The Unvegan

11/12/2009 Reviews Mobile

More First Fridays with the Flying Pig (CLOSED)

Who wouldn't eat from a bright pink truck? — Who wouldn’t eat from a bright pink truck?

EDIT: While the truck is grounded for good, the Flying Pig has spawned some brick and mortar that may or may not be anything like the truck.

For my second course on First Fridays in Abbot Kinney, I headed out to one of LA’s newest food trucks, the Flying Pig. When I first read about this Mexican-French fusion truck, I wasn’t too amazed by what I read. Fusing Mexican food with Asian is one thing, but to try to fuse it with French as well seemed like a strange niche that I didn’t need to explore. Lo and behold, my opinion changed when I saw the truck and the happy customers outside of it.

Abbot Kinney Duck First Fridays Flying Pig Food Trucks French Meat Mexican Mobile Taco Trucks Venice

11/11/2009 Reviews Mobile

First Fridays with the South Philly Experience

Seems like it would be hard to drive with that sign... — Seems like it would be hard to drive with that sign…

Sometimes, following LA’s food trucks on Twitter can be a difficult process. If you don’t have a Twitter account or a smartphone, then it gets even harder (seriously, not having Twitter or a smartphone is soooo 2008). Luckily for those who fight the future of technology, there is a little event on the first Friday of every month on Abbot Kinney in Venice creatively called First Fridays. These nights are the best opportunity to experience LA’s food truck culture.

One truck I’ve been trying to find for a while happened to be there. It’s called South Philly Experience (SPE) and dishes out Philly Cheese Steaks, plus a couple other random East Coast faves like Tastykakes. The menu was as basic as you’d expect from a food truck, offering a couple varieties of sandwiches, but I only wanted the original. I ordered as specified on the menu, “witout” onions and “wit” Cheez Wiz, as I’ve heard the Wiz is Philly’s top choice for cheese steaks.

Abbot Kinney Cheez Wiz First Fridays Food Trucks Los Angeles Meat Mobile Philly Cheese Steak South Philly Experience Venice

11/10/2009 Reviews Culver City

Poor Execution at BJ’s Brewhouse

I was especially excited when a BJ’s Brewhouse opened in Culver City. Los Angeles is known as a city short on craft and microbrews, and although BJ’s is a big chain, I hoped it would fill a much-neglected gap in beer and microbrewery food.

To start out the meal I ordered their Harvest Hefeweizen. Hef has never let me down in the past, so I expected it wouldn’t again. I was wrong. This was the sweetest beer that has ever tried to pass for a real beer. Don’t get me wrong, I think a Strongbow Cider or a Leinenkugel’s Berryweiss can be very refreshing on a hot summer day, but those beers are composed of fruit and you know what you’re getting when you order them. Sure, hefeweizen isn’t the most bitter beer, but BJ’s attempt at it tasted like they accidentally spilled a carton of sugar into my beer.

Beer BJ's Brewhouse Burgers Culver City Fox Hills Hamburgers Los Angeles Microbrewery Pizza Restaurants Westfield

11/9/2009 Heroes and Villains

Vicki Larrieux: Unvegan Hero

Oh no it's a veggie! — Oh no it’s a veggie!

A lot of unvegans avoid vegetables due to ethical or taste-related reasons, but for some, the hatred goes much deeper. Vicki Larrieux is one of these people. Not content just disliking vegetables, Larrieux has actually developed a phobia for vegetables.

Heroes and Villains Lachanophobia Phobias Vegetables Vicki Larrieux

11/9/2009 Reviews Culver City

A Late-Night Feast at Johnnie’s Pastrami

Every once in a while, it’s good that the Taco Bell nearest to me isn’t 24-hours. If it weren’t for that, I never would have gone to Johnnie’s Pastrami and found one of the greatest sandwiches in the world. Located in Culver City, Johnnie’s is open 24 hours and ready to serve a hungry clientele.

I entered with a group of five and we squeezed into a four-person booth. The not-exactly friendly waitress handed us our menus, but I already knew I would be getting the French Dip Pastrami that is featured in Johnnie’s neon sign. I really only looked at the menu to see the price, which was a surprising $10.50 for the sandwich. I guess breaking out of the Taco Bell comfort zone also risks spending more money. I asked the waitress if the sandwich was just the meat and bread, and she said yes. Not even onions. Perhaps I had died and gone to heaven.

