For some time now I've been pestering friends who always seem to be traveling around the country to contribute accounts of the food they run into on their trips. I'm very excited to share the first of what I hope are many contributions - from Jeff Lash - unfiltered and in the proverbial raw:
At Andrew's request, I was intending on providing a write-up of one specific dining experience -- a Friday Fish Fry at our local St. Louis Catholic Church. However, I have had a number of noteworthy dining experiences lately, and rather than focus on just one or attempt to write up separate posts for each, in the interest of efficiency, I present: Jeff's food travels, March 2009.
March was an eventful month, including a lot of business travel. Business travel often leads to interesting food experiences -- good and bad. Let's start closest to home, though, with...
Friday Fish Fry
St. Louis is a very Catholic town (um, "Saint" Louis, anyone?), the kind of town where many people pick the location of their next home by what parish they want to be a part of. Like the earliest flowers of spring, the Friday Fish Fry signs start popping up right after Ash Wednesday. On some major roads, there's almost a Fish Fry sign every block (literally).
Having been in St. Louis many years and never having attended, I figured it was high time I experienced the tradition. I rounded up a group of friends -- my wife, the vegetarian, not included, since the mere smell of fried fish makes her nauseous -- and we hit up the Fish Fry at Saint Joan of Arc a few weeks ago.
Cheers was a place that everybody supposedly wanted to go to because everybody would know your name. At Saint Joan on a Friday night, it's not too different. Most patrons seemed to be church members and regulars, and it seemed like everyone knew everyone. During the 20 minute wait in line, there were lots of mini-reunions and friendly conversations. Though we were new, people were friendly, and canned beer was offered to us to make the line easier to handle. You have to pay for the beer, though it's dirt cheap. In fact, the whole meal is -- for about $7 you can get a full plate of food, drink, and dessert. (Cash only, of course, though that's understandable.)
I was expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet -- I thought that was part of the appeal -- though Saint Joan does everything a la carte, which is fine, since I really couldn't / shouldn't have eaten anything more than the one hearty serving. They of course have the standard fried fish patty, just like you remember from elementary school (and I say "you" and not "we" since I never was allowed to buy lunch at school growing up), though other options are available including some variety of fish which was fried, head and tail and all. I don't remember what kind of fish it was, since I think I'm still trying to block out the image of a fried fish carcases on various plates. There were also fried catfish nuggets, as well as grilled fish for those not interested in anything from the "fried" food group. Normally I eat very healthy, though if you're going to a Fish Fry, you eat fried fish. Would you go to a steakhouse and order a salad for an entree? Wrong place, wrong time.
Sides included standard fare -- potatoes, either oven roasted or french fried; various vegetables; macaroni and cheese -- and some interesting (to me, at least) options -- apple sauce; spaghetti in tomato sauce. Fine foods, though paired with fish seemed a bit odd.
To drink your options are the aforementioned can of beer, or the classic plastic cup of soda poured from a 2 liter bottle. The enormous dessert table offered a wide selection of homebaked and storebought goods, neatly arranged bake sale style (on small paper plates, covered by plastic wrap). The glass of Diet Coke and 2 desserts I chose added $1.50 to my total bill.
The food is, well, what you'd expect of a fish fry done by volunteers in the cafateria of a church. Actually, no, it's probably a bit better. The fish was a bit overfried and not as warm as it probably should have been, likely due to it sitting out in a heating tray for too long. Still, it was decent, and served as a good foundation for the meal. I wasn't expecting gourmet British-style fish and chips, and thus I wasn't dissapointed. For sides I went with the oven roasted potatoes and mac + cheese. Yes, starchy, I know, though I figured those were good standbys. The mac + cheese was the typical generic cafeteria brand, with big too-soft noodles and a gooey way-too-unhealthy fake cheese sauce. (I probably would have been better off with the spaghetti.) The potatoes were excellent, though, even better than some I've had at "normal" restaurants. And the desserts were solid as well -- the chocolate cake seemed to be homemade, likely from a box mix; and the store-bought chocolate chip cookies, which I later shared at home with my wife, were of course fine. Not the most adventurous choices, though you can't go wrong with box cake and store cookies.
All in all, it was a great experience and I'm definitely up for it again. The next day I remembered why I rarely eat fried food (entrees, at least), partly because my body isn't conditioned for them any longer. (How I ate chicken fingers and fries pretty much every day the first two years of college is beyond me.) Of course, you don't go to a Friday Fish Fry at your local church because the food is going to be stellar; you go because it's going to be cheap, it's going to be good atmosphere, and because it's just a tradition -- and on those things, it delivers. Sure, some local restaurants offer Fish Fry Fridays, though to me that's just not the same.
Since that review was longer that I thought, I'll keep these next reviews on the short side...
