The Unvegan

1/12/2009 Reviews Turkey

Turkish Food Week, Part I: Pide

Having just returned from a vacation in Turkey, I have decided to do a series of posts regarding my unvegan experiences abroad. Today’s review is about “pide” (pronounced pee-day), also called Turkish Pizza.

Maybe they should call this the "Turkish Calzone" — Maybe they should call this the “Turkish Calzone”

Eating something called Turkish Pizza really seems like a misnomer to me. I’m not sure if it is Turkey’s take on pizza, or perhaps they found that calling it Turkish Pizza makes it more approachable for visitors who may not have ever heard of “pide”. Either way, my first pide looked nothing at all like pizza. I got it at the Karadeniz Aile Pide & Kebap Sofrasi in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul. It was called the pide with spicy meat pieces and the waiter told me the meat was beef. When it came, it looked more like a calzone than a pizza, and true to it’s word, it was full of meat pieces. The pieces, however, were not spicy, as I think they meant to write “spiced meat pieces.” Regardless, it was delicious and made me want more.

Food Meat Mediterranean Middle-Eastern Pide Pizza Restaurants Travel Turkey Turkish

1/9/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Hop Li

It's always fun removing vegetables with chopsticks. — It’s fun removing vegetables with chopsticks.

When the world shuts down on Christmas, there is only one kind of restaurant that can be counted on to stay open, the Chinese kind. With this in mind, I ventured out to West LA, to a restaurant called Hop Li. The name sounded good, since I couldn’t think of any way to make fun of it. After a decent wait (a good sign!), I was seated and leafed through the vast menu, finally settling on the Mango Chicken.

In a momentary unvegan brain fart, I completely forgot to ask the waiter to hold the vegetables.

Chinese Food Los Angeles Meat Restaurants West LA

1/7/2009 Reviews Hawthorne

Costco

While most people associate Costco with huge quantities of products, I like to think of it as a great place to grab a quick bite to eat.

Beyond the free samples, Costco actually has somewhat of a restaurant, offering a few cheap meals, from chicken bakes to pizza.

By far, the best deal to be had is the hot dog combo, which is a 1/4 pound Kosher beef dog, with a drink for $1.50, but sometimes that isn’t enough. On my most recent trip to the Costco in Manhattan Beach, I also helped myself to a huge slice of pepperoni pizza. These deals are not just available to Costco members, but to anyone from the unvegan world.

American Food Hawthorne Hot Dogs Italian Meat National Chains Pizza

1/5/2009 Reviews El Segundo

Mandy’s Family Restaurant

You know it's family-style because the bread is crustless. — You know it’s family-style because the bread is crustless.

On a recent lunch excursion from work, I found myself at Mandy’s Family Restaurant in El Segundo. Off of the main strip of Main Street, Mandy’s is a little gem tucked away into the corner of a strip mall.

As I walked in, I saw a sign proclaiming the lunch special of the day, a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes, gravy and a soft drink. I kept this special in mind as I sat down and perused the massive menu. Everything looked good, but I remained intrigued by the turkey sandwich. My friend had mentioned that the seasoned fries were amazing, so I asked my waitress whether they were better than the mashed potatoes and she agreed with my friend. I made the substitution and awaited my meal.

American El Segundo Food Mandy's Family Restaurant Meat Restaurants Sandwiches

1/2/2009 Reviews El Segundo

Whole Foods Market

Despite all of my kicking and screaming and my best attempts to avoid it, I found myself stuck at Whole Foods Market in El Segundo with some colleagues for lunch.

If I ate fiber, the very concept of Whole Foods would go against every fiber of my being. It takes seemingly untouchable products like potato chips and makes them healthy (tasteless). This Whole Foods in particular jumped to a whole new level of anti-unvegan, offering all sorts of food cooked-to-order. I got chills as I walked by what I believe was an entire olive bar, but I was afraid to make eye contact for fear of burning my retinas. I shuddered as I walked past the multiple salad bars and finally made it to what seemed like a safe haven, the Mexican section. The Ranchero Burrito, with carne asada, looked like a decent unvegan choice, so I ordered mine with cheese, salsa, rice and beans, being careful to avoid the Pico de Gallo and potentially dangerous greens.

