Me Like Meat!

Sticking with the theme of food from my last post, this time I'll discuss three more of my eating adventures. If you haven't realized it by now, a lot of the goals on my list were put there to expand my horizons, if you will. And this rings especially true for my food goals. I wanted to branch out from my usual choices, have new restaurant experiences, and enhance my palate. So let's find out how I took on some of these challenges, shall we?


First up on the menu: Vegan Food





I pass by The Veggie Grill almost everyday when I'm in search of something to eat on my lunch break at work. One day I went inside to ask what kind of place it was and the worker said it's vegan. At this point I got mildly excited because I knew going to a vegan restaurant was on my list. Nevertheless, I always seemed to pass on eating there because A) it's kind of expensive and B) why eat vegetables when I can eat meat like a real man, right? But I was still intrigued. I mean, they do claim to have the best sweet potato fries in Orange County...




So leave it to Marcella to come visit me at work and convince me to finally give this place a try. We didn't exactly know what to order so we kinda just picked stuff that sounded normal.


My Pick: Grillin' Chickin' Sandwich - Grilled chillin’ chickin’, avocado, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cilantro pesto, chipotle ranch on a wheat roll...





I mainly got it for the avocado and the chipotle ranch. The chickin' is described as "specially seasoned and marinated veggie protein blend" which sounds kinda nasty but it honestly tasted pretty close to chicken. I'm not sure if I didn't know it was some weird protein blend that I could tell the difference. In the end, it was a pretty tasty sandwich, especially when I added a little bit of their hot sauce :) And the sweet potato fries lived up to their hype. They were salty, sweet, and delicious and dipping them in the chipotle ranch just put them over the top!


Marcella's Pick: Papa’s Portobello - Grilled portobello mushroom, chopped tomato, basil & garlic pomodoro, caramelized onion, pesto, chipotle ranch...





I had a bite of this and it also seemed like a good choice. The roasted clove of garlic on top was strong but added a lot of flavor and carmelized onions just make anything 10 times better. The only downside was the red onion because it was slighlty overpowering but overall it was a good sandwich and I think Marcella was happy about her choice.


I would for sure go back to The Veggie Grill and see what else they have to offer. I guess they proved you don't need meat to have a flavorful and fulfilling meal. This doesn't mean I'll be running out to try a whole bunch of vegan restaurants or anything but I was glad I finally experienced what a veggie protien blend tasted like.


#79. Eat at a vegan restaurant
#81. Eat at 25 new restaurants (4/25)




My next adventure in the food world: Brazilian BBQ


On the opposite end of the food spectrum, we look to the Brazilian BBQ. To this day, one of the best meals I've ever had, if not the best, was at a Brazilian BBQ. The restaurant was the Samba Steakhouse at the Mirage in Las Vegas. I'm sure Vegas has played host to many peoples' "best meals ever" since it is the ultimate place of decadence and gluttony. The concept of a Brazilian BBQ is simple: turn the marker on your table to green if you want massive amounts of different meats brought to your table or turn it to red if you want them to stop so you have a chance to breathe. It is a buffet of meat brought to your table!! What could be better??





Ever since this amazing dinner in Vegas, I have wanted to try another Brazilian BBQ to see if I could replicate my experience. Enter Marcella once again! For my birthday this year, she surprised me by taking me to Agora Churrascaria, a Brazilian BBQ right here in Irvine!! It was New Year's Eve and I was really excited to see if this meal could match the one in Vegas.


Happy Birthday to me...




I had my favorite beer: Blue Moon...




We started with a compilation of cold dishes (shrimp, pastas, mushrooms, etc) from the buffet...




Bring on the meat...




Unfortunately I don't have a picture of us in a food coma afterward but needeless to say, we both ate a ton! It was so good. Look at the list of meats we consumed:


Filet Mignon Wrapped in Bacon (OMG!)
Top Sirloin
Tri-tip Steak
Lamb Chops
Seasoned Pork Loin
Traditional Brazilian Cut of Sirloin
Seasoned Pork Sausages
Chicken Hearts
Roasted Pork Loin
Marinated Chicken Legs
Salmon Filet


But wait, there's more. Some of the hot side dishes came close to stealing the show from the meat! I'm talking about the black bean stew which was so flavorful, the chicken stroganoff which could've been a meal in itself, the sweet fried plantains, and the addicting and wonderful Brazilian cheese bread. It was all so tasty and interesting and different than normal things you would find at an American buffet.


The meal for sure made it's way to the top of the ranks to compete with my Vegas experience. But more importantly, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect birthday dinner with my girlfriend :)


#78. Eat at a Brazilian BBQ
#81. Eat at 25 new restaurants (5/25)




The last stop on our dining adventure: Korean BBQ


I never really knew what a Korean BBQ was before Jim and I visited our friend Neil and his girlfriend Molly in Pasadena. When they suggested we try Gyu-Kaku, a place where you could cook your own meat on the grill in the middle of your table, I said sign me up!! Combine this with the fact that their happy hour included $5 pitchers of Sapporo and $5 pitchers of hot sake, how could this be anything but an awesome dinner??





When I say sake, you say bomb....SAKE....BOMB!!




I think this was round 1 of 8 haha. Cheap beer + cheap sake = drunk! It was Molly's first time doing a sake bomb so it was only fitting that we went all out. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea secretly ordering that last pitcher near the end, but it was a brilliant idea at the time :)


We all got the All-You-Can-Eat Big Value Course which had 13 different items...




As you can see, there was a flurry of different meats that they just kept refilling our table with. There was shrimp, spicy pork, chicken tenders, and the stars of the meal Yakishabu beef and and BBQ chuck. We ordered at least 3 plates of those two because they were so good. The meat was cut into thin slices so it cooked fast and held in all the flavor. Much like the Brazilian BBQ, some side dishes were really good too, like the rice dish called Sukiyaki Bibimbap which we got like 5 orders of and the garlic spinach which we cooked in little individual foil packages.


Oh yeah there was one other item I forgot to mention. It was one that I was warned not to get by Neil, Molly, and the waitress: Beef Intestines...




I was warned not to order the intestines because I wouldn't be accustomed to the taste if I hadn't eaten it before. But being an adventurous one that night, I had to see for myself. Plus this gave me an opportunity to try something I had never eaten before which was one more item for my list. We got an order of liver too, which I had been warned was nasty as well but I have had chopped liver before, and I wanted to see what it would be like in a steak form. Well let me tell you the liver was indeed nasty. I defintely don't see the appeal of liver and onions if it tastes like this because it was gross. Anyway, on to the intestines. The picture just makes your mouth water right?? Not exactly. I already had a big buildup of how gross it was going to be so when I put it in my mouth I wasn't as shocked as I thought I'd be. In my opinion it actually had very little taste so that wasn't that bad. But the nasty part about it was the rubberiness and chewiness. I literally couldn't chew it and had to spit it out after a while. I'm glad I tried it but I don't see much point to eating something with little taste and the texture of rubber. Sorry cow, I'll stick to your other body parts.


#82. Try 5 things I’ve never eaten before (3/5)
#81. Eat at 25 new restaurants (6/25)

It turned out to be a super fun night out in Pasadena. I got to experience a Korean BBQ and eat intestines for the first time, while sharing laughs and numerous sake bombs with a fun group of friends. Adventures like these create memories to look back on and smile. Here's to there being many more to come. Cheers!