All right, all right - I know, we've covered Grind Burger before (and bought their swag and been there at least three more times since we've reviewed it the first time) but I have to tell you, I have NEVER had any sort of burger this damned good. It makes me want to punch multiple babies. MULTIPLE!
Ghryc, Kobold and I headed down there as the general cry for the evening was "give me red meat!" This time instead of a turkey burger, I had cow (as did Kobold) and as Ghryc was feeling a little disinclined to be quite as big a fatty as the other two of us, he chose the meatless patty.
But first!
We had the appetizer. It was nom-tastic. Calamari in thai sweet sauce? Can we haz moar pleeeze?! Kobold said he might just order the appetizer as a meal next time we came, it was that damned good.
Even the meatless patty was good (according to Ghryc, neither Kobold nor I dared try it) and the toppings/sauces were as always, amazing.
I'm beginning to think that there are subliminal messages in the rockin' music they play at this place because aside from the 'meh' caliber of the dessert, I have yet to try anything here that was not 'hurt infants' good.
Seriously.
You guys have got to try this place!
February 27, 2010
The Deli Den
Once upon a time, Ms. Rabbit and Mr. Kobold drove allllllll the way out to never-never-land to find a papasan that was barely used and on the cheap. Whilst out on their adventure, they hungered. Deciding to see what sort of delectable edibles were available out in knobby-ville, they drove to the Durango and 215 area and found a place called The Deli Den. Seeing the prices were reasonable, and being that Rabbit is a big fan of delis in general and more specifically, New York style delis, they decided to nom at this place.
Ms. Rabbit chose the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and Kobold chose the special (which we unfortunately cannot remember the name of) with corned beef, provolone and yum-tastic bread. Both were excellent, the meat had good flavor and the portions were huge. The service was mediocre at best, but the staff was friendly enough. It definitely had a family-owned feel and the decor was functional and non-fancy (odd, for that side of town).
The two adventurers nom-ed their gigantic sandwiches and eyed dessert but thought better of it, as the balaclava was bigger than Rabbit's hand. Yikes! Portions here are out of control big.
The only sticking point that was while Kobold was digesting, the tummy started to churn and do unhappy things. We're not sure if it was the sandwich, the corned beef or the combination of the two, but it did not end well for Kobold's bathroom or his stash of TP.
So if you're ever waaaaaaaaaaay out in never-never-land, give it a try but beware the corned beef.
Ms. Rabbit chose the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and Kobold chose the special (which we unfortunately cannot remember the name of) with corned beef, provolone and yum-tastic bread. Both were excellent, the meat had good flavor and the portions were huge. The service was mediocre at best, but the staff was friendly enough. It definitely had a family-owned feel and the decor was functional and non-fancy (odd, for that side of town).
The two adventurers nom-ed their gigantic sandwiches and eyed dessert but thought better of it, as the balaclava was bigger than Rabbit's hand. Yikes! Portions here are out of control big.
The only sticking point that was while Kobold was digesting, the tummy started to churn and do unhappy things. We're not sure if it was the sandwich, the corned beef or the combination of the two, but it did not end well for Kobold's bathroom or his stash of TP.
So if you're ever waaaaaaaaaaay out in never-never-land, give it a try but beware the corned beef.
February 6, 2010
Why we don't review chains
As you've noticed we try to stick to local joints, places that we can chill at and not stress what is going down around us. We're pretty easy going kind of fatties. We eat at chains, we eat our fast food, normal things. We like Chile's and Applebeas, we don't mind some pancakes from IHOP.
When I'm in Arizona, I hit up Whataburger. We're not snobbish fatties. Now personally I don't see the point in reviewing a place everyone in the country can easily go to, or large parts of the country for that matter. But I do see a point in reviewing smaller places, or places not many people know about, all around the places that I happen to be.
As me and Rabbit are moving here soon, that will be another part of town, and it will lead to a whole new world of experiences.
To ramble around, today we hit Denny's for a quick sandwich. There are other places we could go for this, there was a Jersey Mikes right there, for example, but I like burgers and Ms. Rabbit likes patty melts. There was a lot wrong with our choice. Did you know Denny's is now expensive? It was, with an appetizer, $16 a person! I got a burger, seasoned fries, and an ice tea. Rabbit got her patty melt, seasoned fries, a coke, and we shared some cheese sticks. Now to me, this should be, at a chain like Denny's, maybe $25 total.. Nope, our drinks were freaking $2.30 each. Our food was crap. I would rather goto a place like Grind Burger, that we reviewed, and get a great burger for the same freaking price.
