Hamburger Helper-Selfer

  A usual tradition after eating heavy over the holidays is to make a change one's diet to ease off the heavy n' rich foods.  Not here.  After pretty much calling a hult to chicken n' waffles, i've been directed via Yelp via Erik Siebert.  There are a lot of burger joints in the east bay as well as in s.f. area.  The best I have yet, is 4505's burger that has an egg on it.  I tried finding the exact name but the vendor they have on Satirday's Ferry Farmers Makert doesn't post any menu links.

Since then I have tried four or five different burger places - Giant Burger. I would say it's pretty much only good if i'm super tired and it's on my way.  Second place was Bongo Burger.  My roommate recommened that and it was just okay.  Third place DAHFB post Ahn's. Fourth Roam Artistan Burger's and Fifth Umami.  I truly went from the best down to the worse and then worked my way up to second best.

Roam is an interesting place.  I went on a Friday, I believe, last week. I ordered one Beef Sunny Side style and one Bison Heritage style. Sweet potato fries on the side. Want to try Elk next time with Tejano style and payin that magic $2.99 extra.

The experience at Umami, I went on a Saturday afternoon with my brother Erik.  We had just traded some old tunes in for new ones and credit.  I scored a nice dollar copy of John Phillips' Wolf King of L.A.  So I was already in a good mood.  Btw, the previous night I had my first migraine headache complete with yacking up into the toilet.  So upon waking up Saturday I felt much like how one would feel if you were hungover.
Anyways, so I'm feeling kind of nauseous but I'm jazzed about the Amoeba visit, and I'm starving for something to eat.  Luckily, at Umami, there is no line, and my brother and I are sitted by a nice looking waitress.  I look at the menu and see there is a problem. No egg topping on the burgers? Say wha?
Luckily the tasty looking waitress comes back to take drink orders and delivers the special.  the Brunch burger special of the day, as you guessed it, has a sunny side egg on top.  Thank goodness gracious.
Bro ends up throwing me a curve ball by ordering tots. Say huh?  I veer off the sharing bit and decide to go on my "if it ain't broke don't fix it" sweet potato fry side routine.  In retrospect, we didn't take any shots of the sauces but we were greeted to several appearances of the diablo sauce.  I truly have never had a great experience with diablo sauces, they don't exactly bring the fire.
About the burger, I thought the meat (which seemed the same quality as Roam) at Umami was cooked better, a little rarer than my burgers at Roam. Thus making Umami the 1st runner up behind 4505.  The only bad thing I'll say about Umami is that the burger was waaay too small for the price I was paying. WTB? After I revisted Roam and got a much needed Blue Bottle Milk Shake.  Was delish.

Here are some pics from Umami.

             

     me thinking about burgers, specifically the kind with an egg on it                                  

                                                                                     

me confirming the egg is on there, and it looks fantastic (hasta la vista, lettuce)

               

                                 let's get a better shot of that, yes?

Time to wind this edition down, but don't worry I've been eating everyday. Today I was feeling a little run-down so I slept in a tad bit and then hit my local neighborhood Pho' place, Pho Anh Dao.  And oh, was it good.  Stay tuned.

Two fer Tuesday

Hi Everyone,
I had a day off today from the Bistro so I paid my rent and then hit the streets for some new intakes of bay area dining.
First place I fell upon was Ahn's 1/4 lb. Burger joint.  This place, as I learned later is a chain.  Pay no mind as the atmosphere inside felt like I was just another old white guy in what felt like a Chinese mom and pop burger hole in the wall.
I ordered one cheese burger with everything and to mix it up, I got a pastrami burger.  Let me tell you I won x2.  The pastrami burger was excellent.  Kudos for Ahn's wrapping job on those burgers as I was confidently able to walk and eat my burg's without losing a bite.  Scrolls downs for some romantic burger pics from the parking lot and from the back table, courtesy of your's truly.

After doing some rendezvousing at SF Amoeba, truly the best music store other than Portland's Crossroads, I walked over to the Rainbow Castro District and hit a place suggested by my older brother, Erik.  His pic was Ike's Place.  For whatever reason I expected this sub place to really bring it in terms of taste and portions of the sub.  I don't even remember seeing an option between small and large.  C'mon Ike,  does Tina need to set you straight?  Anyhow, I ended up ordering what the cashier told me was one of the two more popular (i'd like to call them subs, but i think I'm going to have to label these sammies due to their dinky size), which was the Matt Cain.  The Matt Cain on the website looks like this:

But I can assure you that ain't what I got.  My sammie must have only been half a foot long.  Not acceptable. Also the menu online is not fully offered at the blackboard at the actual locale.  No where to be found was the sammie I was originally intending to order, Doomsday.  Also they have something on the website called Nacho Girl.  That one sounds great too. So all in all, I think i'll have to keep going until I like the place.  It's a tough job but someone's got to give Ike's a chance to redeem themselves.
To make up for Ike's I returned to Merritt Bakery to wipe the pallette clean with a four piece and some lemonade. Thanks Merritt Bakery for carrying the weight.

