Drinking Around the World - Disney

Canada - Labatt Blue
England - Bass
France - Kronenberg
Morrocco - Casa Beer
Japan - Kirin
American - Sam Adams
Italy - Moretti
Germany - Redeberger Pilsner
China - Tsing Tao
Norway - Carlsberg
Mexico - Dos Equis

Challenge Completed 9/21/11

Main Street Ice Cream Parlor, Chestertown NY

I just got back from my vacation in the Adirondacks that I take every August. I felt that I would be remiss to pass up an opportunity to talk about my favorite restaurant up there. In a small town named Chestertown, NY, is the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor which has existed in two different incarnations. They moved to their current location a few years ago, which is in an old school house. The dining room is on the first floor, and there is a little store upstairs with Adirondack themed goods such as clothing and books. It used to be located two blocks down in a larger building, with both the restaurant and the store on the same floor. Although smaller, their newer digs are much more appealing.

Oddly enough, with a name like Main Street Ice Cream Parlor, the ice cream is pretty mediocre. With very good soft serve available through most of the Adirondacks, hard Hershey's ice cream is hardly a thrill. What they do well are their soups and sandwiches. Everything is made from scratch, and they have supposedly won awards for their soups and chili. The sandwiches are made with Boar's Head meats and their own dressings. The marvel pictured below is the Adirondacker, my personal favorite. It is corned beef, onions, tomatoes, and swiss cheese on marbled rye with their own horseradish mayo. In my book, nothing beats a well made sandwich, and Main Street is more than capable in rising to the challenge. If you every happen to find yourself in the southern part of the Adirondack park, do yourself a favor and stop in.

Go There:
Main Street Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant
6339 Main Street
Chestertown, NY
(518) 494-7940

In search of...Lox Sammies

I wanted to add a new type of post to this blog, as I'm sure everyone has one or two of these floating around in their noggins.

People get cravings.  Some of them are random, and some of them are more common; like pickles and peanut butter.  Well, maybe you have to be pregnant to like that...or be my dad...
Anywho...

Sometimes these cravings are generated by chance when you try something you've never had before.  
For instance, I felt brave one morning while standing in line at a local bakery/breakfast joint down the street from where I used to work.  I was trying to make my selection when I came across Nova Lox and Cream Cheese on a bagel at the bottom of the menu.  I've always heard about it, but never tried it.  I confessed to the girl taking my order that I had never had Lox before, so I'm not sure what typically accompanies the fish and cream cheese on the bagel.  She told me that most people ask for the sandwich with sliced tomato, onions and capers.  Still feeling brave, I told her to make me a Lox sandwich, just as she had described it. 
Shortly afterwards, I left with my breakfast baggy.
I got to my office, opened my baggy and was hit in the face with a delicious combination of smells.
I proceeded to eat the bagel and I've been hooked ever since then.

Recently, I've been to Lox, Stock and Bagels, and Reuben's.  Both in West Hartford, and both have their own style of Lox sandwich.
Now, remember my first post?  What was the title?  Keep that in mind.
Personally, I think the Lox itself at Reuben's was the best I've had yet.  However, Lox, Stock and Bagels had the best overall sandwich. 

Needless to say, I'm still in search of the best of both worlds.

Marilyn's Dancing Dogs...

No, I wasn't trying to be cute when I named this review.
On any given weekday, at the corner of Country Club Rd and the Exit 20 entrance ramp to 91 Southbound, Marilyn and her Dancing Dogs will serve you up a hotdog you won't soon forget.
There aren't any actual dogs there, by the way.  It's just a play on words...
Anyways...


Since I've been visiting Marilyn, the number one item on her menu has been The Junk Yard Dog.
It's a grilled hotdog, cut in half lengthwise, served on a buttered and grilled potato bun.

As you can see, that's not the only thing she puts on that bun.
On goes a heaping helping off her meaty chili, and some of her crisp coleslaw, all homemade.
If you're wondering what's sitting on top of the coleslaw, wonder no more.
Marilyn has concocted a relish that sings to my heart.  Don't let yourself be fooled by this, though.  This is the same heart that pumps sriracha and bacon grease through my veins.  While the relish might seem cool at first, it'll set your taste beds ablaze within a few moments.  The relish is such a welcome addition to this hotdog, I insist that she put more on each hotdog.  But then again, I'm a fan of hot.