So yeah, we have become a bit snobbish. We'll spend the money for good food and service. But when the food sucks, and the service is only tolerable, it reminds us of why we don't review chains.
Because they are there for a convenience, but over all, kind of suck.
When I'm in Arizona, I hit up Whataburger. We're not snobbish fatties. Now personally I don't see the point in reviewing a place everyone in the country can easily go to, or large parts of the country for that matter. But I do see a point in reviewing smaller places, or places not many people know about, all around the places that I happen to be.
As me and Rabbit are moving here soon, that will be another part of town, and it will lead to a whole new world of experiences.
To ramble around, today we hit Denny's for a quick sandwich. There are other places we could go for this, there was a Jersey Mikes right there, for example, but I like burgers and Ms. Rabbit likes patty melts. There was a lot wrong with our choice. Did you know Denny's is now expensive? It was, with an appetizer, $16 a person! I got a burger, seasoned fries, and an ice tea. Rabbit got her patty melt, seasoned fries, a coke, and we shared some cheese sticks. Now to me, this should be, at a chain like Denny's, maybe $25 total.. Nope, our drinks were freaking $2.30 each. Our food was crap. I would rather goto a place like Grind Burger, that we reviewed, and get a great burger for the same freaking price.
So yeah, we have become a bit snobbish. We'll spend the money for good food and service. But when the food sucks, and the service is only tolerable, it reminds us of why we don't review chains.
Because they are there for a convenience, but over all, kind of suck.
January 30, 2010
Beer, Beef and Brownies
Steiner's website proclaims that it "is a Nevada style pub and (...) is the best bet for cared-for service, inspired cuisine and an abundant selection of beer and spirits."
Kobold and I were wandering South on Las Vegas Boulevard, past the Town Square mall, past Fry's.. just sort of headed in a direction, when I saw the "Nevada style pub" sign and got curious. We pulled yet another shell world (are we seeing a pattern here?) and popped in. First, let me say: Staff.. you did an excellent job! Kobold gives you females extra points for being attractive, but his scale is a little different than mine. As far as ambiance and service go, you guys get an A+ from me.. or .. a smiley face sticker.. or a pony.
We skipped the appetizers, electing to try and save enough room for a listing on the desert menu that looked absolutely sumptuous. We did note that the prices throughout the menu were absolutely reasonable - and the menu is gigantic. There are 24 beers on tap and more in bottles, a whole page dedicated to sangwiches (hot and cold) and.. yeah. Foodgasm.
Kobold had a sandwich called "The Palms" which is best described as a patty melt, on marble rye with swiss, onions and a side of 1,000 island dressing - take note, restaurants: THIS IS THE ONLY WAY PATTY MELTS SHOULD BE PREPARED! Kobold likes his cow medium rare and that's exactly how it was prepared. He also elected for a side of the home-made potato chips. Yum-tastic, kids. I promise you this.
I had a PhilEly Melt (aka: philly cheesesteak), which was gigantic and had excellent quality of beef (you may also order it with chicken instead), filling, full of onions, peppers and REAL cheese served on a hoagie. I had the beer battered fries which were neither too big nor too small and were nice and crisp but not over done. I'm starting to sound like golide locks at this point, so I'll stop. Seriously, though. Amazing.
For dessert, we had been eyeballing the Hot Bourbon Brownie Sundae and were squeeing in our pants by the time we each had our first bites. Warm, soft brownie, hot fudge, vanilla bean bits on top of vanilla ice cream, smothered in a bourbon sauce? We were happy little fatties and devoured all that we could before the prospect of being carted out of the place on a hand truck presented itself.
Seriously, people. Go south on the boulevard. I promise it's absolutely worth the trip.
Kobold and I were wandering South on Las Vegas Boulevard, past the Town Square mall, past Fry's.. just sort of headed in a direction, when I saw the "Nevada style pub" sign and got curious. We pulled yet another shell world (are we seeing a pattern here?) and popped in. First, let me say: Staff.. you did an excellent job! Kobold gives you females extra points for being attractive, but his scale is a little different than mine. As far as ambiance and service go, you guys get an A+ from me.. or .. a smiley face sticker.. or a pony.
We skipped the appetizers, electing to try and save enough room for a listing on the desert menu that looked absolutely sumptuous. We did note that the prices throughout the menu were absolutely reasonable - and the menu is gigantic. There are 24 beers on tap and more in bottles, a whole page dedicated to sangwiches (hot and cold) and.. yeah. Foodgasm.
