Lunch O'Clock

Pulled Pork w/ Mac & Cheese

2011-02-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

What better way to kick off the Super Bowl XLV weekend of gluttony than with some pulled pork and mac n' cheese for lunch, although I will admit, I only got a half order of lunch to minimize the punishment by body will take on Sunday.

For not having a smoker in the cafeteria, the guys downstairs did a pretty good on the pork, although it was a bit saucy. I added a drizzle of hot sauce and ranch dressing for some additional layers of flavor. The mac and cheese did not meet the expectations I had for it. It looked great in the pan, almost homemade with a bread crumb topping. When I was able to have a closer look prior to my first bite I realized it was nothing more than boxed macaroni and cheese made with that cheese slop embellished with a bread crumb topping. Thumbs down for the mac and cheese, but for a $4 lunch I get too upset.

- Lunch Pail

The Joe Mentalino

2011-02-03T13:06:00.000-05:00

Turkey and provolone can get pretty old quick when you bring it to work for lunch a few days a week, every week. So today I made some moves and turned the ordinary turkey and cheese to a legit sandwich contender.

I brought in a half of a tomato that I had left over. I didn't want to put it directly on the sandwich when I made it because after 4.5 hrs in the fridge it would get a little mushod. Next, I went downstairs to the cafeteria and noticed they had roasted whole jalapenos. I grabbed a couple of those along with some salt and pepper and a mayo packet knowing they would be a great addition. Prior to recreating the sandwich, I disassembled it and toasted the bread. Most sandwiches, especially those on sliced bread taste better toasted. Finally I put the sandwich back together in the following order, because the proper layering of a sandwich is key. Slice of toasted bread, hickory smoked turkey, provolone, sliced tomato, salt, roasted jalapeno, mayo, pepper, toast.

After two bites of the sandwich, I had an instant feeling in my stomach. I immediately thought if this was how Joe Mentalino, the character in Dumb and Dumber with the stomach ulcer, felt after taking a bite of his burger. That didn't stop me from finishing it though. I battled through it, it was delicious. So far, I have no regrets.

- Lunch Pail

Joe Mentalino on the left

The Joe Mentalino

Baked Wings

2011-01-26T08:54:00.000-05:00

With the Super Bowl coming up, I thought I would share some wings that I made a while back when visiting my brother in MN. My sister-in-law found this crazy way to make wings and wanted to try it, so we did. First, you steam the wings for ten minutes, then you place them on a drying rack with a sheet pan underneath, and place them in the fridge for an hour. The refrigeration process is so the chicken can dry which should result in a crispier wing after they are baked. Once they were dried in the fridge, we baked them in the oven. They came out ok, no different than any other baked wings that I have made before, and if you don't have extra room in the fridge, this method could be a pain.

I served the wings two ways, traditional buffalo style with hot sauce and butter and an Asian style. The Asian style consisted of all things Asian I was able to find in my brothers fridge with a tough of BBQ and butter. I enjoyed them both, but everyone else preferred the buffalo style.

My personal beliefs on wings. 1) Deep frying should be the only way to make wings. Baking doesn't make them any healthier, and they can never match the quality of deep frying. 2) When making wings at home, buy a package of whole chicken wings and split the flat from the drumette yourself. The frozen bags of raw wings are the worst, and the size of the pre-split wings that come in a package tend to be smaller than wings that you have to split on your own.

- Lunch Pail

Fresh Pies

2011-01-23T19:12:00.001-05:00

This year for Christmas I got a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, the Professional 600. It is pretty bad ass. Figured I would put it to use this weekend and make some fresh pies. I used to make fresh pies in college, but I was never thrilled with how the dough would come out. I recently found a recipe for cold fermented dough and decided to give it a try. Unlike most yeast doughs, the recipe called for ice water and after the kneading process it proofed in the fridge for 24 hours. Came out great, better than any dough I've ever made.

I made one pie with some sauteed portabello mushrooms. Seegs made the second pie which had roasted garlic as the 'sauce' and was topped with caramelized onions and goat cheese.

- Lunch pail

Snowed In Breakfast

2011-01-13T13:04:00.001-05:00

Another beauty from Bad Gorilla....

"BG here with a wonderful snow day creation. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but I have been reading and eating this whole time. Got 24 inches of snow yesterday, so I stocked up and made myself a wonderful breakfast sandwich to start off a day of working from home and shoveling out. Started off making an egg and cheese omelet and folded it up to fit the shape of a Portuguese roll. Base of the roll had 2 slices of boars head ham, a handful of hot peppers, about 5-6 slices of fresh maple bacon, the egg/cheese omelet, topped off with 2 slices of pepper jack cheese. Breakfast heaven….mmmmmm"

Matt's Bar - Minneapolis, MN

2010-12-08T12:34:00.002-05:00

Matt' Bar, home of the original Jucy Lucy, is phenomenal. It is better than the Juicy Lucy at the just as famous 5-8 Club. It is fair to compare the burgers of the two establishments, but after that they are completely different. 5-8 turned into a mini chain restaurant with 3 locations and offers an extensive menu with a closed kitchen. Matt's Bar on the other hand is a classic dimly lit dive bar that has the griddle right behind the bar and the menu hung on the wall. The burger was Delicious. It came on a fresh bun, with diced grilled onions and crisp pickles. The patties was cooked perfectly and had a great crust seared on it from the flat top. The American cheese was plentiful and steamed while it oozed out of the center of the burger.

When looking for a Jucy Lucy in Minneapolis, head to Matt's.

- Lunch Pail

The Menu

The Griddle

Lucy

Tasty

Lions Tap - Eden Prairie, MN

2010-11-18T08:03:00.000-05:00

Prior to a recent trip to Minnesota for work, my older brother told me he found a burger that is better than both Matt's bar and the 5-8 Club, both of which have been featured on the Travel Channel. Knowing how good the 5-8 Juicy Lucy was and how great Matt's Juicy Lucy was, I found it hard to believe that he found a better burger.

The menu at Lions Tap is simple, 4 or 5 types of burgers that can be ordered as a single or a double and french fries (big ups to crinkle cut). I was told the burgers were small and to order 2. I decided to go with the classic single cheese burger with grilled onions and pickles (decent), and a single bacon cheeseburger with pickles (delicious). The bacon cheeseburger was great. The patty was cooked to a nice medium on the flat top with a good outer crust. The bacon was spectacular and added great flavor to the burger. I was really impressed with the McDonald's style bun. This was such a simple burger and it was the best bacon cheeseburger that I have ever had.

I can't make a bold claim and say that Lions Tap is better than Matt's Bar. They are two different styles of burgers. If I were in the mood for a hot, oozy cheese burger I would belly up at Matt's Bar, but if I wanted a classic bacon burger and an ice cold root beer, I would head to the Lions Tap.

- Lunch Pail

Ravioli Scarpariello

2010-11-17T11:32:00.001-05:00

Quick little dinner I put together a few weeks ago. I am a big fan of scarpariello sauce, but didn't feel like having it the traditional way with chicken, so I used some delicious ravioli. I sauteed up some hot sausage (out of the casing), cherry peppers, onions, and olive oil until it was cooked nice. Then I hit it with some some white wine until it reduced a little bit, and the added some chicken broth and a dribble of the vinegar from the cherry pepper jar. Let it boil for a couple of minutes in the pan until I added the cooked ravioli.

It turned out to be a great meal, I just wish I had made more of it.

Ravioli Slider

2010-10-25T11:53:00.000-04:00

I don't mean to name drop, but...

Teitel Brothers Cheese and Parsley Sausage, Rockland Bakery mini roll, Borgatti's Ravioli.

It was as delicious as it looks.

- Lunch Pail

Ravioli Sandwich

Swift 'n EZ Nacho Platter

2010-10-20T11:58:00.000-04:00

What do you call a platter that is not yours.....Nacho Platter!

Here is a submission from an old college roommate of mine, Mr. Timothy A. Swift. Mr. Swift has been making nacho platters and breaking hearts since 1982. It seems like he has stepped his game up since college though, ditching the standard ground beef nacho platter and upping the ante with jerk rubbed New York strip steak, with grilled peppers and onions. It is nice to see he stuck to his roots though with keeping the standard Swift like toppings of black beans, some fresh pico, sour cream, guacamole, and cheese. I would also like to point out the precision placement of the sour cream and gauc globs. Great nachos start with the proper and even distribution of toppings.

Well done Swift.

- Lunch Pail

Swift 'n EZ Steak Fajita Nachos

The McRib is Back!

2010-10-14T12:13:00.000-04:00

Rumor has it that the beloved McRib sandwich will be back for a limited time starting November 2nd. Nothing screams delicious more than a molded boneless rib patty smothered in BBQ sauce and topped with raw onions and pickles. I remember back in the day, when the Flintstones movie with my my John Goodman in it, was released, I would crush a McRib every time I had the chance at Mickey's. The McRib to this day, still remains my all time favorite McDonald's sandwich. Hopefully it is still as good as it was back in '94.

- Lunch Pail

General Haresh's Chicken

2010-10-14T09:57:00.001-04:00

Like General Jensen's, General Haresh is a spin on the classic General Tso's. I have never eaten curry prior to dating my fiance, but since then, it has become a favorite of mine and I figure I would try to incorporate a new favorite of mine, with a classic chinese dish that I have been crushing for years. General Haresh's Chicken is General Tso's style chicken, but with curry sauce and onions. The curry sauce is much spicier than the standard Tso's sauce and the onions are a great addition. The fine folks at Young's Chinese Kitchen, who operate the cleanest Chinese take out restaurant I have ever stepped foot in, were able to make my General Haresh idea into a reality.

If you are looking to eat a good curry dish outside of an Indian or Thai restaurant, give General Harsesh's Chicken a try.

- Lunch Pail

Snow Natural Soda

2010-10-04T08:40:00.000-04:00

I was recently sent a case of Snow Natural Soda and was asked if I would sample it and write up a review about it in the blog.

Snow Soda is a natural soda with loaded with vitamin C and the B's. It is sweetened with natural cane sugar. Currently Snow comes in three flavors, Cola, Lemon Line, and Cranberry PomRazz, with a diet lemon lime, sweetened with Stevia, soon on the way. Snow soda can be found in most supermarkets in CT and is sold by the can (12oz) for $1.25 - $1.50 or by the 12-pack on Amazon for $12.99.

Personally prefer seltzer over soda, but I figured I would give it a try. All three were sweet and tasted just like regular soda, except they seemed to be less carbonated (the ingredient list states, "lightly carbonated water"). Personally I am a fan of carbonation because it results in some good burps. Of the three flavors, my fiance and I preferred the lemon lime. The cola seemed very sweet and the Cranberry was not too enjoyable. It might taste better mixed with some vodka and cranberry juice.

If you are a soda drinker, give it a shot. 12 ounces of Snow soda and a fistful of Flintstone vitamins is a great defense against the upcoming flu season.

For more information on Snow beverages, check out their website: http://www.snowbeverages.com/

-Lunch Pail

Chili Mac - Mark's Downtown Coney - Ann Arbor, MI

2010-09-21T10:13:00.000-04:00

The chili mac from Mark's Downtown Coney in Ann Arbor was a filling and enjoyable lunch that ranks high in the "Good Slop" category. The chili mac was a plate of spaghetti, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and chili. I spiced it up with some raw onion and Frank's Red Hot. I was unable to twirl the spaghetti with a fork, so I opted for the shovel method by cross cutting it and mixing it all together to the perfect slop consistency and then sent it down south.

Mark's Downtown is a great place if you are in the mood for some grease for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I recommend the chili mac, but I also saw the griddle cook making some reuben's, blt's, coney dogs, and omelets that all looked delicious.

- Lunch Pail

Fresh Plate of Some Chili Mac

Soft Boiled Slider

2010-09-17T09:39:00.000-04:00

With a bunch of mini hard rolls left over from the Rockland Bakery, I decided to make myself some mini breakfast sadnwiches a few weekends ago. A quick note, Rockland Bakery makes the best hard rolls and everyone should experience them. It turns a good sandwich, into a great sandwich.

Not wanting to deal with the mess of a frying pan, I soft boiled two eggs, and toasted up the rolls and turkey sausage. I soft boiled the eggs for 5 1/2 minutes, resulting in solid whites and a thich and creamy yolk. A few cranks of black pepper and some ketchup topped off a quick and easy clean up breakfast.

- Lunch Pail

Open Face

Finished Product

Bradford's Grill and Tavern, Stamford, CT

2010-09-15T14:38:00.000-04:00

Bradford's Grill and Tavern has the best wings in Stamford. Buffalo Wild Wings, Vinnie's Backyard, SBC, Bobby V's, and Tiernan's are all bottom shelf compared to Bradford's.

