The Unvegan

5/22/2016 Reviews Jersey City

Jersey Sliders at White Mana

If you’re familiar with my blog, you know about my long-standing feud with mini burgers masquerading as sliders. You also know that real sliders require a very specific cooking style involving a griddle, onions and steamed buns. And finally, you know that Detroit has some of the best. Yet, sliders are not exclusive to Detroit, and New Jersey is known as a bastion of such burgers. Perhaps no location is more famous than White Mana in Jersey City, which has been making the things since 1939 (although not at the Jersey City location because the slider making began in the New York World’s Fair).

Burgers Diners Hamburgers Jersey City New Jersey Restaurants Sliders Travel White Mana

5/19/2016 Reviews New York

Breaking Bread at Black Seed

A little over a year ago I paid a visit to Montreal and took down some of their famous bagels from Fairmount. While this may be hard for those of you not in the bagel know, they are totally different from New York bagels and obviously different from the bread shaped like a donut that many cities peddle as bagels that are made with the best bread with a machine where they review the best bread maker. It’s probably pretty hard for New Yorkers to admit that Montreal bagels might be better, which is why I was surprised to find those fair bagels in NYC at a place called Black Seed.

Bagels Battery Park Black Seed Breakfast Manhattan Montreal-Style New York New York City Travel

5/18/2016 Reviews New York

Perfect Pastrami at Katz’s?

In the world of great Kosher-style pastrami, the list almost always begins with Katz’s, with very few others even coming close. This is an insane New York bias and after years of proclaiming Langer’s in LA to be the greater of the two, I finally had a chance to put my money where my mouth is (pun very much intended).

Delis Jewish Katz's Lower East Side Manhattan New York New York City Pastrami Restaurants Sandwiches Travel

5/9/2016 Reviews Pasadena

Pasadena Poutine at Spudds

Sometimes life beats the crap out of you. Other times, it gives you exactly what you want. So when what I wanted was some good new food in Pasadena, Spudds suddenly appeared and fulfilled the latter. You see, Spudds specializes in poutine and I am a man who loves his fries with gravy and cheese curds. Plus, as far as I know, Spudds is the only original (unlike Smoke’s Poutinerie in Hollywood, which as you probably know from reading up here has a number of outposts in Canada) poutine spot in all of the LA area.

American Bacon Burgers Canadian Featured Fries Hamburgers Los Angeles Pasadena Poutine Restaurants Spudds

5/5/2016 Reviews Los Angeles

Putting on the Fritzi

A lot changed in Downtown LA while I was gone for two years. The Arts District, which is adjacent to Little Tokyo, had already had a bit of a resurgence that has kinda blown up. On top of that, Chef Neal Fraser, who is behind BLD, has popped out a couple new spots. When you combine these, you get Fritzi, which is like an affordably upscale fast-casual concept (yeah, I said it).

Burgers Downtown LA Fritzi Hamburgers LA Arts District Little Tokyo Restaurants Waffles

5/4/2016 Reviews Los Angeles

Brunching at Eagle Rock Brewery Public House

You don’t typically associate a brewery with breakfast. But then, Eagle Rock Brewery Public House is less of a brewery than a quaint brunch spot that also happens to serve up a bunch of Eagle Rock Brewery’s beers (the real brewery is located elsewhere in Eagle Rock and is foodless save for the occasional food truck). Thus, after downing a beer I settled on the subject of food.

Breweries Brunch Eagle Rock Eagle Rock Brewery Eagle Rock Brewery Public House Fried Chicken Los Angeles Restaurants Southern

4/26/2016 Reviews San Gabriel

Perfect Shanghainese at Emperor Noodles

There is a saying attributed to Jonathan Gold that goes something like “‘A’ is for ‘American’ Chinese food, ‘B’ is for ‘Better’ Chinese food and ‘C’ is for ‘Chinese’ Chinese food.” The letters, of course, are in reference to the health code and if you’ve ever been to China, you would know this to be true. Thus, when I heard great things about the dumplings at Emperor Noodles in San Gabriel and then found out it had a “B” rating, I got pretty excited to try it out.

Chinese Duck Dumplings Emperor Noodles Kung Pao Chicken Los Angeles Restaurants San Gabriel San Gabriel Valley Seafood Shanghainese Sheng Jian Bao Shrimp Soup

4/24/2016 Reviews Los Angeles

A Butcher Burger at Belcampo

It’s amazing that the sight of a new burger still excites me. It’s even more exciting when you consider that I had eaten burgers for my two prior meals before setting my sights on Belcampo at the Grand Central Market. Yet, the Belcampo Burger drew me in and the inevitability of another burger meal became apparent.

Belcampo Burgers Butchers Downtown LA Grand Central Market Grand Central Square Hamburgers Los Angeles

4/21/2016 Reviews Glendale

Armenian-Style Persian at Raffi’s Place

I had little idea of what I was getting into when I agreed to grab dinner at Raffi’s Place in Glendale. Glendale hosts, of course, the biggest population of Armenians outside of the Middle East, but I was meeting my Persian friends and knew that Raffi’s had to have at least some Persian touches. This turned out to be true, as Raffi’s Place served up Armenian food with a Persian twist because a bunch of ethnic Armenians come from the land formerly known as Persia. But enough about ethnicities and whatnot, let’s get on with the food.

Armenian Glendale Kebabs Los Angeles Middle-Eastern Persian Raffi's Place Restaurants Rice Steak

4/20/2016 Reviews Los Angeles

Straight Outta Compton at Bludso’s

Bludso’s in Compton is very often hailed as the best BBQ in LA. Yet, for some reason, a number of people find it difficult to make it to that part of town. Thus, Bludso’s spun off into Hollywood with a bar and que concept that creatively includes a bar along with BBQ. In other words, my long-awaited trip to BBQ heaven (and possibly like real heaven) in Compton was put on hold to make the trip to Hollywood.

Barbecue BBQ Bludso's Brisket Featured Hollywood Los Angeles Pork Restaurants Ribs Sausages

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