American El Segundo Food Los Angeles Meat Mexican National Chains Whole Foods Market

12/31/2008 Reviews Los Angeles

Canter’s Deli

Another LA landmark restaurant that has managed to evade me since I have lived here is Canter’s Deli, located at Fairfax and 3rd Street. Canter’s is a good old-fashioned Jewish-style deli, heavy on meat and character.

Their menu is immense, but the best way I know to judge a Jewish deli is the pastrami. As goes the pastrami, so goes the deli. Canter’s offers a hot pastrami sandwich, which I promptly ordered after the waitress told me it was simply pastrami and rye, without any wasted add-ons.

Canter's Deli Delis Food Jewish Late-Night Los Angeles Meat Pastrami Restaurants Sandwiches

12/29/2008 Reviews Culver City

Cinco de Mayo

Now that's what I call a taco. — Now that’s what I call a taco.

Tucked into the corner of Sepulveda and Washington in Culver City lies one of LA’s best-kept secrets: Cinco de Mayo. Although overshadowed by the incomprehensibly more popular Tito’s Tacos, which it happens to sit right next to, Cinco de Mayo has much more to offer.

The menu spans the walls of the restaurant and offers just about every Mexican dish one could imagine. On top of that, they also offer hamburgers and other random American things like fries.

On a typical visit to Cinco de Mayo, I will order the Mexican Nachos, which contains some of the greatest ingredients known to unvegans (carne asada, cheese, guacamole, salsa and enchilada sauce). On this particular eve I wasn’t feeling too hungry, so I ordered a hard-shell chicken taco, without lettuce. The perfectly-fried culinary concoction came quickly, served with a nice helping of chips. I bit in and my unvegan senses yelped in glee.

Culver City Food Meat Mexican Restaurants

12/26/2008 Reviews Los Angeles

Hide Sushi

Check out those pieces with just fish. Yeah. Those are mine.

As a warning, I am not one of those people who gets crazy cravings for sushi or thinks of sushi as some amazing dish that has to be eaten weekly. In fact, I am still waiting for the “sushi fad” to fade away like Pogs, skateboarding and the pet rock did years ago.

Despite this, I found myself in need of an afternoon snack in that crazy Japanese strip of West LA. My friend recommended Hide Sushi, and I complied. My unvegan diet doesn’t leave too much room for sushi, especially if you consider seaweed a vegetable, so I avoided the rolls and ordered the basic yellowtail over rice from the menu.

Sushi doesn’t take too long to make, so I didn’t have to wait too long to fill my mid-afternoon void. I filled my little bowl with soy sauce and a healthy dose of wasabi before dipping my sushi in.Â

Japanese Restaurants Seafood Sushi West LA

12/24/2008 Reviews Culver City

Chipotle

Corn is nothing more than an indigestible grain.

In the past few years, Chipotle has burst onto the Mexican fast food scene. The layout of the restaurant and apparent freshness has quickly made even the most healthy forget that it was created once owned by McDonald’s.

Luckily, the unvegan in me has not forgotten this and I embrace the unhealthiness of Chipotle with the voracity of a reckless child with the metabolism of a horse.

Last time I had Chipotle, I went to one in Culver City and ordered their signature meal, the burrito. One of the beauties of Chipotle is their assembly line style of burrito-making. They have certainly come a long way since Henry Ford.

Culver City Fast Food Franchises Meat Mexican National Chains Restaurants

12/22/2008 Reviews Los Angeles

The Apple Pan

This is what a hamburger looks like when it comes from an apple pan.

Although few and far between, old-fashioned hamburger joints still exist in LA. One of these is the Apple Pan, which opened in 1947, so you know it’s good.

When I walked in, the place was packed and every seat at the boardroom meeting-style counter was taken. There was no waiting list, so we had to find a couple diners to stand behind in the hopes that they would leave soon.

Our gamble paid off and we were soon able to take our seats. The menu is a pretty basic one, and my friend suggested the hickoryburger, which sounded good, if not mildly 19th-century presidential.

American Burgers Food Hamburgers Los Angeles Meat Restaurants West LA

Featured Posts

A Touch of Canada at The Kroft

The Best of 2015

Duluth Grill’s Rolled Flank Steak

A Torta at Tortugas