Josh's Food Blog: December 2008

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Burger King - The Burger Shot

While I was home in Poughkeepsie I had a chance to swing by the BK lounge. I wanted to get something new and I have been hearing a lot of these burger shots. After waiting for seemed like hours I was finally able to place my order. I asked for a 2 pack of burger shots, they were 1.49, after my I asked for them, they lady taking my order had to make sure they still had them in stock. After the quick check, the order went through, and then after waiting again for what seemed like an hour I finally got my order. They are exactly like a BK burger, only smaller. They tasted a little saltier than other BK burgers, also for the price, not really worth it, when classics like the rodeo cheeseburger is less expensive and you can't pass up that one onion ring. Quick review, good, but not worth it, good to try, however better sliders can be had elsewhere. Also why pass up the classic cheeseburger? Why did sliders even come about?...something to ponder
Flickr set can be found here

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Harry's Tap Room

I am doing this a little reversed today. Saturday for brunch we were supposed to meet up with Matt and Francine, but they were running a little late, so Liz and I met up with Alex and did brunch.
Harry's is centrally located right in heart of Clarendon, right off the metro, and right next to parking so it's fairly easy to get to. The bottom level is a small bar and small seating area, upstairs has bright open windows and an open kitchen. I loved the decor and the brightness and it was the perfect spot for breakfast.
Liz and I got there a little earlier than Alex, so Liz and I sat down, and I started taking pictures, which is the reason there are some shots of Liz. I love my new camera, and I love the 50mm macro lense, which is normally what I shoot food with. Moving onto the food, we received a basket of assorted breads, muffins and scones. After we went through those our breakfast arrived. Liz ordered French Toast, I got what you see above, and Alex got an Omelet too. Looks can be a little deceiving, the eggs were fluffy and cheesy, the french toast was crunchy and soft all at the same time, however it was not worth the price we paid. $13.00 for what you see above was not worth it. On top of that I ordered a side of sausage another $5.00, and never got it. So service wasn't that good even though she took the sausage off the bill, on top of that the restaurant wasn't even close to being full, although I know that changes on Sunday mornings. I enjoyed Harry's more for the atmosphere and company than the food itself. I really enjoyed taking pictures, which you can see here. Enjoy

Vienna Inn - Chili Cheese Dog anyone?

On Saturday I got a chance to catch up with an old friend and meet a new one. I was glad I was able to bring them to the Vienna Inn. So we meet up at our apartment and headed on over, it was also the perfect opportunity to try out my new fully AWESOME A700.
The Vienna Inn is my kind of joint, it is a small place that really specializes in one item. That item happens to be chili. This chili isn't world famous, and to my knowledge, or lack thereof, has not won any type of chili cook off awards. The lack of flaunting their chili is a good thing, it would ruin the appeal of the Vienna Inn. The restaurant or bar, or inn is small enough that it is and always will be packed with locals. During the week all of the offices in the area bring employees down and order Chili Dogs by the tray full, like the picture above. At $1.55 per loaded chili cheese dog you really can't blame them not to order 30 or 40 hot dogs for 10 people. A loaded chili cheese dog consists of chili, cheese, onion and mustard, also NO KETCHUP!!!. Soda is get it yourself, as well as coffee, and the rest of the fare is your typical diner/bar food. All kinds of items deep fried, personally I have only had the hot dogs. The chili is similar to something that God would make, on the hot dog the ratio of chili to cheese to mustard to bun is perfect. I love trying new chili when I go out to any type of restaurant, the Vienna Inn is the best. You can check out the pictures here

Monday, December 1, 2008

White Manna road trip

Driving back from NY the Sunday after Thanksgiving has its ups and downs (mostly downs) however the bright side of the rain filled 12 hour, normally 6 hour drive is White Manna. Located in Hackensack NJ about 5 minutes from the Ikea, the drive down from NY wasn't too bad, it took us about an hour and a half. It was raining and cold when we arrived, and the line was out the door. I stood there with the SLR waiting to get inside, Liz was freezing and Adam wanted to listen to the football game. I gave Adam the keys to the car and he went off to watch the cat and listen to the game. Liz and I waited our turn to be called into the restaurant to place our order. Liz started off saying "I want 6 cheeseburgers, 3 without onion and then 3 with, and then I want 3 more cheeseburg" She got cut off by the guy behind the counter. He asked her how many total burgers do we want. After a little math we decided 11 should be fine. I personally wanted 6, 3 without onion, 3 with to decide. After we ordered another person asked if we wanted fries and a drink, fries are amazingly good here, but this place is all about the burger or slider in this case. The bun is a potato roll like you would normally have at the dinner table. The bun is placed on top of the burger while it is cooking to seep in the flavor of the onion (if you ordered it that way) and the cheese. It is steamed basically. The sliders themselves are little meatballs that are pressed onto the grill, they grill up amazingly fast, which is a good thing because people usually order 5 or more each. The restaurant is amazingly small, maybe 20 or so stools to sit and eat, and they ring the grill in a horseshoe pattern, there were about 40 people in the restaurant when I was there and every seat was taken and there was no room to move. It was perfect if it wasn't raining and I didn't have to drive 12 hours but this really did make up for it. These burgers are cooked perfectly, the cheese is melted into the onions and then the bun is pressed into everything. Number 2 burger on the list.