They offer 50 cent wings during happy hour and 30 cent wings on Wednesday's with the purchase of a $3 beverage. I use to go there on Wednesday nights when I lived in Stamford for a couple of beers and a plate of wings. I miss doing this and should probably stick around after work one week and crush some wings. My flavor of choice is the Super Hot, although occasionally, they don't sauce them enough, like the picture below.

- Lunch Pail

Order of 10 Super Hot

Captain's Table - Monroe, NY

2010-09-07T11:05:00.000-04:00

Best buffalo wings in America. Big, crispy, saucy, delicious, and great bleu cheese.

Bowl of 10

Tawa - Stamford, CT

2010-09-05T06:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture from way back when I met up with some old co-workers to take down the Lunch Buffet at Tawa in Stamford. Overall it is a great deal, $15 bucks for all you can eat and it is good quality food, unlike some of the sketch chinese lunch buffets for $7. On the day that we were there they were offering a spicy lamb dish, chicken tika masala, potatoes, tandori chicken wings (phenominal), naan bread, and these vegtable fritters that were good, but a little greasy.

If you are a fan of Indian food and don't mind dropping a little extra for lunch, check out Tawa.

- Lunch Pail

Variety Plate

Rinaldi's Deli - Stamford, CT

2010-09-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

Every chicken parm sandwich that I have seen made has looked much better than the one I ate a few months back. For a refresher of my first Rinaldi's expercience, Click Here. I have yet to re order the chicken parm, but I tried out a few of their other sandwiches below. They offer a variety of sandwich creations by number or you can create your own from the selection of Boars Head cold cuts they carry, or from the steam stable selection. Fresh chicken cutlets, meatballs, and sausage and peppers are a daily standard.

- Lunch Pail

#11 - Pastrami, Coleslaw, Russian Dressing, w/ Cheddar

Sausage and Peppers, Provolone, Mustard

Sunny and Frankie's - Stamford, CT

2010-09-01T06:27:00.002-04:00

I have never been to Sunny and Frankie's, but my buddy Peter raves about it. I guess he got upset when the guy at Nonna's claimed they have the best veal in town and sent in this picture a few days later. By the looks of it, Sunny and Frankie might have the best veal in Stamford.

- Lunch Pail

Veal Cutlet, Broccoli Rabe, and Hot Peppers

El Charrito Taco Truck - Richmond Hill Ave. Stamford, CT

2010-08-30T09:04:00.001-04:00

This might be one of the best lunch spots in Stamford. El Charrito is a taco truck that parks across the street from Beamers on Richmond Hill Ave. They offer a wide variety of items, and have plenty of daily specials. If you are in the mood for Mexican, pass up all the sit down spots in Stamford, and head to El Charrito.

The highlight of the meal was one of the daily specials, the Torta Charra. A hot pressed sandwich that consisted of the following: Saudero, Tinga de Res (Chipotle Marinated Steak), Chorizizo, Sauteed Onions, Cilantro, Chipotle Mayo, Refried Black Beans, and Jalepenos.

Other items enjoyed during this trip included tummy and tongue tacos, also a special, Al Pastor w/ pineapple taco, and a spicy chicken taco. Everything is made to order and is fresh. It is definitely worth the wait. If you are pressed for time, call ahead and have it ready for when you arrive. When you are too busy to get out during lunch, stop by after work, they are open until 9 pm.

- Lunch Pail

The Truck

Tummy (L) and Tongue (R) Tacos

Al Pastor w/ Pineapple Taco

Al Pastor Bite-View

Torta Charra

Torta Charra - Under the Hood

Torta Charra - Bite-View

Halal Cart - 53rd and 6th, NYC

2010-08-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

From Peter Koutroubis:

"This past weekend I was fortunate enough to experience the 53rd & 6th Halal Cart! After a long day of walking around time square & central park, I txted my friend Sonia to see if she wanted to grab a quick bite to eat before I left the city… She responded "Yeh! Street Meat at 53rd & 6th in 20 Mins" Sure enough I walked to the location and the first words out of my mouth were "WTF!" There was a line of about 100-120 people for a damn street cart and my brother and I walked to the back of the line thinking how retarded this was… The next 40 minutes was the best and most worth while wait in any line for food in my life...better than the wait at In-N-Out Burger on a Friday night, better than the wait at Colony, better than the wait for a Philly cheese steak at the old Yankee stadium behind home plate! The moment arrived when it was my turn to order and I went with the half & half platter. The menu is simple: chicken and/or Gyro in a sandwich, platter with rice, platter w/o rice. To the right of the cart they have a milk crate with 9 white sauce bottles and 3 hot sauce bottles. The white sauce is what makes this meal perfect…no one knows what the ingredients are, but you have to lay it down thick! The hot sauce is extremely hot..nothing to play around with, but I was up to the challenge and made sure I had enough to savor the entire Halal Cart experience. The food was amazing, the shredded chicken and chopped up gyro over the rice was so filling, comforting, and downright filthy (as Estrich would say). Next time you're in the city, it’s a must have!"

- Peter

Long Line

Worth the wait!

Japanese Brunch - Abis Restaurant - Thornwood, NY

2010-08-18T10:40:00.000-04:00

Abis Japanese Restaurant offers a Sunday brunch between 11:30 and 2:00. Knowing not go food shopping while hungry, I planned on stopping here before a recent food shopping excursion. Conveniently, Abis is located near the Shop Rite in Thornwood, NY.

The brunch offered a wide variety of sushi rolls as well as a selection of hot food items. The rolls offered were: California, eel, eel and avocado, tuna, tuna avocado, spicy tuna, salmon, salmon avocado, salmon skin, Philadelphia roll, shrimp tempura, California roll, spicy crab stick tempura, and a few others. The sushi was made fresh by two sushi chefs and replenish the rolls as needed and was pretty good.

The hot food offerings included: shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, shrimp lo mien, fried rice, shrimp tempura, chicken katzu, beef w/ peppers and onions, ginger pork, and mussels and clams in a black bean sauce. The hot food was decent, with the true winner of the group being the mussels and clams. Next time I go, I will focus on the sushi and minimize the hot food.

If you have an extra $20 to spend and don't want to go food shopping while hungry on a Sunday, check this place out.

- Lunch Pail

Sushi

Hot Food

Hey, how's the veal today?

2010-08-16T12:59:00.000-04:00

I recently met up at Nonna's in Stamford for lunch, but wasn't in the mood for pizza. I asked the guy behind the counter how the veal was, but I guess he was a vegetarian because he didn't answer me. He had to ask the guy next to him, who then told me it was the "best in town". Taking his word for it I ordered a veal parm sub.

After a few bites, the guy behind the counter gives me a thumbs up and says, "The veal is really good right", I nodded back and agreed it was good. It was well cooked and tender. The sandwich however, could have used some more sauce, some more veal, and some more time in the oven.

- Lunch Pail

Overhead Shot

Chomp Shot

Summer Grilling

2010-08-13T08:39:00.000-04:00

Below is an email submitted to Lunch O'Clock from my Uncle Bobby. It is one thing to grill hot dogs and hamburger, but cooking a ribeye like that on a charcoal grill is a whole other level of summer grilling. The best part of a rib eye, or any great steak, is that it doesn't take a lot of prep work. A sprinkle of salt and a few cracks of pepper go along way.

"The attached is a before, during, and after of a rib eye steak. It’s part of the summer time diet when we are in Long Island. When we go out to the house we do a fair amount of cooking outdoors. The main tool of the trade is a 22” Weber kettle grill burning natural lump hard wood charcoal. This paired with the local farm stands or what comes out of the garden in the backyard makes for tasty results."

Life of a Ribeye

Buffalo Wings - Chicken or the Egg - Long Beach Island, NJ

2010-08-11T10:57:00.002-04:00

I don't thing words are necessary.

Snee recently enjoyed these and has cemented them within the top three of the all-time best wings he has ever eaten. By the look of them, I would have to agree.

-Lunch Pail

Cassano's Pizza - Tarrytown, NY

2010-08-11T10:40:00.000-04:00

My quest to find the best pizza in the Tarrytown area has begun. Having a go-to-place place to grab a slice in your living area is key.

After some searching online, I settled on Cassano's Pizza on N. Broadway. It is a nice place with restaurant style seating in the front, and a pizza counter towards the back. They had a variety of pies on display to get by the slice, some of which included: pepperoni, chicken parm, spinach and mushroom, white, sausage and peppers, meat lovers, Sicilian, chicken scarpariello, and plently more. The meat lovers and chicken scarp slices are in the running for which slice to eat on my next visit. I went with a pepperoni (pictured below) and a spinach and mushroom. Both slices were terrific. The mushrooms were fresh, not canned and the pepperoni slice had a nice grease factor. The slice was the perfect thickness/thinness and had a slight crunch when you bit into it. The crust was perfectly cooked, folded without snapping, and had a good bite.

Overall the slices were great and I will definitely go back. I cannot yet say whether this is the best slice in Tarrytown, since this was my first stop, but I can say it is better than any slice in Stamford, CT.

- Lunch Pail

Slice

Baseball's Best Burger - Gateway Grizzles Ballpark - Sauget, IL

2010-08-04T16:06:00.001-04:00

The below burger is submitted by Peter Cerone, and it looks awesome. I wonder if the games get sold out because of the burger or the baseball team.

This beauty consists of a Krispy Kreme donut as the bun, 1/4 lb. burger, with bacon and cheese, served with a side of waffle fries.

Two Please.

- Lunch Pail

The Madurkis - Dalton's Deli - Norwalk, CT

2010-08-04T15:59:00.000-04:00

The Madurkis is a favorite of Rob Young. This hero sandwich is loaded up with chicken cutlet, bacon, melted cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and honey mustard. As a bonus, Rob requests his with hot sauce. I recently had the chance to enjoy a Madurkis, bu it seems Dalton's has slipped a bit from last summer when they first opened.

Everything was great, except for the cutlet. The hero roll was fresh, the bacon was crisp, plenty of cheese, not too much lettuce, and the honey mustard/hot sauce balance was perfect. The chicken however was very dry, some parts were jerky dry. This is most likely the result of the chicken sitting in the steam table too long. I have had their chicken cutlet before and it was good, so I was surprised with the quality of it this time around.

Overall Dalton's is a good deli with respectable egg sandwiches and a good lunch menu. If you are ever near the Merritt/Rte. 7 side of Norwalk, grab a Madurkis or the Doc's Panini. www.daltonsdeli.net

- Lunch Pail

The Mighty Madurko

$1 Slice - 2 Bros. Pizza, NYC

2010-07-30T07:35:00.000-04:00

Besides a McDonald's double cheeseburger, this is the second best way to spend $1. It wasn't terrible and it wasn't great, but the benefit was much greater than the cost. Good size slice, soft crust, decent sauce, but a little light on the cheese. If I am ever near the place again and feeling a little hungry, I would get it again.

- Lunch Pail

$1 Slice

Chicken Wings - Coalhouse Pizza, Stamford, CT

2010-07-26T10:13:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I met up with some old colleagues for lunch and based on the recommendation of Joe Keary, we decided on Coalhouse Pizza. Mr. Keary claimed that these are the second best chicken wings that he has ever had. He mentioned this on the phone as well as a few more times in the restaurant. Based on these claims, everyone ordered chicken wings, and everyone ended up being disappointed in this decision, except Joe, after a few bites of the wings.

The menu for Coalhouse Pizza's chicken wings reads as follows:
MA RAINEY’S ROADHOUSE CHICKEN WINGS - Marinated for 24 hours in micro-brewed beer, with honey mustard, olive oil, garlic and oregano. Our succulent antibiotic and hormone-free chicken wings are loosely coated with panko bread crumbs and lightly fried.

Sounds pretty good right?

It is hard to describe this wing experience. They tasted like soggy, burnt Shake N' Bake chicken. Coalhouse breads their wings, similar to hooters, but definitely not as good. I ordered 12 wings, 6 Jamaican Jerk and 6 Hot, and I couldn't tell which was which by the look of them or the taste. The only thing I tasted was burnt panko breading. Although these wings are towards the bottom of the list where I rank chicken wings, thinking a C- range. I did manage to eat all 12 because I was hungry and do not like to waste food.
Joe said that the wings are better than their pizza, but based on my wing experience at Coalhouse, I am not sure if I want to find out if that is true or not.

- Lunch Pail

Pastrami, Egg & Cheese

2010-07-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Carnegie Deli day at the cafeteria, which means your choice of hot corned beef, pastrami, or roast beef. The left overs of yesterdays lunch offering became the strong point of my breakfast this morning. Changing it up a little bit, I chose a freshly baked croissant as the canvass of this piece of work.

It was delicious.

