50 Meals: One blogger. One Year. 50 Meals

2.29 Spices 3

kevin — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:54:53 +0000

If you remember meal #25 from last year, you’d know that I’m a huge fan of Spices up in San Francisco. Spices is hard core deviant food at its best, most of it is spicy, a lot of it is dramatic, and all of it is just plain good. It’s like Disneyland to me, but you know, with open flames and large boiling pots of ridiculously spicy soup.

So, today we’re visiting Spice 3, the newest Spices to open in the bay area. (They’re planning a San Jose location and I hear there’s a hot pot place opening soon as well) If you’re a Spices nut and have visited often, you’d know that the menu at Spices 1 and 2 in San Francisco are a little different. Spices 1 has smaller dishes (and stinky tofu) and Spices 2 has grander, bigger dishes meant for larger parties. From speaking with the owner, different Spices locations are meant for different occasions. Spices 1, our meal #25 last year, is meant for smaller parties while Spices 2 a couple blocks away is meant for larger groups. Spices 3 sits across the bay in Oakland and from what I’ve seen, it combines the best of both Spices 1 and 2.

We start off with our usual. Garlic Bacon in spicy oil and Fried Stinky Tofu. I don’t think we need to talk a whole lot about Garlic + Bacon. But the spicy oils and cilantro does wonders and really seals the deal for me. This thing screams for a bowl of rice to go with.

By this point I am a total Stinky Tofu snob, and I can say Spices 3’s stinky tofu is solid. Crispy outside, steaming hot and soft inside, perfect with some soy paste and garlic. The interesting thing here is that it’s not airborne stinky, i.e. passersby will not smell it, but when you get close or put it in your mouth, the odor comes right now and attacks you. Very interesting. By the way, the best stinky tofu in the US is at Indian in San Gabriel.

We then dive straight into the hard core. This is Stinky tofu sauteed with intestine in spicy casserole. They’re quite generous with the intestines. (That’s not something you’d see frequently on anybody’s food blog, now, is it?) One thing of note is that there’s also some pig blood in here along with the half ton of chilies and spices.

Numbing and spicy lamb “bandit” style hot pot. Delicious slices of lamb in this fierce stew of numbing peppers and God knows what else. I really can’t tell you much more, I just remember sweating a lot and drinking a lot of water as I ate this.

One veggie to keep things in check. Just a regular sauteed on-choy with garlic.

This is the spicy fried chicken wings — or, as the menu says: Chicken Wing with Explosive Chili Pepper. Explosive is almost right, this stuff is tasty but SPICY. Spicy chili is not just here to make you sweat or drink lots of water, though, there’s very distinct flavors to be had if you manage not to lose the sense of taste entirely.

I couldn’t find the name of this fish on the menu, it came recommended from the chef and was quite good. Diced chilis over a steamed whole fish.

One last dish to put us over the top, and I wanted it to be mellow. This is the pork julienne beijing style. Strips of pork stir fried with a sweet and tangy sauce, topped with shredded cucumbers and then wrapped up in cool slices of tofu skin. The texture is interesting and the warm pork plays well with the cool cucumber and tofu skin. A little tough to handle, since the tofu skin does tend to fall apart, but it’s quite tasty.

I’ve found that Spices’ service has been getting better recently, and it’s a good thing the food is still top notch. I still wish for a Spices down here in Los Angeles, so I wouldn’t have to drive 3 hundred miles for hard core deviant food of this caliber.

Spices 3
369 12th St
Oakland, CA, 94620
(510) 625-8889

2.28 PPQ Dungeness Island

kevin — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 06:06:21 +0000

I first heard about this place from Matt, whose enthusiasm for good food seems to exceed mine. Hard core garlic fried live crabs? OKAY! Since the place is called Dungeness Island, I expected it to be all about crabs. Like, you know, Jurassic Park, but with crabs. Surprisingly, there’s a good amount of other standard Vietnamese dishes, like Pho and various rice plates. But hey, we’re here for their famous crabs, garlic noodles and imperial rolls, so here we go.

First up is the Imperial Roll, which are fried springs rolls. It’s certainly tasty even if it’s not something entirely different from other restaurants. Crispy skin, nice textures from the veggie and meat fillings within, and you can always wrap it in the lettuce and dunk it in the tangy dipping sauce.

Peppercorn chicken wings. These are very much like the deep fried salt and pepper wings that you can find elsewhere, but the peppercorn kicks things up a couple notches and the diced garlic that seems to be everywhere launched these wings into orbit. Excellent.

