Voodoo Doughnut, Universal Citywalk *UT Travel Notes

I finally tried this import from Antifaland (Portland) last Friday at night. I'm not paying to park. They stop charging at 6pm. I have been to the real store. I didn't sense a drop in quality. The store looks sharp too. It is by the NBC Grill. This was a Nascar restaurant the last time I was here (probably two or three years ago). Towards the globe and park entrance. It had a small (5 people) line. They were "distancing" I sailed through. I just had a Little Pink because this was just a courtesy call. It was good. Strawberry icing with sprinkles. It was a yeast raised doughnut. It cost less than $2. They also sell cake (dense) doughnuts, fritters, bars and novelty items. In Portland I had a voodoo doll and a bacon maple bar. They have one on a popsicle stick. Come see for yourself. 

*Observations on Citywalk. They take your temperature. They x ray your bag. Metal detector. The usual local riff raff seemed to be absent. I think the following changes have occurred since my last update. The NBA restaurant is now Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. It is the only one that seems to have efforted a theme. It also has a candy store on the side. Basic menu. Doesn't take advantage of the Willy Wonka/Harry Potter like theme. Emeril's is now something Fire or Fire something. Behind it is Antojitos (little cravings or snacks). It seems like that whole area in the back (mostly bars) is now gone. I didn't go right up to it, but, it seemed gone. On your way in on the left (by Bubba Gump) was Cowfish and Pizza something or something Pizza. 

**Travel Notes - Utah: Most ski resorts seemed open. Some are requiring online ticket purchases. You can trim cost by doing a half day (12pm-) or Canyon Sports or AJ Motion are supposed to sell discount tix for non-Park City resorts. Alta was supposed to drop from $125 to $105, Brighton from $99 to $89, Snowbird from $145 to $110 and Solitude from $125 to $103. I bypassed both areas to try the spots near Ogden (30 minutes north). I only did Snow Basin. It was a nice place. $99 for a half day. Prices varied based on the day. There were two smaller resorts. Powder Mountain and Nordic Valley. NV was really cheap. Accommodations in Ogden were mostly under $100 a night. Nice town. Home to Weber State.

In SLC I ate at Curry Up Now (Indian Fast Food). I had a lamb keema bowl. I had ahi poke at Fresh Fin Poke. I had a beef and pork combo bowl at Cup Bop (Korean franchise). I had an interesting porridge at an Australian chain called Campos Coffee. It had caramel and hazelnuts on polenta and oat porridge. I had what they claimed was the best taco in Utah at Maize. It was an al pastor taco. Jury's out. I had a wienerschnitzel sandwich at Siegfried's Deli. I had yellow curry chicken with pepitas and green apple at Ginger Street. I had a Johnny Utah burger and salted caramel porter at Proper Burger (also has a brewery). It was really good. Slaw, pickled zucchini, turkey pastrami and cheese. Pickled zucchini is less watery than cucumber. It should be a thing. They were on 3D. As will the rest of the SLC list. I had mediocre brisket and ribs (dry, little smoke) at Pat's Barbecue. I had fried eggs and Norwegian Waffles (sour cream and ligonberries) at Finn's. I had a better than I expected meatball sub at Moochie's. I ended with a maple pecan kolache and an egg and sausage "ball" at Hruska's Kolaches. I stayed two nights at the Peery. Not so great. Two nights at the Plaza. Very cheap ($60). Was more during the summer. In Ogden I ate at Ogden River Brewery. Some good green chili fries. Huge serving. I ate ice cream (banana nut) at Farr's. That seems to be the state ice cream maker. I had a cheese and bacon potato at a place that only sells those (Brixton's). They must have doused the middle with some fake butter or something. I had to toss it. It was ridiculously fattening with just the toppings. I had some questionable Mexican at Beto's (a chain out West). I think that is is it. They opened the new terminal at the airport. Now it is a pain in the ass like most places. You have to walk forever to get out or to gate. The scanners are in a separate room and the lines took forever. Love that technology. The idiots that designed this make you walk all the way down one side and then over when they could have out the "over" portion first. It has been a low snow year. That made driving easier and enough (slopes) were open to please me. I'll probably go back in a month or so. To Bozeman and Big Sky first. Looks like it's a ski winter because of Covid and our afeared and feeble president. Maybe I'll move there?