During today's visit, Marilyn informed us of a new addition to her menu.  The Junk Yard Pup.
All the typical ingredients, but she throws in some sliced pepperoni.  I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't immediately think to substitute the pepperoni with bacon.  So she coined the Junk Yard Pig, and shortly thereafter, I ordered two to go.

They were good.  

If you're heading South on 91 through the Cromwell/Middletown area, and you're looking to fill your belly for under $5, stop over at Marilyn's for a JYP.  I assure you, you'll leave with a smile on your face.

Pinks Hot Dogs - Las Vegas

Awesome

I thought Torta was cake...

Since Knackwurst Nightmare took the initiative and reviewed Cucaramacara, our new favorite local Mexican joint, I have to follow up with some reaffirmation that this place is indeed the real deal.
I'll spare you the typical story line and cut straight to the food.
Their food is good.  So good, that I'm going to make the statement that their burritos and sandwiches(tortas) are the best I've ever had.  And every time I visit, that sentiment compounds.
Prior to this particular visit I had planned on getting one of the 'Tortas' they had on the menu, as I had already tried several different burritos and wanted to change things up a bit.

Polla ala Plancha:
The Good:
The bread was incredible.  It was almost like they had managed to take the flavor of a corn tortilla chip and bake it into the bread.  The crust was crispy and wasn't difficult to bite through while the inside was airy and light.
The chicken cutlet was delicious.  It was different than almost every other cutlet I've ever tried.  While I can't quite describe the flavor, I assure you it was extremely tender and juicy.
The oaxaca cheese that Knackwurst Nightmare mentioned was also packed into this torta.  It had the consistency of good mozzarella, and it's taste is very similar to that of monterrey jack, so I can say with confidence that if I kept a physical list of cheeses that I enjoyed, it would have handily jumped to the top.
But I don't keep such a list.  So...
The lettuce, tomato and avocado added a cool and crisp note to the overall experience.  The avocado was sweet and had a different texture than anything else in the sandwich, making it easier to pick out of the line-up.
The jalapenos gave the sandwich a nice bite.
The fried beans added some good flavor as well.
Everything just went so well together.



The Bad:
Nothing.  Not one thing.  Well...the sandwich didn't regenerate itself out of thin air after I had eaten it, but other than that I have no complaints.


One thing I forgot to mention was the shear size of this monstrosity.  It's certainly not a one-handed sandwich.  It would tower over a Big Mac, and was slightly larger around than my face.
I was only able to eat one half before I was full, leaving me the other half to eat the next day for lunch.

On a side note: With every meal the kitchen includes a small container of either tomatillo salsa or a pureed red salsa, the ingredients of which I'm still unfamiliar.  But I'll save those details for a later date.

We'll be back to review more of Cucaramacara's livelihood in the future.  Stay tuned.

Mt. Nachismo...