Weber Grill Restaurant
I was in Indianapolis for work, and as we approached our hotel downtown, I noticed an enormous novelty barbeque grill hanging off the side of a building about a block away. I knew instantly that was where I was going for dinner. I had heard about the Weber Grill Restaurant, where everything (well, almost everything) is cooked on real genuine Weber Grills. (No, Andrew, I didn't ask to take a tour and see the kitchen.) As a marketer, I marveled at the innovative brand extension. As a fan of grilling, I marveled at the chance to eat at a restaurant where they cooked on real Weber Grills. The restaurant did not fail to deliver, with the highlight being the Weber Sampler appetizer, which included Beer Can Chicken Tenders and Steak Skewers -- a great selection of Weber-ized meats. Though I normally avoid chain restaurants when I travel and try to find something local, this was worth it. (Plus, does 3 locations in Illinois and 1 in Indianapolis really count as a chain?) Recommended.
Burger King Burger Shots
I arrived in Orlando late one night and needed a snack. Not a full meal, not dessert, just something quick and simple before I went to sleep. Across the parking lot from my hotel was a Burger King. (Actually, there was another hotel -- this is Orlando, after all, and we were only minutes away from Universal Studios.) Having been wooed by the advertisements for BK Burger Shots, I figured I'd give them a shot. Tiny burgers seem to be in, with Steak 'n Shake pushing them hard as well. Maybe it's because of the economy, or the lingering fascination we Americans seem to have with all things "Mini" (-Cooper, -me), though I too was sucked in.
Don't make this mistake.
First, the obvious caveat that no food shown on TV or in advertisements actually looks like that when you buy it, though that shouldn't be a surprise. Second, the mini burgers are only sold in packs of 2 or 4. It's not like White Castle (more on them in a minute) where you can order their sliders in any denomination you want. This is probably my biggest gripe -- a 2-pack of sliders is probably about the same amount of meat as one regular Burger King hamburger (not a Whopper or anything fancy like that, just your basic bottom-of-the-line hamburger), and it costs probably about $.30 more. So why would you order the sliders? Because the advertisement makes you want them, that's why. Not that they were horrible -- they were about the same as your standard fast food burger, which is only mediocre. Of course, Andrew probably thinks that I ruined them by having them plain with just ketchup, just like how I ruin my hot dogs. It's okay, I've accepted that, I'm moving on.
In summary, don't fall for the appeal of the sliders, at BK at least. If you really want mini burgers, the venerable White Castle does this as their bread and butter, not as a seasonal side to take advantage of a trend. Plus, their buns are steamed, which makes all the difference.
In 'n Out
Now, if you want a "real" fast food burger, all the foodies tell you that In 'n Out is really the only place to go. I was in California for work and this was really the only place on my food list. I had been once before and dragged along a co-worker who had never been. This particular establishment near LAX was packed on a Thursday evening. I was particularly enthralled by the car-hop taking orders at the drive thru.
In 'n Out is known for two things -- a dead-simple menu, and super-fresh food. As you can see, the menu has a limited number of options, and beyond just differentiating them from the competition, it's probably good for business too (read The Paradox of Choice to learn more). That doesn't mean that you can't order off the menu, though. In fact, they've attracted a whole cult following around the "secret" items to order. In 'n Out lists some on their site, though there are plenty of others.
Beyond the menu coolness, the food is just plain better. The meat is never frozen, the french fries are made fresh from real live cut potatoes, and the shakes are made from real ice cream rather than a mix. I kept it simple, with a single burger, fries, and chocolate shake. The burger patties are bigger than the average fast food variety, though not as big as I remembered. It's more like the size of what you might find at Steak 'n Shake (or Carl's Drive-In, for those St. Louisans in the know) than your standard $1 drive-thru, not that I eat any of those varieties even infrequently. The patty was definitely higher quality, and extra points for the real romaine lettuce rather than shredded iceberg you normally find. The grilled bun is a nice touch -- usually I like my buns warm, not grilled or toasted, though it worked here. (Insert "buns" joke here.)
The fries definitely taste fresh, and the serving size is generous. I'll admit to not being picky about chocolate shakes -- even the crappy fast food ones are okay in my book -- though this was definitely a cut above the norm. Still not to the level of what you'd get at Crown Candy or the venerable Friendly's Fribble, though respectable nonetheless.
If you're on the West Coast and happen upon an In 'n Out, go in and check it out. (Sorry, that was a horrible, horrible pun.)
Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ
Upon recommendation from a co-worker, a group of us visiting our Orlando office took the short ride from the hotel to to Bobbalou's Bodacious BBQ. Or, should I say -- the "award-winning" Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ. A sign of a good restaurant of any variety is framed, signed pictures of celebrities and pseudo- or local-celebrities hanging up by the cash register, and Bubbalou's didn't fail to deliver. Three things I liked about this place:
1) It's in a modern strip mall, perhaps the most soul-less environment known to man, though they managed to make you feel like you're at Iron Works when you're inside.
2) They serve snow cones.
3) Their next door neighbor in the strip mall is a uber-healthy juice bar, which makes for some fun games to play while waiting for your food, as in: "Hey, see that guy parking his car -- do you think he's coming to get some barbeque or going to the juice bar?" Okay, the game is actually very easy and not challenging, though the dichotomy between the two establishments is still amusing.
Nothing else to add in particular here. Standard BBQ main dishes, sides, and prices. Every BBQ place says they smoke their meat the best, or have the best sauces. I'm not a conniseur, so I can't compare all of those claims, I just know this was darn good food.
