Tag: review

Blog on the Go (History)

A lot of people are concerned with people that talk on their phones and text while driving. I agree that this is a dangerous thing to do, but I can’t drive without it. My A.D.D. requires me to be doing at least three things at all times, so I have to be engaged in some form of communication. Rather than text while driving 50 miles per hour in a vehicle that weighs in excess of 1,000 pounds, I decided the natural thing to do was blog. Yes, you are witnessing the first food blog done in a moving vehicle. Settle down. I know it’s awesome. Dangerous? Maybe. But that’s a risk I am willing to take to entertain my readers. I would also like to apologize to my Mom. I’m expecting a phone call within hours telling me how stupid I am.

I decided to stop at Burger King for some breakfast. Burger King always seems to be second in line when it comes to breakfast, and mostly just copies off what McDonalds has. I have always enjoyed BK breakfast, but it will never touch the amazing Egg McMuffin. Also, BK’s food seems to be a little ridiculous on the grease.

Hmm, what will I have? I chose those new BK wraps, a croissant sandwich, and the new iced Mocha BK Joe. I wasn’t sure why I chose to get something having to do with coffee because I don’t drink coffee, but I wasn’t too disappointed.

Off I went, with no regards to public safety. The wrap was easy to eat while driving, and actually tasted pretty delicious. Inside are potatoes, bacon, cheese, and egg. Like all of their other breakfast options, the wrap was extremely greasy which I blame on the potatoes. I would recommend one of these guys if you’re looking for a small and cheap breakfast. It’s on par with the McDonalds breakfast burrito but a lot simpler. Check out this damn fine photography while operating a moving vehicle.

Next up we have the delicious croissant sandwich. I don’t believe I have ever been to Burger King for breakfast and not gotten one of these. They are the closest thing, in deliciousness, to McDonalds’ McMuffin, which I consider to be king of the fast food breakfast items. This was a little more tricky to consume in the car. A napkin bib for my legs was constructed, and eating commenced.

..and finally we have the mocha BK Joe. Of course Burger King had to follow the coffee trend after McDonalds introduced their “premium” items a year or two ago. This coffee was not so premium. It was, on the other hand, very delicious. After seeing the drive through lady pour it out of a giant pitcher, I was a little worried. After tasting it, oh man. Not disappointed. It tastes exactly like those Starbucks Frappuccino things that you buy in stores. Nice work, King.

Just for the record, I’m still in the process of moving and got pretty lazy last night. That’s my explanation for all of that crap in the back seat. I’m not that big of a slob.

July 20, 2009
Corner Brewery – Ypsilanti, MI

I’m the kind of person who likes to sit on the porch in the summer and enjoy a good beer or six. I’m not much of a “bar person”, in that I would much rather sit on a couch and converse with friends over drinks. Since I am a struggling student living in poverty, I do not posses a porch to do this on. This is where Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti comes in. Corner is a local brewery owned by the Arbor Brewing Company. They only serve beers that are brewed in house, with the majority of them being fantastic. They usually have 6-7 beers on tap, and have selections for anyone. I would recommend the Blonde or the Sacred Cow IPA, but you really can’t lose here.

From their website:

“The original promise of the microbrewery movement was one of wide ranging styles, beers of distinction and quality, served up by small regional breweries providing fresh beer with a unique local character.

That has always been the driving force behind every beer we brew. In addition to classic, true-to-style favorites like our Sacred Cow I.P.A., Bavarian Bliss Hefeweizen, Espresso Love Breakfast Stout, and Phat Abbot Dubbel and Triple; we also like to blend styles and add unexpected twists. Our goal is to respect styles and traditions without being a slave to them.”

A detailed list and description of each beer can be found here.

The beer that is served at Arbor Brewing Company and Corner all have exactly the same recipes. The beer at Arbor Brewing Company is served at Arbor Brewing Company and the beer brewed at Corner is served at Corner. The same four people brew the beer at the two places.

Besides the beer, the great thing about Corner is the atmosphere. This is unlike any bar I’ve ever been to. Inside are chairs and tables, but couches and large comfortable booths surround them. When you go out back, there is a large beer garden and a porch with more couches. They also have a large collection of board games and trivia. If you want to come challenge me at 90’s trivia, let me know. I will be happy to embarrass you. The idea of the bar is to re-create brew pubs you may see in Germany and you’ll likely see kids and families enjoying games, cards, WiFi, and beer(not the kids). Go there enough times, and you’ll likely run into a drunk hippie who wants to talk philosophy with you, which is usually fun for the first twenty minutes then gets old for the next two hours.