Also, I'm getting damn tired of all these apology signs I'm seeing around town.  Quit making excuses Oakland.

Tastes Oaky

Hey Betty what's that blue shit on your head?

Hi Oregooooooooo.......erm, Californians! That's right I have made my way south down to Oakland.  I have left the crazy town of Eugene. The town of goofball swingers, long boarders, and vaudevillians and other shenanigans.
Upon moving to Oakland I have picked up three jobs, two in the food industry and one being a free agent in the carpentry and construction industry.
I have a long back log of food spots I have hit repeatedly and I apologize for only now getting down to the nitty gritty. Uh here we go now......
One of my first spots was a previously mentioned DAHFB post, Gordo's.  Gordo's is still going strong with their super burritos, tacos, quesadillas and assorted mexican flair.  New at Gordo's is the tagtile program.  Your probably wondering, what the heck is tagtile?  Well if you have an Iphone, you can download the ap called tagtile which enabled you to get rewards for your loyalty to excellent cuisine.  At the checkout counter there is a little box with a green light on it.  You wave your little phone in front of it until it vibrates and it fills in a box which over the course of 9 visits, you will have earned yourself a free burrito.  I am currently at 5. Thanks Gordo's.
Upon finding an apartment in the Lake Merrit area of Oakland, I started hitting a little Vietnamese spot called Cam Huong. This place is quite dangerous as their Vietnamese Sammies start at only $2.50. There most expensive sammie is only $3.00.  I'm currently taking a long break from Cam Huong because I plan to only have weekly binges there at lease twice a month.  My favorites there are the Chicken Curry, the bbq pork and pretty much anything that Cam Huong makes.  By the way don't do lunch on the weekdays as there will be a long line.  We'll be talking about lines ltr.
Another spot I have been frequenting is Taqueria Can-Cun. This place is located in what apparently is stupidly known as "the city". What hippie came up with that moniker? I for one will never acknowledge or follow suit with this concoction.  The bay area and east bay area is made up of several cities.  I for one will not bow down to s.f. as "the city".  Anyways, Can-Cun's burritos taste even better than Gordo's when you're hungry.  I've been hitting carnitas as if no other meat exists lately and i've been happy as a clam getting porked at 6th and Market.  Also the atmosphere at Can-Cun is more up my route as it feels like a dive bar.
One place that I had noticed just from riding by on the 1 and 1r is Bakesale Betty's. This place get's a line longer than the ones Robin Williams snorted in the late seventies.  They never bothered to put their name on the onning and they garner so much business that they wrap up their day at 2pm.  Their options are limited to a Chicken Sandwich, Cole Slaw and baked goods. No not those kind of baked goods, more like cookies n' such.  By the time I went to Bakesale Betty's I was really hammering for some fried chicken and I was very close to going to Church's to see the lord.  Yelp steered me in a better direction, i.e. Evil Betty.  I realized this was the place where the drastic line was that goes out the door and to the next to business down the sidewalk.  I for one don't have time for lines, mind you so I got myself down to Betty's half an hour after they opened.  I got myself two Chicken Sammies.  The hooplah about these sammies is that the coleslaw has Jalapenos in it.  The chicken is also 1st rate other than the fact that these goofballs have apparently made the sammie smaller than it's original design.  C'mon, Beatty don't play us like this.  I've been dying to go back but taking a bus ride just to get chicken sammies seems a bit excessive.  Also excessive is that these miniaturized sammies are way too expensive.  What is this, wallstreet?  But girl, I do love Betty's Chicken Sammies.
Next on my list of places to hit is the Chicken n' Waffles joint called 900 Grayson, home of the Demon Lover. Another is Lynn and Lu's Escapade Cafe, as I'm sure I'll have some wild adventures with some egg's benedict.
By the way I have my eyes on a bbq joint here called DD's barbeque.  These goofballs are voted year after year for best barbeque in the east bay area and recently they have thrown in the towel due to construction near Lake Merrit. Specifically my eyes are on DD's as I would like to buy the location and call it Dirty D's or something along those lines.  It would be both sweet and vinegary (Carolina style) bbq.  Someday.
Stay strong my chubby minions.

