It’s pretty rare, but sometimes it’s good to break free of Mexican fast-food and slow, yet still greasy Mexican food. To make this jump, I went to the Border Grill in Santa Monica and attempted to class-up my Mexican repertoire.

They actually had a surprisingly welcome selection of unvegan options and I was torn between a few of the dishes. The steep prices may have ended up playing a role in my final selection, which was still pretty pricey at $15. This was one of their specials, the Chicken Adobo Quesadilla. Adobo is a great seasoning, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong. It came with manchego, panela and cotija cheeses inside, and mizuna salad, salsa fresca, guacamole and sour cream on the outside. I ordered mine without the mizuna salad and although I’m not entirely sure what “mizuna” means, I know it involved vegetables I didn’t want to eat.

When my quesadilla arrived, I was perturbed by the dilapidated greens resting upon my meal. Usually I can kind of understand that garnishings make foods look prettier, but whatever greens were laying atop my quesadilla made it look wholly unappetizing. I scraped these miscreants from my food and tried to forget about them as I ate my meal.

The quesadilla was quite good, especially topped with guacamole. There was also a nice selection of salsas on the table that I was able to taste with the quesadilla. Unfortunately, it was unable to live up to the $15 price tag. Maybe ten bucks would be doable, but considering all the cheap Mexican food LA has to offer, I won’t be dropping $15 on a quesadilla again anytime soon.

It’s been a while since I’ve written about one of my strange meat escapades, so here’s a new one.

Hiking in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines, I got to experience some of the freshest food I’ve ever eaten. Along the way, I stayed in local homes and ate the way that the locals ate. I quickly learned that Chicken Adobo is a local specialty and although adobo can be found throughout the Latin American world, I found it to be a bit different in the Philippines.

As I hiked, I passed chickens all over the place; in fields, along the path, and in courtyards. But I knew something the chickens didn’t: one of them was going to be my dinner.

One night, as I was sitting around and waiting for my meal, I saw a local grab a chicken and bring it to the slaughter. I had always been under the impression that chickens are slaughtered by cutting their heads off (check this out), and then they run around for a while without their heads. Apparently this isn’t true everywhere, because when my chicken adobo for the night was brought to me, I found a little something interesting in my bowl. It wasn’t the chicken feet or various organs (I was used to these by now), it was the chicken head that surprised me. Mainly the surprise was how similar it looked to a live chicken head, except it was covered in sauce.

I was mildly disgusted, but I got over it quickly. The chicken adobo was just too good, and maybe a little of that taste had been enhanced by the chicken brain itself, which I may or may not have eaten.