Golden Gate Fields

We went up to Golden Gate Fields on a Sunday, specifically to catch Dollar Day. But, after walking around and seeing the food they had to offer, Jonathan went with the dollar hot dogs, but I just had to go with a turkey sandwich from The Carvery.

Jonathan enjoyed his hot dogs, and says that they were worth the dollar. I thought that my sandwich was great. The meat was carved right off the roast, and was incredibly moist. It tasted like Thanksgiving leftovers. The only problem was the plainness... it was just meat on bread. There weren't tons of condiments around (though there were little tubs of cranberry sauce, which I thought was funny), but I slapped some mustard on the sandwich. I couldn't finish it all and it worked as a nice leftover meal, too.

Ariba

Ariba is a company not far from Jonathan's work. However, they have a pretty nice cafeteria, so workers from several surrounding companies often go there for lunch. When Jonathan's parents were visiting, we all ate there, and I've also been one other time with Jonathan and Jim. Jonathan and Jim go there a few times a month, and generally have great experiences, though the Chicago-style pizza wasn't loved.

My own thoughts are sort of scattered. On one hand, I thought that the panini I had was delicious... the flavors of the Italian meats blended well. The accompanying salad on the side was fairly average, but nice to be included. That's what I had on my first visit. However, on my second, I just wasn't drawn to anything in particular. In fact, after walking around to all of the stations, I decided that I'd rather just wait an hour and eat at home. So that really doesn't bode well for the place, but at the same time I tend to be rather picky, so if I don't feel that anything offered is worth the price given, and I'm not super-hungry, I move on. Of course, that's not to say I won't go again... after all, that first panini was wonderful!

I did find a menu of sorts online, if you're interested.

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen

We were up in San Francisco and had a little time before we needed to pick up Jim, so Jonathan took me to a grilled cheese place that he's tried before, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen. The menu is pretty small, and we decided to share a soup and sandwich. My first choice sandwich (Mousetrap) was sold out for the day, so we went with the Piglet, which was cheddar with ham and apple mustard (and regular butter, since I asked for no rosemary butter). It was really good, though I wish we had been able to get the other sandwich. Jonathan enjoyed the Smoky Tomato soup (with creme fraiche and croutons), though I didn't really care for it. All in all, sharing made for a good afternoon snack.

Erik's DeliCafe

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you our new favorite place to get a sandwich in California! ...and, really, it's about time! This was one of our biggest complaints the first time that we lived in California, and we never even really came close to solving the problem.

It was a Sunday afternoon and I was really feeling like a sandwich. We have been driving by a deli somewhat regularly for a while now, so it only made sense that we pop in and try it. It's called Erik's Delicafe, and it's not all that big, though it has a nice, prominent place in a strip mall. The menu stretches the entire length of the counter (above it, of course), but it's not terribly complicated. There were about four things that absolutely sounded delicious to me, but I settled on the Rio Grande Club Sandwich, which was turkey, pepperjack, and bacon on toasted ciabatta, with tomato, lettuce, guacamole, and "secret goo," which was a lot like mayonnaise. Jonathan went with the thai chicken wrap, which is a seasonal item. It was wrapped in a lemon grass tortilla, and also had mango, cilantro, mint, red peppers, green onion, peanuts, and spicy peanut sauce (with more in a little container on the side as well).

We took them home to eat, and as I was unwrapping mine, a little chunk of guacamole fell out of the sandwich. Of course, I tasted it... and I was a little unhappy. It was heavy on the avocado, and light on everything else. HOWEVER, once I took a bite of the sandwich, I was thrilled. The flavors just came together so well, it was truly a great blend. Similarly, Jonathan thought the world of his wrap. I didn't try it (peanuts and all), but he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Needless to say, we're in a hurry to go back, hehe!

Trenton Thunder Game

We went to the Trenton Thunder (the Thunder is the AA version of the Yankees) baseball game on July 3rd with a couple friends. We had dinner there, and can report fabulous things about the cheesesteak (but strange provolone-cheez-whiz) and the breaded chicken sandwich (not Chick-Fil-A quality, but good). We also tried the Stewart's root beer on tap (tasty!) and some Chickie & Pete's crab fries (not made of crab. regular fries with Old Bay seasoning).

