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Sunday, June 29, 2008

Pollo Tropical Trouble

I ate a chicken Tropichop bowl from Pollo Tropical in Altamonte Springs, FL. Apparently, just before I dined at the restaurant, someone came in and bought twenty chickens, so they were out of their specialty. This ment that it took about 20 minutes for the food to come because they had to cook up a new batch. When the food finally came, they forgot the major component that was holding everything up, the chicken. I went back, and they gave me my chicken on the side, and I ate it.
TropiChop Bowl
Even though they had some problems, the food still tasted very good. As far as fast food restaurants go, Pollo Tropical does have some of the best food...

Friday, June 27, 2008

Food From UCF & Boba Tea

I ate a buffet served at the University of Central Florida. The selection was somewhat limited. It consisted of salad, rolls, potato chips, cookies, and some sort of pasta with a mystery meat. The meat had the consistency of ground beef but was too light in color and looked more like pork to me. Maybe it was the sauce that lightened up the meat. My guess is that this was supposed to be Beef Stroganoff. It actually tasted surprisingly good...
UCF Orientation Buffet
Later on, I stopped at the Lollicup in Winter Park on the corner of University and Semoran Blvd. I has a passion fruit boba tea. It was good, but after a while it became way too sweet. My last cup of boba tea from Tkettle in New York City was better...
Passion Fruit Boba Tea

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Hungry Howie's Green Pepper Pizza

Hungry Howie's Pepper Pizza

I ate a pizza from the Hungry Howie's in Lake Mary, FL. It was topped with green bell peppers with a sesame seed crust. It was okay, but how can you even come close to comparing Hungry Howie's to this...

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Sweet Tomatoes

I ate at the Sweet Tomatoes in Altamonte Springs, Florida. I don't like places like this all too much, but they sent some buy one, get one free coupons, so why not. Last time I ate here, the restaurant resembled a retirement home with all of the elderly people eating here. This time, it resembled a Chuck-E-Cheese with the screaming pre-schoolers far outnumbering the elderly.
Sweet Tomatoes Salad
Sweet Tomatoes Pasta
Sweet Tomatoes Cream of Broccoli

Monday, June 23, 2008

Supermarket Sushi

Supermarket California Rolls
I ate some California Rolls from the Publix Supermarket in Altamonte Springs, FL. They were very tasty...

Sunday, June 22, 2008

McDonald's & Maurice's

While traveling south to Florida, a stop was made in Franklin, VA. The hotel didn't serve any sort of icky continental breakfast or anything, so the breakfast choice was narrowed down to the McDonalds across the street.
McDonalds
I ordered a egg and cheese biscuit combo, so it came with orange juice and hash browns. The whole experience in the fast food restaurant took about fifteen minutes, and probably would have taken longer if the manager didn't come in and all of the employees suddenly started scrambling to make the food faster. Once the food was ready, I took it and ate in the car.
Egg & Cheese Biscuit
Hashed Brown
I can't remember the last time that I ate in a standard McDonalds, but I was reminded why I don't eat the food off of the normal McDonalds menu. As I was eating the breakfast it tasted fine. For hours afterwards though, something in the food irritated the back of my throat. Drinking lots of water didn't really help, and it wasn't until a sneeze where a bit of mucus came up that the sore throat went away. This happens to me with breakfast from Burger King as well. Yummy...


On to better food, later in the day I ate at Maurice's Barbecue in Santee, South Carolina. Right off of I-95, this little fast food barbecue restaurant has some good food. You are greeted by this giant pork sandwich in the sky...

B-B-Q in the Sky...

Maurice's Barbeque
I ate a Jr. Pig Dinner, which consisted of pulled pork in a mustard barbecue sauce, fries, a roll, cole-slaw, hush puppies, and something called Carolina hash which was served over rice. The pork was very tasty, and I made my own pulled pork sandwich with the meat and the roll. I'm not exactly sure what was in the Carolina hash, but that was also very tasty. It was a whole lot to eat too.
Maurice's Jr. Pig Dinner
And here is a portrait of Maurice hanging up in the restaurant. You know you are in the south when a restaurant owner is pictured in front of a Confederate flag...

