The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Sandwiches’

Showy Katsu at Humble Potato

Sweetness.
Sweetness.

Part of me feels like the whole fusion fad is behind us, but that just means that when a new fusion spot appears on the scene and gets good reviews it’s probably worth going to. Thus, the world has Humble Potato in Westchester (and Culver City), which merges Japanese and American food. Fortunately, they offer a whole lot more than potatoes.

Egotistical.
Egotistical.

Nonetheless, we ordered some regular fries and sweet potato fries just to see how humble they would be. Turned out they were pretty humble. Seriously, there was nothing extravagant about either potato as they both put up some solid flavor without trying to do too much.

As for my meal, though, I ordered the Katsu Sando, which is Japanese for chicken cutlet sandwich. It’s typically topped with HP and tonkatsu sauce, as well as some slaw, but I got the slaw on the side for the ladies at dinner with me. I also ordered a fried egg on the top along with some curry on the side for good measure.

Potato-free.
Potato-free.

The sandwich was more than just humble, which is good because it was not a potato. The cutlet was perfectly fried, there was just enough sauce on top and the egg was nice and runny. The curry was even pretty good, but not anything special, plus it was packed with veggies for no good reason. Nonetheless, I had never thought to eat chicken katsu as a sandwich and now I can’t comprehend not having that as an option. In that sense, Humble Potato did me good and I would love to get back and take down one of their Hambagas.

Back to Belcampo, Santa Monica-Style

Literally what it is called.
Literally what it is called.

Once upon a time, I brought you Belcampo’s burger from the Grand Central Market in Downtown LA. It was a solid burger and one that I would absolutely eat again. Yet, when I found myself armed with a gift card sent to me by the good folks at Belcampo themselves*, I just had to make my way to the Santa Monica location for a full-on DineLA Restaurant Week experience.

LA Food Fest 2016

Attaboy Sandwiches - Fried Chicken Sandwich
Attaboy Sandwiches – Fried Chicken Sandwich

It seems like every day brings the world a new food festival. Some may say there are too many, but I say that is crazy talk and then go on my way to eating at another. The LA Food Fest is one of the biggies and took place this past weekend in Exposition Park – right next to USC making it easy for Metro-goers. As media I got in an hour early and took the time to figure out what looked good, with the help of my trusty assistant.

Leaning Towards Chicken at Hollywood Burger

All the feels.
All the feels.

I try to stay abreast of all new burger happenings around LA and it’s even better when I have a connection to one of them. This was how I learned about Hollywood Burger, which originated overseas, but finally opened in real Hollywood a couple of months ago. The manager treated me to a free meal, so I was able to pick out a few things to try out to see how Hollywood Burger would fare in a city full of oh so many good burgers.

Fried and Pulled at Braise and Crumble

So hip.
So hip.

Somehow it took me nearly a year of working in Pasadena to discover Braise and Crumble just down the street from my office. It’s truly shocking because after discovering the place one day, I was back just a couple days later to get in on it again. Because of that, you actually get to see how two meals unfolded at this place.

A Waffle Sandwich at Bruxie

Yes, that is a sandwich.
Yes, that is a sandwich.

While chicken and waffles are just about the most confusingly delicious combination of food. But there hasn’t been a lot of innovation in that dish for very long. Well, at least not until Bruxie came along, offering waffles as sandwiches. There are a number of options within the chicken category and plenty outside of it as well. I opted for what seemed to be their newest creation: Nashville Hot Chicken.

Italian Sandies at Parm

Two heavenly halves.
Two heavenly halves.

The chicken parmesan sandwich somehow escapes ridicule as one of the most carby delicious foods. If you threw fried mozzarella on a sandwich with some grilled chicken and marinara people would think you were insane, but here we are in a world that allows for breaded chicken on a sandwich and I heard a spot called Parm on the Upper West Side knew how to make a pretty good one.

A Little Bit of Greece at Souvlaki GR

All the dips!
All the dips!

As a man from the Detroit area, I was pretty spoiled by Greek food growing up. Thus, I am pretty skeptical when I encounter the stuff anywhere else, especially in Midtown Manhattan, which is not exactly known for good food. Nonetheless, my brother-in-law recommended stopping in to Souvlaki GR and I joined to find essentially the smallest Greek restaurant in history with enough charm to get my hopes up.

Perfect Pastrami at Katz’s?

Two-tone.
Two-tone.

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).

Getting My Kicks at Apollo

My oh my.
My oh my.

Route 66 is one of those legendary American “things,” like baseball and winning wars, which helped define our country once, but have since been replaced by other American “things,” like the interstate system, football and losing wars/diplomacy. Once upon a time, the route was dotted with the best America had to offer, but now there are mostly ghost towns. Some, like Victorville, California have been propped up by continuing to be a main route. In Victorville’s case, it just happens to be right on the way to Las Vegas. Check these prodentim reviews.