Delicatessen

We were down in Philly for the day. With a combination of my not reading the GPS correctly and a detour causing a road to only go one way, we had a bit of trouble getting to the Delicatessen. In fact, we ended up in Jersey since that one road had no exits before hitting the bridge, LoL. Oh well, live and learn. $4 later (NJ is so quirky. It makes me giggle about how they charge you to leave all the time) we found the place and picked up our order (we had called it in). 

I had Mom Mom’s Tuna Fish Salad Melt with potato salad, and Jonathan had smoked pastrami with waffle fries. The potato salad was made with red potatoes, but it was really sweet. As in, I think they added sugar, LoL. I didn’t really care for it, but Jonathan liked it. The tuna salad sandwich was on Challah and served open-face. The muenster and tomato were a great addition, and the tuna weighed down the bread quite a bit. A delicious combination that left me full without finishing the first half, LoL. Jonathan’s sandwich was *very* smoky, but he liked it. He had added cheese to it, and they certainly gave him his money’s worth – he got four slices! 

The waffle fries were a little soggy by the time we ate, but still delicious. We can only imagine how good they would have been fresh!! The only downside to the meal: the pickles were salty.

Whistler's Inn

We watched Ghana beat the USA in the World Cup at Whistler’s Inn. Jonathan found it online since it was near Costco… another place we needed to stop by. It’s a nice little place, with lots of televisions in the bar area, and an entirely separate area for dining (you could still get the full menu in the bar area as well). We had a high top, though there were also booths. The servers were all very friendly and excellent at anticipating your refill needs.

We started out with the appetizer combo, which had mozzarella sticks, onion rings, cheese balls (think jalapeno poppers), and chicken tenders. It was all pretty good, but the props go to the mozzarella sticks, which were excellent. The chicken tenders tasted like large frozen ones that had been reheated, and the onion rings were pretty standard. The cheese balls were decent to me, but Jonathan liked them rather well. They were very cheesy with just hints of jalapeno, so I liked them better than most. 

Then, Jonathan (and Rob) had the garlic wings, and I went with the tuna club with fries. The fries were delicious, and the tuna was plentiful. I was struggling to finish half of the sandwich, and it was really interesting to have bacon on a tuna sandwich, LoL. I didn’t try the wings, but the boys reported that they were pretty good. They were very big, and breaded thoroughly, with bits of minced garlic on them. 

Overall, I’d recommend the place. Good food, excellent service, fun sporty atmosphere. We probably won’t be back (we don’t venture down toward Costco often), but that shouldn’t stop you!

West End Grill

On Tuesday, I had lunch in St. Lucie West with my friend Tori, and my sister at the West End Grill. None of us had been there before, but we'd totally recommend this little place. Their lunch specials are very reasonable, plus they have cards for buying 5 lunches and getting 1 free! I had the caribbean chicken salad wrap (it was the special of the day), which was fabulous. The flavor was great, although I couldn't quite place the sauce. Kyla went with a chicken caesar wrap, and Tori went with the turkey club sandwich. It's of interest to note that none of the sandwiches had cheese on them, which was interesting. They both found their entrees to be tasty as well. They had the fries as a side (they came with Tori's, Kyla had to pay extra for some reason), and I chose the chips. The chips are homemade and perfectly handcrafted... GET THEM! :)

Food on the Carnival Sensation

We were taking a short cruise with some friends. After embarking, we proceeded to get some lunch. We did the deli and the buffet. The grilled ham and cheese was excellent (always is on a ship!), and the guys liked the reubens, too. Nothing spectacular on the buffet, but nothing was bad, either.

We split up and did our own things for a few hours, then met back up a little after 6pm and had some sushi (which was conveniently located just off the casino, LoL). Nothing spectacular, but the shrimp nigiri was average and the spicy tuna was good... except the spicy was a cajun spicy which was unexpected. The salmon/asparagus/mushroom roll wasn't good. We followed this up by attending the martini tasting. 5 martinis for $15 (decent size, too). I wasn't a big fan of any of them (not a martini person), but I was surprised I didn't like the Nuttini, which sounded great from the ingredients list, LoL! Overall, nobody was head-over-heels for any of them, but they were fun to try.