- Lunch Pail

Left overs for Breakfast

5-8 Club - Minneapolis, MN

2010-07-08T11:31:00.002-04:00

I was in Minneapolis recently for work and was able to meet up with my older brother for some dinner. He recommended we go to the 5-8 Club for some Juicy Lucy's. I have heard of this place before on the Travel Channel, so I knew what I was in for, but I did not expect it to be as good as it was. In addition to the standard Juicy Lucy, they have 5 specialty Lucy's. I went with the Pig Pen, a half pound burger stuffed with bacon and cheddar, and Matt went with the standard Juicy Lucy stuffed with American cheese. The burgers were better than advertised. They were perfectly cooked and oozed with cheese, the American oozed more than the cheddar. Think of a chocolate lava cake, but with bacon and cheese. The burger had a good crust from the high heat of the flat top, with a balance of grease and tenderness on the inside. I think it took me less than 7 bites to send it down south.

Before the burgers however, we decided to get warmed up with a couple of appetizers. Fried cheese curds and a 1/2 dozen buffalo wings. The wings were decent, nothing to brag about. The cheese curds on the other hand were phenomenal. Deep fried morsels of white cheddar cheese dipped in marinara sauce that did not harden up like most mozzarella sticks. I was very impressed with these and only wished we had more of them and that they were popular in the tri-state area.

I am scheduled to be out there on October, and I think we might have to do a double header with the 5-8 Club followed by Matt's Bar, which is just down the street from 5-8, and claims to be the originator of the Juicy Lucy.

-Lunch Pail

The Pig Pen - Looks pretty simple on the outside

Inside Look - Pig Pen (L), Juicy Lucy w/ American (R), on a bed of Jo-Jo's

Basket of Fried Cheese Curds

6 Buffalo Wings - Decent at best

Graduation Feast

2010-07-07T09:56:00.001-04:00

There are 4 kids in my family and after each of our high school graduations we had Chinese food for dinner, so I guess you can say it is a family tradition. Cheechman (the youngest of the 4) graduated recently and knowing that Chinese was on the menu was the only thing that got me through the 2.5 hr long ceremony.

We had 10 people attending this feast and I was in charge of ordering. I know the tastes of my family pretty well, but I was thrown a curve ball when Cheechie told me to order him Sweet N Sour chicken. For as long as I can remember, Cheech was a General Tso's guy, so I was shocked/appalled that he made the switch to sweet and sour, which in my opinion is one of the worst items on the Chinese menu.

The order was broken down as follows (all large):

2 - General Tso's Chicken

1 - Sesame Chicken

2 - Boneless Ribs

1 - Chicken and Broccoli w/ Garlic Sauce

1 - Shrimp w/ Black Bean Sauce

1 - Pork Chow Mein

1 - Beef Lo Mein

1 - Pork Fried Rice

1 - Chicken Fried Rice

1 - Hot n Sour Soup

2 - Crab Rangoons

10 - Egg Rolls

This was ordered from Lucky House in Monroe, NY. It isn't my favorite place in my hometown, but it is one of the better ones.

All in all this was a great family dinner which had a ton of laughs and a few Bud Lights.

- Lunch Pail

Nice Sampler Plate

Lefteris Gyro - More Pics

2010-07-07T09:40:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of pics from my most recent trip to Lefteris Gyro in Tarrytown. We ordered platters which come with a salad (not pictured, but real big for a side salad), rice or fries, tatziki, and pita. It was a ton of food for $13 and I spent the entire walk back to my car burping because I was so full.

Gyro Platter

Soulvaki Platter (1 Chicken , 1 Lamb)

Lubins -N- Links - Tarrytown, NY

2010-07-06T09:49:00.000-04:00

A couple of weekends ago Serious Meat and I went to Lubins -N- Links in Tarrytown, NY as part of his going away party. I figured a proper send off would be a couple of dogs and a day at the pool. This place offers a beef hot dog or as they call them, links, either skinless or natural casing, and almost 20 toppings that you can mix or match, or you can just go with one of their many signature dogs. I was unaware about the natural casing dog until after I ordered, so by default we were served the skinless kind. We each had a Spicy Link (Chili, Spicy Kraut, Hot Cherry Peppers), my second link was with brown mustard, spicy onions, and kraut, and Serious Meat's second dog was a Junkyard Dog (Chili, Cheese Sauce, Crumbled Bacon, Jalapenos, Chopped Onions). Our lady friends came along with us, and each of them enjoyed a Spicy Link also. Sarah F. aka #2, stated "This is the best hot dog I have ever had". I agree with her that it was very good and within my top 5 establishments, but I cannot say it was the best I ever had. Maybe when I go back and have a natural casing dog my opinion will change.

As a bonus, Bo Nuts ordered a Lubin to top things off. From their website: "A Lubin is our own creation made of seasoned, slow roasted, tender and delicious beef, sliced and served on a hot dog bun (it actually falls apart because it's so tender!)." Similar to the links, the lubin can be topped with a number of toppings. Bo went with the Ranch-O-Lubin (Crumbled Bacon, Ranch Dressing, Chopped Onions). I had a taste of it. It was decent, the beef was a little dry, and preferred the links over the lubins.

All in all this was a great find, and I am sure I will not be a stranger to this place while living in Tarrytown. The only shame is that Bo has moved up to Boston for the time being and will not be able to enjoy it with me.

- Lunch Pail

Spicy Link (L) and Spicy Onions and Kraut (R)

Inside Look: Spicy Link

Inside Look: Spicy Onions and Kraut

Junkyard Dog

Inside Look: Junkyard

Ranch-O-Lubin

Showdown: $1 Double Burger

2010-07-01T00:01:00.002-04:00

July is the Summer, and the Summer means cheeseburgers. Why not start July off right with a burger post.

It has been a long standing argument about which fast food chain is better, McDonald's or Burger King. I don't expect to solve this argument here, but I thought it would be a good idea to have a $1 double burger showdown between two of the best fast-food heavy weights.

Burger King's double burgers seemed a bit heavier than Mickey's, they claim it is about a 1/4 lb, but the bun also seemed to be saturated with grease. The seeded bun was a plus, but there was not enough ketchup or pickles, and there were not any onion bits. Overall it was a good burger and is definately worth $1.

Mickey's double is a little lighter, but overall, I feel it is better than the King's. Since I was kid, I always thought McDonald's had the best burger buns, even without the seeds, and I am a seed guy. The bun was not soaked in grease, the burger had the right amount of ketchup, and their pickles are the best. I would much rather spend my dollar at Ronald McDonald's house than at the King's castle.

I am sure people will disagree, this is just my opinion.

Burger King

McDonalds

The Tower of Power - Champions Bar, Hempstead, NY

2010-06-24T09:02:00.002-04:00

Serious Meat and Snee were enjoying a few cocktails last week at Champions Bar in the Marriott Hotel over in Hempstead, NY before heading to a wedding rehearsal that we were all in. Looking to enjoy a light snack in between their dirty martini's, they decided to order the sampler, also known as the Tower of Power. For $40, this massive, mini buffet included a couple dozen buffalo wings, half dozen or so sliders, a stack of onion rings, and a couple pounds worth of french fries covered in deliciousness (chili, cheese, olives, chives, etc.). Looks like it was a great start to a wedding weekend.

- Lunch Pail

Tower of Power

After Shot

Benny's Fast Break - Stamford, CT (Updated)

2010-06-23T12:30:00.001-04:00

June 2010 - I have added a few more pictures from a recent lunch at Benny's. Similar to the hot dog, the bread to meat ratio on the chicken cheesesteak I had was unacceptable. More meat is better than more bread, and it was kind of dry. Needed lots of ketchup.

A few months ago Bennett Salvatore, the NBA referee and owner of Bennett's Steak and Fish House in Stamford, CT, opened up a hot dog/lunch spot called Benny's Fast Break on Bridge St in Stamford. Since I am a fan of hot dogs and lunch I decided to give it a try. Since it was my first time there I figured I would go with a couple of hot dogs. I ordered a Special #3, which is a dog with kraut and spicy mustard, a Chili Dog, and an order of fried with chili on the side. I will start with the best part of the meal, the chili and fries. The chili had good texture and some nice spice. You were able to taste the chili and not just heat which was nice. It is some of the better hot dog chili that I have had. The fries were shoe string and had a nice crisp. They were tossed in this salt and pepper blend as soon as they came out of the fryer which was an unexpected surprise that worked out real nice.

The hot dogs on the other hand were kind of a let down. They serve an all beef hot dog which I like, but split it and cook it on the flat top which I don't like so much. The next problem was the size of the bun compared to the hot dog itself, see picture below. The bun to dog ratio was way to high for my liking. They use a potatoe bun which I like, but not when it is paired with a small hot dog. I felt like I was eating more bread than anything with every bite. Lastly was the hot dog itself. There was no snap. I am a fan of the snap and was disappointed that there was no snap. Maybe the massive amounts of bun absorbed the snap, who knows. What I do know is that I will not return to Benny's for hot dogs. Instead I would get a bowl of chili to go and put it on a hot dog I make at home. I will go back for the cheesesteak though. I saw a picture of it, and it looked awesome. So there is still hope for Benny's, just not his dogs.

- Lunch Pail

Special #3 on the left, Chili dog on the right. Check out the bun to dog ratio. Unacceptable. Plus an extra thumbs down for the non toasted bun.

Recently added pictures - June 2010

It's Always Sunny for Joe Scalo

2010-06-17T09:13:00.004-04:00

Like most health fanatics, Joe "Serious Meat" Scalo believes that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and takes it very seriously. Rather than yogurt, a fruit salad, oatmeal, or even a bowl of cereal, Joe puts a strong emphasis on protein in the morning while not forgetting the dairy or whole grains.

Below is a glimpse of Joe Scalo's breakfast while he was mourning over the death of a sausage legend, Jimmy Dean. Three sunny side up eggs (Protein), probably free-range and organic, two Italian sausage links (Protein), and two buttered (Dairy) pieces of whole wheat toast (Whole Grains). He didn't forget about his fruits and vegetables either. I am sure he used a decent amount of ketchup on the eggs and chased this meal down with a pint of OJ.

- Lunch Pail

Pigs in the Sunshine

Mina's Kitchen - Monroe, NY

2010-06-16T17:01:00.001-04:00

Mina's Kitchen is a Spanish restaurant in Monroe, NY and specializes in Dominican cuisine. I have driven passed this place numerous times and never figured to try it, until Joe "Serious Meat" Scalo was talking it up one day. He said it was awesome, and one of the best lunches around. Taking his advice I went there for lunch recently. It is a small place with a cafeteria set-up and a hand written menu on a white board. I imagine the menu is always changing, but the offer a variety of dishes including, roast pork, baked chicken, pepper chicken, ox tail, fish stew, and ribs. I had no idea what to order, but I saw some guy eating something and asked what it was because it looked legit. He told me to get the roast pork and to make sure to get a side of garlic sauce. He even offered me a piece to try, but I declined.

This man did not lie. This roast pork was delicious, tender, evenly spiced, and not too fatty. The garlic sauce gave it a nice touch and was not too over powering. With the pork I got the yellow rice with those mini bean/lentils and green olives, and some black beans.

Great recommendation Serious Meat, I will be sure to eat there again.

- Lunch Pail

Roast Pork w/ Yellow Rice

Lefteris Gyro - Tarrytown, NY

2010-06-14T22:22:00.002-04:00

I recently moved to Tarrytown, NY, and am in the process of finding new places to eat at. Everyone that I have spoken to so far has recommended Lefteris. This past weekend I went for lunch, and the food stood up to all of the hype. I went with an order of Skordali to start, which is a garlic and potato dip. Think extremely garlicky mashed potatoes, but creamy enough to dip pita into. I followed that up with the Gyro. It was phenomenal and the best Gyro that I have ever had. The pita was warm, the lamb was flavorful and not greasy, the tatziki was on point, and they had the right amount of lettuce, tomato, and onion. The restaurant was busy with outdoor and indoor seating, but the service was great and the food came out quick and hot.

I imagine that I will be eating at Lefteris often, as this meal was delicious, and everything else on the menu looked awesome.

- Lunch Pail

Gyro

Lucky's Classic Burger and Malt Shop - Stamford, CT

2010-06-08T09:06:00.000-04:00

Here is a burger I had at Lucky's in Stamford a while back, and it probably one of the better burgers that I have had in Stamford. I ordered a burger, cooked medium, with bleu cheese and bacon with a side of onion rings. I then added a some onion rings and BBQ sauce to complete the masterpiece. Bleu cheese and bacon is a powerhouse combination, and I have been hooked on onion rings and BBQ sauce since the Rodeo Burger days of Burger King. This was all served up on a grilled brioche bun.

