Chada Thai

20180830:
This tom yum soup is too hot (temperature) - especially with my mouth sore.

Website Menu Description: (as of 20200118)
Spicy Shrimp Soup (Tom Yum Koong) Spicy shrimp soup with mushroom, tomatoes, lemongrass, kaffir lime, lime juice and fresh chili 14.95

Tom Yum Soup

I ate the pad see ew. Ada says it has no flavor and I agree. It's oily. I get an itchy feeling on my chest.

Website Menu Description: (as of 20200118)
Pad See-Ew (Chicken / Pork / Beef) Rice noodle stir fried with egg, black soy sauce and Chinese broccoli (Shrimp add 1.00 / Seafood add 2.00) 8.95

Pad See Ew

Ada says the panang chicken curry* has peas and diced carrots when there should be no peas and sliced carrots if it were authentic. 7:45 PM PT

I finished the pad see ew. It was below average. There was not so much taste and there were a couple of hard strands.

Panang Chicken Curry

I tried the soup again. It was cool, but when I tried to swallow the broth I had trouble. 7:55 PM PT

I was later able to drink it, but my stomach was a little upset. 8:09 PM PT

Fried Rice

*The website menu doesn't list "panang chicken curry." Instead it has "panang curry beef," "panang curry salmon," and "yellow curry chicken." There is the possibility that nevertheless we ordered panang curry chicken.

[20200118 Edit]

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Chada Thai

Relevant Links:
Chada Thai Website
Chada Thai - Garden Grove, CA (Yelp.com)

Chick-fil-A

20180830:
Today was my first time eating at a Chick-fil-A, which is surprising because I love chicken sandwiches. Perhaps their advertisements never clicked with me (their commercials consist of cows redirecting human interest to eat chickens instead of cows). My wife, however, had eaten at Chick-fil-A before and missed it, so we made it our goal to go to one. She also has a good habit of eating chicken over beef, whereas I'll usually eat red meat whenever it's available (less so now, thanks to her).

Spicy Chicken Sandwich

For my first Chick-fil-A experience, I started with a Spicy Chicken Sandwich. It tasted great, but was hardly spice, mostly just a little spicy during the initial bites. As I ate it, I thought it would have been nice if I had asked for more pickles.

Menu Description:
Spicy Chicken Sandwich A boneless breast of chicken seasoned with a spicy blend of peppers, hand-breaded, pressure cooked in 100% refined peanut oil and served on a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickle chips. Gluten-free bun or multigrain bun also available at an additional cost.

The sandwich well with the Chick-fil-A sauce.

Menu Description:
Chick-fil-A Sauce Our classic dipping sauce with notes of honey mustard and a smoky tang.

In addition to the sandwich, I also had some Chick-fil-A Nuggets. They were also good with the Chick-fil-A sauce, but they tasted better with the Sweet & Spicy Sriracha sauce.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Menu Description:
Chick-fil-A Nuggets Bite-sized pieces of tender all breast meat chicken, seasoned to perfection, hand-breaded and pressure cooked in 100% refined peanut oil.

In general, I compared eating the nuggets to eating short chicken strips. Furthermore, this meant they tasted like real chicken, as opposed to the mysterious meat contained in the Chicken McNuggets at McDonald's. 4:15 PM PT

Menu Description:
Sriracha Sauce A sweet and tangy sauce made with chili peppers for a spicy twist.

[20190119 Edit]

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Chick-fil-A

Relevant Links:
Chick-fil-A (Wikipedia.org)
Chick-fil-A Website
Chick-fil-A - Irvine, CA (Yelp.com)

U Sushi & Grill

20180815:
Ada ordered the assorted tempura and the salmon plate. I ordered the 5 Sushi Star Set and the Lollipop Roll. 4:51 PM PT

5 Sushi Star Set: Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail, Shrimp, and Albacore

The tuna was alright; it had a soft texture. The rice needed more vinegar.

The salmon tasted better. The rice had the same problem as the tuna piece.

Next was the yellowtail. It tasted okay.

The shrimp was regular.