Lunch in Times Square

We were in NYC for the day again. We headed over to eat lunch at the Times Deli on 44th Street (between Broadway & 6th). I had a grilled chicken wrap with cheese, peppers, and tomatoes. Jonathan has a meatball sub. Both were delicious, and the place was quick and cheap. The upstairs seating (which has a tiny internet cafe as well) wasn't air conditioned, but otherwise it was a great stop.

 

Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant

On the drive home from Niagara Falls, we stopped for lunch at Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant. If you happen to be near Corfu, NY, stop there. The view from the patio is nice, overlooking the Indian Falls. The food was overly reasonable. The service could have been a bit quicker, but the deliciousness of the food made up for it. I went with the cabin sandwich, which was chicken and ham with swiss. Jonathan chose the steak sandwich. The fries were absolutely delicious... the kind with light skin on them, but cooked so the skin almost tastes like breading. We also split an order of pepperoni rolls, which were served similarly to eggrolls, but tasted like pizza... wonderful.

Here is the view from our table, as we prepared to head out and drive home.

Tim Horton's

We thought about going to Niagara Falls for Valentine's Day weekend this year. However, we found out that Niagara Falls is one of those "seasonal" places. Silly Floridians, we don't think of these things. :-p

So, we went the first weekend in May. Early in the "season" but everything was open. It was supposed to be a 7-hour drive each way (exactly. isn't that weird??), and we ended up taking about 10 minutes longer (gas, customs, changing places driving) than that.


We were hungry from the drive, so we tried Tim Horton's, a common fast food chain in Canada (and several states in the US, too). The prices were reasonable, the menu was small, and the quality was awesome. We both went with soup-and-sandwich, I chose chicken salad and potato soup... Jonathan went with the chicken club and chicken noodle soup. Everything was very good, and I'd recommend them. Instead of soup, for $1 less we could have had donuts with our combo meals, which we found intriguing. I got a can of Sprite with mine, Jonathan went with a cafe mocha, which was exceedingly delicious.

By George

We had a little more than an hour of free time on Saturday morning before taking Jonathan's parents to the airport, so we stopped by the Reading Terminal Market on the way. First of all, I must say that it is much more impressive on a Saturday. Last time we were there, the Dutch vendors were not open, so we didn't quite get the full effect. It was such a bustling area of activity this time! We were able to explore more areas and saw a bunch of new things. Jonathan's parents rather enjoyed it, too.

On our way out, we had lunch at By George. I ordered a chicken parmigiana sandwich, while Jonathan and his parents went with cheesesteaks. Jonathan and I both decided that if we had seen all of the food displays of the place first, we probably would have ordered other items, since everything on display looked so delicious!

Regardless, the cheesesteaks were gigantic. Jonathan thought it could have been cheesier, but the problem was balanced with the fact that the sheer volume of meat was incredible. Jonathan also said he'd probably go for provolone next time (that's what his parents went with). The chicken parm was average, and didn't reheat well. I'd go for something else next time. We also had a small order of fries that the table shared. I didn't particularly care for them (they tasted undercooked to me), but the rest of the table thought that they were okay and very potato-y.

And, last but not least, we finally learned the validation process at the Reading Terminal Market, and it worked for us. We only paid $4 to park for up to two hours (and that's about all of the time we had, since we needed to be on our way to the airport after that!), which is good.

Saladworks

I was with Jonathan's parents up in Doylestown and we were looking for a place to have lunch. We stumbled upon Saladworks, and I was kinda glad. We often get coupons for them in the mail at home, and there's one in Langhorne and one in Newtown, but we had never made it over there. Now I had the chance to try them out.

I didn't go with the salad, since I was craving a sandwich. I was in luck! They had some good-sounding panini, and I love a good panini. After some silent debate, I went with Smoky T (or something similar, I can't remember and the menus on the website aren't loading for me right now). It was Turkey-Bacon-Cheddar with mustard. The turkey wasn't the freshest, and I wouldn't get it again. However, I would still go there, and I'm looking forward to it. At this late date, I also no longer remember what either of his parents had, although I remember his mom also ordered a panini. I guess that's even more reason to go back, hehe.

Broken Barrel Tavern

When we're in Florida, we generally eat at places that we've been to before, since we miss them when we're away. But, there's always exceptions (like Royal Thai to eat with Alan) and new places to try (which is the point of this entry). Broken Barrel Tavern is in the plaza behind Chili's at the corner of Babcock and Palm Bay. In the ten days we were there, we actually managed to eat there twice, LoL. And kinda a third time, haha.

