The Unvegan

Featured Posts

A Touch of Canada at The Kroft
The Best of 2015
Duluth Grill’s Rolled Flank Steak
A Torta at Tortugas

Attacked by Lettuce at Don Antonio’s

There is an overwhelming amount of green on that plate.
There is an overwhelming amount of green on that plate.

By recommendation, I went to Don Antonio’s in West LA for some nicer Mexican food. Of the possible unvegan burritos, I decided on the Chimichanga, which was simply beans cheese and my choice of meat. I went with beef. To make sure there wouldn’t be any vegetables inside, I asked the waiter, who told me there weren’t, but that there was guacamole and sour cream on the side. While waiting, I snacked on their chips and salsa, which were really good and boded well for my forthcoming meal.

When my food came, he was right and there weren’t any vegetables in my chimichanga, instead, I was dealt something almost as bad. It arrived on a bed of lettuce, which not only intermingled with my guacamole, but also stuck to the crusty shell of my chimichanga.

Unwinding at the House of Blues

How did that celery get there?
How did that celery get there?

After a long day of lines, rides and shows at Disneyland, it’s a great idea to relax before making the long drive back up to Los Angeles. Enter Downtown Disney. While this area spans a huge tract of land, there’s really a surprisingly limited number of restaurant options.

Last time I went, we walked up and down the downtown for what seemed like hours before we decided on the House of Blues. They had a nice outdoor area and the weather was perfect for some outside dining. My friend’s Disney discount also applied here, and even though the prices were pretty reasonable, it made ordering all the more sweet.

Infected Mushroom: Unvegan Heroes

When looking for this song online, I have to say I was quite disappointed to find no official music video and only a couple really uncomfortable home-made music videos. Oh well, at least we have the song to listen to.

Now, Infected Mushroom isn’t the kind of music my unvegan ears usually listen to. The Israeli duo makes some incredibly psychadelic tunes, and that’s not typically my style. Nonetheless, I must give this band credit where it is due.

First off, the band’s name, Infected Mushrooms, conveys the sense of hatred I have for mushrooms. In my mind, all mushrooms are infected, because they infect my unvegan tastebuds with an unsettling taste.

“Does Everybody Hate PETA?”

That was the interesting question was raised by the LA Times recently. It was asked in response to PETA’s attempts to seemingly put an end to dog shows. As a proponent of simply eating animals, I don’t have too much of a say in the matter and my actual opinions of other PETA actions have been been documented in the past. Click here for the article and let me know if you agree with the comments.

Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port at Disneyland

Disnified pasta!
Disnified pasta!

Eating at Disneyland is never an easy matter. There are quite a few options, but they all seem to be painfully overpriced. Luckily, when I go to Disneyland, I do so with an employee of Disney and get to piggy pack on his discount.

Out of the convenience of its proximity to Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, we decided to eat at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port, Disney’s version of Italian. Despite the name of the place, the pizza looked like the worst they had to offer. The cheese looked like plastic and the pepperonis weren’t shaped like Mickey ears (serious disappointment). Also, it was about $7 a slice. Luckily, since Disneyland is made for children (and I have taste buds similar to an eight-year old) there were almost no vegetables to be found.

Screwing the Recession at The Yard (CLOSED)

The recession never looked so good.
The recession never looked so good.

Drink, Eat, Play has been spearheading a “Screw the Recession” effort by finding restaurants to offer 50% promotions while our nation suffers. In other words, if you still have your job, you can get some pretty awesome deals.

Recently, The Yard in Santa Monica was chosen for the 50% promo. I made some reservations and headed there for a semi-early dinner, hoping to take advantage of both happy hour and the promo. Unfortunately, upon arrival I was told that people doing the promo couldn’t partake in happy hour. What the hell? Nonetheless, I stayed the course and chose a couple dishes to split with my girlfriend.

Darius Dugger: Unvegan Hero

Would you accept pickles from this man?
Would you accept pickles from this man?

Whenever I go to Burger King, I make sure to order without any vegetables. Today a friend of mine told me that I am not alone. A man named Darius Dugger has a lawsuit claiming that he ordered a meal without pickles, onions and tomatoes and Burger King failed to give it to him his way.

According to Hamptonroads.com, Dugger had a “severe allergic reaction” to the vegetables. Now I’m not in favor of suing a corporation over an incident like this, especially when he should have looked between the patties before biting in, however, I am proud of him for bringing the incident to national attention.

LA BBQ Festival

LC's had the longest line for some reason...
LC's had the longest line for some reason...

On Sunday, I made my way to the Santa Monica Pier to take part in the unvegan bbq fest 3

unvegan bbq fest 10At $10 a plate, this was not a festival to attend alone. Instead, my friends and I divided up the place to get a few plates and sample each other’s. First, we checked out Southside Market and BBQ from Elgin, unvegan bbq fest 2Texas. They were offering sausage and brisket (combined) sandwiches with no side dish. Despite the fact that the plate came with onions, this place was truly built for unvegans. The sausage was incredible, but the brisket was nothing special. It felt as if the brisket was just kind of forced in order to make the plate worth the $10, because there was no way to tackle two of those sausages.

The Genuine Chinese Experience at Wang Jia

Xiao long bao...Small dragon dumplings?
Xiao long bao…Small dragon dumplings?

Although LA has a pretty cool Chinatown, it’s not really the center of Chinese culture in the area. To got the real experience, you have to take a long ride northeast of the city to the San Gabriel Valley. For some reason, Chinese chose this land to create much more than just a little Chinatown. Driving into it, it almost feels like you teleported to China, as all the signs are written in Chinese and the people almost seem to have made no effort to learn English.

Since I had spent a year living in Shanghai and always missed real Chinese food, one night my friend’s family (they are Chinese) took me out to San Gabriel. We went to a Shanghainese restaurant called Wang Jia (yes, there is more than one kind of Chinese restaurant). The place was packed with Chinese people, which is always a good sign. If the waiter spoke any English, he made no note of it.

cURL error: Could not resolve host: schema-pro.com