House garlic noodles. This bowl is two orders, which I thought was a little pricy at $6.75 an order — it’s noodles and butter and diced garlic! Oh well, it’s dangerously buttery and addictively delicious.

Okay, the main attraction. There are several crab specials to order here, we decided to go with the peppercorn (fried) crabs. An order is 2.7lb and it’s $30 something per order, a little pricy but since it’s fresh, live crabs, it’s well worth it. This thing has garlic all over it and has great flavor — you just can’t go wrong with fresh crabs.

Service was fine, nothing special to note, the place is clean and should be very good for a large party. I’m sorry to say that this restaurant seems to fall flat in the company of all the greatness in San Francisco. If I hadn’t just visited House of Prime Rib the night before and hit Spices 3 the next day, this place would have had me raving about it. In the company of all these awesome restaurant in the SF bay area, a great place like this seems a little mediocre.

PPQ Dungeness Island
2332 Clement St
(between 24th Ave & 25th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94121

We’re heading to Spices 3 across the bay in Oakland next week. So stay tuned.

2.27 House of Prime Rib

kevin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:11:58 +0000

If you remember last year, we had about a month’s worth of entries featuring restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area, and what a glorious month it was.

Once again we are in San Francisco, a city that begs you to be hungry at all times.

House of Prime Rib is one old school joint, serving their famous prime rib since 1949. I love that they just relentlessly go after making one thing well — this is prime rib at its best — and there’s really nothing else on the menu except sides and salad. So, let’s get started.

Our hotel was very close to House of Prime Rib, so we walked over in the cool breeze.

While we waited for our table we were served a little jar of munchies in the lounge area, where you can order a drink and relax. The restaurant is beautifully decorated in the classic English style, it’s beautiful and elegant despite being very full on a Saturday night.

We sat down and were immediately served a corn bread and a loaf of sourdough and butter. I tried to save space for the carnage to come but couldn’t help but finish the corn bread, it’s sweet and crumbly, like a cake. We ordered the full meal for $36, but you can also order prime rib with two sides, no salad for $30.

First up is salad, served table-side. The giant bowl of salad sits in an even bigger bowl of ice and is spun as the salad dressing, pepper, and their famous seasoned salt are added, then tossed and served to our plates. Very cool.

Lettuce, cheese, beets, and the house seasoned salt and dressing. The salad is unique and fantastic, I usually hate the taste of beets but here it’s magnificent and adds a touch of earthy flavor to the salad.

This was one hefty stainless steel knife and the inscription shows me they mean business.

We were seated in the beefeater room, the room was full but you never felt crowded, beautifully appointed like an English manor, I felt like a king.

We ordered for variety. Here is my baked potato with all the fixin’s. Our waitress Lacy asked, “Butter or sour cream? Bacon? Chives?” The answer was simply, “YES.”

Oh, glorious glorious baked potato, piled high with toppings. It’s fantastic with so much texture and flavor, a little tangy and so comforting.

Our prime rib chef cutting our meat for us.

I ordered the House of Prime Rib cut, which is a good inch and a half thick. The meat is so tender and flavorful, with beautifully marbled veins of fat distributed in a ring around the meat. It’s served with horseradish sauce, which is good, but once Lacy brought out the freshly ground raw horseradish, there was no going back. It’s dangerously spicy on the same level as wasabi, but the flavor and the spicy kick it brings really enhances the taste of the meat.

We also ordered the English cut, which is essentially the House cut sliced thin into three slices. It feels less tender but the it had a beefier flavor.

Okay, more on the sides. The creamed spinach is fantastic, so creamy, it almost tastes like melted cheese. The mashed potatoes are awesome, the textures are perfect, a little scratchy on your tongue, and a great wave of creamy fragrance rises from the back of your throat as you swallow. The creamed corn is creamy and delicious, with a little bit of kick from some sort of spices mixed in. Frankly, I’m surprised at how good the sides are, they are consistently outstanding.

The service was impeccable, my drink was refilled at least 5 times without my ever asking. Any time we needed anything we found that it was already on its way to us. We felt like VIPs the entire time we were there. I’m so coming back the next time I’m in town, between the amazing prime rib, the outstanding sides, the reasonable price and the impeccable service, this place is a home run. No wonder it’s been around for so long, and I hope it’ll stick around for another 60 years.