Kobold had a sandwich called "The Palms" which is best described as a patty melt, on marble rye with swiss, onions and a side of 1,000 island dressing - take note, restaurants: THIS IS THE ONLY WAY PATTY MELTS SHOULD BE PREPARED! Kobold likes his cow medium rare and that's exactly how it was prepared. He also elected for a side of the home-made potato chips. Yum-tastic, kids. I promise you this.
I had a PhilEly Melt (aka: philly cheesesteak), which was gigantic and had excellent quality of beef (you may also order it with chicken instead), filling, full of onions, peppers and REAL cheese served on a hoagie. I had the beer battered fries which were neither too big nor too small and were nice and crisp but not over done. I'm starting to sound like golide locks at this point, so I'll stop. Seriously, though. Amazing.
For dessert, we had been eyeballing the Hot Bourbon Brownie Sundae and were squeeing in our pants by the time we each had our first bites. Warm, soft brownie, hot fudge, vanilla bean bits on top of vanilla ice cream, smothered in a bourbon sauce? We were happy little fatties and devoured all that we could before the prospect of being carted out of the place on a hand truck presented itself.
Seriously, people. Go south on the boulevard. I promise it's absolutely worth the trip.
January 23, 2010
Burgers Part 2
CreAte. Just the name makes you think "Eat your Face." This place has custard, so it gets extra points in my book. It's another very modern place. I've spoken to the owner, who is a great, chill kind of guy, and I like a lot of what they are going for here. They are all for the environment, so the plates, utensils, and cups are all washable, the napkins are recycled, and they recycle what they can. As for atmosphere, it's almost like Starbucks meets Industrial. The walls are decorated, there is a lot of seating, and it's mostly chill to be at.
Walk in and look at the columns of burger choices, and things are happy to start with. I normally go with the Medieval, which is apple smoked bacon, burger, and BBQ sauce. I go sans tomatoes since I believe they are still, at least while uncooked, poisonous death apples.
Rabbit quite often makes her own, using their supplied paper with more circling of choices, to mix and match what ever is filling her pretty little head at the time. This often leads to interesting flavors and happiness, in her pants. Don't ask, she squees and I don't want details, most of the time.
Throw in some sweet potato fries, and fresh ice tea, and I'm good to dance and eat and eat and eat and eat.
The thing that wins this place over (besides the custard, because who doesn't love rich frozen custard!?), is just the pure amount of choices. Seriously this place has some 30+ choice of sauces alone. Throw on the 20+ choices of toppings, something like 8 cheeses, and you can make a LOT of decisions about something horribly simple: Charred Animal Flesh In your Mouth!
Up until I tried the Grind this was my favorite burger joint, and now it's a toss up between the two. CreAte loses out, for me, because it's across town off Lake Mead and Tenaya, way out in North West land, while I'm fairly central.
So far the sweet potato fries are beyond compare, and the staff is always happy and fun. Another great place to nom burgers and be a happy carnivore. Potatoes count as meat, don't forget it.
Walk in and look at the columns of burger choices, and things are happy to start with. I normally go with the Medieval, which is apple smoked bacon, burger, and BBQ sauce. I go sans tomatoes since I believe they are still, at least while uncooked, poisonous death apples.
Rabbit quite often makes her own, using their supplied paper with more circling of choices, to mix and match what ever is filling her pretty little head at the time. This often leads to interesting flavors and happiness, in her pants. Don't ask, she squees and I don't want details, most of the time.
Throw in some sweet potato fries, and fresh ice tea, and I'm good to dance and eat and eat and eat and eat.
The thing that wins this place over (besides the custard, because who doesn't love rich frozen custard!?), is just the pure amount of choices. Seriously this place has some 30+ choice of sauces alone. Throw on the 20+ choices of toppings, something like 8 cheeses, and you can make a LOT of decisions about something horribly simple: Charred Animal Flesh In your Mouth!
Up until I tried the Grind this was my favorite burger joint, and now it's a toss up between the two. CreAte loses out, for me, because it's across town off Lake Mead and Tenaya, way out in North West land, while I'm fairly central.
So far the sweet potato fries are beyond compare, and the staff is always happy and fun. Another great place to nom burgers and be a happy carnivore. Potatoes count as meat, don't forget it.
Mm burgers. or "Rock Paper Scissors FTW"
I'm going to do some back to back posting because I think these next two burger joints deserve their own love, for many different reasons.
Starting with the more recent of the two, "Grind Burgers."
Me and Ms. Rabbit were driving around looking for places to eat, and had to make a shell world (Mostly illegal lane change over multiple lanes of traffic in order to turn "Right now!") because we saw a wood fired pizza joint. Well, then we saw a place labeled "Burger Bar." Some quick rock, paper, scissors later, and we were rolling into the burger joint.