It was an awesome burger, and probably one of the best I have had in Stamford.

-Lunch Pail

What did the Potato say to Canada?

2010-06-03T10:19:00.005-04:00

Pom Frittes!

I spent Memorial Day Weekend in Montreal for a bachelor party. On Saturday night we stumbled back into a bar that we started at around 1 in the afternoon to grab some dinner. We got an order of Poutine, which was highly recommended by the bartender, and I orded some wings.

The Poutine was awesome. It was a mound of french fries, or as the Frenchy'call them, pom frittes, with brown gravy and cheese curds. They put regular gravy fries with cheese to shame (sorry New Jersey). Sorry the picture is so dark and terrible below, things seem much better than they are after an afternoon of drinking I guess. I added a second picture that I found online to get a better idea of what it looked like.

By the way, the wings were terrible. I think they were pigeon.

- Lunch Pail

My Terrible Picture

Goode Company BBQ - Houston, TX

2010-05-25T12:08:00.002-04:00

I spent a night in Houston last week and it was a given that I was going to have BBQ for dinner. I asked the women behind the desk for a recommendation and she handed me a list. I asked which is the best of the listing provided and she said, without hesitation, Goode Company BBQ.

This place was a cafeteria style restaurant with a limited amount of seating inside, but plenty of tables outside. I got in line and ordered the following:

- 3 meat sample of brisket, pork ribs, and smoked jalepeno sausage, side of jambalaya rice, and potatoe salad and jalapeno cheese bread.

- An extra order of ribs with jalapeno bread.

- Lone Star Beer

- Rootbeer.

It sounds like a lot of food, and I guess it is, but I am not in Texas too often and I wasn't going miss an opportunity to take advantage of delicious BBQ. Plus, I had a piece of Tuna for lunch (healthy) so i deserved a feast for dinner. Words cannot describe how good this food was, so I will let the pictures do the talking. By far the best BBQ I have ever had.

-Lunch Pail

3 Meat Combo covered in Sauce

Dry Rub Ribs and a Lone Star

Brisket Smoke Ring

Rib Shot

End Result

Country Pancake House - Ridgewood, NJ

2010-05-17T09:10:00.001-04:00

While watching reruns of the Chow Down Countdown on the Travel Channel this weekend I realized I had a picture from the Country Pancake House in Ridgewood, NJ that I had not yet published. Seegs, Serious Meat, and I took a trip there a while ago on a Sunday morning. I have been there a few times before and expected there to be a line. It was about an hour wait, but knowing how good the breakfast was going to be made the hour wait easier to handle.

The menu consists of over 90 pancakes, 50 types of waffles, about 75 egg/omelet options, and that is just the breakfast menu! While waiting for your food to be prepared, they give each table a basket of cornbread and chocolate chip cornbread, which are both phenomenal. Serious Meat and I went with the corned beef has and eggs plate with carpet bagger pancakes (pictured below). Notice the size of the pancake that comes with an egg breakfast. They give you two, and these are considered the small ones. Seegs ordered he Gouda Cheese french toast which she took 2 bites of, realized it was a terrible decision to order that mess, and proceeded to eat off of my plate.

If you don't mind a long wait, or are willing to wake up early on a weekend, get some breakfast at the Country Pancake House. You will not be disappointed. http://www.countrypancakehouse.net/

Next time I go I think I will order the turkey club sandwich. The table next to us ordered it and it took all of my power not to ask them for a bite of it.

- Lunch Pail

Gino's East - Chicago, IL

2010-05-13T09:04:00.001-04:00

In between fighting crime and woodchucking Jack on the rocks, Snee was able to find some time to enjoy a beer and a big sausage pizza for lunch from Gino's East during his recent trip to Chicago. I hope Snee isn't the type of kid that doesn't eat their crust. People like that bug me.

This looks amazing...

Give it up for Timmy!

2010-05-07T12:50:00.001-04:00

Cafeteria Cheeststeak

2010-05-07T12:47:00.001-04:00

Around 11 am this morning I started thinking about what I was going to have for lunch today since I forgot my turkey and cheese with hot sauce on wheat bread sandwich in my refrigerator. Since I had a salad yesterday, there was no need for veggies today and it was too hot for a soup. They usually have fish as the entree on Fridays but I don't really trust it. After a brief brainstorm and a few clicks through seriouseats.com, I decided I was going to get a cheesesteak. To my surprise, posted on the menu board for the grill station as the special for the day were cheesesteaks. Bingo.

I got mine with some onions, mushrooms, spinach, BBQ sauce, and yellow American cheese. The yellow American is huge because it melts all sloppy like the cheeze-wiz on a Pat's cheesesteak in Philly. The spinach was a dumb idea and I don't know why I did it. Especially since most of it ended up in the second half of the sandwich, which made it more of a Spinach and steak sandwich than a cheesesteak.

Overall it was a great sandwich, not as good as the real deal, but much better than a shit house Steak-Um.

- Lunch Pail.

Freedom Bread Pizza

2010-05-07T12:01:00.027-04:00

Stouffer's Meat Lovers Freedom Bread Pizza is better the french bread pizza served under the Eiffel Tower. Stouffer's freedom bread makes for a quick, cheap, and decent dinner. I usually drench mine in some Frank's Red Hot for an extra splash of freedom while watching Summer Slam reruns of Hulk Hogan dominating Sgt. Slaughter during the early 90's when Slaughter was a supporter of Iraq. .

God Bless America and Bill Opper.

- Lunch Pail

The Big Polish

2010-04-30T09:20:00.000-04:00

Here is a sandwich that I had for lunch a couple of months ago from my company's cafeteria. It is grilled kielbasa, sauerkraut, waffle fries and spice brown mustard on a club roll. I named it the Big Polish...it was delicious, but I felt so disgusting afterwards.

- Lunch Pail

The Big Polish

Big Dave's Bagels and Deli - Conway, NH

2010-04-29T10:54:00.002-04:00

Dave Hausman, the prior owner of the famous Monroe Bagels and Deli (MBD), known for their delicious egg sandwiches, sold his deli a few years back and moved up north to Conway, NH, where he has opened up a new place, Big Dave's Bagels and Deli. His bagels are baked in house, crafts his own cream cheeses, and roasts his own turkey and roast beefs. Dave does not eff around when it comes to quality and refuses to take short cuts. Now I have yet to make my way up to NH to try it out, but Big Dave provided me with some pictures of some of his offerings. The food he produced in NY was unbelievable, so I can imagine it is the same up there. Below are a couple of pictures of what the big guy offers. If you ever find your self near Conway, NH, hug a tree and then head to Big Dave's Bagels and Deli.

- Lunch Pail

Bagel w/ Lox and Onion

Hot Pastrami

Corned Beef Reuben

Turkey Club on a Everything Bagel

Chili Cheese Dog

Smokey Joe's BBQ - Stamford, CT

2010-04-22T10:04:00.002-04:00

Keary and I usually meet up for dinner about once a week. Rather than eating the usual Chinese, Pizza, or Falafel, we decided to try Smokey Joe's BBQ. Joe had it once and swore by it, so we decided to give it a shot.
It used to be just a BBQ restaurant, but it has recently become the Boathouse Restaurant upstairs, and Smokey Joe's downstairs. All of the food comes out of the same kitchen and the Boathouse menu has been expanded to include fish, burgers, salads, and daily specials.
For my dinner I went with a rack of baby back ribs. Unfortunately, they were out of corn bread for the night, so I went withwith a side of baked beans and corn stew. Both sides were very good, but the ribs were the reason we were there. They offer two types of ribs, Baby Back and Texas Style along with a variety of sides which include, in addition to the three already mentioned, spanish rice, veggies, garlic mashed potatoes, and collard greens. They bring you a plate of 13 dry rubbed ribs piled up with a light drizzle of their house made BBQ sauce. They have great smokey flavor and are tender. Not fall of the bone tender, but tender enough where you get to nibble at the bones for the remaining pits of pork. I alternated between eating them dry, dipped in the regular BBQ sauce, and dipped in the hot BBQ sauce. I prefer them because I want to taste the pork and not just sauce. After a while I would take the bones, dip them in save and knaw at it to get every last piece of meat as possible.
If you are ever in the area and want some good BBQ, head to Smokey Joe's.

- Lunch Pail

Pile of Ribs

Sausage Egg & Cheese on a Thruway

2010-04-19T14:15:00.000-04:00

This needs no introduction...

"Let's get this out there right now...I condone neither drinking and driving, nor driving with no hands. I CERTAINLY don't condone doing both at the same time, but I had to last night in order to express my feelings about a gas station sausage, egg, & cheese on a biscuit that I had on the way home from drinking beers and playing wiffle ball with the boys from Jersey.

(NOTE: While I was drinking, I was totally fine to drive...I promise. I wasn't like one of those guys in the commercials who get pulled over and is sitting in about 4 feet of beer.)

On the way up Rte. 17 in Bergen County, you pass fast food place after fast food place for miles. I finally gave in at the last place on the highway, a Valero Food Mart. Now I'm not saying it was the best S.E.C. I've ever had, but it was darn tasty for a sandwich you buy at a place where people pull over to urinate. I feel that sandwiches like that are the perfect food after drinking as they have a great amount of grease, and for driving as it's not a particularly messy sandwich compared to other things you might get. Again, please, don't drink and drive.

Please take notice in the pictures of time and speed. The section of sandwich I'm holding was the same section that is in my mouth in picture #2. You'll see my eyes totally fixated on the road. Safety First!"

- Snee

1 hand on the sandwich, 1 hand taking the picture. No hand on the wheel.

Loco Chet

2010-04-09T10:53:00.001-04:00

Here is my take on a Hawaiin dish called the Loco Moco which I saw on either the Travel Channel or Food Network. The Loco Moco consists of white rice, burger patty, and brown gravy. Since I did not have burger patties or brown gravy, I decided to make my own version called the Loco Chet. The Loco Chet is made up of a base layer of white rice with some Franks Red Hot. Then a layer of onions, canadian bacon, and dived cherry peppers cooked in a pan with some olive oil. That is then topped off with 2 sunny side up eggs. The creaminess of the egg yolks mixed with the fluffy white rice was an interesting and delicious combo. I will admit though, I let the eggs cook to long and the yold was not as runny as I would have liked.

- Lunch Pail

Stages of the Loco Chet

The JOE SCALO! - Breakfast Edition

2010-04-08T11:30:00.001-04:00

I made breakfast for my brothers a couple of weeks ago. Bacon, Egg, and Cheese on Rockland Bakery rolls (best roll in America).

Joe "Serious Meat" Scalo says, "Trow a little more bacon on there"

And this is what he got....

Al's Italian Beef - Chicago, IL

2010-04-05T09:10:00.000-04:00

The second landmark food stop during my weekend trip to Chicago was at Al's Italian Beef. I ordered the Al's combo, which was grilled sausage and beef on a 6" roll, dipped. After preparing the sandwich with dunk the entire sandwich in the beef drippings and juices. This resulted in a soggy, sloppy sandwich that was hard to eat. I felt like Kobayashi eating wet hot dog buns. Next time I would pass on the dip.

The sandwich was good, but sorry Chicago, Philly makes a much better steak sandwich.

-Lunch Pail

Italian Beef, Sausage, Bits of Hot Giardiniera, and a dipped roll results in a messy sandwich.

Craftsteak Steakhouse - Las Vegas

2010-03-31T08:39:00.001-04:00

After a few nights of crushing Johnny Walker on the rocks and losing his paycheck on the penny slots in Vegas, BG worked up an appetite. He wanted more than the $4.99 buffet on the strip and bar peanuts, so he extended his credit line and bellied up at the Craftsteak Steakhouse for one final meal before he would get his hand smashed with a hammer after he was caught using trick dice in a parking lot craps game.
Here is BG's story, pics of his crushed hand are not included....