Grub Crawl - Dr Phillips Area: Gogi and K Town

  I tried these two Korean places last Friday at lunch. They are side by side in the strip mall on Dr Phillips and Sand Lake. The first was world of Beer. The other was Whichwich. They are owned by the same people.

Gogi Korean Grill - It means meat. It is one of those "grill in the middle of the table" spots. They claimed you can do gas or charcoal. I did neither. I ordered a pre-made tofu stew called Sundubu ($15) because I don't think I've tried that before and I like to try new things. I added (for free) steak. They called it their bulgogi steak (since that has gogi in the word I bet I just made a funny in Korean). Usually the steak you get in bulgogi isn't this thin and tender. A nice surprise. The stew was tasty. A base that was probably peppers, tomato, onions, etc. They asked for a heat level. A raw egg was cracked on top. It came with rice that I didn't really eat because it didn't seem like it was necessary. Was I supposed to dump white rice in the stew? Just eat plain white rice with nothing on it? Drizzle the stew over the rice? It's funny. Some Asian and Latin meals just throw a bowl of rice in where it doesn't belong to fill you up. It came with four bon chon. I got five because they brought one wrong item. I chose: kimchi, broccoli, garlic something - sprouts I think, sprouts and fish cake. All were what you'd expect. At lunch, they serve "box' specials from $13 to $16.  6 apps. 3 salads. 1 soup. And a set lunch for two at $16 - $19. Probably per order. I think the dinner menu had a few more options. The space was big. It seats around one hundred in backless booths/squares. Windows look out on Sand Lake Rd. A bar. I kind of remember gray, black and maybe white tones. Some stone. Service (1) was good. Two other tables were seated after me. They said they have only been open for two months. Seems wrong. I never went in on recon missions. Maybe it's true. 

K Town Cafe - They call this a street food place. Probably smart to have a place like this next door. They can dump their aging supply and to go business off on this spot. A small menu of katsus, bowls, snacks. I had chicken katsu. It cost $10. Two "cutlets" of chicken. Rice (didn't eat this either). Kimchi. Broccoli. Last two were the same as Gogi. They made the chicken fresh in front of me. That can't always be expected in these times. Good crust. Chicken wasn't too dry. Light soy and garlic and sweet flavor. Probably a marinade. I ate one half when I got home (because the Sundubu wasn't that filling) and one half on the road the next day. It came with some black sauce that I didn't use or open. Probably a sweet soy. The place has the kitchen in the back of the small store. A few seats in front. Korean photos as decoration. They said they have been open for six months. Three others ordered while I was there.

*I'll do the SLC review in the next post. It will be short. Better to even these things out. Saw that Norman's plans to move in up the road.

Grub Crawl - Casselberry: Aji and Beyti

 I tried these newcomers on 436 last Friday at lunch. I ate at the first and got dinner to go at the second.