BOOM!  You see that folks?  That's what a proper plate of nachos is supposed to look like.  The freshest veggies, cool sour cream, more cheese than you can shake a stick at, all teetering atop a bed of thin but crispy tortilla chips.
But wait...there's more.
More cheese to be exact.  That's right.  MORE cheese.
You can't quite see it in this picture, but I assure you that my hands were covered in more of it than I'd like to admit at the moment.  And as I'm sure you can imagine, I was unable to capture it with my phone before it was gone.
This towering plate of awesome is a mandatory part of the contingency's ritual when visiting the Mohegan Sun Casino.  It can be found in only one restaurant.  Located in the Casino of the Wind, the home of the Loaded Landshark, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is always packed no matter what time of day or night you walk by.  The staff is always very friendly, and is typically on top of their game.
This visit was no different.  Mr. Bean whipped out some magical Parrot Head voodoo mind trick on the waitstaff and within a few minutes of walking in, we were being escorted to our table on the second floor.
Mr. Potatohead, Mr. Bean and I already knew that the nachos were a given.  I believe it might have been the sole reason the three of us went there that night, but that's neither here nor there.
We placed our order and drank LL's while we waited.
Fast forward ten minutes...
The table went silent as the nachos were placed in front of us.
At first glance, a healthy handful of freshly sliced jalapenos, guac and sour cream, reminiscent of the tallest mountains in the Himalayas, garnished the peak of Mt. Nachismo.  As our eyes descended, we found plenty a diced tomato, scallion, and chili bean.  All of these ingredients were held together by two kinds of cheese.  Now, we've determined that this is what makes these nachos stand apart from the rest.  As we dug deeper into the sides, we struck gold with every chip.  And by gold, I mean molten nacho cheese.  The upper layers might have been capped with shredded cheddar jack, but the lower layers had been generously coated with liquid cheese of the nacho persuasion.  We started out on our nacho journey, eyes big and stomachs empty.
What happened next can only be described as the type of feeding frenzy you see on Discovery Channel during Shark Week. 
Then the unthinkable happened...
While picking out a chip from my side of Mt. Nachismo, I accidentally loosened the glacier of guac from it's resting place at the summit.  It fell down the southern slope towards Mr. Potatohead and landed on the table with an audible 'thud'.  Such a tragedy.
After a brief moment of silence, we continued on.
After no more than 15 minutes, the mountain laid in ruins.  The three of us made short work of Mt. Nachismo. 
Triumphantly we asked for the check, paid and left.
This was surely not the last time we'd visit base camp.

Cheers?

I'm going to make this short and sweet. Minus the sweet.
On a solo mission/Birthday trip to Boston, I went with a group of friends to Cheers at Faneuil Hall after a few incredibly warm laps around F1 Boston's City Track. 
After twenty minutes of confusion over where the restaurant was supposed to seat the seventeen of us, we were shown our tables downstairs in the "reserved for private parties" area of the restaurant. 
On to the food.
It wasn't mind blowingly great.  I saw Boston Baked Beans on the menu under 'soups'...So I ordered that.  I thought I saw 'bacon piled high' in the description of a sandwich... So I ordered that.
I got a cup of baked beans and a sandwich, with less than a pile of bacon.   It was more like..a smattering of bacon.  Two pieces of thinly sliced run-of-the-mill bacon, at most.


I ate the beans.  They were ok.  I definitely tasted the molasses, but most likely not in the way the creator of the recipe had intended.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the hotdogs in there.  I had missed that detail when rifling through the menu.  The crumbled/chopped up bacon scattered across the top of the beans was a nice touch.  It's not something I'd order again though.  I could have gotten better beans out of can.  Nevertheless, I ate the whole cup.  C'mon, there was bacon in there.

I moved on to the sammich.  A foccacia club.  Ham, turkey, lettuce, tomato, not quite a pile of bacon, and somewhere in there was supposed to be cranberry mayo.
I ate the sandwich.  I got the ham and turkey, lettuce and tomato, a little bacon, but no cranberry mayo.  WTF?  I admit now that the mayo was also part of the reason why I picked that particular sandwich.  Can you honestly tell me when was the last time you had cranberry mayo?  I didn't think so.
I was a little disappointed.

Regardless, the company was infinitely better and the whole day turned out to be a great succes.  Cheers.

Cucaramacara... are you the Macho Man?

I cannot believe that neither Baconator, nor Sauce Boss has mentioned Cucaramacara yet. I will remedy this great injustice now. If you even remotely enjoy Mexican food, then you will surely find something that you will enjoy on their menu.

First of all, everything there is very fresh. I have been to Cucaramacara 6 times, and even though I still can't pronounce the name properly, I have never had a bad dish there. Everything is hand made in the kitchen that is visible from the counter, and is hand delivered to your table. The best dishes on the menu, in my opinion, are the burritos. All of the burritos are over stuffed and wrapped in a soft tortilla that won't crack apart or unwrap as you eat it.

