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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2/20/2009 Las Vegas

Rio’s Carnival World Buffet

To this little unvegan, few things are more incredible than a buffet. Where else can a man choose from such a vast collection of meat products? Whoa, are there vegetables in the general vicinity of this chicken dish? Too bad, I guess I’ll just move on to the next one. A buffet is a place of choice and almost literally a microcosm of the fulfillment of the American Dream.

As the dream goes, there is no greater collection of delicious buffets than in Las Vegas. It’s no stretch to think of Vegas as the buffet Mecca, and the Kaaba in this Mecca must surely be Rio’s Carnival World Buffet.

When I was seated, I didn’t even take the time to sit down, as I just threw my jacket on my seat to begin my feast.

Round 1: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and a meatball.

Round 1
Round 1

There was no need to take it slowly. It is a fact that it takes twenty minutes for the mind to realize that the stomach is full, so I had to get as much food as I could before my crazy stomach decided it was full. Since I had been drinking all day, I went straight for the fried food. The fried chicken was a good heavy hitter to coat my stomach. The mashed potatoes were great as a side, featuring a healthy amount of butter and even some cheese. The single meatball stood strong for a loner, while the only disappointment was the mac and cheese, which needed a lot of salt and loving.

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2/18/2009 Mobile

Taco Truck at Venice and Centinela

"No onions" got lost in translation...
“No onions” got lost in translation…

When eating at a taco truck, I am typically drunk and there are few demands that have to be met. One of those demands is that my food have no vegetables, the other is that the food is edible. When I recently ventured out to the Taco Truck at Venice and Centinela, I was in for a rude surprise.

I stumbled up to the window to place my order. When I inquired about the ingredients in the chicken quesadilla, I was told that there were no vegetables. Then, I asked about the carne asada taco, which I was told came with onions. I asked the lady for no onions, and to make it offensively clear, I also said, “no cebollas” (cebolla being the spanish word for onion).

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2/17/2009 El Segundo

The Hummus Factory

Nothing compliments a sandwich quite like fries.
Nothing compliments a sandwich quite like fries.

Situated just off the main stretch of downtown El Segundo is The Hummus Factory. The name is really false advertising because it certainly is not a factory and also makes a lot more than just hummus. To be precise, they should have named it The Middle-Eastern Restaurant.

When it came time to order, I chose the Chicken Kabob Sandwich, which I assumed would be like schwarma. The only things that stood in my path to an unvegan lunch were cabbage and pickles, which I made sure to order without. The sandwich also came with salad or fries and I (surprisingly) opted for the fries. To top it off, I got a side of hummus in the expectation that the rest of my food would not quench my unvegan hunger. That proved to be a wise choice.

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2/13/2009 Los Angeles

In-N-Out Burger

It’s no 4×4, but it’ll do.

California has more than its fair share of things to claim for itself. The state is proud of these things. Some (like skateboarding) for no apparent reason, but others are good reason to give California bragging rights. One of these things is In-N-Out Burger, the fast food that never fails to please.

In-N-Out breaks the rules of the traditional fast food restaurants. Even people who say they don’t eat fast food go to In-N-Out. Their menu is so basic that they need a secret menu to make people happy. The drive-thru lines protrude so far beyond the land that has been zoned to them that they have people walk outside to take orders. So it’s a pretty unique place, but what about the food?

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2/11/2009 Beverly Hills

Silk Thai Cuisine

In the Hills of Beverly, there lies a restaurant called Silk Thai Cuisine. A friend of mine recommended it, so I went with a couple friends of mine. Despite the initial trauma of trying to find the restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard when there are somehow two Santa Monica Boulevards, we arrived in one piece.

You know it's good curry when it's orange.
You know it’s good curry when it’s orange.

The menu was littered with all sort of Thai goodies, and my eyes immediately went to the Panang Curry, which is Thai curry mixed with coconut milk, peanuts, basil and kaffir leaves. There was also a choice of vegetables, tofu, chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, calamari, salmon, seafood or scallop. Despite the initial setback of vegetables and tofu, they offered a nice array of unvegan additions. I decided to keep it simple and went with the beef. Because we were in a group, though, we decided to get our food “family style,” so we each ordered a dish to split. This was unfortunate for my lifestyle, because I have no other friends with a diet that excludes vegetables. My “friends” chose to order the Pad Thai with Chicken and Basil Chicken. On top of that, we each got our own little bowls of rice.