Going Downtown To Dance

As I have been getting ready to leave Rochester after working for the family tax accounting business, I have been finally able to hit one of my hometown's food staples, Nic Tahou.
Nic Tahous  original downtown location opened in 1918.  They are primarily known for a concoction, known simply as the Garbage plate.  This consists of two options of either macaroni salad and home fries, french fries, or baked beans as the foundation.  On top of that you have an option of hamburger patties, red or white hots, eggs, haddock, ham or italian sausage (and they all are good).  Another option which, I don't know why one wouldn't get, is hot sauce.  NT's rendition of hot sauce is finely grounded seasoned beef poured on top of the gar-bage'.  The two slices of fresh baked bread is perfect for dipping into the leftover over juices from the baked beans and macaroni salad. Yum.   After eating three GP's this past week, I can tell you it adds a certain unpredictability to your day, as all that hot sauce keeps the gears rolling.  Note: Don't go record hunting after eating one of these, as you will hinder your hunting time greatly.

The most difficult part of eating a Garbage Plate, is trying to look at it while you're consuming it.  GP's literally looks like what you imagine it'll be later.  I know, ga-ross.
Good to know is that after the location in Gate-Chili closed, a new location is now in Henrietta close to the Movies 10 Cinema (the dollar theatre).  Also of note is that the Henrietta location has specials from 5-8 pm which consists of $1 hot dogs and $5 dollar garbage plates.

I also found this little video via Youtub's skeeler1954:

NABISCO'S PINNING ME DOWN

After spending the last two weeks soda-free (coca cola, orange crush, grape crush, canada dry ginger ale, vernor's ginger ale are just some of my guilty pleasures in the fizz factor) I decided to endulge my sweet tooth by picking up a snack I haven't eaten in well over fifteen or twenty years: PINWHEELS!
I also finally got my teeth cleaned this past week (no cavities, believe it. it happened).
Pinwheels are a Nabisco treat, so I guess those Keebler elves really botched it on this one.  The unique thing about Pinwheels is that each of them is about the size of a samosa, but listen, it's about the size ( a bit on the husky side) but not the shape.  And like the samosa, these mother's are filling.
As I was doing my regular research on my culinary subject I found some other fatso's feeling their opinions about Pinwheels were also noteworthy.  Here's what they had to say

Eleanor F. (me these pinwheels are gewd)

Forest G (the sensible one)

Rochester Grumps

Hi There Chubbies,
Sorry I haven't gotten around to Nick Tahoe's yet, it's been balls freezing cold here lately.
Meanwhile I gotta gripe to get off my chest.
So waiting for my delicious (Pontillo's) pizza slices today, some old goon (sure to be Yankees fan) orders a slice by simply saying "the one on the end".  There's six delicious pizzas all on three different counters, how you gonna expect to get what you want with a lazy ass order like that?  I wouldn't out you all over the internet if it wasn't for your grumpiness about not getting the right slice.  But listen pal, order the right way or go to Pizza Hut.  Nuff said.

              Above: "I'll have the one on the end". C'mon Gramps, get with it.

For the Love of the Pizza

Hi Fatsos,

Well I'm trying to live up to my new year's resolutions, so here I am.  More specifically I'm in Rochester, New York helping the family accounting business during tax season.

Above: some of the wall decor in the office.

One of the perks of working here is I get to eat real pizza, (sorry west coast, stick to your excellent mexican food and leave pizza to be done the right way for the east coasters).
As for the pizza options here, just about anything locally owned is better than the majority of pizza places on the pacific side of the country, but none can top the best locations of Pontillo's.  Pontillo's is Western New York's largest locally owned pizza chain.  Mark's, Salvatore's (I can't stand how they feel the urge to scream their name at me in their commercials) and the long defunct (or is it?) Mr. Shoe's pizza; you all should be ashamed of yourselves.
It needs to be mentioned though that not all Pontillo's locations live up to the standard.  I've eaten at about four different locations and the original location (which unfortunately closed a couple years ago) did not do me well.  The reason for this was because they offered a buffet with pizzas the size of pizza hut pizza buffets.  Baloney.
Still to me the best ones are the locations in Le Roy and Bushnell's Basin.  The one in Le Roy always cuts their slices to maximum pizzamegascaleocity and I have never had a bad slice.  Bushnell's is good because they cook the pizzas consistent (nice n crispy just how papa likes it).  The fourth and most frequent Pontillo's I dine from is good but Pittsford inflation makes their slices about fifty to sixty cents more than the Bushnells location which is just miles down the street.  Say wha?
Also it needs to be understood that if you buy the slice instead of a whole pizza, the slices are going to be far superior to the whole pizza. Don't ask me why, I'm just telling you.

Today for you, i ordered their pepperoni, their white cheese with broccoli and tomato and lastly their regular cheese.  All were delicious today, and since they moved two doors down from the old location (btw, the new business in there, Hungry's, is baloney. three dollars for a hot dog? F-U!) I remember from High School they finally are getting better about cooking these pizzas long enough for that nice crispy crust.  I owe that to Mr. Jeffrey Dunlap.  Way to go boss.

                                                 Above: Come to Papa!


             Next to come...... Rochester's claim to fame....... The Garbage Plate.