Maurice

With all of the meat and fried food that I ate today, I'm really in the mood to go eat vegan food again...

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Crab Cakes on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

I ate a crab cake sandwich from the Sea Gull Pier Restaurant on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia. The last time that I traveled over the bridge and ate at this restaurant I had breakfast. The time before that, I also ate a crab cake sandwich. My problem then was that the crab cake had bits of crushed crab shell in the cake and made it a pain to eat. This time, the crab cake on the sandwich seemed ultra processed. As if it was a frozen pre-made crab cake. Someone else at the table ordered another crab cake sandwich, and it looked exactly the same, where crab cakes that are freshly made by hand don't have that much uniformity. It was what I would imagine a krabby patty would be like, if it wasn't a fictional cartoon food. The waitress said they made the crab cakes fresh at the restaurant, but I don't believe it. Maybe they came fresh out of the freezer.

It did taste okay, but it wasn't exactly what I would consider a good crab cake...
Crab Cake Sandwich

Friday, June 20, 2008

NYC Angelica Kitchen & TKettle

After eating a very meaty lunch, I had the complete opposite for dinner. I ate organic vegan food from Angelica Kitchen in Manhattan's East Village.
Angelica Kitchen
I ate a Dragon Bowl, which consisted of rice, tofu, lentils, kale, zucchini, carrots, and some wonderful seaweed. This was served with a tahini dressing. I know many meat eaters would look away in disgust at this meal, but it really was delicious. Everything was good, with the exception of the lentils which tasted very bland. I'm not sure what the shredded purple seaweed that was used in the Dragon Bowl was called, but that is some of the best seaweed I've ever tasted. It was by far my favorite flavor in the whole Dragon Bowl.
Dragon Bowl
Dragon Bowl
Angelica Kitchen on Urbanspoon

After finishing dinner at Angelica Kitchen, I had dessert at Tkettle. They served what they called bubble tea (although I think the correct name is boba tea), and other variations on the idea, along with some actual food. Boba tea is very cool stuff. It is a type of tea that originated in Taiwan that is filled with floating tapioca balls. I ruined my vegan dinner by ordering a avocado milkshake. They blended half of an avocado, milk, and ice, and then poured the milkshake over the tapioca balls. An avocado milkshake is definitely not a combination that I would have thought of, but it wasn't bad. Drinking it without sucking up the tapioca balls left it tasting like it needed some salt, but with the tapioca, the milkshake was very good...
TKettle
TKettle
TKettle Avocado Milkshake

TKettle on Urbanspoon

Bairrada Rodizio Churrasqueira Restaurant

Bairrada Rodizio Churrasqueira Restaurant
I ate take out Portuguese food for lunch from the Bairrada Rodizio Churrasqueira Restaurant in Mineola, NY. Roast suckling pig and mixed grill were ordered.
Churrasqueira Bairrada Rodizio Restaurant
The roast suckling pig was good. The pig was served still in it's skin. There was a bit of fat in the meat, but as far as pork goes, the pig was very tasty and tender. It was served with rice and homemade potato chips. They needed some salt, but otherwise were very good.
Roast Suckling Pig...
Homemade Potato Chips & Rice
The mixed grill consisted of a skewer of chicken, steak, sausage, onions, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes. It was served with rice and french fries. I am not a big fan of steak, so I didn't think it was anything that good, but at least it was well done rather than having the blood squirt out of the dead cow flesh when you take a bite. The chicken was tasty, but the best meat on the skewer was the sausage. The rest of the meat all tasted basically like char-grilled meats, while the sausage actually had a distinct flavor.
Mixed Grill...
Eating the food as take out didn't give you the whole churrasqueira experience with waiters walking around with meat on sticks, slicing it at your table, but the food was still good. Take out was a whole lot cheaper too!
Churrasqueira Bairrada Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Thursday, June 19, 2008