Very modern design with high and low tables, really fun filament light bulbs hanging low (Mmm techno lust), and a great logo on the wall (You know then one of the sexy naked lady with her body dotted out for portions of meat).
Sitting down, they bring us over a clip board with a pencil and a paper with dots to fill in and choices to circle. It was time for class!!! So me and Rabbit are good kids and right out name, period, and class at the top of the sheet and get going. Nerd, ho! Ahem. Their menu had a beef burger, turkey, chicken, and meatless. I had the beef. Rabbit being the communist/adventurer/food blogger she is had a turkey burger. Some pepper-jack cheese, peppercinis, and marinated onions later, and I was ready to pick some "sauce." I did roasted garlic mayo and dijon mustard. Rabbit had honey mustard and thousand island on her fancy turkey burger.
Lets talk sides. we got onion strings (a mountain of them. No, really, this stuff was piled 8 inches high), and with dinner fries/potato wedges. With descriptions like
Sweet and Neat (is just the treat)
Short and Thick (will do the trick)
Tall and Thin (easy to put in)
You just know we had to try them out.
They get our drinks out to us quickly, and we begin the game of oogling the place. Very modern industrial. Shiney metal, fun lights, as I've mentioned, and metal chairs. It didn't take long for us to get our onion strings (again, mountainous) with chipotle ranch sauce that was, as Rabbit says, Punch a Baby good. We made it a third of the way through this hike of a meal before our burgers got to us.
Ahh a good burger, it makes me happy. I'm a sucker for onions that are crisp, and these have great flavor and a bit of crunch on a burger that on it's own was flavorful. I'm not sure what they marinate or spice their meat with, but I think I might have to, at some point, slap a hobo to convince them to share their recipe. Rabbits turkey burger, for a turkey burger, was pretty darn good too. I was happy to eat our "short and thick" 'tato wedges with my garlic mayo and random dips in the onions chipotle. I finished my burger, and we ate most of the fries, poor Rabbit could only eat half of her turkey burger (she's a light weight!!!!). Ok to be fair, for $9 each, it's a fair price, these things are huge. My burger filled both of my hands when I ate it, and I have, what the ladies affectionately call "Gorilla Paws."
The part of this adventure that saddens me is two fold. First, we were too full to try ice cream sliders. This made me a sad panda. Second is they have shirts for sale, but in the maroon t-shirt, didn't have my fat-ass-size. I believe they were just out, as it looks like they normally carry a pretty good stock of these.
All and all it's a great place. Over on Tropicana between Las Vegas Boulevard and Paradise, off on the north side, tucked in with some random resort.
Totally worth the "Shell World," to get there.
Starting with the more recent of the two, "Grind Burgers."
Me and Ms. Rabbit were driving around looking for places to eat, and had to make a shell world (Mostly illegal lane change over multiple lanes of traffic in order to turn "Right now!") because we saw a wood fired pizza joint. Well, then we saw a place labeled "Burger Bar." Some quick rock, paper, scissors later, and we were rolling into the burger joint.
Very modern design with high and low tables, really fun filament light bulbs hanging low (Mmm techno lust), and a great logo on the wall (You know then one of the sexy naked lady with her body dotted out for portions of meat).
Sitting down, they bring us over a clip board with a pencil and a paper with dots to fill in and choices to circle. It was time for class!!! So me and Rabbit are good kids and right out name, period, and class at the top of the sheet and get going. Nerd, ho! Ahem. Their menu had a beef burger, turkey, chicken, and meatless. I had the beef. Rabbit being the communist/adventurer/food blogger she is had a turkey burger. Some pepper-jack cheese, peppercinis, and marinated onions later, and I was ready to pick some "sauce." I did roasted garlic mayo and dijon mustard. Rabbit had honey mustard and thousand island on her fancy turkey burger.
Lets talk sides. we got onion strings (a mountain of them. No, really, this stuff was piled 8 inches high), and with dinner fries/potato wedges. With descriptions like
Sweet and Neat (is just the treat)
Short and Thick (will do the trick)
Tall and Thin (easy to put in)
You just know we had to try them out.
They get our drinks out to us quickly, and we begin the game of oogling the place. Very modern industrial. Shiney metal, fun lights, as I've mentioned, and metal chairs. It didn't take long for us to get our onion strings (again, mountainous) with chipotle ranch sauce that was, as Rabbit says, Punch a Baby good. We made it a third of the way through this hike of a meal before our burgers got to us.