The night Jonathan got in from the airport, we went there at the suggestion of Ebad, who usually goes on Thursday nights with Bryan. But there was a problem in the kitchen, and some of us hadn't eaten dinner yet, so we left and went somewhere else. The next night we went back, since the guys just couldn't shut up about this place.

The reason it's so popular is because they have like 400 different types of beers (bottles and drafts, etc.), and Ebad and Bryan have been working their way through trying all of them. I tried some of each one that was ordered, but still haven't found a single beer I'd drink, LoL. They did have a couple ciders that I thought about ordering, but none were pear, and that's my favorite (flashback to Faultline Brewery, LoL).

The first time, I ordered the cuban with fries, and was disappointed on both counts. The cuban was barely average, and the fries were poorly cooked homemade chips with very little seasoning. I actually had to ask for extra seasoning, but that didn't help all the much since the chips weren't cooked completely. The table did have an order of carrot chips, which were pretty good. Sliced thin and fried, what makes them great is the wasabi-ish dipping sauce with which they are served. Joe and Ebad both ordered wings, and they were fabulous! The secret is that they're smoked rather than grilled or fried, and it makes such a difference! SO DELICIOUS. Jonathan had ribs, very flavorful and not a lot of fat, which equals good in my book!

The second time (the following Thursday), I went with a cheeseburger, but substituted the chips (which they call fries, don't be confused) for french onion soup. For a place that isn't all that fancy, the soup was pretty good. The breading could have been better, but the flavor of the broth and the amount/type of cheese was very good. And, since there's no up-charge to get that as a side, I don't see how anyone goes with those nasty chips/fries, LoL. The burger was different... it had a distinct taste, which is probably because it is around smokers (many of their foods are smoked) constantly. It wasn't huge (I ate the whole thing, and I generally have leftovers with a restaurant burger), but it was good. Jonathan went with a half chicken (smoked) which was very good. Joe went with a ribs/wings platter, and Bryan had the cuban (he likes them a lot, and orders them nearly every time he goes there, apparently).

I can't comment on the beers, since I really don't remember any of them (what they were called or what they tasted like, LoL). But, the restaurant does have a detailed description of each beer, and that seems to be very handy for the connoisseurs (like Ebad, LoL).

Camelback

This year, time almost got away from us when it comes to snowsports, since we only got around to spending a day in the mountains in the first week of March... after peak ski season in this area. But, we did it. We went to Camelback.

About 3:30pm, we broke for lunch, and had fantastic food and service at Thirsty Camel, with a pretty good cover band playing. I had the Italian wrap (one of the best I've ever had, actually), which came with Italian dressing and some yummy tortilla chips (and a pickle). Jonathan went with a cheeseburger and waffle fries, both were delicious. Our server was very attentive to bringing me water (I downed four glasses), which made me happy.

Brother's Pizza and Restaurant

We wanted to have pho. We drove to our normal pho place, Savor Saigon, but it was closed. We should have known better, since they get wimpy and close whenever it's snowy (we also tried there in December when we ended up at Cheeseburger in Paradise for the first time).

So, we went a couple doors down and tried Brother's Pizza and Restaurant. This is not the same Brother's Pizza that we had back in November, it's a completely different place (not a chain). It's a small little place, and a lot of people got the pizza ($2 a slice, either with tax or they're not charging tax, since many people just gave two singles). We were hankering for something else, so Jonathan got a cheesesteak and I got a chicken wrap with fries.

The cheesesteak was massive, packed full of meat and had the good, melty provolone. He liked it a lot. My chicken wrap also had provolone, and then boasted roasted peppers, tomatoes, and onions. The wrap was more like a pita than a tortilla, which was different. But good. My only complaint was that the grilled chicken was pretty dry, and I had to add ketchup. The fries were very dry and very plain, and I liked them that way. No grease, no soggies, no salt.

We got our order to go, and they were pretty quick, considering they had to cook it all. It was a good deal, and we'll be back (especially after seeing their pizzas!!).

Primo Hoagies

Jonathan had heard great things about Primo Hoagies from work. We decided to give them a try the other night, and now also have great (and one negative) things to say.