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2/9/2009 Buellton

The Hitching Post II

It's not BBQ, but it sure is a steak.
It’s not BBQ, but it sure is a steak.

Hidden away in the city of Buellton in Santa Barbara County is popular little restaurant called The Hitching Post II. This, of course, is the sequel to The Hitching Post I. I don’t know when restaurants started getting sequels, but I hoped this sequel was more along the lines of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze than Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.

They claim to have the world’s best BBQ, which I had my doubts about, having eaten BBQ in Kansas City. Nonetheless, I ordered the 10 oz. Prime Top Sirloin Steak, cooked medium, which is from Cornfed Midwestern Beef (does this make the meat eerily similar to corned beef?). The steak came with a choice of rice pilaf, mashed potatoes and french fries. I went with the fries because of of the winos from nearby Los Olivos recommended them. Next was the tricky part, because it also came with a choice of soup, salad and shrimp cocktail (I got to choose two).

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2/6/2009 El Segundo

El Tarasco

Before they went soft.
Before they went soft.

Taco Tuesday came around again and I found myself at a divey little Mexican restaurant in El Segundo, called El Tarasco.

Hoping to find a great taco deal like $5 all-you-can-eat or $1 tacos, I was instead shown a menu that listed all the daily combos. Tuesday’s special was three tacos with chicken, ground beef, beans or chunky beef with medium drink. It’s seemingly a good deal until you look at the price: $6.50! These had better be damn good tacos. In an attempt to get variety, I ordered one chicken, one ground beef and one chunky beef. There was no need for me to waste precious stomach space on a bean taco. Remembering the drama from my last taco Tuesday, I made sure to order without lettuce, regardless of whether it already came with it.

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2/4/2009 Los Angeles

Ciccero’s Pizza

This means meaty business.
This means meaty business.

One day, a Ciccero’s Pizza menu from Pico and La Cienega was discovered on the door of my friend’s apartment. I happened to be at the apartment at the time and we decided to give the place a try. They were offering a 2-for-1 deal, so I opted for the All Meat Special, featuring a delightful spread of pepperoni, salami, sausage and ham. My foolish friends decided they would get the Vegetarian Special, which contained gross, gross and even more gross. I laughed as they placed their order, contented in the fact that they could never be as happy as me.

The pizza was delivered in about a half-hour. I opened up a pizza and stumbled backwards as the stench of a multitude of vegetables invaded my olfactory senses.

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2/2/2009 Los Angeles

Gaby’s Mediterranean

Green-free schwarma.
Green-free schwarma.

A friend of mine recommended Gaby’s Mediterranean in Palms, so I thought I would check it out. They have a great outdoor seating area, so I was sure to grab one of those tables to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having in LA.

When I arrived and took a look at the menu, I was a little taken aback. Despite having many countries along its coast, I have always associate Mediterranean food with being predominantly Greek. Of course, Mediterranean could cover anything from Spanish to Egyptian, and in this case, I found the food to be quite Lebanese. I was surprised because I typically consider Lebanese food to be Middle-Eastern, but I was also happy because I’ve always liked Lebanese food. Did I say Lebanese enough in the last few sentences?

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1/28/2009 Los Angeles

C & O Trattoria

So much better with added meat.
So much better with added meat.

Italian food is often a difficult food to spend a lot of money on. It is hard to justify dropping $15 on a meal when I can easily boil pasta, microwave some Classico sauce and sprinkle some parmesan on top. C & O Trattoria, however, is a place that exceeds anything I could provide in my own kitchen.

The ambience itself makes you feel like you really walked into a restaurant in Italy, with outdoor seating, a fountain and strings of lights. Even the walls are painted to make it feel like you are sitting out on the street rather than inside a restaurant. I took my seat and started looking at the menu when the waiter began bringing out my unlimited garlic knots. The waiter could hardly bring them out fast enough for me to eat them.

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