If you want to treat yourself to the best of the best, order the Macho Man burrito. It contains black beans, rice, steak, guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo, oaxaca cheese (or Ox caca as Sauce Boss says), sour cream, and plantains. Yes, plantains, and before you turn your nose up at it because it's "different", hear me out. The plantain is cooked, and sliced lengthwise. It is then wrapped up in the burrito, so every bite has some plantain in it. It lends a sweet flavor that compliments the savory steak in a way that just has to be experienced.

The best part of this burrito is that when it is served, the waitress walks up to the table, looks at you expectantly and says "Macho Man?” You can nod confidently and say "yes... yes I am."

Go there:
Cucaramacara
1371 East main St.
Sundad Plaza
Meriden, CT 06450

Tel: (203) 440-4489

Calabacita Santiago Veggie Burrito... I just point to the menu when I order this one.

Do you like to put fish sticks in your mouth?

For the three or so people who read this blog, that aren't contributors...I'm going to write a few reviews tonight.
K?
edit: Ok...maybe not tonight.  Tomorrow though.

Breakfast City

Sunday breakfast tradition involves a trip to Mitchell's on Main st. in Cromwell. They have an extensive menu of standard breakfast fare, with weekly specials posted on the chalkboard on the front entrance. Today they had a kielbasa omelette special posted. Not wanting to load up on a massive omelette, spuds and toast I decided to order a custom sandwich that comprised of eggs, kielbasa, onions, peppers, and cheese served on a hardroll. The meat was a good quality cooked well with a good amount of onions and peppers that gave it some great flavors. The cheese was melted perfectly in the middle to hold everything together. The entire mixture was placed upon a nice roll that was buttered and grilled to toasty perfection. Each bite featured a mixture of all the items such that the last bite was a good as the first. The whole thing was spiced up with the addition of Texas Pete "Hotter" hot sauce. This custom order was one of the best breakfast sandwiches I have had at Mitchell's.

I eat bait.

Located in Cromwell Commons Shopping Center with a tired looking facade, sits one of the best sushi restaurants in the Hartford area. Oyama Japanese Cuisine is a hibachi and sushi restaurant, and while I have never tried the hibachi, I can vouch for the sushi. Among many of the normal items in the menu hides a special item, the Sushi Deluxe.

Sushi Deluxe more than lives up to its name. You get a plate with 10 Nigiri-zushi (yes, I Wikipediad that shit), which are cuts of fish sitting on hand formed balls of rice, and one tuna roll. It is difficult for me to describe how fresh and delicious this dish is, because for me there are only three degrees of sushi:

1. Bad sushi. This is what you get at the grocery store. The rice is all dried out and hard, and most of the time they don't even use real fish due to the fact that it has probably been sitting in that cooler for a week or so. Even if they did use real fish, I wouldn't eat it. If you are really desperate and are going to eat this stuff, the safe bet is the California roll, which has no fish in at all.

2. Ok Sushi. This is everything that is not number 1 and not number 3.

3. Amazing Sushi. You know it when you taste it. The fish is so fresh, it has absolutely no fishy smell. The flavor is clean, no fishy flavor here either. The texture is smooth, and it yields easily to the bite. The sushi is tightly rolled, and the rice is sticky enough that they do not fall apart when you pick them up. All in all, a totally satisfying experience.

Oyama definitely scores in the Amazing Sushi category. The best proof were the tears of joy streaming down the Baconator's face today at lunch. Only amazing sushi could evoke such a response, either that or the Baconator's allergy triggered sneezing fit he had right before eating.

Go there:
136-150 Berlin Road
Cromwell, CT 06416
Tel: (860) 632-2324

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Top Dog

Top Dog is located in Portland, CT on Rt 66. It is off the charts on the novelty and value scale. It is a giant hot dog shaped trailer that is pulled by an old school taxi, and has been in business for over 20 years. Today I had one chili cheese dog with the "hot" chili and pepper jack cheese. The hot dog was good quality, it had a nice snap to it upon the first bite. Roll was very generic, a potato roll would have made this much better. The chili was decent , rich, and meaty as you can see from the giant chunks of beef. If this was supposedly the hot chili, I can't imagine what the regular tastes like, as I could not detect any heat aside from the cheese. The pepper jack was an obvious great upgrade and different from the usual neon orange melted cheese that typically comes on a cheese dog. This particular dog was $3, and there was a list of about 10 specialty dogs on the menu. It was not the best dog I have ever had, but it was tasty, reasonably priced with fast & friendly service that is prepared in a giant hot dog. Will follow up to try other items.