“I was recently in Las Vegas staying at the MGM Grand, and while my diet consisted mainly of Jack & Cokes, 25 cent wings from Hooters served from midnight to 6 am, and bacon egg & cheese sandwiches from the sports book deli, we did have one fine dining experience. I went with 4 college friends of mine on this trip and we all agreed this was one of the top 3 steaks any of us had ever eaten.
We decided to stop by Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and what a treat it was. This is not an inexpensive steakhouse, be warned, but it is damn worth it. We all opted for cocktails (I went with a Manhattan) and then the rolls were brought out. I didn’t snap any pics, but they were small, about the size of a golf ball but were warm, buttery and the kicker was a small amount of sea salt on the top to offset the butter. I think the 5 of us had over 40 of them total. From there we all ordered our steaks and sides. I went with a classic dry aged T-Bone, the other guys had filets, a skirt steak, and a NY Strip. We also got the asparagus and 2 orders of the whipped mashed potatoes.
The steak was by far the best steak I’ve ever had. I’ve ate at Morton’s, Capital Grille, Bennett’s Steakhouse in Stamford, Texas de Brazil, and Smith & Wolensky in the city, but this steak was better than any I’ve ever had. It was lightly seared to give it a slight crisp on the edges and the meat was falling off the T-Bone. The meat was succulent, the perfect blend of juices, tender meat, and fat. The seasonings on the steak were subtle, but strong enough to say ‘Hey, I’m here’ but not strong enough to really change the flavor of the steak. The asparagus was perfectly baked with olive oil and some seasonings on them. The mashed potatoes were truly amazing. I’ve had great mashed potatoes, but these were almost the consistency of a milkshake, you could have drank them with a straw.
This is one of the top 3 meals I’ve ever had in my life, and that sentiment was shared by the 4 guys I was with. From the beginning with the rolls, to our sides of potatoes and asparagus, to the heavenly steak, it was a complete meal. Everyone’s steak was perfectly cooked and prepared with care. We also did not feel stuffed when we left, but had full bellies to go out and hit the town, which we did real hard. I know there are so many steakhouses in Vegas, and every casino is going to boast that theirs is the best, but trust me when I say this was the best steak I’ve ever had.

BG out”

Lou Malnati's - Chicago, IL

2010-03-29T08:49:00.001-04:00

Spent this past weekend in Chicago, and like all tourists, I had to go get some deep dish pizza. Based on the recomendation of our host for the weekend, we went to Lou Malnati's, or as Sarah says "Eluminati's". Some say they prefer Lou's over the more popular Gino's East which has been featured on number of tv shows, but I still prefer the New York style of pizza.

We ordered a half sausage and half cheese deep dish pizza. It was good. Lots of sausage, chunky sauce, just the right amount of cheese and a crisp buttery crust that held it all together. A knife was not needed, I used the edge of the fork technique. This was definitely the best deep dish pizza that I have had, even though I have only had it twice. My first deep dish experience was at a Pizzeria Uno in Harriman, NY. After eating two slices I felt like a had a lead ball in my stomach and was pretty much set for the day.

- Lunch Pail

CBH Benedict - Bull's Head Diner - Stamford, CT

2010-03-25T08:49:00.000-04:00

When I went to the Bulls Head Diner a few weeks ago for breakfast I was not exptecting to get this. Corn Beef Hash on top of a toasted English Muffin with 2 Poached Eggs, and some tator tots. Not those soggy tots that you get from the oven, but delicious deep fried crispy tots. Yes, this tasted as good as it looks.

The menu listed this as Corned Beef Hash Benedict, but I opted for no Hollandaise.

The Best Chinese Food in Stamford: Panda Garden

2010-03-18T06:11:00.004-04:00

Chicken and Broccoli with Garlic Sauce combination plate and a Won-Ton Soup from Panda Garden, home of The Best Chinese Food in Stamford, CT. I would consider working there on Thursday nights just to be able to eat some of the off menu meals I see the staff eat for dinner.

Must be 37 Won-Tons in there.

Chicken and Broccoli w/ Garlic Sauce Combo

Some Say Italian Omelet, Some say Frittata

2010-03-16T05:24:00.000-04:00

Here is a breakfast that Peter Cerone recently made. I have always referred to them as Frittatas, but some may know them as Italian Omelets. No matter what you call it, they are still delicious.

"This probably wouldn’t fit into “Breakfast Sandwich Week” but here are some images of a breakfast “frittata” we made this weekend. I did cut it up and put it on a toasted English muffin.

Straight out of Wiki: A frittata is a type of Italian omelet, either simple or enriched with additional ingredients, such as meats, cheeses, vegetables and even pasta. It may be compared to a crust-less quiche or, in America, "scrambled eggs." A frittata is prepared in a frying pan like a traditional French omelet. However, whereas an omelet is cooked on a stove top and served folded, a frittata is not folded and is typically finished in an oven or under a broiler.

We decided to do half crumbled bacon/cheddar, half broccoli/cheddar/swiss. We also topped it with a light bread-crumb coating to give it a nice crisp crust on top. Enjoy!"

- Pete

Nice Fluff

Pat's Hubba Hubba - Port Chester, NY

2010-03-15T10:41:00.000-04:00

Joe Keary recently took a trip to the famous Hubba's in the heart of Port Chester, NY (Pocho). This place is an icon and I am suprised it has yet to be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The menu is on paper plate tacked to the wall above the griddle, the wallpaper is made up of dollar bills that are not censored, and you have to option to cover anything with chili and cheese. They even have their own drink called Hubba Water. It is a cup of ice water with a splach of Hawaiin Punch. Suprisingly, it is really good. I have not been to this place in a while, but the chili cheese curley fries are unreal and the burgers are thin and greasy and cooked on a flat top. I also added to chili and cheese to that.

Keary and his minions seemed to have covered the basics on their most recent trip. For some strange reason, he felt the need to order the fried clams with chili cheese fries. Weird.

Clockwise starting in the top left corner: Chili Cheese Fries, Chili Cheese Dog Wedge, Hubba Water, Fried Clams w/ Chili Cheese Fries.

Hubba's Wallpaper

Colonel K’s Pasty Shop, Menominee, MI

2010-03-12T06:07:00.001-05:00

When I hear the word pasty I immediately think of this exact phone conversation that I had with a bartender at a gentlemen's club while on spring break during college:
GC Bartender: "Kitty's Caberet" (I forget the actual name)
Me: "Hello, I was wondering if you guys have a buffet?"
GC Bartender: "No we don't, but we have two vending machines"
Me: "Great thanks. Also, do the girls wear pasties?"
GC Bartender: "No sir they do not, they are completely top less"

Little did I know, Pasty has a double meaning in Michigan's upper penninsula as told by BG below...

“Been in the Upper Peninsula, MI (UP) for the past two weeks for work and finally got to try a Pasty on my last night here. There isn’t much food wise that can say it’s originally from the UP except for Pastys. I guess they were originally eaten by miners who would bring them into the mines because they are totally self contained lunches, kind of a large hot pocket. I went with a beef Pasty and my co-worker went with a beef & rutabaga Pasty.
The beef pasty was pretty good, a nice soft crust with a filing of small chunks of potatoes and beef with some salt and pepper seasoning inside. It was pretty moist, I’m sure they cook the filling after it has all been rolled up which keeps all the juices and flavors in. Everything held together nicely and nothing spilled out of it the way a calzone or a taco/wrap might. I can understand why miners would eat something like this, while it was pretty small looking, it filled you up and was a hearty meal. A little ketchup or hot sauce would definitely make this taste better. There were other types of Pasty’s you could get with chicken, pork, vegetables, broccoli & cheese, etc… but I figured I had to go with the most traditional. While a pasty is not something really exciting, they are proud of them up here in the UP and if you ever make your way up here make sure you try one.”

- Bad Gorilla

Colonel K's

Bad Gorilla Feasting

Serious Meat's WebSite of the Month

2010-03-10T03:56:00.000-05:00

No explanation needed: http://foodporndaily.com/

Do not worry, there is no nudity or sexual acts with food on this site. It is just a daily picture of something delicious, such as this:

Jersey BBQ Pit and Grill - Newark, NJ

2010-03-08T08:28:00.000-05:00

When I think of Jersey I think of hot dogs, taylor ham, diners, left turns and gas station attendants. The last think to come to mind is BBQ, especially when we are talking about Newark, NJ.

After a long night of high fives, chest bumps, moon landings, and awkward conversations at a 15 yr. High School Reunion, Snee found himself at a BBQ place that his friend had recently opened up in Newark, NJ. Those of you who maybe skeptical about Snee having a biased opinion about this place since he use to hang out in a tree house and read nudie mags with the owner in their pre-pubescent days, don't be. I have known him for quite a while now and know first hand he has no problem stating his opinion.

"In continuing my tour of New Jersey, I stopped at a newly opened BBQ joint in the lovely resort town of Newark. An old friend of mine just opened up his own restaurant right on McCarter Highway, just a 3-Iron away from where the Nets now call their home. It's called the Jersey BBQ Pit and Grill, http://www.jerseybbqpit.com/), and you can honestly smell it from the Parkway...but that's a good thing.

I stopped there the afternoon after my high school had a 15 year reunion, so I was starving due to the fact that 1.) I hadn't eaten all day, and 2.) I "rented" everything I ate the night before. So after chatting with the owner and catching up, I ordered a BBQ pork wrap and a combo with chicken, ribs, and pork tenderloin which comes with fries and yellow rice. I have to say, without being biased because I've known the guy since I was 12, the food was pretty damned good. The BBQ chicken basically melts in your mouth, the ribs come easily off the bone and there's plenty of meat, and they have the BBQ sauce on the side, which I think is a plus, that way you don't look like you just got shot in the face after each bite. Also, the yellow rice was awesome, (he's Spanish...that didn't surprise me), and the fries were typical fries you'd eat at a backyard BBQ. Eveything in that dish melded really well together.

The pork wrap caught me off guard...there was so much going on in it that I really have no idea what I ate, but it was friggin delicious. I honestly could have eaten 3 more of them, but I had to lay down and take nap.

I really have no idea where to get good BBQ, which is why I probably haven't had it in a while, but this stuff is real deal. If you're ever in the area, I would suggest stopping in."

- Snee

BBQ Combo and Pork Wrap

Nonna's Pizza - Stamford, CT

2010-03-05T06:21:00.002-05:00

Unlike most pizza places in the Stamford area, Nonna's serves pizza by the slice. For months I drove past this place looking at the 'Coming Soon" sign eagerly anticipating the grand opening. When it first opened I went in for a slice to go and was satisfied enough that it earned a return trip where I could sit and enjoy it right from the oven, rather than after a 5 minute drive. This place reminded me of the pizza places I was familiar with growing up in NY. A long counter with a glass case show casing the wide variety of slices (both sicilian and NY style), calzones, strombolis, a few tables in the front to eat a slice at, and a restaurant style setting in the back.

A couple of months back Keary and I went for a couple of slices. After looking over the various pies, I decided on a slice of Chicken Scarpariello, and a Chicken Parm slice, Keary went with the Marsala, and a BBQ Chicken slice. The slices are big, the crust is thin and the quantity of toppings is un real. Each slices was loaded with pieces of chicken as seen below. Over all the pizza was good. The chicken had good flavor, and there was plenty of it, good amount a cheese, and the right amount of sauce. My only complaint was the crust. I like a crisp crust with a chewy inside. The crust of Nonna's pie was kind of flat, too crispy, without alot of chew. I will not let this deter me from going back as the pizza itself was good and the selection of slices was amazing.

If you are ever in the area and want some pizza without having to sit through the wait of ordering a whole pie, stop by Nonna's for a quick slice.

- Lunch Pail

Couple aerial shots and one of the underbelly. From left to right: Chicken Scarp slice, Chicken Parm slice, Chicken Marsala slice, and a BBQ Chicken slice.

Mass Confusion - Pacific Beach Shore Club - Whales Vagina, CA

2010-03-03T06:57:00.002-05:00

Here is the second installment of Peter's Whales Vagina, CA Tour. If you do not get the Whales Vagina reference go watch Anchorman. Peter went to San Diego in November of 2009, I guess he is taking his time with sending me his posts. He didn't even provide a story with this one and just sent the pictures. Oh well, I guess I will have to make due.

After constructing an Eiffel Tower the night before, Peter needed to refuel with a hearty meal. Below is a breakfast called Mass Confusion from the Pacific Beach Shore Club. For $8.50, this plate of chaos included 3 biscuits, 2 scrambled eggs, gravy, 3 cheese, bacon and sausage. For an additional $2, Peter upgraded this Heart Attack on a plate with tater tots. Rather than rehydrating with water, Peter chased this down with a Bloody Mary.

He has come along way since his Spinach and Feta Omelette days.

Mass Confusion

Trinity Steak Boxty - Tigin Irish Pub, Stamford, CT

2010-03-01T04:51:00.001-05:00

It is hard for a guy like Keary (aka: Harry in the Blind or H.I.T.B), a big teddy bear with feelings, to get back into it the swing of things after reaching the top, just to have it all come crashing down. He heard the critics chirping about how he lost his touch and how he will never be the same. How great performers never make it back to the top and perform at the level of greatness they once had. He had heard enough. After spending the past few months on the sidelines, Sire Keary got back in the box took a few swings to see if he still had it. He worked up a light sweat, but didn't over do it. He just wanted to find his rythm and build his confidence back up to make sure he can go back to his old ways of punishment.

To celebrate how far he has come he decided to enjoy a nice lunch at Tigin with his buddy (Peter). Tigin has great food, and although I have always been curious, I never ordered a boxty. I usually go with a burger or the fish n' chips. With the way Sire Keary decribes it below he seems to be a fan of the boxty and will back for it again.

