The Unvegan

11/6/2012 Reviews Arusha

At One with the Universal Classic Restaurant

Eventually, I lost my travel companions and came to the realization that I had pretty much exhausted Moshi of all possible interesting foods. I could be wrong, but I definitely knew it was time to move on to Arusha, a bigger city sitting at the edge of the Serengeti that also functions as a jumping off point for Kilimanjaro. Upon arrival, I felt a rumbling in my belly that could only be helped by food. Through wandering the streets of Arusha, I found myself at Universal Classic Restaurant, which had the subtitle: “Feel home away from home.”

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11/5/2012 Reviews Tanzania

Indian Style at Taj Mahal

India has been trading with East Africa for more than a thousand years and the influence can be found all over Moshi and Arusha in Tanzania. As you might expect, this carries over into their food as well. In Moshi, an Indian restaurant called Taj Mahal was cooking some meats on the street during the day that looked so good we had to go for dinner.

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10/25/2012 Reviews

Following Foreigners to The Coffee Shop

Moshi isn’t much of tourist town. Other than being the jumping-off point for Kilimanjaro treks, it doesn’t have much to offer save an interesting afternoon walk. Yet, tourists always need to eat, and it seems that most of them end up at a place called The Coffee Shop. Our guide had mentioned that we might want to check it out and Lonely Planet felt the same way. So, after six days of climbing and eating local food, my climbing partners and I decided it was time to get in touch with our tourist roots. Always you can keep your tea, coffee and sugar fresh and sweet with amazon coffee canister, amazon offers a variety of styles and designs, so you’re sure to find the perfect one for your kitchen

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10/24/2012 Reviews Tanzania

Going Tribal at Chagga Grill

After reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and coming back down to the town of Moshi, I learned a good amount about our guides. One of these things was that they came from a tribe called Chagga. Of course, the mere mention of tribes in Africa elicits images of nomadic people living in the wilderness, but this is simply not the case. In fact, most Chagga are Christian and either farm or live in the city of Moshi. I only mention this because after we returned to Moshi, our guide, Thomas from the mountain went above and beyond to bring us to a place for dinner called Chagga Grill.

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10/23/2012 Events

Mount Kilimanjaro Eats

As some of you loyal followers of mine may or may not know, I recently took a stroll to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The trip included a cook who made some pretty impressive camping food, considering porters were carrying everything. Inevitably, some of the food didn’t fit into my unvegan eating habits, but I ate them anyway, because this was not about eating what I wanted, but about survival in a sense. These were things like cucumber soup, zucchini soup and veggie sauce on pasta. No, they didn’t make we want to eat veggies, but they did hammer home the lesson that hunger truly is the best spice.

Africa Banana Chicken Curry Fries Grilled Cheese Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania

10/22/2012 Reviews Big Bear Lake

A Bachelor Steak at Captain’s Anchorage

My first time up in Big Bear Lake happened to be for my bachelor party. Since I knew little to nothing about what sort of food existed up there, my best man arranged a night out beginning at Captain’s Anchorage, an old-school steakhouse. Steak is unquestionably a man-food, and I was damn happy with the choice of restaurants. Since this was the low season, the clientele was mostly geriatrics and local middle-aged couples, but our group of men was welcomed into the fray.

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10/5/2012 Reviews Malibu

Across the Water at Malibu Inn (CLOSED)

Unlike just about every restaurant I’ve ever been to in Malibu, the Malibu Inn sits on east side of the street without a direct view of the ocean. But with a stage that features musicians like Glen Campbell and a menu by a former Top Chef contestant, the ocean view (or lack thereof) is not the reason people head out to the Malibu Inn. We weren’t there for the music, though, we were there for the “Epic Food” their sign claimed they had.

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10/3/2012 Reviews Marina del Rey

Supreme Sandwiches at Mendocino Farms

There’s nothing worse than walking into a sandwich shop and discovering recycled ideas and sandwiches less inspiring than the local Subway. Okay, that might not be the worst thing, but it’s moderately terrible. Walking into Mendocino Farms, however, is an altogether different experience. Rather than featuring droll, overused sandwiches the amount of delicious-looking sandwiches is almost overwhelming. And I mean that in the best way.

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10/1/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

A Patty at Sunset Junction Coffee Shop

When a place calls itself Sunset Junction Coffee Shop, there is an expectation that it will be a…well…coffee shop. But when the place is over on LA’s hipsterville Silverlake, all rules of normal society are thrown out the window. Rather than a local Starbucks, Sunset Junction Coffee Shop is more like an upscale diner; with booth, shiny white tables and menu to match. But unlike most diners, the menu doesn’t read like a book and was mostly dominated with sandwiches and salads.

Burgers Hamburgers Los Angeles Restaurants Sandwiches Silverlake Sunset Junction Sunset Junction Coffee Shop

9/28/2012 Reviews Cave Creek

Rehearsing El Encanto

By now you are probably tired of me referring to my fiancee. Well, be tired no more, because she will soon be referred to as wife. In fact, one step in that process was a visit to El Encanto in Cave Creek, Arizona. You see, El Encanto has been chosen as the location of our rehearsal dinner. But before that dinner could happen, we decided to take the place for a spin to see what the rehearsal would taste like.

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