Ahh a good burger, it makes me happy. I'm a sucker for onions that are crisp, and these have great flavor and a bit of crunch on a burger that on it's own was flavorful. I'm not sure what they marinate or spice their meat with, but I think I might have to, at some point, slap a hobo to convince them to share their recipe. Rabbits turkey burger, for a turkey burger, was pretty darn good too. I was happy to eat our "short and thick" 'tato wedges with my garlic mayo and random dips in the onions chipotle. I finished my burger, and we ate most of the fries, poor Rabbit could only eat half of her turkey burger (she's a light weight!!!!). Ok to be fair, for $9 each, it's a fair price, these things are huge. My burger filled both of my hands when I ate it, and I have, what the ladies affectionately call "Gorilla Paws."
The part of this adventure that saddens me is two fold. First, we were too full to try ice cream sliders. This made me a sad panda. Second is they have shirts for sale, but in the maroon t-shirt, didn't have my fat-ass-size. I believe they were just out, as it looks like they normally carry a pretty good stock of these.
All and all it's a great place. Over on Tropicana between Las Vegas Boulevard and Paradise, off on the north side, tucked in with some random resort.
Totally worth the "Shell World," to get there.
January 19, 2010
Blue Fin Sushi
Ghryc and I are big fans of sushi - and on the rare occasion that Kobold is feeling adventurous and has it on good authority that the cross-contamination at that particular place is nonexistent, he'll try it too. On this occasion it was just myself and Ghryc, though and we went for some all-you-can-eat sushi at Blue Fin. It's on Sunset almost to Hender-tucky but still technically within the city limits. Also, apparently, it delivers. Oh, how I wish I were within range. You can find their website here .
Let me add this in here: Ghryc can put away some serious amounts of food in general, but watching him eat sushi and sashimi is... well, it's almost like watching a true master paint a portrait or listening to a musician really get into the groove. This man can eat when he wants to and on the occasion that you get him to a sushi place, there is no other choice than 'all you can eat' for him.
Myself, I'm content with one, maybe two rolls (the rice is filling, ok!) and I'm good for the while... never mind that I'll be hungry in an hour or two once everything has settled. So, to give you an idea of the general gist that we ate, I'll include the ones I remember myself eating and... well, I'll give you the rundown of what Ghryc said about the massive amounts of food he packed away.
I always have tempura-something (I'm not a fan of raw fish, I prefer the cooked or tempura-ed rolls), so this time I chose the tempura shrimp. They were light and crispy, not overcooked and generally wicked delicious. I also believe I had the crystal shrimp and/or a godzilla-type roll (shrimp, avocado, fish sauce, et all) which was also quite good. I'm a good kid when it comes to eating but also I want to mention the portions here were quite large, so for a normal fatty, 1-2 rolls just might do you in.
Ghryc is a fan of sashimi and ....whatever the little quail-egg-thingies-with-orange-balls-on-top.. things are, so he had those, as well as some spicy rolls and some cooked rolls, all of which he declared absolutely delicious. This is only one of the many sushi restaurants that he frequents but it is one of his favorites, as the price is decent and the portions large.
Let me add this in here: Ghryc can put away some serious amounts of food in general, but watching him eat sushi and sashimi is... well, it's almost like watching a true master paint a portrait or listening to a musician really get into the groove. This man can eat when he wants to and on the occasion that you get him to a sushi place, there is no other choice than 'all you can eat' for him.
Myself, I'm content with one, maybe two rolls (the rice is filling, ok!) and I'm good for the while... never mind that I'll be hungry in an hour or two once everything has settled. So, to give you an idea of the general gist that we ate, I'll include the ones I remember myself eating and... well, I'll give you the rundown of what Ghryc said about the massive amounts of food he packed away.
I always have tempura-something (I'm not a fan of raw fish, I prefer the cooked or tempura-ed rolls), so this time I chose the tempura shrimp. They were light and crispy, not overcooked and generally wicked delicious. I also believe I had the crystal shrimp and/or a godzilla-type roll (shrimp, avocado, fish sauce, et all) which was also quite good. I'm a good kid when it comes to eating but also I want to mention the portions here were quite large, so for a normal fatty, 1-2 rolls just might do you in.
Ghryc is a fan of sashimi and ....whatever the little quail-egg-thingies-with-orange-balls-on-top.. things are, so he had those, as well as some spicy rolls and some cooked rolls, all of which he declared absolutely delicious. This is only one of the many sushi restaurants that he frequents but it is one of his favorites, as the price is decent and the portions large.
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