Aji - They said they have another location on OBT. That has been open for two and a half years. This branch opened four months ago. It is in a space in a strip mall across from Metro Diner near Howell Branch Rd. It was also a Peruvian place. A good one if I recall. This is a more "modern" take. The place is mostly bright white with plastic components. Some antiquated masks and statues and art keep it from being a room out of Sleeper. That's a Woody Allen film. He's the adoptive father of the metoo heartthrob Ronan Farrow. He used make comedies. Before he was making time with his children. The modern take extends to the menu. It has seventeen ceviches. Needless to say that that requires innovation since we're talking raw fish and a searing agent. I was expecting to try one as part of my meal, but, they copped to using swai. Are you kidding? Vietnamese catfish? I wouldn't eat it if you fried it. At my supermarket, I checked and it retails at $2.50 a pound. I doubt they use swai in Peru. I audibled to fried red snapper (pargo). Ironic that they fry the nice fish and serve raw the shit fish. Lucky for me they lack sense. The pargo was excellent. About a foot long. Fresh. Really well fried. Whole with the slashes in the body. No taste of old oil or mixed (different meats) oil. Tender, moist flesh. Crisp skin. They sell this preparation in alot of Caribbean and Latin countries. It is usually improperly prepared. This is one of the few preparations that was done properly. It came with two sides. I chose tostones and white rice. They tostones were larger and thin. They needed a sprinkling of sea salt. The rice was a bit crunchy. Not raw crunchy. Old crunchy. It had a hint of garlic in it. A bit bland. The meal cost $19. They start you off with a shot of tigre de leche (the liquid from the ceviche) and some corn nuts. The leche wasn't pure citrus or vinegar. Like a gazpacho. Good. They offer up a wide array. Five more "del mar" dishes. Eleven items they call "la previa" which means "the previous" which means I don't get it. I think they are apps. They are things like beef hearts and tequenos and a hodge podge of items. "Algo mas" is mostly tiraditos. "Por la casa" has these things (3) dishes that are scoops of cold mashed yellow colored potatoes topped with stuff. Never saw that before. They have four sushi rolls. All over $16. "Para calentarce" has four soups. "Para compartir" has four sampler platters. "Tacu tacu" has three types of a white bean and rice cake that I haven't seen before. Eight rice dishes in "Arroces". even a risotto and one with quinoa. Three "classicos". Seven "saltados y pastas" like lomo (tenderloin) saltado and fettuccine.They also have twelve pisco cocktails. Desserts (incuding mousse). Beer. Wine. Coffee. Pricing is all over the place and doesn't seem to make sense. The lomo is only $16. A bean cake is $18. Cheapest thing is $12. Highest is $19. Hey, I won! Or lost. Actually they have some ceviches and samplers that are in the $30 and $40s. 52 seats. Mostly tables of four or two. Three booths. Two bar areas that add eight seats a piece. Tv showing soccer. Service was good. Food came out fast. Place was pretty full at 2pm. Mostly all Latin looking customers. Will probably be first "favorite" of the new year. Means chili pepper. Odd choice. Not much of that on the menu. Logo also makes it look more fast food like than it is.

Beyti Mediterranean Grill - In a place around that overpass to Red Bug Lake Rd. Was some Cuban place called Ronaldo's or something. This guy had a place near I-4 and 436 on Douglas called Turkish Bar and Grill. Now he's here. I forget if it is recent or for like a year. I grabbed a "beyti" to go because it seemed like the thing to do and I'm not sure if I've had it before. The owner showed me a video of the traditional prep. They take the saddle of a lamb and make a roulade and grill it. Only nine or so portions per lamb. Is over $50 a serving in Turkey. He does a riff. Chopped lamb off the kabob in a lavas roll with a hot pepper and yogurt sauce on top. Like an enchilada. It was tasty. Moist lamb. Came with a small salad (purple cabbage and some greens and oil and vinegar) and savory rice and some onions. Also two charred jalapenos that I thought were okra or shisitos. Hot as hell. One other pepper as well that I didn't touch. The meal cost $12. They also have the usual suspects like gyros and tabouli and more exceptional things like: pide, ezme, kunefe, etc. He's from the west (Adana). The menu is holistic. They kind of refurbed the interior. The room on the left had some Turkish elements added. The room on the right was a junk room. Two old white ladies were finishing up when I entered at 3pm. Two Middle Eastern men came in after. Seats about fifty. Article from Sentinel on the wall. I assume it was a good review. Not bad. Needs to hit in more cylinders. Had that "dead man walking" vibe to it.

*This ran too long to add my SLC notes. I'll try and add anew post with them soon.

Grub Crawl - East Colonial and Audubon Park: Chicken Fire and Winter Park Biscuit Co

I grabbed items to go after lunch at Osphere a little under two weeks ago. I didn't intend for it to be a competition, but, let's get it on!