Box of Bacon

You know it's a good day when 5lbs of gourmet cured bacon shows up on your front door step:

Bourbon Bacon
Cajun Bacon
Honey BBQ Bacon
Jalapeno Bacon
Hickory Smoked Bacon

Epic breakfasts coming soon...

Swich-in' things up...again...

I'm writing this review while the burn of the jalapeno still lingers in my mouth.  And oh baby...is it a good burn!
The Cubano panini is certainly not something you'd put on your kosher-only diet, especially with 'extra bacon' on top.  This handheld slice of heaven normally comes stuffed with pulled pork, ham, pickles and deli mustard, but the lovely lady behind the counter seemed to have an uncanny psychic ability because she asked me if I wanted jalapenos and red onions.  Without hesitation, I agreed to those toppings, and quickly added that I would like an order of bacon as well.
Before continuing, I would like to note that if you're in a hurry, don't get a warm/hot/panini sandwich, especially during the lunch rush.  I'm certainly not complaining, because believe you, me, I would have waited 45 minutes for this panini.  Not that it's uncommon, but they make everything fresh.  Except the bacon and pulled pork.  That would just be impossible.  But they sliced the ham, just for my sandwich, the cheese, just for my sandwich...I watched as they made my co-worker's Mojo Steak and someone else's Chicken Pesto.  They actually prepare the meats as they're ordered!  This place is no joke.  As I'm sure you can imagine, the wait times associated with that type of service are a little longer than normal, but it's certainly worth it.  Think of it this way; you can call up your kids and settle a dispute over a Harry Potter DVD in the meanwhile.
Back to the food.
I get back to my desk and tear into this thing.  The panini was toasted to perfection.  I'm not even kidding.  At some places the crust is too hard and it cuts into your gums and sometimes it's too soft and it's just like you're eating a microwaved piece of bread.  This was perfect.  It was crispy, and chewy at the same time.  And I can't forget to mention the textbook panini grill lines.  If there was a poster child for panini bread, this would have been it.

After the first bite, I couldn't stop.  In the short while this sandwich existed on this planet, I was able to savor the sweet bbq flavor from the pulled pork, the tart crispiness of the pickles and that flavor you can only get from eating jalapenos.  Once again, they managed to put some random ingredients with very distinct flavors inside one panini and have them all harmoniously melt together in my mouth.  The bacon was an obvious enhancer, but I'm glad that it didn't overpower the other two types of pork in my panini.  Unless you're a true bacon fanatic, I'd recommend leaving it out as it's just additional calories and $.50 more out of your pocket.
Unfortunately, I didn't taste the deli mustard, or the cheese, but I can assure you, I did not miss either.

As you can see, Swiches is fast becoming a favorite.  The one thing I'd like to see them improve upon is their napkin department.  For a restaurant that serves such delicious foods that require you to 'get physical', they hand out the cheapest napkins on the planet.  They're similar to the style napkins you get wrapped around your sugar cone at Baskin Robbins.  Other than that, I'm definitely looking forward to my next visit.

Pad Thai on wheels

Welcome all! This is my first blog review ever so please bare with me as I learn. After reading @Sauce Boss recommendation to try out Thai Foods on Wheels in Bushnell park Hartford, CT. I had to go check it out. Unlike Sauce Boss, who just tried Thai food for the first time (which I'm happy he did so we can try other restaurants). I love Thai food. My girlfriend turned me on to it 6 years ago. We have tried a number of different Thai restaurants throughout Connecticut. Our favorite being "The Terrace" in Hamden, CT. http://www.theterracethai.com/ This is very funny because Sauce Boss and myself both grew up on a street nicknamed "The Terrace".