King Umbertos & Italian Pastries

King Umbertos
I ate dinner from King Umbertos in Elmont, NY for a second time. Their pizza is still the best ever, and had improved from the last visit where the selection of pizza choices was somewhat slim. Tonight there were plenty of different pies to choose from.
King Umbertos
I took home the slices of pizza from King Umbertos rather than eating in the restaurant. I can't name all of the slices, but the square slice is called Grandma's Pizza. Next to Grandmas, there is a stuffed vegetable slice. The slice next to that consists of a spinach crust topped with cheese, basil, plum tomatoes, and more. There is a cheese slice next to that, followed by a slice topped with fresh mozzarella, and then another slice on the spinach crust.
King Umbertos Pizzas
King Umbertos Pizzas

Out of all of those slices, I had the stuffed vegetable slice and one of the spinach crust slices.
King Umbertos Stuffed Vegetable Pizza
King Umbertos Pizzas
They were both really good. It's hard to decide which was better...

King Umberto on Urbanspoon

I ate some dessert from Ramona Lee Italian Pastries in Franklin Square, NY. Cream puffs, pignolis, chocolate mousse, and more. It was good a good dessert!
Ramona Lee Italian Pastries

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Sesame Bagel from the Bagel Boss

Here is a sesame bagel from the Bagel Boss store in Garden City, NY across from the Roosevelt Fields mall. It has some smoked salmon cream cheese on it...
Sesame Bagel with Salmon Cream Cheese

More Italian Ices from Ralph's

Black Cherry Cheesecake Italian Ice...

I had more Italian ices from the good Ralph's in Franklin Square. I tried black cherry cheesecake, coconut, and passion fruit. It was a good combination...

Torigo Japanese Restaurant

I ate sushi from the Torigo Japanese Restaurant in Floral Park, NY for dinner. Dinner began by being seated under a pair of Japanese masks.
Japanese Masks
After looking over the menu, food was ordered and miso soup and a soba noodle appetizer were served. The noodles were very tasty, topped with some tempura crumbles. The miso soup was also very good, but there was some sort of sponge-like food that was floated on top of the soup that I wasn't too fond of. Otherwise, the soup was very good.
Miso Soup & Soba Noodles
The main dishes followed the soup and appetizers. I had ordered Mom's Favorite Roll, which was filled with salmon tempura, pumpkin tempura, cream cheese, masago, and spicy-mayo. It was a very good roll. It was very large in diameter, filled with all of it's wonderful fillings. It's the first time I've ever had fried pumpkin in sushi...
Mom's Favorite Roll
Someone else ordered another roll that I tried a piece of. The name escapes me, but it was filled with crab, egg, plum, as well as other fillings that I must be forgetting. I liked Mom's Favorite Roll better...
Roll
Chicken Teriyaki was also ordered. It was served with rice, mashed potatoes, and some random vegetables. It had a nice presentation and tasted fine, but I preferred the rolls over the chicken.
Chicken Teriyaki
Overall, Torigo was a really good Japanese Restaurant. If I lived nearby, I would be sure to return...

Torigo Japanese Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Silver Star Diner

Silver Star Diner
I ate lunch at the Silver Star Diner in Franklin Square, NY. It was in a cool building and I ordered a Greek Salad.
Silver Star Diner
Greek style diners in the New York/New Jersey area tend to have very good Greek Salads, but certain ingredients are required in order to meet my specifications for a good Greek Salad. They should be large salads. The dressing should not come from a bottle or be something creamy like Ranch. Anchovies should be on the salad. Stuffed grape leaves should also be there. The salad from Silver Star met all of the qualifications except for the grape leaves, which are technically the best part in my opinion.

So I wouldn't necessarily get a Greek Salad from the Silver Star Diner again...
Silver Star Diner Greek Salad
Silver Star Restaurant on Urbanspoon