Chicken Fire - As I understand it, they were a food truck that was then parked at East End Market and now occupies what I believe was an old Italian (went there but can't find a review) place in between an Asian market and a Chinese restaurant called Lam's across from the strip mall that has Total Wine on 50 and Bumby. I'll start by saying that I guess this is a fad. This hot chicken thing. I thought it WAS a fad about ten years ago (I mean even the fast food restaurants co-opted it years ago). But, I guess what is old is new again or people around here are that far behind because they had people lining up. I'll interject at this point that I just returned from SLC and they also had a hot chicken place (Pretty Bird) that was so pretentious that they wouldn't even take orders. You had to use an app. And it was packed with people picking up. So either the people in SLC are just as out of touch as we are or it is a thing (again). It took me about twenty minutes to get my $10 two piece meal that I think they called "tenders" which were really breasts. It came with crinkle cut fries. The chicken was ok. Alot of breading made them seem larger than they actually were. Meat seemed like it had been thawed out. Crust was crispy. I think they use frosted or corn flakes. I tried the hottest level. It was pretty hot. I've done some ghost pepper challenges like Menchie's 420 in Sarasota and this wasn't that hot. No gastro-intestinal issues afterwards. Served on some white bread with pickles.I used the pickles on a bagel with cream cheese later on and found that that works.  The fries were the best thing. Very crisp. They only have six or so options. They are only open W-SN. 11 or 12 to 6p (I think). They had about three booths. People could eat in there if they wished. Not very fancy. Open a month. It's no Cro-nut. And even that was ridiculous. Not bad, but, not worthy of adulation. So, a perfect fit for the 21st century. I've been to the famous in ones in Tennessee (and beyond) years ago and they weren't worth it. It's just fried chicken with hot sauce on top people! And the sauce often soften the crispiness of the chicken and masks the flavor. I don't get it. Maybe it's a pothead thing. Maybe this is as far as kids are willing to go for a thrill in this baby proofed world?

Winter Park Biscuit Co - They took over the first stall on the left from Florida something and Bird of Paradise just recently. It looked all vegan, but, a review I read mentioned meat options. I grabbed a three piece that I thought was chicken. It was soy. Not bad for soy. Crisp coating. Looked like mozzarella sticks or fish fingers. Biscuit was salty. Fries were bad. Coated. I think they added a carrot and caraway and cabbage slaw that was too sweet. That could have been from Chicken Fire though. My notes melded together. They only had five or so choices. One was a fake burger. I think two salads and a chicken on a bun. My meal cost $13. I saw a Japanese tea/mochi place on the next level. Not sure if that is new. The other stalls seemed to have re-opened. 

So, the winner is - (by default) Chicken Fire. They actually came to play with chicken in a chicken contest. Plus they gave 2x the food at $3 less. And their fries were good.

*I'll give you a SLC report in a few days. I did notice that things appear back to normal (especially around here). The airport was jammed (especially the rental car lines) when I came back. Traffic sucked all over town. I saw that even the strip club (ie Rachel's) parking lots were full (night and at lunch time). I read Canadians are returning for flu shots. My flights (connections) were all full. Airports in Dallas and Charlotte were SRO. 

Osphere, Downtown

 First a little house cleaning. In the last post I realized that I was guilty of lazy journalism. A better journalist would have listed the mayor as Bluddy Dyer-ia and the head nurse as Raul Pino-chet. I promise better self-editing in the future.

I tried this replacement for some short lived Italian joint (and Spice before that ) about a week and a half ago at lunch. I had some ready cash from voting the night before in Georgia. And you thought they paid well to protest. First Greg Pitts gave us the O Face (Office Space). Now these guys have given us the O Sphere. They did zero to the look. Four tables of two ate while I was there. One waitress. One chef. You would think it was a disaster. You'd be wrong. I had a very decent cheeseburger and fries for $14. I was too nervous to order any of the "harder" to prepare meals. Now the burger was well done and I asked for medium rare, but, it was still ok. The meat quality and size was good. It was topped with a thin slice of tomato, shredded lettuce, shredded onion and some kind of mayo based spread. The american cheese they used reminded me of some cheese I love for burgers. Not sure what brand it is. The buttered bun was good too. It came with half a plate of fries. Some were crisp, but, most were not quite there. If I wasn't flying out the next day, I would have bagged them and had snacks for three days. The plating was good. Most things were centered on the bun. The menu was mostly American. Tuna tartare, chicken, steak, crisp pork sandwich, grouper, etc. It's not anything grammy, but, it seems like they still care. If you just want a "normal" meal, you could do alot worse. They opened one year ago. I stayed away because I presumed they would go under. They have survived. They must have some following. Give them a try. Across from Publix.