Anyways... Back to Thai Foods on Wheels. I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai noodle dish. Which I normally order at all Thai restaurants. My first impression was that the peanut sauce was "bland". But the more I ate it the sauce got thicker on the bottom making it better. The chicken was very moist, and the fresh lime gave it a good kick. Also, for $6.35 I thought they gave you an good amount of food. Overall I was pleased with the dish and would return again.

Swich-in' things up...

After hearing about Swiches from both the Sauce Boss and the Knackwurst Nightmare, I felt it was about time I pay them a visit.

The first thing I looked for when I walked in was the face masks Sauce Boss mentioned in his posting, and there they were.  Face masks.  Not like Jason's white goalie mask, but clear painter-style face/nose masks.  On the two women behind the counter...
So...anyways...
The menu.  It was almost overwhelming.  I picked up a tri-fold so I'll be ready next time, but being that this was my first visit, I was unprepared for the variety.  You ever hear someone say that they know of a place that makes something you can get on any street corner, but this particular place makes it really well?  For instance; your local deli might make a really good turkey BLT wrap.  Whatever makes it stand out from every other turkey BLT wrap you've had might escape you, but you know it's better there than any other place you've had one.  I figured that this was another one of those places.  Good quality cold cuts, fresh veggies, good bread, and a variety of dressings to spice things up.(I'm a skeptic)
I was wrong.
Staying true to my name, I was drawn to the first thing on the menu that mentioned bacon.
There it was...the Apple Cheddar Bacon sandwich.
I had it set in my heart that I wanted a panini, well before arriving.  Even though the Apple Cheddar Bacon wasn't listed as being available in panini form, the woman behind the counter was more than happy to accommodate my request, for an additional charge.  While waiting for them to assemble and grill my sandwich, I grabbed a small container of coleslaw out of the floor standing soda cooler to the right of the register.  I'm always excited to try a restaurant's coleslaw or potato salad.  It's just one of my 'things'.
Within 10 minutes, our sandwiches were ready and we were out the door.

This is what I unwrapped back at the office:

A toasty warm pocket of ham, cheese, bacon and apples.

Yes, apples.  You see them in there?  Those are apples in my panini.

I ordered extra bacon too.  You see that in there?  No?  It's because there's like, half an apple in there sapping up all the real estate!  You'd figure that the 'apple' in the name of the sandwich would refer to, oh, I don't know...Applewood Smoked Bacon?  Nope.  I got actual apples.

(I was surprised.  I also didn't read the description, so, my fault.)

You know what though?  They were good!  Very good, in fact.  And probably even better after having been warmed on the panini grill.  The bacon, apples, and honey mustard went together extremely well.  The crispiness of the bacon, along with it's smokiness, coupled with the tangy apples and sweet honey mustard was like having Frank Sinatra serenade my taste buds.  And that was just the upper half of the sandwich.  One would think by looking at the bottom half, the ham and cheese might not be there to serve as much more than just fillers.  On the contrary, the smokey sweetness of the ham and the bite from the cheese only added to the overall flavor.  It's not every day you find something out of the ordinary that goes together quite like this.

Even the bread itself was exceptional.  It had the consistency of sourdough, but not having seen a sourdough flatbread/wrap before, I was unsure.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to confirm as the sandwich just disappeared before I had a chance to thoroughly investigate.  Maybe next time.

To wrap this post up I'd like to say that the variety in the menu, and my eagerness to try new and unique things will keep me coming back for a while.  By the way, the coleslaw was excellent.  Try it next time you're there.  You won't regret it.

Food Truck Round 2 - Thai Truck

For the second time today I found myself getting food from a place that could roll away at any moment. This time it was lunch at "Thai Food on The Wheels" in downtown Hartford outside Bushnell park. This was both my first time here and eating Thai food in general, but I ended up here under the guidance of my coworker. Per her recommendation I got the "Spicy Drunken Noodles" with chicken. Yes they are actually called drunken noodles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_noodles) As you can see it is a heaping portion of stir fried noodles, misc veggies and chicken all slathered in a spicy Sriracha sauce. It is amazing how they created a meal this complicated in the back of a truck in about 4 minutes total. Being a sauce Connoisseur I must say that it was absolutely excellent. The sauce makes the entire meal, it has a ton of complex flavors with the perfect amount of heat at the end. The only thing that would be an enhancer to this meal is if I was drunk while consuming them. Will return to try other varieties.