We walked in and took a look at the menu, a large board above the counter. There were a lot of details about the ingredients in each sandwich, but no prices whatsoever. Eventually we decided that there must be a flat rate for each of the three sizes (small, primo, and whole... primo is footlong, and that's what we each ordered). After we finally ordered and got the receipt, we were made aware that there were different prices. But no place in the store except the takeout menu features prices, so it's kinda hit-or-miss and crappy in that respect. This is the one negative thing.

We waited less than ten minutes and were were out the door with our fresh hoagies. I ordered the Whacked Chicken, which is a breaded cutlet with sharp provolone, pesto, and bruschetta. The bread was toasted with sesame seeds. The combination of pesto and bruschetta was really good, making for a tasty overall sandwich. I think that $9 might have been a tad steep, but it was really good, and I was able to make it two meals, so maybe. Jonathan went traditional with the Italian , which included prosciutto, provolone, hot cappy, and genoa salami. His also came with all the typical trimmings - lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, oil & vinegar, salt & pepper. He liked it a lot, and even I thought it tasted good! His was only $7, and he swears it was worth every penny. It also served him as a second meal.

One of the interesting things about the place was their "primo sides" that they had in a refrigerated deli case along the wall. Everything from potato salad and macaroni salad to pepperoni bites and marinated mozzarella balls was available. Cole slaw, olives, pepper shooters, stuffed olives, pasta salad, fruit salad, and I'm sure I'm missing some. And these were all very competitively priced to a grocery store around here.

End note: miiight get them again. But, they're kinda far, like almost 20 minutes away. Far + pricey = bad news in my book. Jonathan wants to try at least two more of their hoagies tho, so who knows...

Amy's Birthday: Sunday in NYC

We were still in NYC, so for lunch we decided on E.A.T., a rather famous restaurant on Madison Avenue. I had recently saw a special on them on the Food Network, toting their grilled cheese as the cheesiest in the country! As such, I ordered that while Jonathan went with the grilled ham and cheese. We were extremely impressed, and found it to be one of the best lunches ever. They were served with green salads and a strange dressing... I was expecting Caesar, but it ended up being more mustardy. There were plenty of breads served with the meal (sourdough, nutty, and raisiny), and the service was very good. It was a very good meal, but probably the kind of place you only go to on special occasion or to take tourists for a treat... aka it's pricey.

Carlucci's: Express

It's rather rare that Jonathan and I go out to lunch together. If we go out, it's usually for dinner (actually, breakfast out might be more frequent than lunch out for us... and we don't eat breakfast out often, either, LoL). But, since we volunteered in Trenton on MLK Day morning, we decided to see what lunch specials we could find.

As I mentioned when we ate Villa Rosa, Carlucci restaurants are big here. In fact, there are two in the same plaza, and we never knew the difference. Turns out one is a sit-down, full-service place. The other is more of a take-out with a few dine-in tables available. We chose the latter, called Carlucci's Express.

Everything on the menu looked good. Everything in the front display case looked good. Everything smelled good. I instantly decided on a chicken parm sub, while Jonathan wavered a bit before finally settling on a pepperoni cheesesteak. We ordered those (and a dozen garlic knots) to go. The place wasn't empty, yet we had our order in about five minutes, so service was awesome. We dipped into the garlic knots before we even got home (and we live maybe two miles away from this place). Fantastic. Garlicky, doughy, and even a hint of mozzarella cheese. Well done.

I've had a lot of chicken parm subs in my day. In fact, it's safe to say that they are my favorite hot sub. I had them incredibly often during my first year of college in particular... I pretty much lived above a deli that was open until 3am, hehe. Anyway, this was a fantastic chicken parm sub. I'm gonna go ahead and name it #2 ever. The winner featured a more-toasted bread... this one was a little crisp, but more soft. Delectable.

Jonathan thought his was good, and would get it again. I tried it, and it tasted like meat and grease to me... which means it's a cheesesteak, LoL. He even ate his whole sub in one sitting (half of mine waited patiently in the fridge for me until the next day). He's really excited about trying their pizza... it looked SO GOOD.

Not only are they close... they're one of those places that often puts out coupons in the weekly flyer. AND they deliver. this has been an awesome find.