"So I went with my buddy and co-worker (Peter) to lunch today to celebrate my conquest from last night. I figured who better to have my first meal than one of the distant relatives of men like Alexander the Great who conquered the ancient world. We chose on Tigin Irish Pub in Stamford. They've recently introduced a new menu of which I've already tried a few of the items. Today was different. I started off with a Stella and Peter went with the Hoegaarden (orange). We both put our heads down and when we talked it through, the consensus was the Trinity Steak Boxty. This magical concoction features grilled steak, sautéed mushrooms and onions, wrapped in a potato boxty(crepe), topped with a whiskey-mushroom sauce. Typing this description is making me ready to go back for another one. It comes out, and we tackle it head on. Peter and I barely talked through the meal. They cooked off just enough of the whiskey in the whiskey-mushroom sauce for the taste to come through and not be overpowered by the mushrooms/gravy. All in all, this is my favorite meal at Tigin and I will definitely get it again."

- H.I.T.B

Trinity Steak Boxty

Turkey Burger Delux

2010-02-26T06:13:00.000-05:00

I spent a few days in Minnesota a couple of weeks ago for work, but did not have enough time to check out any of the dives or bars that I have heard about on Diner's Drive Ins and Dives and other food shows on TV. I did however eat the best turkey burger that I have ever had in my life and it came from the cafeteria of the office building. I loaded it up with american cheese, tomatoes, pickles, jalepenos, bbq sauce and some mayo with a side of tots. I should have gotten the bun toasted, but I forget to ask, so my bad on that.

Not bad for a cafeteria

Eating Like an Olympian

2010-02-24T06:01:00.000-05:00

I felt completely worthless and defeated after taking the Regulation part of the CPA exam on Saturday. As I was walking to my car I noticed a McDonalds down the street and figured I would redeem my poor performance on the exam by eating like an Olympian. Olympic athletes are well respected globally, so by eating like one, I figured I would feel better about the test.

Mickey's has been pushing their new limited time only Sweet Chili sauce pretty hard during the Olympic coverage so I figured I would give it a try, along with some fries and vanilla shake. The nuggets themselves were great. Personally, I feel the Chicken McNuggets are the best fast food nuggets around. However, the sweet chili sauce wasn't that good. It was sweet, had no spice, and was pretty gelatinous. It only took one taste for me to not want to try it again. I think the regular sweet and sour sauce is better than this sweet chili slop. I ditched the Sweet Chili Olympic sauce and ate the remaining McNuggets with my two favorite Mickey's sauces. Hot Mustard and BBQ.

- Lunch Pail

What every Olympian eats after dominating.

Carnegie Deli

2010-02-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have never been to Carnegie Deli, but I have always heard great things about it. The sandwiches are gigantic and not cheap. I bet it is best to go their when you are wasted so you have a better chance of finsishing the sandwich without realizing how much it cost.

Last weekend a lover of all things Philadelphia, known as Lightening, ventured into the city with his brother-in-law Thunder, Snee, and their wives. Here is his story...

"There are times in a man’s life when you have to venture out in the city known for its famous eateries (Pat’s in Philly, Pepe’s in CT, Giordano’s in Chicago). That time came this past Saturday night. After a few pints of Guinness and some Black 47 at Connolly’s, Snee and I decided to tickle our taste buds at one of NYC’s most famous eateries: the Carnegie Deli.

We stumbled into the famous delicatessen at around 2:00AM and immediately got a sense of the ambiance. Pictures littered the walls and girls were passed out at their tables (true story) as we made our way to our booth for some late night munchies.
We were greeted by a son of a bitch looking to take advantage of six drunk patrons by saying that we should each order our own sandwich. The menu read like a who’s who of late night foods as I proudly ordered my plate of pancakes. After being told that it was too late to order breakfast (I should note that my wife and her sister each were able to order breakfast sandwiches), I decided to split Snee’s pastrami sandwich (for $19 plus a $3 sharing fee). My brother in law (Thunder) and Snee’s wife Annie each ordered a turkey club, with Thunder also ordering a potato knish.
15 or so minutes later our food arrived. Our eyes bulged out of our heads as the plates of food were laid down on the table. The normal sized breakfast sandwiches were dwarfed by the enormity of the pastrami sandwich and turkey clubs.
My first objective was to dive head first into my half of the pastrami. Unfortunately our inebriation resulted in us to forget to take the initial pictures so I only have a pic of the remaining scraps of said sandwich. Piled skyscraper high on 2 slices of soft rye, the salty pastrami was peppered to perfection and ideal for a late night nosh. I polished off my half and surveyed the table for leftovers. I sampled Thunder’s potato knish which must’ve been baked in a volcano because it was hotter than molten lava (I was told it was quite delicious). My next glimpse caught Thunder’s half eaten turkey club and I decided to immediately dig in. This sandwich was the Andre the Giant of turkey clubs. There was more turkey on this sandwich than there was when Miles Standish and the Indians broke bread at the first Thanksgiving (you know, before we stole all their land). Then there was bacon. Oh yes there was bacon. Let’s put it this way: if Mr. Zuckerman grew a pair of balls and didn’t listen to Fern or Charlotte’s deceptive webs, Wilbur wouldn’t have been able to produce as much bacon as what was on this delight. The pig’s worth of heaven was surrounded by a head of lettuce, some vine ripe tomatoes and a couple slices of white toast. Although the turkey was a little dry, it was quality roast turkey (not the slimy lunch meat turkey) that was perfect with a little salt/pepper and a slathering of mayo. If this sandwich had 2 more slices of toast incorporated, it would’ve been perfection.
The real gem of this place has to be all the photos on the wall. Contrary to Adam Sandler’s popular “Chanukah Song” lyrics, we did not find a picture of Bowser from Sha Na Na or Arthur Fonzarelli. We did, however, happen to sit at a booth with one of the greatest pictures ever taken. Corey J. Feldman’s picture looked down on our glorious piles of pastrami and turkey with grinning bliss. Please note that the Corey Feldman we all know and love has the middle name Scott, thereby making this imposter the least known celebrity in the entire establishment.
Late night snack for 6 came to $123, with the average sandwich in the $17-$19 dollar range. Not too shabby when you consider the food could’ve fed a tribe in Somalia for at least 2 months."

- Lightening

Corey watching over the eaters.

Giant Turkey Club.

Soup and Sandwich

2010-02-18T06:22:00.002-05:00

Cold winter nights mean soup and sandwich for dinner. Stop and Shop had a sale on Progresso soup a couple of weeks ago so I loaded up on the essentials: Italian Wedding, Chickarina, Chicken and Barley, Split Pea with Ham, and some Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.

Here is a soup and sandwich dinner from a while back. Started with a fresh piece of seeded italian bread, gutted, thinly sliced Boars Head Ham and Genoa Salami, Provolone, hot cherry peppers, tomatoes, black pepper, and mustard and mayo. Good bread, thinly sliced meats, and cheese coverage are they keys to success for a great sandwich. Notice in the picture below the cheese cover the entire sandwich resulting in cheese in every bite, unlike how Fratelli's layers the sandwich resulting in the taco effect.

Sandwich Craftsmanship

Progresso Chicken Barley and Sandwich

The Angry Leprechaun

2010-02-16T06:11:00.001-05:00

While waiting for my flanken-style beef short ribs to be cut at Sam's Meat Warehouse in Florida, NY I was looking around the store to see what they had since it was my first time there. I came across some beef and guiness sausage that they make in house and figured I would give it a try. Knowing I had some potatoes, saurkraut, and spicy brown mustard at home I picked up some rolls so I can create the Angry Leprechaun.
The sausage was good and was pretty lean. I cooked it on a griddle and split the sausage right before it was fully cooked. I probably should not have done this because it dried out the sausage a little bit. Next time I will cook it on an outdoor grill and substitute a club roll for a hot dog bun, which will eliminate the cause for splitting. The Guiness added a dark brown color and a nice flavor to the meat.

The Angry Leprechaun

Hamburger Helper - The Good Slop

2010-02-12T03:36:00.003-05:00

Hamburger Helper is some of the best slop on earth, and I am using slop as a term of endearment. I don't know how Betty Crocker did it, but it is amazing how good 1 lb. of meat, 1 packet of slop mix, 2 cups of water, 1 cup of milk, and 15 minutes can taste.
It makes for a great dinner in a pinch and you do not have to be a 5 star chef to make it.
Growing up my mom hated making this stuff and would refuse to make it no matter how hard we begged. She claimed it was gross and disgusting. We only really ate it when she was away and my dad was in charge of dinner. I never understand how she could say such horrible things about the slop, it is ground meat (you can choose good quality beef like 93/7, or even use ground turkey), pasta, and spices.
I don't eat it often, but when I do, I go with the Beef Pasta slop mix and will generally use ground turkey. I have tried some of the others like cheeseburger pasta and cheese enchilada, but Beef Pasta is the best. Like a good chili or homemade soup, this slop is usally better reheated the next day.

- Lunch Pail

Long Live the Slop!

Kitchen Cleanout

2010-02-11T06:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a dinner that was sent in by Phil #14 a few months back. He didn't provide much detail, except for he just cleaned out his cabinets and fridge and was able to create this. From the picture is looks a little like shrimp scampi. Shell pasta, shrimp, crushed red pepper, in a buttery olive oil garlic sauce. It is amazing on what can be created with the things lying around the kitchen. The craziest part of the meal is the loud design on the plate. I wonder if Phil was able to buy the matching mugs and soup bowls at the yard sale as wel.

Mouse Pad

2010-02-10T05:37:00.000-05:00

Hank misplaced his mouse pad the other night under a pile of a bunch of shit on his desk at work and had to improvise. Well done Hank.

To Eat It Or Not To Eat It..

2010-02-09T05:41:00.000-05:00

When is it ok to eat food after it is dropped on the floor? Some say five seconds, some say 30 seconds, some say always (me), some never. Here is a flow chart that was submittted buy Peter Cerone, not Greek Peter, to help us decide when it is and is not ok to eat dropped food.

Personally, 9 out of 10 times I will eat it, a little dirt never hurt anyone.

"The 30-Second Rule, A Decision Tree" by Audrey Fukman and Andy Wright.

Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-08T11:09:00.000-05:00

It was a pretty mild super bowl for me this year. I didn't go to a party and didn't even buy boxes or make any other bets. It was a pretty lazy day, I watched 7 episodes of Weeds season 4 and while waiting for the ribs to marinate.

My menu did not include anything too wild or over the top, but it was broken down as follow: Your standard bowls of chips, pepperoni and cheese platter with crackers, my dad made some stuffed jalapenos with chorizzo and cheddar, Seegs made a hot crab dip, I made some Korean style beef short ribs, my mom made some fried rice and broccoli, and mint chocolate chip ice cream at half time.

The stuffed peppers and the crab dip were probably the highlight, the ribs were disappointing. The marinde was very good, but the ribs themselves were pretty fatty so there ended up being alot of waste. I got them cut 'flanken style' which is a 1/2 strip of 4 ribs cut accross the bone.I will use the marinade in the future, but on a different cut of meat. Probably a ribeye pounded out thin and quickely cooked on a hot grill.

The marinade was made up of the following, next tim I might add a little thai chili to it:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 green onions
10-15 cloves of chopped garlic

Here is a picture of my plate from last night....

The Hotsy - Garden Catering

2010-02-07T05:52:00.002-05:00

The best egg sandwich in Stamford and one of the 5 best egg sandwiches I have ever had, The Hotsy from Garden Catering. It is a Sausage, Egg, and Cheese with home fries and spicy chili. On the menu it is with bacon, but I substituted sausage. The layering of flavors and textures cannot be expressed in words. You have to go try it for yourself to see how good it really is.

Speechless

The SOBO - Central Deli - Florida, NY

2010-02-07T01:59:00.002-05:00

Like a few other sandwiches already mentioned during breakfast week, the SOBO is a sausage, 2 egg, and cheese with potatoes and hot sauce on an onion roll that Serious Meat enjoyed on Saturday morning. After 2 bites Serious Meat burst with the excitement, "This is the best egg sandwich around!" I have never eaten at this place, by the looks of the inside of it and the quality of their product that I saw coming across the counter and within the showcases, I can tell it is a good deli. The rolls looked great, they use Boarshead coldcuts and the place was very clean. I also saw a couple of familiar faces working there that use to work at Monroe Bagels and Deli (MBD) of Monroe, NY. MBD is no longer in business as the owner has moved up to New Hampshire and is in the process of opening Big Daves Bagels & Deli. Hopefull Dave will submit some posts about the quality product he is pushing up north.