House of Prime Rib
1906 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA, 94109
(415) 885-4605

2.26 Ondal 2

kevin — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:31:22 +0000

I’ll just start by saying this: I LOVE Korean food. These Asian brothers and sisters know how to eat! And the selection of Korean food here in LA is just spectacular, just take a quick drive over to Korea Town and see for yourself.

Well, Ondal 2 isn’t quite in K-Town, it’s more like mid city, on Washington between La Brea and Crenshaw. That makes it nice and close to where I live in West LA, but while it’s away from the traffic and bustle, the neighborhood is deserted at night and I felt a slight tinge of danger as I drove through the area.

Here’s a shot of the cute menu. The spicy crab hotpot is the name of the game here, it’s #2 on the menu and you should NOT hesitate to order it. Three crabs come in the medium pot (It starts off at medium $55 and goes to large $63 and extra large $75) You’re provided a cloth bib that looks like a full-on apron, it would be wise to put it on.

But first, the family that runs the restaurant will bring you a parade of panchan. I counted 9 dishes: Tripe, broccoli, potato salad, steamed egg, sliced potato, pickled radishes, squid, and two kinds of seaweed.

Then they also bring you a medium sized plate of marinaded raw crab (delicious) and a potato pancake (so good). Oh, and then there’s a small salad and a grilled smelt, which the waitress broke down at the table. Don’t get me wrong, all of this is very good and taste, but can we get to the star of our show?

Soon enough, a big bubbling red pot of crabs lands on our stove built into the table. The photo doesn’t really do this dish justice, ’cause it is FIERCE, filled to the brim with sprouts, mushrooms, cilantro, all bubbling in this hellish red brew. The waitress takes out a crab and breaks it down, scooping out some of the crab meat from the top shell and refilling it with sprouts, rice, and the delicious soup before serving it to you.

If you’re used to eating alaskan king crabs, this is a little different. The bulk of the meat in the crab is found in the body, not the legs. I’ve felt that the emphasis of this dish is not so much on the meat of the crab but the flavors released into the soup as it simmers at your table. As the soup reduces, the flavor intensifies and becomes richer. You can also request more soup and sprouts to be added to your pot.

Never mind that one pot is plenty because you can have them add noodles or make fried rice when you’re done, but we ordered a second beef pot. (I don’t know how you roll, dear reader, but this is how WE roll.) Again, the pot comes loaded. This time with a huge chunk of beef, mushrooms, rice cakes, potatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, and dates. Same with the crab pot, the waitress will help you by breaking down the beef for you.

The beef pot is spectacular. The soup is spicy and flavorful, the meat sweet and extraordinarily tender. Adding rice to the soup completes the picture since you get to enjoy the amazing flavor of the soup without overloading your taste buds with both the heat and spiciness of the broth.

The complimentary dessert is a sweet rice drink. It’s very refreshing and will also help soothe the spicy flavors left in your mouth.

Interestingly enough, the waitresses seemed to only speak Korean. We started speaking in English, and then she switched over to a very accurate Mandarin Chinese. No matter, the menu is in English, and you can always point to the menu to order or your cup if you need water. Beer is called Hite. There, all your bases are covered, go forth and feast.

Ondal 2
4566 W Washington Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016
(323) 933-3228

2.25 Pho So 1

kevin — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:03:10 +0000

I have many fond memories of our establishment for meal #25, year two. I came to Pho So 1 at least once a week while at UCLA. The food is cheap, it came out fast, and right next door is Ranch 99 where you can pick up most anything you’d want to cook for the week. Pho So 1 is also probably one of the best Pho places even remotely close to West LA, and I’m very happy to revisit my old feeding grounds for a meal.

First up is the spring roll. Pork and shrimp wrapped in rice skin. There’s a nice blend of flavors here, and the textures are smooth and comforting. Dip the rolls into the sauce for some extra flavor.

We also ordered the egg rolls. Crispy fried skin, stuffed with vegetables and pork. You can wrap the egg roll with a big leaf of lettuce and dip it in the tangy sweet sauce for some extra textures. You do need a bigger mouth, though…

We ordered a couple bowls of various Pho, so the waiter delivered us the raw vegetables. sprouts, basil, lime, culantro, and jalapenos.

The pho comes piping hot with thinly sliced pieces of beef. There’s a great variety of pho available, essentially in the same broth and with the same rice noodles, but the amount and variety of meat can differ. I got the #1 special and it had slices of steak, brisket, tendon and tripe. Pho takes no time to prepare at all and when it comes, toss in as much vegetables as you want and mix well, the heat in the soup will continue to cook the meat and the vegetables to perfection.

