BBQ – Page 8 – The Unvegan

11/5/2009 Strange Eats

Strange Meats: Mongolian Mutton

They have no idea what's coming. — They have no idea what’s coming.

Some of you may be wondering where I got that amazing picture of a sheep in the back of a car. The answer lies in this entry.

Now, mutton isn’t inherently a strange meat. Lamb chops, lamb gyros and lamb meatballs can be found all over the USA. It’s most definitely one of the top meats consumed in the USA, but the mutton I ate in the far east wasn’t normal by any means.

My day in Inner Mongolia, China, began just as any other. My Chinese friend was cracking jokes as he always does, but this time he made a joke about how we Americans would be catching our own dinner that night. This was a scary thought, but as we embarked on our journey for the day, I forgot about it while lost in thought in the Inner Mongolian countryside. Now and then, we would pass flocks of sheep, walking around and eating everything they could see. Then, we stopped at one of the flocks.

“It’s time,” my friend said.

Asia BBQ China Inner Mongolia Lamb Mongolian BBQ Mutton Sheep Strange Eats Travel

11/4/2009 Reviews Manhattan Beach

Hanging Out at Sloopy’s

A not-so-well known sandwich place in Manhattan Beach goes by the name of Sloopy’s. I’m not sure how they decided on that name, but as long as it isn’t related to the state of Ohio, I’m cool with it. When you first walk into the place, you realize that you’re pretty much still outdoors, only there are walls around you. As for the ceiling, part is covered with a greenhouse-esque roof, but the rest is open to the world. Oh, the joy of living in a place where you don’t have to worry about rain. There is a menu stuck to one of the walls and a counter to order from. The sandwiches mostly involved a whole load of vegetables, so I ordered the one sandwich that looked like it would retain some substance after being ripped free of veggies: the Bar-B-Q Chicken Sandwich. For some reason, this sandwich was fried, but since I’m not exactly a health advocate, I accepted it for what it was.

BBQ Chicken Los Angeles Manhattan Beach Meat Restaurants Sandwiches Sloopy's

9/25/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Sampling My Way to Rotisserie Works (CLOSED)

I love it when sides are bigger than the main course.

For a pre-movie dinner, I found myself at the Century City food court once again and looking for something new. Some of the competitors in the food court have found the best way to bring in new customers: sampling.

I will sample almost anything put in front of me, as long as it has no vegetable qualities. You wouldn’t buy a car without giving it a test drive, so why buy a meal without knowing how it will taste? Well obviously, this isn’t always possible, but when it is I think it’s great to take advantage.

The Rotisserie Works offered me a sample of their Hawaiian BBQ chicken and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a nice sweet BBQ taste with the hint of some pineapple-like fruit. After a few other tastes, I decided the Hawaiian chicken would be filling my belly that evening. The order of chicken came with two sides, and I looked at the menu with mild distaste. All but two of the sides had words like “squash,” and “spinach,” so I ordered their mashed potatoes and mac and cheese.

BBQ Century City Chicken Food Hawaiian Los Angeles Malls Meat Restaurants Rotisserie

9/8/2009 Recipes

Hitting the Big Time with Country Bob’s All-Purpose Sauce

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Country Bob’s, Inc., a little company looking to get the word out on their sauce, Country Bob’s All-Purpose Sauce. They loved my blog (obviously) and wanted to send me some free sauce to write about. Being a shameless sell-out, I jumped at the offer.

I researched the company a bit (ie. checked the website) and found that Country Bob gave a whole lot of credit for his success to God. Hey, if athletes can do it, why not sauce-makers? I also found on the website that Christ himself had risen through the ranks of Country Bob’s to become CEO. I’m not sure if he usurped the title from Country Bob himself, but Bob seemed to have no problem putting “Christ is our CEO” on the website.

Love the presence of Christ. In my mouth.

After about a week, my package of sauces came in the mail. I decided a Labor Day BBQ would be the perfect chance to test out the sauce and to get a range of opinions, specifically from my Jewish friends. To complete the holy trinity of monotheistic religions present at the meal, I picked up some Halal ground beef to make burger patties.