*I saw that the old Shari space down the road had a sign that said Ootoya coming soon. See review of Altamonte Springs location. Also, there is supposed to be a Filipino place opening down there by the Kadence people. On the NE corner of the lake a Persimmon Hollow replaced a bread place. 

2020 Favorites List and Travel Notes Index

I started this blog in an attempt to provide consumer protection. I never thought I'd have to protect both parties. This year was a reminder of what a society can expect when we choose leaders like we choose teenage pop idols and masked dancers. And they are put in charge of anything thornier than garbage pick up. Let alone pandemic mitigation. 

Nincompoops like (Swim)buddy Dyer-ia and the Revahhrend Huckleberry Lemmings and their crack medical expert Raul Pino. I'm not sure about you, but I like my doctors thin and my chefs fat. Not the other way around. And let's not forget the weak kneed followers in Seminole County. Lee Constantine, Jay Zembower, Bob Dallari, Amy Lockart, Andrea Herr (new) and Brenda Carey (out). And there has been "medical expert" Dr Husty. They made life miserable for all the people on the list and all the ones not. People who pay the salaries of these non-essential, salary protected workers. Who risk much to provide for us. And "the science" proves that only 1.6% of infections were at restaurants. And that doesn't prove that the regulations worked! I swear we need an update of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or any other satirical prose. Aliens would be so bemused by us right now.

Most of you probably sat by and watched all this happen. Maybe even demanded it. I know who foodies are. How they think. I know this is going in one ear and out another. In know you feel no shame. Are incapable of it. Think you are a priori good. You should be banned from their premises for life. You live life beneath your Mommy's apron strings as close to the warm breath of your deliverance as you can nuzzle up to. You love that extra padding you can rest your head against. You "live" your lives in fear. You are adult sized babies. It's time for you to grow up. You must come out from behind the apron strings. And now on to the awards. I may be a little more generous because of the enviroment 2020 created.

$$$$-

$$$- Delaney's Tavern, Susuru, Dexter's New Standard, Mr Wang's Sports BBQ, General Public House (NSB), Sixty Vines, World of Magic, Makani, Barwachi, Antica Pizza

$$- Pepe, Taglish, Grain & Ember Pizza, Git N Messy BBQ, Medellin Burger, What the Chuck Burger, Current Seafood

$- Shaka Donuts, Bagel Bruno, Taco Shack (NSB), Banh Mi Boy, Taqueria Las Cazuelas

*NSB = New Smyrna Beach

Travel Notes Index

February 5 - NV/AZ/NM

February 15 - SF

March 10 - FL GC

May 19 - FL/GA/AL/KY/MO/IA/SD/NE/KS/AR/OK/TX/MS

May 29 - TN/SC/NC/GA

June 20 - SC/PA/VT/NH/NY

July 18 - NV/UT/NM/WY/CO/AZ

July 22 - LV

August 11 - MN/MI

August 30 - CO/KS

September 23 - WA/MT/ID

October 13 - FL GC

November 6 - FL/GA/SC/NC/VA/MD/WV

December 13 - LV

December 26 - FL Keys and GC

Face Tea, Lake Mary

 I'll slip this one in before the Favorites. I grabbed a milk black tea here on Thursday at lunch. It cost $4. Like every other one. Same with shop. It is in the corner of the strip mall that has Grato and Burger Fi on Lake Mary Blvd and Rinehart Rd. They sell smoothies and teas and boba and the usual. They also have one food item - popcorn chicken. Probably nuked. Didn't seem like they have a kitchen. I noticed the English teahouse (Dicken's) was closed. Not sure when that happened. The Universe filled their void with this cheap Chinese replica. Seems like a metaphore/presage. Open for 6 months.