The soup base is incredibly flavorful and comforting, the rice noodles thin and soft without being mushy. Textures are enhanced greatly with the crunchy sprouts and the flavors stirred up by the culantro and basil. Feel free to add in hoisin sauce and sarracha. It’s perfect for a cold day or if you’re feeling a bit under the weather.

Oh, the drinks, of course. We got a jack fruit smoothie and it had an incredibly fresh fruit flavor. Just like eating a sweet juicy jack fruit.

You can also try the Hot filtered coffee with condense milk (French Style) it’s strong but the condensed milk should take the edge off. Perfect for combating the food coma you’re going to have.

Service wasn’t bad but wasn’t very attentive. Pay at the counter when you’re ready to go. The place is bright and fairly clean, and could get packed on any night. Thankfully the Pho comes out fast and people eat fast, so I never had to wait long. They also have seven courses of beef and a ton of other Vietnamese style foods that is screaming to be tried. All in good time, of course, I still can’t get over how good the Pho broth is.

Pho So 1
6450 Sepulveda Blvd
Van Nuys, CA 91411
(818) 989-6377

2.24 Captain Kidd’s

kevin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:20:57 +0000

My search for hard core seafood at casual prices continues, we have a pretty solid place lined up for this week. Captain Kidd’s in Redondo Beach is half seafood market, half restaurant. It’s a little confusing, but there are three lines. One line is for drinks — they have a good selection of beers on tap. The line in the back is where you can order combo plates or most anything else you’d like — if you don’t want to pick out which piece of fish you want. The main line in the front left part of the restaurant is the seafood line, where you can pick your fish or crustacean from a grocery seafood display case — they’ll write up your order, take your money, and give you a number. They’ll holler when your order is ready. So! Let me show you what we got this week…

Here’s the display case full of fish, you can see crabs in the back, lobsters and more are around the corner.

I’m so Asian, I wanted sashimi from the fish. They were very good about it and this gentleman expertly sliced up some salmon, halibut and tuna for us.

The sashimi really hits the spot. The fish is fresh, the knife work is clean and precise, beautifully laid out, as you can see. I think they simply sell you the fish by pound and charge $2-$3 for cutting it, so cool, good stuff.

I love oyster and ordered up a plate. I think this suffered greatly from being shucked in the morning and sitting in the cold display. It’s a bit dried out and it’s not as fresh as oysters shucked in front of you at, say, Swan Oyster Depot or Giovanni’s, but it’s decent.

My friend Jason ordered a box of cocktail shrimp, these were huge shrimp and so fresh and sweet, great value at $6 something.

I ordered a small bowl of paella. This was dry and not particularly good, probably because it was sitting in a steam tray for too long, avoid.

Fresh live steamed crabs at $12.99 a pound. They put this in the steamer and it takes about 20 minutes, it comes out of the steamer in a bag and they holler your number. We tore it apart with our usual enthusiasm. Live crabs are totally worth the extra cost, the meat fills the shells and it’s fresh and delicious.

What a great meal, there’s so much variety here, but the guys behind the counter are helpful and friendly. It’s all very casual and crowded and you sit in one of three levels of indoor ocean view patios. All of this ran about $80, and the girlfriend and I were stuffed. Skip the paella, look at the oysters closely to see if it’s dry before you order it, and you can definitely go to town with the fresh fish and crabs. Oh, I’m told they have giant scallops that they can throw on the grill. I’m so coming back.

Captain Kidd’s
209 N Harbor Dr
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 372-7703

2.23 Railroad Bento

kevin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:09:04 +0000

This place is such a hole in the wall. I swear. THREE TABLES in this tiny joint. So bare bone, there’s no room for a cash register. One man runs it with some occasional help, so don’t come here if you have a party of 15 looking for a quick dinner. You need to give the owner / chef / waiter / cashier time to get to you.

Update July 14th: Per Tony the owner, they have expanded their team with helpers and also their menu. I will return sometime and give this entry an update.

So, with that said, what’s so special about the food here? Well, it’s traditional Taiwanese train station packed lunches. Commonly known as Bentos. Bento is a Japanese word, actually, a carry over from the days when Japan controlled Taiwan before and during World War II. During this time, Japan modernized a lot of the infrastructure in Taiwan, especially the train system. Taiwan train bentos are thus a descendent of the Japanese bentos, which are usually meticulously made and differ from station to station to showcase the local cuisine. This restaurant also has some spectacular smoked duck and goose, so be sure to try that when you come.