Au Jus Culver City French Dip Johnnie's Pastrami Late-Night Meat Pastrami Restaurants Sandwiches

11/6/2009 Rants and Raves

PETA Kills Cats

A recent article in the Washington Post might, on the surface, seem to be good publicity for PETA, but anyone who reads the article between the lines can see what is really happening. The article talks about the fanatical lives of PETA interns. You know, how they stuff envelopes, hand out pamphlets and umm cover themselves in fake blood.

Cats Lydia Netzer PETA

11/6/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Getting Spicy at Agra Indian Kitchen

With one of those strange restaurant.com gift certificates in hand, my girlfriend and I set off to try Agra Indian Kitchen in Venice. Kitchen is an appropriate name for the place because it was only slightly larger than a kitchen. Luckily, though, one table was open when we arrived and we were seated immediately.

The menu looked pretty good, despite its massive vegetarian section. I was stuck in the bread are for a long time, trying to figure out which sort of naan or other bread we should get to start the meal. In the end, we kept it pretty simple with garlic naan , but also experimented with some cheese naan. The cheese naan was kind of like an Indian version of a quesadilla. There wasn’t a ton of cheese in it, but the bread was like an edible pillow, in a good way.

Agra Indian Kitchen Chicken Indian Los Angeles Meat Naan Restaurant.com Restaurants Tandoori Venice

11/5/2009 Strange Eats

Strange Meats: Mongolian Mutton

They have no idea what's coming. — They have no idea what’s coming.

Some of you may be wondering where I got that amazing picture of a sheep in the back of a car. The answer lies in this entry.

Now, mutton isn’t inherently a strange meat. Lamb chops, lamb gyros and lamb meatballs can be found all over the USA. It’s most definitely one of the top meats consumed in the USA, but the mutton I ate in the far east wasn’t normal by any means.

My day in Inner Mongolia, China, began just as any other. My Chinese friend was cracking jokes as he always does, but this time he made a joke about how we Americans would be catching our own dinner that night. This was a scary thought, but as we embarked on our journey for the day, I forgot about it while lost in thought in the Inner Mongolian countryside. Now and then, we would pass flocks of sheep, walking around and eating everything they could see. Then, we stopped at one of the flocks.

“It’s time,” my friend said.

Asia BBQ China Inner Mongolia Lamb Mongolian BBQ Mutton Sheep Strange Eats Travel

11/4/2009 Reviews Manhattan Beach

Hanging Out at Sloopy’s

A not-so-well known sandwich place in Manhattan Beach goes by the name of Sloopy’s. I’m not sure how they decided on that name, but as long as it isn’t related to the state of Ohio, I’m cool with it. When you first walk into the place, you realize that you’re pretty much still outdoors, only there are walls around you. As for the ceiling, part is covered with a greenhouse-esque roof, but the rest is open to the world. Oh, the joy of living in a place where you don’t have to worry about rain. There is a menu stuck to one of the walls and a counter to order from. The sandwiches mostly involved a whole load of vegetables, so I ordered the one sandwich that looked like it would retain some substance after being ripped free of veggies: the Bar-B-Q Chicken Sandwich. For some reason, this sandwich was fried, but since I’m not exactly a health advocate, I accepted it for what it was.

BBQ Chicken Los Angeles Manhattan Beach Meat Restaurants Sandwiches Sloopy's

11/3/2009 Reviews San Diego

Happy Hour Appetizers at Urban Bar & Grill

Who wouldn't want stabbed pineapple? — Who wouldn’t want stabbed pineapple?

On a short trip down to San Diego to visit a friend, I only ended up having time for one meal, so I wanted to make it good. I was told the Gas Lamp area was a great part of town to find some grub, so we took a stroll through that part of downtown to see what we could find.

After checking out a couple menus prominently displayed outside of restaurants, we chose Urban Bar & Grill, mostly because they had a pretty great happy hour going on. Aside from some pretty swanky drink specials, all appetizers were half-priced. We took our seats at the lovely outdoor patio and opened our menus. Even though the main courses looked good, I knew I had to stick to the awesomely priced appetizers.

Appetizers Buffalo Wings California Chicken Gas Lamp Happy Hour Meat Restaurants San Diego Thai Travel Urban Bar & Grill

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