The real reason I write this is because Corner recently expanded their food menu. It used to be that you could order your own food from outside, whether it be pizza or even take out from Sidetrack. I believe you can still do that, but they finally realized that they could make a few dollars serving their own food. I’ve tried their menu the last few visits and haven’t been very impressed, but the food is far from terrible. They offer a lot of basic menu options including burgers, brats, dips and sandwiches. They also pledge to use local sourcing whenever possible and also choose ingredients that are fresh, natural, and sustainable.

For this particular visit, I decided to get the roast beef and cheddar sandwich with a Hungarian farm cheese spread. I was a little hesitant to order a burger, which I will probably do one of these days, so I went with the sandwich. Didn’t turn out too bad, but wasn’t great either. The beef was a little fatty and not tender enough to be on a sandwich. One bite took most of the roast beef with it. Much chewing was required. Can’t complain though, as I have had much worse sandwiches.

Stephanie is a nachos fanatic and decided to go with the vegetarian seitan nachos. These are locally made corn chips piled with black bean spread, 3-cheese blend, fajita seitan strips, onions, black olives, jalapeno peppers, and fresh salsa. I didn’t try these mainly because vegetarian food and me just don’t get along. She enjoyed them, however.

All in all, I’d say Corner is making great strides with their food but it needs a bit of improvement. It’s great that I can go and enjoy pretty high quality food while drinking their great beer, but I just think there’s a bit of room for improvement.

Corner Brewery
720 Norris St
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
(734) 480-2739
http://www.arborbrewing.com/index.php?site=cornerbrewery

July 8, 2009
La Sandia – Tysons Corner, Virginia
As an avid Epic Portions reader for a while now I take the advice of the site to heart, which is why on a recent trip to La Sandia in Tysons Corner, Virginia, I took along with me the Criteria for a Great Mexican Joint checklist. In my head, but still, it was with me. Also with me was one of my best friends, Chris, the number one food snob in my life. It’s a pretty big deal for him to approve of a restaurant.
1. The chips. Awesome, and as Chris pointed out, they were corn, not flour, which made them even more awesome. That, and they had a bit of oil on them, which is always a plus for me. When I eat out I like to go all out, calorie counting out the window. The salsa was also really good, I was hoping it would be hotter since I enjoy a good burn when it comes to food, but I understand the need to appeal to everyone. Thumbs up so far on the chips and salsa.
2. Location. La Sandia is situated right next to the Barnes and Noble at the end of the “new part” of Tysons Corner Center. So, satisfies the requirement that it’s not freestanding. It’s far from rundown though, being that it’s situated in the nicest and largest mall in the Washington/Baltimore area, so I guess this criterion was half-met.
3. The chips and salsa person. While he was not the guy who brought us our food, he was the guy who brought us our drinks. I had heard that La Sandia’s sangria was good and I love a good sangria so I was eager to try it and it did not disappoint. It had a lot of different fruit and wasn’t watery at all (I don’t know about you but I’ve had that happen a lot at places that serve sangria)
4. The menu. Mine was a little sticky, but Chris’s was totally clean. Being as that La Sandia is in Tysons, I don’t think they could get away with not cleaning their menus. The previous restaurant in its place was owned by Iron Chef Masahiro Morimoto and the service and everything wasn’t that great and it failed.
5. The cheese. I ordered the chicken mole and Chris ordered the carnitas and the first thing that came out of my mouth when the server brought our food was “Look! Not yellow cheese!” Passed that test with flying colors. Or lack thereof, since the cheese was white. The food was really good. I had been there before but ordered salad (I know, roll your eyes), and this was my first time ordering actual food, and I delighted. Referring back to the whole salsa thing, the sauce for Chris’s carnitas had more zing than the salsa.
6. The walls. Again, this place is still fairly new and dingy walls would cause its demise. So free pass for being pretty and clean.
7. Décor. No sombrero or piñata, the place may be too upscale for the cliché decorations. They do, however, have random quotes on some of the walls. Gave me something to read while I pretended to listen. HA! Overall, It’s a nice place.
8. Food Names. No gimmicky names here either, just the actual name of the food.
9. God help me but I don’t even know what menudo is to figure out if they served it or if it was only served on Sundays. You know what I think of when hear Menudo? Ricky Martin, that’s right, Livin’ La Vida Loca. Good times.
July 1, 2009