TSEC - Corp. Cafeteria

2010-02-06T06:40:00.002-05:00

This is probably the best egg sandwich that I have had so far from the cafeteria downstairs. It was two eggs, cheese and turkey sausage on a toasted roll with ketchup and black pepper. I learned my lesson from the last roll I had from the cafeteria (cloud like) and made sure I asked to have it toasted. I was expecting him to run it through the conveyor belt toaster, but instead, he split the roll in half and pressed it open face on the grill press. Nice move on his part. I gave this egg sandwich an 'A' for the toasted roll and the runny yolk. It would be an A+, but the lack of fat and added health benefit of turkey sausage held it back to an A.

Nice grill marks.

I think it is trying to say something.

The Cluckin Good Egg Sandwhich

2010-02-06T05:14:00.000-05:00

I had a serious craving for chicken cutlets the other night, it was an 8 out of 10 on the Serious Craving scale. What does SM do when he has a craving? That's right, he fulfills it: trimmed, egg-bathed, crumbed, baked...boom cutlets. These were decent cutlets, but no where close to the ones that D cranks out (Ill give them a 7.5 on the Cutlet Meter).

There is one thing about cutlets that I'm sure all of you know, they are not as good the next day...cutlets need to be eaten fresh. I did however improvise on the day old cutlets, since I knew ESW was coming up, I decided to take it down. I'd like to introduce:

The Cluckin Good Egg Sandwich:

2 Cutlets

3 Eggs, beaten...not scrambled

2 Slices of White American

Hot Sauce

Toasted WW Bread

It was a pretty heavy sandwich, not going to lie, but I took it down with ease.

Always remember:

It is not wise to sublet your cutlet.

Pleasant Manging,

Serious Meat

The Curt Schilling

2010-02-05T05:31:00.000-05:00

Was it blood or was it ketchup? Only a few people know the real answer, but I think I may have uncovered the truth! The other mornging I got an egg sandwich from Liz Sue Bagels after I picked up my dry cleaning. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the eggs are microwaved which results in a decent, below average egg sandwich. Since they have good bagels and I wanted an egg sandwich I decided to get a sausage, egg, and cheese with ketchup and pepper, or a Curt Schilling. Overall it is a C+ egg sandwich.

When unwrapped the foil I noticed a blotch of ketchup seeped through the paper wrapper. This blotch looks almost identical to the same blotch on Curt's sock. The cat is out of the bag Schilling, enough with the drama, we know it was ketchup. Go Yankees!

Look familiar?

The Curt Schilling

Fat Kid Special

2010-02-05T05:01:00.000-05:00

This was submitted by my cousin Scott from an undisclosed deli in Newburgh, NY. It is called the Fat Kid Special and made up of 2 eggs, cheese, ham, bacon, and sausage, on a buttered roll. I guess to feel better about himself he followed this up with a Corn Flakes chaser.

Fat Kid Special. Two please.

Breakfast for Dinner

2010-02-04T06:09:00.001-05:00

Breakfast for dinner is always a great meal, especially when it includes bacon and a burger. BG was thinking this last week when he met up with some friends for dinner. Well done BG....

"Been on a recent diet kick as of late, I'm squaring off against Sensei Timmy, who can lose the most weight as a % of our beginning weight by the end of March. I've done pretty well in eating well and working out, but last night I went out with some friend from O-Town and this happened.....

We stopped at Prime 16, which is an excellent burger/beer bar in downtown New Haven. They have a number of specialty burgers, the Latino burger looked intriguing with Chorizo sausage ground into the beef patty with a jalapeno relish, but they also have a large number of toppings so you can make your own burger. I was weighig my options and saw that fried eggs were a potential topping and decided on a bacon, egg and cheeseburger. The fried egg was delicious, with a runny yolk that was deliciouslly messy. The bacon was thick and chewy, and there was a big slab of cheddar on top. The beef patty was very good, they definitely used good quality beef, and the bun was soft which is a plus. They also have pretzel rolls which my buddies had and raved about, but I just wasn't feeling it that night. The fries were also amazing, having truffle oil and parmesean cheese on them, very very good.

Prime 16 is a great place, they always have a rotating list of beers on tap, had 3 different beers and they were all great. If you are ever in New Haven looking for some great burgers, definitely give it a try. - BG out, and still stuffed"

Sunny side up egg is clutch.

Coach Diner - Part Deux

2010-02-04T05:44:00.002-05:00

GRPD's best work comes after 3 a.m. Here is another look into his favorite thing to do after a night of bars....

"I always wondered why they called it the Coach Diner. I know it’s a Diner, but why “Coach” (noun – a large, horse-drawn, four-wheeled carriage, usually enclosed)? I asked the manager on my way out and he had no clue. Anyway, Coach Diner round two was déjà vu from the getgo. Same ambiance, the best clientele White Plains has to offer and not enough napkins. Since I didn’t know what to get I started with the usual CCP for the table.

For my main course, I was torn between Belgian waffles and an egg sangwich. So I got both.

I call this mess…“Bloodsport” in honor of the great Belgian Jean-Claude Van Damme in his role as Frank Dux in the 1988 martial arts film.

Lesson learned: Some sequels can have great potential."

- GRPD

Showdown: Country Cow vs. Commack Breakfast

2010-02-03T05:34:00.002-05:00

Phil #14 needs no introduction, here are his results from his NY vs CT Breakfast Sandwich Showdown...

"After seeing breakfast sandwich week advertised on lunch o’clock, I was ready to make trips to my two favorite breakfast places for a showdown: Commack Breakfast (NY) vs. Country Cow Deli (CT).

Living in both states for a considerable amount of time, I will say that for most aspects of quick and unhealthy food, NY crushes CT (Pizza, bagels, delis, hot dogs, etc.). Which in my opinion is mainly because CT is very top-heavy. It’s like that girl with amazing cans but a backside that caves in and teeth that make Michael Strahan look like an orthodontist. There’s just too much bad that outweighs the good. The analogy holds true for breakfast sandwiches. CT has been inconsistent in my time here. I’ve seen too much bread, limp bacon, terrible bagels, and I’ve even seen the dreaded microwaved egg. Whereas in NY, you can get a pretty decent breakfast sandwich anywhere you go. However, can the best in CT stack up to the best in NY? Now onto the competition:

To make sides equal, I went with my go-to combo - bacon, egg, and cheese with home fries, salt & pepper. No ketchup (cardinal sin when eating a high-quality breakfast sandwich). I don’t prefer my egg runny on a sandwich, and I know this is a difference of opinion for a few blog readers. Note that these places are veterans in the game and will cook your egg with the precision of a Jedi knight.

Commack Breakfast: Pretty unique place as all its business comes from breakfast (hence the name). They serve lunch as well, but it doesn’t mean anyone actually gets it. It’s like seafood at the diner – its on the menu, but no one touches it. Although only about 10 square feet, the friendly staff and consistent food make this establishment a Commack landmark. Now onto the sandwich. Great amount of egg to cheese ratio, maybe a little too much on the home fries, but all ingredients were top-notch. The sandwich was neatly packed, used the classic poppy seed Kaiser roll, and the bacon was crisp. The kicker was you can really taste the salt and pepper. Grade: 9/10.

Country Cow Deli: Referred to by regulars as just “the Cow” and pretty much the reason I wrote this post, I knew it would take Commack Breakfast on their best day and the Cow on its worst to pull the upset. I specifically remember the first time I was introduced to the Cow by my buddy Ray, who said to put the home fries on the sandwich. I was skeptical at first, but the rest is history. Ray actually crashed his car while backing out of the Cow’s parking lot that morning. Barely taking notice, the three of us in the back seat, with our taste buds in awe of this culinary masterpiece, continued to eat until completely finished. Fast forward to last week and again, another satisfied customer. The home fries really make the sandwich. They are mixed with a few onions and peppers which are a great addition. Everything else is damn near perfection. The best. Period. Family owned, friendly staff, and the Mexican guys that man the grill must use some special ingredient to make the sandwiches taste this good. And no, I don’t want to know what it is. Grade: 10/10

So that’s it. While both were amazing, it is Country Cow Deli in Fairfield, CT that holds the crown for the best breakfast sandwich in my eyes. I used to frequent this place in college, and their product is enjoyed best while hungover. I also recommend the steak egg and cheese or if you are feeling up to it, the steak, bacon, egg, cheese, and homefries on a wedge, double everything – the true lumberjack special."

Till next time,

Phil #14

Info:

Country Cow Deli: 2505 Blackrock Turnpike, Fairfield CT

Commack Breakfast: 95 Commack Rd., Commack, NY (Long Island)

Breakfast Stevewich - Cheechman's Grilled BECC

2010-02-03T05:02:00.000-05:00

"Yo Smalls, can you make me an egg sandwich?" Is the question my younger brother Cheechie will ask me either Saturday or Sunday morning on weekends, but never before 10:30, that I spend at my parents house. A few weeks ago I made him a Grilled Cheddar Cheese, Bacon and Egg on wheat bread on the griddle. Grilling bread on a griddle with some butter is much better than toasting it. It adds an additional layering of flavor and gives the chance for everything to come together in the sandwich that a toaster cannot provide. This method of sandwich making is known as a "Stevewich" in our kitchen. Not really sure how it happened, but I know Serious Meat had named it years ago after the great Stone Cold Steve Austin.

After a few bites of the sandwich you hear Serious Meat ask, "Yo, can I get a bite of that?" After some bickering and name calling, Serious Meat usually gets a bite, depending on how cranky Cheech is. Cheechman doesn't have the same appreciatoin for food as Serious Meat and I do, so he doesn't really understand the whole blogging concept. I can accept that and have decided to dedicate this post to him anyway because he loves egg sandwiches.

Splatz!

Coach Diner, White Plains, NY - Part 1

2010-02-02T03:32:00.001-05:00

During hot dog week I got an email from GRPD and Hank asking me if sausage can be considered for hot dog week. I said if it is on a bun, it is debatable, and to send me the post and I will consider to post it during HDW or not. Key fact they forget to include in the email is that the sausage was part of a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich from a diner, which makes it an egg sandwich, and not a hot dog.

Anyway, this S.E.C looks great and the addition of the fries was a nice touch. At first I thought the bread was a hamburger bun, which would have resulted in some demerits, but after further review it looks like a nice hard roll. Also, I prefer the patty style sausage as compared to the links when it comes to an S.E.C. I know I am not the only one who has the same opinion, Dennis' fiance, Lauren Macri, has said the same thing on more than one occasion.

Here is what GRPD has to say...
"So the plan was to do a combined White Plains Coach Diner post since I got two incredible meals there on back to back nights this past weekend (when I say incredible keep in mind I was not sober at the time of making this judgment). However, when I showed this creation to Hank, he said this definitely qualifies for hot dog week. It is on a roll which some may consider a bun but this is debatable. So here is round 1 at the Coach Diner. If you don't think this qualifies for hot dog week you should take it up with Hank as he insisted this counts or give us your thoughts in the comment section below.
The fun doesn't end after last call. To start out, I usually like to order Chocolate Chip Pancakes ("CCP") for the table (not pictured here in round 1). People always appreciate CCP for the table, it's a nice thing to do... especially when nobody knows what they want yet, it can be hard to decide what you want after a night of boozing.
For my main course I ordered sausage, egg and cheese on a roll with two eggs sunny side up. This order exceeded my expectations because it came with whole sausage links, not a patty like most places use. I added salt, pepper, french fries and lots of ketchup to this dish. I must say it really hit the spot. The service was also pretty good although I had to grab some napkins off the empty table next to me. As you could imagine, the ambiance at 4am has some room for improvement. Overall, round 1 was a nice experience. Lesson learned: late night dining, like regular dining, is only as good as what you make of it."

- GRPD

GRPD's not-so hot dog week Sausage, Egg, and Cheese.

The Country Carpetbagger

2010-02-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

The was created during a breakfast at the Country Pancake House in Ridgewood, NJ. It consists of a half of a Carpetbagger pancake (cornmeal, bacon, ham, and cheese pancake), one egg, corned beef hash, and nice amount of ketchup. The pancake held together nicely and the combination of flavors was wild. An additional 10 sausage links were needed to keep it together during the eating process. After a few bites, 5 sausages were able to handle The Country Carpetbagger. Overall this was grade A breakfast sandwich.

The Carpetbagger

BEC - Corporate Cafeteria

2010-02-01T05:00:00.002-05:00

A great breakfast and a standard in most peoples lives is the egg sandwich. In most cases, you can tell how good a deli is just by their egg sandwich. My go to is sausage or turkey sausage and I prefer the patty over the link on sandwiches. I dress them with black pepper and ketchup.