Mobile Country Kitchen

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why would you waste your time in the morning trying to cook up eggs & bacon when there are people in a food truck to do that for you, and probably 10 times better. The Country Kitchen is on Shunpike Rd (RT3) on the Cromwell/Rocky Hill Line. Although it has wheels and says its mobile, it is there 24/7 and they even have a phone line and power wired in to this thing.

Today I called ahead and when I arrived 5 minutes later they had this beauty waiting for me. Bacon, egg, and cheese on toast covered in Red Hot. The bacon today was better than it normally is, although it is not gourmet bacon in any universe. Egg is standard, but cooked well, I can't tell which kind of american cheese they use, but it adds a nice flavor when melted in. And of course i have them cover the thing in hot sauce. All in all it is a better than average breakfast sandwhich that is made fresh on a grill, not microwaved, and if you call ahead it may even be faster than going to McDonalds or Dunkin. Cost $3.50

Nachosen One...

I'm going to post this out of order, as nachos are a staple.
Sunday, the contingency played 9 holes at Quarry Ridge.  We determined that we'd quit after 9 to go to the South Tavern on Main Street in South Glastonbury for some food and drink.
Little did we know, one of their Sunday specials is an $8.00 plate of bottomless nachos...of ANY variety.  Chicken, ground beef, and pulled pork.  If the waitress said steak, I didn't hear her, as I'm sure my co-eaters would agree, we were set on pulled pork as the words left her mouth.
She brought them out after a few minutes.  Nick(Sauce Boss) mentioned he wasn't hungry because he had housed two enormous hotdogs before teeing off, so Justin, the worst golfer on the planet, and I dug in...

I can't claim to be a pulled pork connoisseur, but I know what I like and this was good pulled pork.  It had just the right amount of barbeque sauce in it.  It was a little on the sweet side, which I like, but smokey at the same time.  They had done a decent job of placing the pork amidst the chips, so it wasn't too hard to come by a chunk when scoping out the next set of chips to grab.
After I put down about ten bites, the Sauce Boss gave into temptation and dove in full strength.
The rest of the nachos were pretty run-of-the-mill.  Quality corn tortilla chips, both yellow and blue, decent cheese coverage, a sizable dollop of sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, plenty of black beans(which looked funny to me, just sitting there all by themselves on the plate afterwards), and a few freshly cut jalapenos strewn about on top.


I'm not sure if you can check the timestamps on the photos below, but the three of us blew through the first plate in just under 9 minutes.
Justin and I ordered our meals, and a second plate of nachos.
The first plate took it's toll soon after we started in on the second plate.  The waitress brought us a ramekin of fresh salsa for the second plate, but we barely touched it.  It seemed good from the one scoop I took.
This plate took a little longer to put down as I was left picking through the last quarter for pork by myself.  Needless to say I took my sandwich home with me.

Overall, they were good nachos.  Not the best we've had as a group, but not the worst.  Definitely something we'll get in the future.

Swiches

Swiches is one of my new favorite lunch spots. It is located on Farmington Ave in Berlin, CT, and shares the same building with the Whole Donut. Swiches is a great alternative to terrible Subway "sandwiches". When you walk in it has a typical food assembly line, and has seating for roughly 20 people if you choose to dine in. I always seem the same 3 sandwich artists working and they are all very pleasant. One thing that seems weird is the Asians wear these plastic face shields like they are going to perform surgery, but nonetheless they put together an awesome sandwich.