BBQ Christ Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce Food Free Halal Jewish Labor Day Meat

9/1/2009 Reviews Manhattan Beach

More Than I Could Handle at Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ (CLOSED)

For lunch one day I headed out to Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ in Manhattan Beach. I had heard that Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers was somehow tied to the restaurant, which actually made me a little worried, but I still wanted some BBQ. The place was pretty small and other than the Lakers championship pennant, there was really nothing else denoting that this was in any way related to Luke Walton. Besides, half the restaurants in LA have Lakers pennants (I later found out that Walton essentially wrote a big fat check to get the place started, but it pretty much runs without him). With this in mind, my fears of a generic BBQ restaurant were slightly assuaged.

Barbecue BBQ Chicken Joey's Smokin' BBQ Lakers Los Angeles Luke Walton Manhattan Beach Meat Restaurants

8/26/2009 Reviews Houston

A Little Taste of Texas at Caritas Ranch Bar-B-Q

With a long layover in Houston, Texas, I needed something to eat. Although eating at a chain would have been a safe bet, I like to live on the edge. I also wanted to make sure I got something unique to Texas. When I found Caritas Ranch Bar-B-Q, I knew I had to have it.

The place didn’t offer much in terms of options for the main course or for sides, but it was an airport so I let it slide. The best-looking thing on the menu to me was the sliced beef sandwich, so I ordered one. I then watched as they sliced the beef right in front of me, threw it on a bun and drizzled BBQ sauce over it. I had to admit, it looked pretty good, despite being cooked in an airport.

Airports BBQ Beef Houston Meat Restaurants Sandwiches Texas Travel

8/6/2009 Reviews South Lake Tahoe

Exercise Food at McP’s Irish Pub & Grill

After a long day of hiking, there’s nothing better for an unvegan than beer and greasy food. Luckily, just a few steps from my hotel in Lake Tahoe, there was a nifty little joint called McP’s Irish Pub & Grill.

We took our seats in the upstairs and outdoors dining area, just outside the doors of a small performance. As we looked at our menus, there was a small child dancing like a crazy person to the sound of the music from within. This was infinitely more entertaining than the menu, but food had to be ordered. There was plenty of good-looking food on the menu, and eventually I decided to get the BBQ Beef Sandwich.

Bar Food BBQ Beer California Cheese Lake Tahoe McP's Irish Pub Meat Restaurants Sandwiches Travel

7/14/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Happy Hour Meats at Gyu-Kaku

In my never-ending quest for the perfect happy hour in LA, I wound up at Gyu-Kaku in West LA for Japanese BBQ. With five minutes left in their Happy Hour, we arrived and were told there was a ten minute wait. Discouraged, we still decided to make the best of it and took our seats after the wait. Our zealous waiter checked his watch as he arrived at the table and disappointedly reminded us that we had just missed happy hour. We told him that we knew, but we had tried to arrive on time and had to wait. Quickly thinking, he told us he was actually a manager and he would give us happy hour prices for our first round of ordering. Score!

Asian BBQ Beer Cooking Food Happy Hour Japanese Los Angeles Meat Restaurants Sukiyaki West LA Yakiniku

7/1/2009 Heroes and Villains

Eric Brocklebank: Unvegan Hero

The American Independence Day is just around the corner, which usually means a weekend of fireworks, BBQs and patriotism. For an unlucky UK man, a recent BBQ traded in fireworks for lightning bolts.

Eric Brocklebank was innocently cooking some sausages when lightning decided to make a rapid pass through his body via a BBQ fork. Miraculously, he survived and had only one thing on his mind: sausages. According to Brocklebank, “I was told the only thing I could say as I was drifting in and out of consciousness was ‘sausages.'”

BBQ Eric Brocklebank Fireworks Heroes and Villains Independence Day July 4th Lightning Patriotism Sausages UK

6/29/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

BBQ the Right Way at Baby Blues BBQ

After attending the LA BBQ Fest, all I wanted to do was find a good BBQ place to go to whenever I wanted to. I heard some great things about Baby Blues BBQ and saw their mac n’ cheese at the BBQ Fest, so I decided to try the place out.

The restaurant looks like a BBQ place should, reminiscent of a shack and nothing fancy by any accounts. The wait to sit inside was pretty long, while outside seating was pretty empty. We decided we may as well sit outside and eat because it would probably take just as long to get our food and eat outside as it would to just wait out there for a table inside. Does that make sense? Well, it does in my head. Anyway, the waitress was there in an instant to offer my girlfriend use of her jacket, which was one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen a waitress do, and she accepted the offer.

Baby Blues BBQ Barbecue BBQ BBQ Fest Brisket Chicken Food Los Angeles Meat Memphis Ribs Restaurants Venice

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