venice, you would expect Bamboo to be a sort of Asian-inspired restaurant. Going in with these expectations, you’d be surprised to find that Bamboo is a Caribbean and Latino inspired restaurant, but you definitely won’t be disappointed by the food. Bamboo’s outdoor seating area has a nice and comfortable ambiance that would make it a great date spot.

The menu is a nice range of options, from pizza to seafood. I found my own personal niche in the steak section and chose the Milanesa a La Bamboo Breaded steak. This was topped with mozzarella, sauteed tomato, garlic and spices. I asked the waiter if I could get mine without the tomato and he seemed very surprised at the prospect. He then explained that this wasn’t just going to be some pile of tomatoes on the plate, but actually a tomato sauce. I rescinded my request and awaited my meal.

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10/8/2009 Los Angeles

Unlikely Good Greek at Aliki’s Greek Taverna

Better on the second try.
Better on the second try.

A friend of mine suggested a random Greek place called Aliki’s Greek Taverna and I blindly followed him. We ended up close to the airport, on sketchy side street next to a motel. It would have been a great start to a horror story, but instead it was the start of a great meal. On the outside, Aliki’s looked like any old generic restaurant attached to a motel, and the inside wasn’t much better aside from the olive oil on display rather than a crane game.

We were approached by a tall man with an accent (the manager?) and handed some carry-out menus. Thinking this would be a perfect chance to look beyond the world of lamb gyros, I ordered the Chicken Gyros, but with only feta cheese and tzatziki sauce and no lettuce, tomatoes or onions. It also came with a side of hummus, fries or lemon potatoes. I chose the hummus, which is always a good test for Greek food. Our accented manager took our orders to the cook and then we waited.

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10/7/2009 Boston

Dinner with Dunkin’ Donuts

Straight from the freezer.
Straight from the freezer.

While there is no shortage of donut shops in LA, in Boston you can’t walk for more than five minutes without seeing a Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s like the city runs on this doughnut franchise. So, before I parted ways with Boston, I made sure to stop at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Boston’s Logan Airport to grab something to eat.

I was expecting to be stuck eating a doughnut for dinner, but instead I found that Dunkin’s had started offering flatbread sandwiches, and for pretty cheap. None of them really had vegetables, but I ordered the Chicken Parmesan flatbread one thinking it was the most dinner-like of all.

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10/6/2009 Boston

Eat at Joe’s (American Bar & Grill)

Veggie-free since '84
Veggie-free since ’84

On day final of my sojourn into Boston, I lunched at Joe’s American Bar & Grill, a casual restaurant with a nice outdoor seating area. We took a table outside to enjoy one of the last remaining nice days in Boston’s summer season and then got down to menu business.

We arrived around that strange hour where you’re not sure if you want breakfast or lunch, so we were given both the Brunch menu and the lunch menu. After long deliberation between the menus, I settled upon lunch and the Blackened Chicken Sandwich. This sandwich was made with Cajun spices, cheddar and sauteed onions. It also came with all the typical sandwich fixing, like lettuce, tomato and pickles. I ordered mine without any of those, and also no fancy onions.

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10/5/2009 Boston

Experiencing the New Bella Luna

Have meatballs with my pizza.
Have meatballs with my pizza.

While in Boston, we were told the sad tale of a place called the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain. Apparently the Milky Way had taken moved into JP in worse times and brought good food, a fun bar and even a bowling alley. The Milky Way paved the way for JP to become a desirable place to live again. Then, an evil landlord decided to raise the rent, essentially pushing the Milky Way out. It didn’t take long for the Milky Way to find a new location, but instant karma hit the landlord, who has since been unable to fill the void left by the Milky Way.

So off we went to try the new place out. The new Milky Way is divided into a restaurant known as Bella Luna and a lounge area called Milky Way. We stuck to Bella Luna, which had a pretty cool and classy astronomical design, for some dinner.

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10/2/2009 Boston

A Perfect Sandwich at Ula Cafe

No substitutions necessary.
No substitutions necessary.

While waiting for a tour of the Sam Adams brewery in the Jamaica Plain are of Boston, we took a short walk to Ula Cafe to grab lunch. Both the brewery and Ula Cafe are located in a strange complex that formerly housed some other, now-defunct brewery.

That brewery’s loss was my gain, for as I perused the menu on the wall of Ula Cafe, I came across a sandwich of dreams. No, this wasn’t some meat-filled cardiac-arresting behemoth, but it seemed to good to be true. The name was Roast Turkey, but that didn’t begin to tell the tale of what would lie beneath the slices of bread. This sandwich was composed of turkey, guacamole, bacon and provolone. Not a vegetable in sight. I had to ask the woman at the counter just to be sure that my eyes didn’t deceive me. She told me it came as noted on the menu, with nary a tomato or lettuce leaf thrown in. I ordered it immediately.

Then came the hard part.

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10/1/2009 Boston

Tasting the Coast at Legal Sea Foods

Just cant get away from the veggies.
Just cant get away from the veggies.

After hearing so much about seafood in Boston, we finally got the chance to test it out with a visit to Legal Sea Foods. We were told it was a “very Boston” thing to do, and that was really all we had to hear.

When we arrived and saw that there are Legal Sea Foods restaurants located all over the East Coast, we a were a little disappointed. I guess it wasn’t simply a Boston thing. Still, I could not penalize the restaurant for someone else leading me on.

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9/30/2009 Boston

Making My Way in the World at the Cheers Bar

Where nobody knew my name...
Where nobody knew my name…

One of the most important places for my seemingly elderly girlfriend to visit while we were in Boston was the Cheers Bar, which is exactly what it sounds like; the bar that the TV show Cheers was based on. Never mind the fact that she wasn’t yet born when the show began, it has remained one of her favorite shows.

Upon entering, the bar looks exactly like it did in the show, except it wasn’t filled the characters we know and love. The menu wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, although I didn’t expect it to be.

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