Lollipop Roll

The last piece, the albacore, was okay. 5:05 PM PT

Menu Description:
Low Carb Rolls (No Rice) Lollipop Cucumber, Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail, Crabmeat, Avocado $12.99

I loved the cucumber in the Lollipop roll, but the fish was okay. I also could have done without the sesame seeds. 5:09 PM PT

Ada liked the ginger salad dressing. It tasted like it had a light taste of sardines. In general, it was different from other Japanese restaurants which use a ranch or sesame-based salad dressing (though I've definitely been to restaurants which use a ginger-based dressing). 5:25 PM PT

Salmon Plate

[20190113 Edit]

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U Sushi & Grill

Relevant Links:
U Sushi & Grill - Huntington Beach, CA (Yelp.com)

Cookiebar Creamery

20180727:
I tried the Fruity Pebbles and it was chewy.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch (if you look closely, you can see a sliver of Strawberry on the right)

The Cinnamon Toast Crunch has a Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavor. I liked the texture of it. 9:53 PM PT

I sampled the Guinness Toffee Chip and it tasted strange. 11:27 PM PT

In the end, I got two scoops: Strawberry and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

[20181227 Edit]

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Cookiebar Creamery

Relevant Links:
Cookiebar Creamery Website
Cookiebar Creamery - Oakland, CA (Yelp.com)

Morning Wood

20180727:
The kalua pork had a great texture, but it didn't have so much flavor. 11:25 AM PT

kalua pork

Menu Description:
sides > kalua pork 7.5

The pork goes well with Tobasco sauce.

I like the Portuguese sausage. It has a good level of spiciness. 11:30 AM PT

Portuguese sausage

Menu Description:
sides > house made portuguese sausage 9

The scrambled egg was cooked well. The chicken in gravy was delicious. 11:32 AM PT

Eating the pork with gravy was only a small improvement over eating it by itself. Then again, I only added a small amount of gravy. 11:36 AM PT

oh so loco moco - mochiko chix

Menu Description:
oh so loco moco steamed rice/meatloaf patty or kalua pork or mochiko chix/gravy/two eggs 16

[20181227 Edit]

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Morning Wood

Relevant Links:
Morning Wood Website
Morning Wood - San Bruno, CA (Yelp.com)
Morning Wood (TripAdvisor.com)

San Diego County Fair 20180622

20180622:
The turkey leg was not the best I ever had, but it was good. Ada said it didn't have a taste.

Turkey Leg

The chicken ramen burrito had a nice crunch from one of the ingredients, but the chicken was burnt in some portions which tasted bitter. 8:50 PM PT

Chicken Ramen Burrito

The Krispy Kreme chicken sandwich is one of my favorites.

Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich

The fried Klondike Bar was essentially fried batter with melted vanilla ice cream (on the inside). I enjoyed trying it, but I would much prefer having the same piece of batter with the ice cream on the side (or on top). 11:35 PM PT

Fried Klondike Bar

Vietnamese Pho

20180621:
The fish sauce helped the chicken salad taste good. Ada thought the salad could have been better if it had enough fish sauce because the fish sauce was diluted with water from the cabbage.

Chicken Salad

The ox tail pho broth was sweet and the meat tasted good.

The lean beef pho was disappointing. It was too salty and I couldn't taste the flavor of the spices, though I guess it had beefy taste. Finally, the meat was overcooked. 8:58 PM PT

[20181207 Edit]

Ox Tail Pho

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Vietnamese Pho

Relevant Links:
Vietnamese Pho - Hawthorne, CA (Yelp.com)
Vietnamese Pho (TripAdvisor.com)

Lean Beef Pho

Barrio Cafe

20180617:
I had a stop at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and stopped by Barrio Cafe for some lunch. I ordered the cochinita pibil and a SanTan Devil's Ale.