Soup. Simple tofu and miso soup, very traditional and very authentic.

The Bento comes in this traditional Bento Box. Back in the day the food would be prepared, packed into these boxes, and steamed in giant steamers when lunch time rolled around.

Open up the bento and you’ll see rice on the bottom, a braised egg, some pickled turnips, and your main course. Here I had the braised pork. I thought I was back home in Taiwan, everything tasted so authentic. The rice was a little too wet but everything else was dead on.

The Bento box also has a separate shelf for vegetables. Again, very simply prepared cabbage and marinaded cucumbers that were amazingly authentic.

Here is the Taiwanese sausage bento. It’s not homemade sausage but it’s still very solid. Some braising stock is drizzled over the rice for extra flavor as well.

Smoked Goose. It’s rare to come across goose here, but this place nailed it. Beautifully intense smoky flavor, lots of goose fat. This was just delicious and goes perfectly with rice.

Our table full of food.

I ordered some braised pig ears, but they ran out, this is all they had, so it was on the house. My American friends might be grossed out or just think pig ears are for their dogs to chew on, but I love this stuff and have grown up eating this in Taiwan. Here, the ears are perfectly made. Not too much fat, a good crunch from the cartilage, and expertly braised with a full, round flavor. Best pig ears I’ve had in a LONG time.

If you get stuff to go, it’ll be packed in this attractive and much more modern bento box.

Service is a bit slow, of course, because it’s pretty much a one man operation. But the food is very authentic and the smoked goose is spectacular. Cash only, be sure to go when you’re not in a hurry and enjoy!

Railroad Bento
311 E. VALLEY BLVD. #103
SAN GABRIEL, CA 91776
626-569-9868

2.22 Lee’s Sandwiches

kevin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:00:06 +0000

Some of you might be familar with Lee’s sandwiches. It’s a chain of Vietnamese Sandwich shops around San Gabriel and Westminster. If you’re not familar with Lee’s Sandwiches, you might be wondering: “What’s so special about Vietnamese sandwiches, and how is it worthy of a 50meal?” Well, first of all, a 10 inch sandwich is dirt cheap at somewhere between $2 to $3. Secondly, these sandwiches are GOOD. Hey, cheap and good? Definitely worth a meal. Unfortunately the location I went to had no seating, so you’ll have to take these sandwiches to go. I didn’t get far, though, we grabbed these and started eating in the car.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich. Marinaded chicken, pickled carrots and turnips, fresh cilantro, all in a crispy crunchy and chewy baguette.

The chicken is very well marinaded and has a great flavor. The taste and textures of the sandwich is greatly enhanced by the crunchy and tangy carrots and turnips. The cilantro completes the picture with its fragrant aroma.

Special Combination: Jambon (Ham), headcheese, pork roll and pate. We also found jalapeno chilis in the sandwich. Lots of hard core stuff in this sandwich. If you don’t know what headcheese is, it’s not brains, but it’s not exactly just slices of beef either. Pate is, of course, duck liver. All of these slightly offbeat items brings a strong flavor to this sandwich. It’s delicious, but I can imagine some people being turned off by all these ingredients.

Cured Pork + Pork Roll: Two kinds of pork here along with the standard pickled veggies and jalapenos.

The flavors here aren’t as strong or outstanding as the special combination or the chicken. It’s still very good, but I think next time I’d try something else.

We also got a couple of drinks, here are the honeydew and passion fruit. They’re both sweet and creamy, full of wonderful fruit flavors, perfect for a hot summer day.

The food is grab n’ go, so I can’t comment on the service. Sandwiches do come out pretty quick and so did the drinks, so no complaints there at all.

You can find more locations on their website:
Lee’s Sandwiches
1289 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-5589

2.21 Joe’s Pizza of Bleecker Street - Santa Monica

kevin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:43:38 +0000

Live in LA but dying for some of that New York style pizza? Here you go! Joe’s Pizza of Bleecker Street now has a location right here in Santa Monica, on Broadway at Ocean Avenue, just one block from the beach. It’s a tiny hole in the wall, with only three small tables.

The menu is simple, well, you don’t really need a menu, the pizzas are all laid out on the counter for you to see. Seven kinds of pizza, garlic bread, and salads.