The one thing I have noticed about Stamford, is that you cannot find a good egg sandwich anywhere. Most of the egg sandwiches I have had in Stamford are decent, with the exception of the egg sandwiches from Garden Catering. For now I will talk about the Bacon Egg and Cheese (BEC) I had the other morning from the cafeteria at my office. This sandwich made a good first impression. It was made with two eggs with medium well yolks, 3 strips of crisp bacon, white american cheese (weak), on a hard roll. Two eggs on a sandwich should be the standard for all places. An egg sandwich automatically gets a half a letter grade bump for the two egg standard. Nothing is worse than a giant roll with one small egg.The worst part of the sandwich was the roll. It was too thick and soft. I prefer a less thick roll with more of a crust and bite to it.

Overall this was a "B-" BEC, the help of the two eggs bumped it up from a C+.

Feel free to share your egg sandwich experiences and let me know where the best places are to find a good egg sandwich.

- Lunch Pail

The two eggs were nice and the bacon was crisp, but look at the roll. Too much bread if you ask me.

Dennis' Steak House Tour - Peter Luger's

2010-01-29T03:09:00.002-05:00

When you go to a steakhouse with Dennis, this is what you can expect...a table full of chaos! From sizzling butcher cut bacon strips to strawberries and cream, Dennis covers the entire menu with this meal. Here is peek into Dennis' most recent double date to Peter Luger's with his fiance Lauren, his buddy Booch, and Booch's girlfriend.

As stated in his previous steakhous post, Bobby Van's, Dennis rates Peter Luger's as his #2 steak spot.

Enjoy!

SIZZLING BACON STRIPS!!!!

The porterhouse for 3 that Booch and Dennis ate by themselves....cleaned up the whole plate and then went chewing on the bone!

Photo of the table with some sides that included the onion rings, french fries, creamed spinach and hash browns.

Their dessert called Slosh, homeade whipped cream that their waiter, Spiro, said he made himself. topped it off with strawberries.

Diamond in the Rough - The Clark White Diamond

2010-01-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another great post from Snee's hometown of Clark, NJ. This burger looks awesome, and I will take his word for it that it is the best. I am thinking I will need to take a trip down there soon for a day-night double header of Galloping Hill Inn and the Clark White Diamond.

"Seeing that I was born and raised in Clark, NJ...I've been exposed to a greasy burger joint known as The Clark White Diamond my whole life. While people now label "Sliders" as those small burgers you can eat in one bite, these are REAL sliders. Sliders, by the definition that I was taught, are greasy burgers that enter your mouth, and "slide" right into the toilet. Going by THAT description, these burgers are the best that I've ever had in that category.

They have small or large burgers, which is silly because who in their right mind would order a small, but I ordered a large double cheese, fries, and a Pepsi. The burger itself is delicious, freshly made to order, and if you had the munchies you could probably eat a thousand of them. My only complaint was that I should have ordered extra cheese because there wasn't enough. Regardless...it's topped with grilled onions and pickles, which is what I believe puts it over the top. They serve crinkle cut fried which, as previously discussed, are a huge plus. They also have awesome Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches too, among a few other things but if I'm going there, I don't bother ordering anything else.
During the day, it's a quiet place on a very busy intersection...on a Friday or Saturday night, forget it. It's a madhouse. A combination of old drunks, people coming back from clubs or bars, and high school kids on their first ever bender. More fights happen here than at a Manchester United soccer match, which is entertaining in itself...but the burgers are always the highlight."

- Snee

Eat that Sanchise

The Clark White Diamond. Open infinity hours since 1947.

Parm Combo

2010-01-27T06:43:00.000-05:00

GRPD is starting to step up his sandwich creativity....

"Engagement team management has boycotted the corporate cafeteria since I have been out here. Word has it that this has been going on for quite some time now due to a ‘slimy chicken’ incident which occurred several years ago. And I wasn’t complaining because the food in the surrounding area has been just fine. Unfortunately, we have had turn-over on our team. This has led to continued use of the Corporate Cafeteria.

Today, for the very first time, we got to go down to the cafeteria for a team lunch. It was set-up like your usual corporate caf with a salad bar, deli counter, hot meal station, etc… But something caught our eye. Nestled in the far corner of the caf was a Grinder station. They had meatball parm, chicken parm and eggplant parm. It looked pretty good and it was priced right. Each grinder came with fries, salad and an optional drink for a small nominal fee. So I asked the sangwich guys how often they served this and they said only about once every 5 weeks. I was torn on what to go with, so I ordered a meatball parm combo and chicken parm grinder (just the sangwich). While waiting, I noticed the burgers were only $2.99, which is a steal compared to those Fraiche Burgers which cost a whopping $5.75 each. I’ll have to try them out one day. I also noticed this caf utilizes a toaster very similar to Quizknows. This caused my expectations to grow slightly. Until something tragic happened… I was served only ONE grinder with meatball parm and chicken parm. I thought I was losing it. I started asking about my other wedge until Hank pointed out what happened. Good thing for his Hank Vision. Apparently they made it a one grinder combo with meatballs AND chicken. I have never had such a thing shared on one piece of bread. My first thought…obviously this isn’t going to be enough food. So acted fast and added a nice jumbo size brownie to my order. The whole meal came to $8.10.

The sangwich was really good, and came at an unbeatable price. They were definitely generous with the amount of meat they put on this thing and the bread was nice and toasted. Jared (J-Rod, not the Subway guy) even commented on the favorable meat to bread ratio.

Lesson learned: don’t always judge it till you try it."

-GRPD

Chicken Cutlet and Meatballs doing the horizontal mambo, parm style.

Ode to Carpaccio - Il Buco, NYC

2010-01-26T02:58:00.000-05:00

During the holidays, Seegs and I went to see Jersey Boys followed by dinner at one of her favorite places, Il Buco down on the lower east side. The food was delicious and the 11:15 pm dinner reservation was pretty cool. I never thought I would accept a reservation that late, it was there first available time for that Saturday. There menu is based on the season so I will definately be back in the Spring to eat again.

Here is what Seegs has to say about her favorite dish from one of her favorite restaurants...

"Oh how those raw ribbons of meat melt in your mouth and linger on your tastebuds. Yes, raw. This baby is beef in it's most primal form. "Carpaccio di Manzo" is what the menu reads, and it tastes even more glorious than it sounds. Bison strip loin carpaccio, fried chickpeas, black cumin, arugala, shaved parmesan cheese- with a drizzle of the purest extra virgin olive oil to top off this delicious masterpiece. Ever since I first laid eyes (and teeth) on this delicately thin sliced beef 2 years ago, I dreamed of the moment that we would reunite. And so, I'd like to thank Lunchpail for bringing carpaccio and I together again, if only for a moment, that I could once again enjoy a few savory slices of heaven. Until next time carpaccio... unfreakin'believeable."

- Seegs

Carpaccio di Manzo

My dinner - Garganelli al Ragu

Seegs' dinner - Risotto di Something (I forget the actual name, but it was really good)

Monday Morning Dumpling

2010-01-25T10:28:00.000-05:00

People usually hate Monday mornings and I can understand why, especially today with the horrible weather teamed up with a Jets loss in the AFC Championship. Sometimes though life will give us a suprise and a smile on a Monday morning. Today, my suprise was dumplings. I went into the kitchenette at work to get some water this morning when I noticed some foil out on the counter. I looked them over and thought they were dumplings, but second guessed myself about why there would be homemade dumplings out at 9:30 am. There was only one way to figure out what they were. I took one and ripped in half and revealed what seemed to be some ground up chicken and garlic...CHOWTIME!! I ate it and it was actually pretty good. Then I realized they were probably out on the counter since saturday afternoon when the tax team was here working this weekend. It has been an hour and I feel ok, so I think I should be good for the day.

Keep your heads up Jets fans and miserable Monday morning commuters, you never know when you will find some unexpected dumplings.

Monday Morning Dumplings

Garden Catering - Stamford, CT

2010-01-25T03:49:00.000-05:00

Billy Kriewald breaks down a Stamford favorite, Garden Catering. Personally I think GC is a great place and prefer the High Ridge location even though they don't have seating. The breakfast sandwiches are real good, especially the "Hotsy", which will be posted in the future. For lunch though, when I am not in the mood for a High School Special I go with the Nugget Wrap which is awesome. Also, when I get the Special I get it with a mix of cones and fries. Billy pulled a rookie mistake and just had fries. Cones are these cone shaped mashed potatoes deep fried. They have a nice outer crust with hot mashed potatoes on the inside.

If you are looking for a healthy meal, Garden Catering isn't really the place. They do offer salad and grilled chicken, but who would want that over some of the more greasy and delicious menu options. If you are looking for a rather inexpensive lunch that will fill you up and make you feel good about your eating habbits, then Garden Catering is the place. If you have never been to one, I highly recommend you try is as soon as possible. Start with the HS Special with a mix of fries and cones, then work your way around the rest of the menu as you continue to go back.

Here is what Billy thinks of Garden Catering...

"This is a lower fairfield county hotspot, and definitely an excellent choice for a lunchtime visit. Probably one of my top 5 places for a quick inexpensive meal overall, garden catering boasts 3 locations in stamford (high ridge, main street, and one in the glenbrook section). The special (formally the high school special) is a great option for $7, including 1/2lbs of amazing golden brown chicken nuggets, a generous portion of fries, and soda. While the nuggets are my favorite option in the boss configuration (1lbs of nuggets instead of 1/2lbs for $10) as seen in the picture below, the fried chicken is another excellent option, the nuggets wrap, and the other deli options are very good as well. Not much more to this lunch spot other than make sure you get extra seasoning and the honey mustard sauce."

- Billy Kriewald

The Boss - 1 lb. of nuggets and fries.

Nugget Wrap - Chicken Nuggets, Cones, Fries, Chili, and Cheese.

Bistek A Lo Pobre - Fiesta Restaurant - Stamford, CT

2010-01-21T06:46:00.000-05:00

Here is a lunch recently taken down by Peter from Fiesta Restaurant on Atlantic St. in Stamford. I drive past this place everyday and never had the urge to even try it. Based on this meal Peter had I might have to stop for a taste one of these days. After eating this lunch, Peter's cholesterol pumped up a few points.

"My buddy from San Diego was in town for the Holidays and he wanted to hit up this Peruvian restaurant he used to frequent when he worked in Stamford. I get a text at 11 asking if I wanted to meet him for lunch at 12:30, to which I immediately replied yes. Sure enough, as it was getting closer to lunch time, I received more texts that he was running late. When everything was said and done, it was 1:30 before we sat down to order our lunch. I was obviously starving by that time so I was ready to destroy anything that would be put in front of me. In the past, I would settle for an above average portion of chicken or beef with veggies, which goes for around $8, but this day I went for the Holy Grail...The Bisteck A Lo Pobre($15)! This monster of a lunch was delicious as well as visually satisfying. As soon as the waitress plops it in front of you, there is a moment of fear, followed by a sudden sense of determination! To no surprise, I housed this meal, along with

2 glasses of water and 3 small pieces of bread. This is a meal fitting for GRPD, who is known for combining different types of food into a meal most people won't even attempt to eat!"

- Peter

Bisteck A Lo Pobre - Salad, Rice, French Fries, Fried Plantains, topped by a Grilled Pepper Steak, and finished off with 2 fried eggs

Fraiche Burger - Bridgeport, CT

2010-01-20T06:02:00.000-05:00

Another classic lunch that GRPD and his team enjoyed about a month ago while working in Bridgeport. Like most of his lunches shared on this blog, GRPD had trouble eating one thing. This lunch included breakfast, lunch, and 16 ouncer. Nothing like a Colt 45 to wash down greasy, mediocre, bar food.

"Hank spotted a burger joint near Subway on one of his lunch runs. So we decided to investigate. It's called Fraiche Burger. It looked deceptively good from the outside, apparently they make their burgers from 100% Black Angus Beef from the farms of Kansas. When they told me they serve egg sandwiches all day I was sold and happy as a pig in sh!t. I should have heeded the warning of Colt 45 before ordering this meal. The kosher hot dog I ordered came out looking and just about tasted like one of those 'Mobile on the Run' dogs that have been sitting around for a few weeks. Also, I ordered it with raw onions and didn't get any. The egg sandwich was actually pretty good and it came with a free coffee.

The burger was way over done for my liking and didn't come with a pickle. Hank ordered two of these w/o pickles. Maybe I would have a different opinion about this place had he not pulled the switch on me. He seemed to enjoy them. Hank also had fries, an apple (not from Fraiche) and some chocolate chip cookies from Subway that he picked up while getting Jared's subs (figures, J-Rod went with Subway). To Hank's credit he did share the cookies.

Lesson learned: don't order hot dogs from places that don't primarily do hot dogs."

- GRPD

Gotta love the Greek style coffe cup.

Refreshments