Cochinita Pibil

Menu Description:
Cochinita Pibil Our famous slow-roasted pork, marinated in achiote rojo and sour orange. Topped with pickled onion and Yucatan-style pico de gallo $22

This dish was mildly spicy; after finishing it, I had a flame sensation in my mouth. The best part of the dish was the pickled onions. That was followed by the au jus, then the potatoes & cucumber, then the tortilla, and coming in last was the meat which was dry. If I ordered this dish again, I would ask for double the pickled onions, one more tortilla, and less potato. 3:16 PM PT

[20181207 Edit]

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Barrio Cafe

Relevant Links:
Barrio Cafe Website
Barrio Cafe - Phoenix, AZ (Yelp.com)
Barrio Cafe (TripAdvisor.com)

Red Cow

20180616:
After going to Fulton Brewing Taproom, my coworkers and I walked to Red Cow to get some food and beer. To drink I had the Gull Dam Nitro Chocolate Milk Stout. To eat I had a medium rare Barcelona burger with sweet potato fries for my entree and the table shared the following appetizers: Japanese sticky wings, beef poutine, cheese curds, and ahi crisps. 9:04 PM PT

Ahi Crisps

Menu Description:
Ahi Crisps RESPONSIBLY SOURCED, WILD CAUGHT seared tuna, avocado, ponzu, sliced radish, pepper aioli on crisps 11.50

The ahi crisp was delicious. The sweet potatoes fries are flat, crisp, and well seasoned. together with novel shape 4.8 of 5.

Beef Poutine

Menu Description:
Poutines saucy goodness over hand-cut fries (braised beef, SUMMIT beer cheese, apples, bacon, blue cheese) 10.75

I was looking forward to the beef poutine, but it wasn't that good.

Japanese Sticky Wings

Menu Description:
Wings (GF) on-the-bone or gluten-free boneless (buffalo, bbq, japanese sticky) 11.25

The wings are decent. 11:32 PM CT

Barcelona Burger

Menu Description:
Barcelona (GF) CAB burger, manchego, prosciutto, piquillo pepper, smoked aioli 13.25

I mostly ate the burger while partaking in conversation at the table, but this burger was delicious. The prosciutto was great and the main flavor. I would recommend it. 20180617 12:33 AM CT

Wisconsin Cheese Curds

Menu Description:
Wisconsin Cheese Curds beer-battered, served with triple berry ketchup 10

[20181207 Edit]

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Red Cow

Relevant Links:
Red Cow Website
North Loop Location Page (Red Cow Website)
Red Cow - North Loop, Minneapolis, MN (Yelp.com)
Red Cow North Loop (TripAdvisor.com)

Toppers Pizza

Toppers Pizza is a pizza franchise with locations primarily in the midwest, particularly in Wisconsin (location of first store and headquarters) and Minnesota.

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A triple of Baconstix (24 stix) with three Grandioso Garlic Sauce for dipping.

20160826:
My photo record indicates I ate some pizza from Toppers today; I was in Minnesota for work.

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20180616:
From what I can recall and from my records, this is the second time I ever had pizza from Toppers. However, this time I also ate some Baconstix, which are breadsticks with cheese and bacon, macaroni and cheese, and some wings.

A pizza with pepperoni and olives unevenly spread on top.

The mac 'n' cheese was good, the pizza was average, and the Baconstix were soft and delicious with garlic sauce. Speaking of garlic sauce, I would not recommend eating too much. Finally, the boneless chicken wings are spicy. 1:08 PM CT

Correction, the boneless chicken wings are very spicy. 1:09 PM CT

Loaded Tater Mac

Menu Description:
Baconstix (150-210 cal/piece) Our original 'stix topped with loads of yummy applewood smoked bacon.

[20181201 Edit]

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Toppers Pizza

Boneless Wings

Relevant Links:
Toppers Website
Toppers Pizza (American restaurant) (Wikipedia.org)

Silver Bullet Sports Bar

2018:
I was over at the Denver airport and stopped by here for some food and drinks. To start I had a New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA. Then I ate a pulled pork sandwich. Finally, I drank the Odell Cutthroat Porter.

Pulled Pork Sandwich with coleslaw

Menu Description:
Sandwiches > Pulled Pork tender pulled pork tossed with smokehouse bbq sauce topped with coleslaw and crispy onion straws 13

The pulled pork sandwich was spicy, sweet, and average tasting - maybe subpar.

The coleslaw was okay. I liked the pickle.