What I had today:

Turkey Capri Panini:

Smoked Turkey, Provolone, Spinach, Tomato, Roasted Red Peppers, Oil & Balsamic Vinegar on grilled flat-bread - I added Sundried Tomatoes

All the meats here are Boar's Head brand which is the only way to go if you are running a legit deli. If they don't have the meat ready to go they run into the back room and slice it fresh for you. This can increase wait times if you are in the rush, but the freshness is well worth the couple extra minutes. Today I had the smoked turkey fresh from the slicer. All the veggies and toppings are equally as fresh, they have an entire bowl of avocado in one of the trays and cut it up fresh for every sandwich. Side note - this is one of the only places I have been to that has pepper jack cheese on the menu, a serious upgrade for your favorite sandwich. My order today was served on flat-bread that was grilled to perfection on the panini maker. The panini is a wonderful creation that causes all the meats,cheeses,toppings and of course sauces to warm and melt together to gooey greatness. They package the whole thing in a nice to-go container and even through in a slice of pickle if you are into that. This is all all around great sandwich shoppe and very reasonable considering how far and above the quality is to any fast food, my order today with a bottled water was just over $8. Future updates to come as I explore more of their signature sandwiches.

Three bite hotdog...

Yup.  Three bites.

Cutletti...

Ya like chicken?
This is the sandwich that started the 'creative' juices flowing.  It might not look like anything too incredible when captured with my phone, but I can assure you it was pretty good, overall.
How good was it?
Let me tell you.
Wethersfield Pizza, undoubtedly, gave me one hell of a chicken cutlet grinder experience.  I mean...look at the picture I took.  It's huge!  There's FOUR cutlets in there!  And that's just a half grinder!(No I can't stop yelling!)
With that being said, while very tender, the cutlets weren't anything outrageous.  The breading seemed par for the course.  Yeah, there might have been a pound of chicken on my grinder, but would a little oregano or basil hurt?  If I'm getting that much chicken, make it stand out!
The peppers added a nice flavor to the sandwich without overpowering the other ingredients.  The provolone was, well, provolone.  Sadly enough, the bread was the one thing I'd like to point out as being above ordinary.  I had asked to have the grinder oven toasted, but unlike what you might typically see at your corner grinder shop as 'oven toasted', this was actually placed in a pizza oven and warmed to perfection.  The outside layer was crispy, but not too crispy.  Even the ends were edible.  But back to the cutlets, seeing as this was a chicken cutlet sandwich.
To be honest with you, I don't know what I was expecting.  I've had my fair share of cutlets in the past.  Sure, these were better than most, but they weren't as earth-shattering as the sign out front would indicate.  You'd think an establishment that claims it's 'The Home of the Chicken Cutlet' would blow your mind, right?  Don't get me wrong...had the gentleman assembling my grinder added more sauce, I might be singing an entirely different tune right now.  I think a good cutlet sandwich is made up of two parts.  The chicken, and the sauce.  More sauce=better.
If it came down to just the cutlets; not having eaten a bare cutlet from either my favorite sandwich shop(Nardelli's) or WP, I can't say which cutlet would win in a blind taste test.  But I'm not ashamed to say that'd be one test I would be happy to take.
For now I'm going to give this a middle to high rating, as we haven't come up with a concrete rating system yet.  Especially for chicken cutlets.
Food for thought, or at least until I stop by again and order it with more sauce.
Bring on the hate.

When you're drunk

Powerade has sodium, potassium, calcium, & magnesium to replenish you after a night of drinking. Has not been proven to diagnose, treat, or cure the meat sweats.

Not quite...

The contingency is at Jalisco in Glastonbury, four Marg's deep.  We've had chorizo nachos and the jalepeno popper's.  No trip to Jalisco is complete without Tequila Popper's...the night is still young.

Hot sauce

Tapatio - the gold standard of sauces, a must for any true foodie

I have no idea what I'm doing...

I just finished eating a chicken cutlet sandwich from Wethersfield Pizza at my desk.  About half way through the first heap of breaded chicken, provolone and peppers I thought to myself;  'Holy shit this is really good'.  Staring blankly at my laptop screen while jamming the rest of this grinder into my mouth, I decided to start a review blog.  Whether you choose to call this sudden urge to detail my experiences a food-induced delirium, or a genuine desire to enlighten the local public to what's good in the hood, I don't care.  I just know that I wanted to share...just like they taught us in pre-school.