The garlic bread is just as you’d expect, garlic and parsley and a ton of oil on little rolls of bread. It’s not as soft as it ought to be (C&O’s has the GREATEST garlic rolls.) but hey, we’re here for the pizza. So let’s get to them.

Vegetable - red onion, mushroom, garlic. This was my favorite, the tomato sauce was sweet and the crust is so crispy and light. The toppings taste incredibly fresh and flavorful. Delicious.

Caprese - tomato, basil, slices of mozzarella. You know, I can taste the basil even in a bite without basil leaves, a little freaky? Yes, but I love basil and I can only call it basil magic.

White - cottage cheese, parsley, garlic. Love the garlic on here, it’s very good overall but nothing jumps out at you.

Pepperoni Sicilian - pan crust, cheese and pepperoni. The thick crust is quite good as well, but the toppings are just your standard pepperoni and cheese.

I can’t really comment much on the service, the guys behind the counter are friendly and helpful and that’s all you really need. The pizzas are fantastic but it’s such a bare boned pizza place that I can imagine most people would want to take it to go. Still, New York Pizza in Santa Monica? What a find!

Joe’s Pizza
111 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90407
(310) 395-9222

2.20 - The Counter

kevin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:51:20 +0000

Hey, do you wanna build your own burger? Do you wanna choose your meat, cheese, toppings, sauce, even the kind of bread your burger sits on? YES PLEASE!

The Counter is a great burger joint in Santa Monica and was introduced to me (a long time ago) by my former boss. “You HAVE to try the apple pie milkshake,” he said, and I did. We’ll do a review of it here today, of course. I get hungry just looking at the burger order sheet.

You start on top with the most basic element: The meat. Choose from beef, turkey, veggie, or grilled chicken. Then, choose the weight of your meat. The price of your burger is determined accordingly. You can take it easy with a half pounder, eat a 2/3 pounder if you had a good workout that day, or go all out with a full pound of meat.

Then, you can choose your cheese. There’s 10 kinds of cheese to choose from, and all of them sound great. It’s easy to get lost with all of these great choices. Among them, horseradish cheddar, imported swiss, sharp provolone, even gruyere.

Then, you choose your toppings. There are 18 to choose from, and my favorites are carrot strings, grilled onions, hard boiled egg, bermuda red onion, and roasted red peppers. There are also premium toppings, which are a buck a pop, and they’re always very tempting. Fried egg, fried onion strings, honey cured bacon, avocados…

Then there’s 18 kinds of sauce you’ll have to choose from. Again, some pretty tempting choices and it’s easy to get lost. Try to remember your earlier choices and attempt to match your sauce to your toppings. Among the choices, horseradish mayo, roasted garlic aioli, apricot sauce, peanut sauce…

As a boon to my (occasionally enforced) low carb diet, they also offer burgers without buns and you can have your burger sit on top of a bed of lettuce blend or mixed baby greens. This is somehow a buck more. Go figure. The number of different burgers you can build here is well above 300,000.

We started the evening with an Apple Pie milkshake. I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s amazingly good. The smooth and creamy texture of the milkshake is occasionally punctuated by and greatly enhanced with little chunks of apple or pie crust. Delicious.

Sweet Potato fries. I love sweet potato fries, and these are a bit better than the ones at Hot’s Cantina. They also give you two kinds of sauce — ranch and honey mustard (?) In case you didn’t know, sweet potatoes have a low-glycemic index and is ranked #1 in nutritional value among vegetables, along with a ton of dietary fiber. If only everything that’s good for you tasted this good…

So for tonight we picked out two burgers. This is my Bun-free beef pounder with horseradish cheddar, carrot strings, grilled onions, hard boiled egg, roasted red peppers, along with the roasted garlic aioli sauce sitting on top of a bed of mixed baby greens. Yes, my life is sweet.

Here’s my date’s 1/3 pounder with sharp provolone, grilled onions, mixed baby greens, sprouts, tomatoes, with honey mustard on a hamburger bun.

The place gets PACKED! The bar section is first come first served, so if you see an empty seat, grab it. Otherwise you’d have to sign in on the waiting list at the door. Service was friendly but sometimes the waitress was a bit hard to find because it was so busy. The decor is very modern with skateboards hung on the walls, flat screen TVs, and a very cool garage door window system that gets lowered or raised to let the light in or block the setting sun. I’m definitely coming back for more of their shakes, sweet potato fries, and pounder burgers.