Leaving a portion of the bread behind, I ate most of the meat together with coleslaw and pickle. 8:27 PM PT

[20181125 Edit]

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Silver Bullet Sports Bar

What's left of the Pulled Pork Sandwich...

Relevant Links:
Silver Bullet Sports Bar - Denver, CO (Yelp.com)
Silver Bullet Sports Bar (TripAdvisor.com)

Baby's Eatery and Palabok

20180613:
I came here and the persons were friendly. They gave me a lumpia to sample. It was good.

I ended up getting a medium-sized order of palabok to-go for $4.50. 1:26 PM PT

I initially had a reaction to the palabok, but it disappeared and I went on to eat the rest. Overall, the noodle was a different size than other palabok I've eaten. Furthermore, it used a different sauce than the palabok which Ada and I get from Red Ribbon. With that being said, it somehow tasted more real (by "real" I mean similar to cheese instead of nacho cheese for nachos). 6:13 PM PT

[20181125 Edit]

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Baby's Eatery and Palabok

Relevant Links:
Baby's Eatery and Palabok Website
Baby's Eatery and Palabok - San Francisco, CA (Yelp.com)
Baby's Eatery and Palabok (TripAdvisor.com)

Taqueria Guadalajara (24th St, San Francisco, CA)

20180606:
I was getting my brakes replaced at House of Brakes and stopped by at this Mexican restaurant for food. I ordered the carne asada plate.

The chips were tasty.

Carne Asada Plate

While waiting for my order, I used the restroom. It had no paper towels and there was spray paint on the walls (how difficult is it to spray paint the walls of a restroom of a restaurant without getting caught?).* In general, it felt dirty.

In any case, when my dish came, the amount of food was plentiful and it tasted decent. The steak was cut thin and cooked hard; I'm personally not fond of this type of carne asada.

*[20181116] Apparently there's a word for restroom graffiti: latrinalia. Though this includes all sorts of writing and art.

[20181116 Edit]

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Taqueria Guadalajara

Relevant Links:
Taqueria Guadalajara - San Francisco, CA (Yelp.com)
Taqueria Guadalajara (TripAdvisor.com)

Tanguito

20180527:
I met up with some friends and ate here for the first time today.

Beef Empanada and Chicken Empanada*
*I'm not sure which is which.

Tanguito operates out of a food truck, but I assume the truck just remains in one place. In particular there are tables nearby for customers.

After looking through the menu, I decided to order a chicken empanada and a beef empanada.

The chicken empanada had a great texture and taste.

Spinish Empanada

After having the beef empanada, I concluded that I liked the chicken empanada more than the beef empanada. Kevin thought so too.

[20181113 Edit]

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Tanguito

Beef Empanada and Chicken Empanada

Relevant Links:
Tanguito - San Francisco, CA (Yelp.com)
Tanguito (TripAdvisor.com)

Fort McKinley Restaurant & Bar

20180525:
Ada and I came here today for the first time; we had tried to come once before, but it was closed at the time. In any case, we had just come from running and we were still wearing our athletic clothes. According to a sign on the wall, there was a dress code for the bar area which would be starting about half an hour after we arrived. As such, had we arrived later, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to eat here. Note that, if I recall correctly, their main eating area was booked and not an option.

For food, Ada ordered the Green Beans & Squash and I ordered the Lechon Kawali.

The squash was less cooked than I expected.

Green Beans & Squash

Menu Description:
Green Beans & Squash in Coco Milk 13

The lechon kawali was amazing. In large, the sweet & sour sauce helped make it so. The lechon kawali was crisp and soft. It was delicious. 8:51 PM PT

Lechon Kawali

Menu Description:
Lechon Kawali 15

To drink, I first had a Firestone Walker 805 and I later had a San Miguel.
[20181027 Edit]

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Fort McKinley Restaurant & Bar

Relevant Links:
Fort McKinley Restaurant & Bar Website
Fort McKinley Restaurant & Bar - South San Francisco, CA (Yelp.com)
Fort McKinley Restaurant & Bar (TripAdvisor.com)

Original Joe's Westlake

20180521:
Today I came here with my wife Ada. I ordered the roasted prime rib and she ordered the pot roast.

They gave us complimentary bread, but it wasn't anything special.

Roasted Prime Rib

Menu Description:
Roasted Prime Rib horse radish | mashed potatoes . creamed spinach 36.95

The roasted rib prime was fatty and I enjoyed it. Since I couldn't finish all of it, I had the leftovers packed. The waiter took it and when the leftovers were returned with much of the fat discarded - I would have kept the fat for cooking.

Pot Roast

Menu Description:
Pot Roast braised cross rib roast, served with meat sauce | and au jus, choice of side 19.95

Ada's pot roast was good, too. In particular, I enjoyed the tomato sauce.

Bread

Unfortunately, various items were probably prepared with butter, which contains dairy.

[20181023 Edit]

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Original Joe's

Relevant Links:
Original Joe's Website
Original Joe's Westlake - Daly City, CA (Yelp.com)
Original Joe's (TripAdvisor.com)

Beep's Burgers

20180517:
I ordered a quarter-pound Beep's Burger with avocado (add-on). I soon realized, however, that the avocado was $1.50, which is expensive relative to the cost of an avocado at a supermarket. At that price, I could have just bought an avocado and added fresh avocado at home.



In any case, the beef patty was decent, but was overshadowed by the sauce. The sauce was the reason I enjoyed eating the burger. 6:08 PM PT

[20181005 Edit]

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Beep's Burgers

Relevant Links:
Beep's Burgers Website
Beep's Burgers - San Francisco, CA (Yelp.com)
Beep's Burgers (TripAdvisor.com)

Cold Water Brewery & Grill

20180508:
Ada and I took a trip to Lake Tahoe and on our way out we stopped for food here at Cold Water Brewery & Grill. Ada ordered the kahlua tostada, I got the reuben with chili, and we shared an order of sweet potato fries. To drink I had their Anniversary brew called the Black Pepper Porter. 1:31 PM PT

Reuben

"The sweet potatoes have a delicious salt and crunch.

The chili is average.

The reuben sauce is amazing. The meat is good as well actually. It is packed differently than some places.

Kahlua Tostada

The sauce in the tostada is salty. It's a good thing Ada is eating the tostada together with the sweet potatoes. Ada says the sauce is bittersweet and salty.

Ada squeezed some of the sauce out and served it to me on the sweet potato. That's better (i.e., the saltiness was bearable)." 1:48 PM PT

Sweet Potato Fries

"I like the music playing at this restaurant. It's rock music; the type I had heard at the music festivals I've attended." 1:50 PM PT

[20181012 Edit]

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Cold Water Brewery and Grill

Chili

Relevant Links:
Cold Water Brewery & Grill Website
Cold Water Brewery and Grill - South Lake Tahoe, CA (Yelp.com)
Cold Water Brewery & Grill (TripAdvisor.com)
Cold Water Brewery & Grill (Facebook)

Forest Buffet

20180507:
When we asked over the phone, we were given a fairly low cost per person and so we decided to go. When we arrived at the casino, we asked around for directions and we were told it was on the 18th floor which we can access by elevator. Upon arriving, I went to pay and it was a good deal higher than what we were told. Despite the fact that I was opposed to eating here,* I decided to commit to paying the higher price.

Macaroni & Cheese, Beef, Shrimp & Cocktail Sauce, Ribs

The beef was good. The ribs were okay. Everything else was uninteresting.

For desert I tried many items. The lemon tart was so-so. The mudslide was okay. The fruit in the fruit tart was decent. The soft serve ice cream was creamy and good. The sugar-free cheesecake was okay. The rice crispies treat was okay. 8:55 PM PT

Before & After

*I generally dislike buffets. The cost effectiveness with respect to quantity and quality is usually terrible. For example, even if I manage to find something tasty, I won't be able to eat enough of it to make up for the cost. If I take advantage of the variety, the average food quality is low and I render myself unable to eat as much.

[20180525 Edit]

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Forest Buffet

Sugar-Free Cheesecake

Relevant Links:
Forest Buffet - Stateline, NV (Yelp.com)

Rice Krispies