Bay Area Review: Zachary's Chicago Style Pizza

Finally the other Travis is coming though with a Bay Area food review. Zachary's Chicago Style Pizza is located in the heart of Rockridge in Oakland. This is my third visit and well I must say if your into the chicago style pizza this place is definitley for you. I enjoy Chicago Style, but I seem to mostly consume thinner crusted pizza's, more east coast style than anything. I got the Large Deep Dish Style Zachary's Special, which consists of: Sausage, Green pepper, Onion, and Mushroom. This feeds roughly 4-5 (depending on appetite) and runs for $22.75, not bad considering the amount of pizza you get.

Now the way they constuct their pizza was kinda odd to me at first because they kind of do it backwards. Toppings on bottom Sauce on top. Whatever still delicious. If you have frequent bouts with heart burn or acid reflux i'd come readily equiped with ant-acid, because there's alot of tomato sauce, and depending on what pizza you get peppers jalapenos and all the fun volatile ingredients that make up a heart stopping pizza. Now this pizza should not be eaten by hand until the pizza has had time to cool down and set or else your in for a surprise of burning your face off and ruining your clothes.. could really fuck a first date.. so I suggest taking a fork and knife to the first couple slices.

Like i said before there's a lot of sauce.. and I was kinda weary at first, but its super delicious and deffinitley works. It has fresh tomato diced up in the cooked down sauce leaving for a very pleasant contrast. The toppings were evenly distributed making for a very pleasant eat. The crust was perfect, I personally am picky about the crust on pizzas, and felt that the crust was not only delicious, but it didn't leave you with a stick of flavorless pizza crust to chew on in case your that hungry. Finishing every slice in it's entirety was quite delish.

The ambiance is a typical popular neighborhood pizza joint, crowded and sorta noisy, but so what your there for pizza.. tons of beautiful girls. Something that did surprise me was there was not a television in sight which i felt impartial to at first (esp. considering giants were playing the A's, Sharks playoffs etc.), but in the end it breaks us away from our american habits of texting and televisions and promotes a little bit of conversation. Not a bad thing. Also people watching here is ace. I ended up eating way more than I should of.. but that just kinda goes without saying with anything that's this delicious. I will definitley be frequenting Zachary's more often.

Review - Mardi Gras Cafe and Marketplace.

while i was home on vacation for the weekend, pops had recorded some show with Art Mann, ive never seen it or heard of it, but apparently he goes to allllll sorts of festivals and parties and shit all around the country and checks them out. so the episode i watched was a crawfish festival in louisiana. as i was watching it, i thought to myself, "is there and good crawfish in san diego???". i was determined to find out. when i got back to SD the other day, i hit yelp in search of that which i so desired. like usual, i found some little hole in the wall that i never would have been to. and lucky for me, it was 5 minutes down the street from my apartment! so with companion Adam in tow, we headed over there for lunch before our screening of Thor at fashion valley. it seems to be a tiny little place judging by the store front, but when you walk in, its surprisingly large. old creole lady working behind the counter making peoples food. few people finishing up their meals sittin at the plastic tables. adam had already decided on the Muffaletta sandwich(8.99 regular, 12.99 large)

muffaletta is a new orleans sandwich based on the large sesame-focaccia style loaf that is used. it typically has an olive relish, ham, salami, capicola, pepperoni, emmantaler, and provolone. i believe this one only had a few of those meats. it was good though. the flavors were all good, it wasnt soggy because of the relish, and the bread wasnt stale or anything. it wasnt the most amazing sandwich ive ever had, but it was good, and HUGE!. now i had already decided upon a crawfish po boy for myself (9.99), but when i ordered it, and she started making it, she informed me she didnt have enough crawfish for a whole sandwich. i though that was a little odd, but i figured it was because she just sold all the crawfish because hey, maybe this place is actually popular? i dont know. but i decided to have half crawfish and half oyster. so this is what i ended up with.

the crawfish were good, they were crispy. not over fried. the sesame roll was toasted. under each fried portion, there was tomatoes and a slam dressed out with a yummy mayonaise based dressing.

the oysters were huge, they were like 3 bites each. once again, fried nicely, not over done. same slaw tomato party that was on the other half. i ate most of the sandwich, but it was pretty big. i saw her pulling the oysters and crawfish out of the freezer, but honestly doesnt bother me with a place like this. if they were some creole restaurant claiming to be fresh and all that jazz, i wouldnt be stoked at all. but they have been open for 23 years, so i guess they are doing it right haha. now onto the main attraction. the WALL OF FIRE!!!!

yes thats right. those are all different bottle of hot sauce. they have a huuuge selection to buy from. i actually found a bottle of one of my favorite sauces that i havent been able to find for the past year because its been on back-order. up on the counter they have a little tasting station for some of their hottest selections. and then on each of the tables, there is random half full bottles of different ones strewn about that you can use freely on your food.

so i enjoyed my lunch. ill be back for sure. it wasnt mindblowingly amazing, but it was good and its a different step from my usual sandwich routine. plus they have a large menu with lots of other options on it. also with the hot sauce options, if i dont like whatever i order, just douse that shit!!! hell yea. check it out!!


Mardi Gras Cafe and Marketplace
3185 Midway Drive
San Diego, CA, 92110

www.mardigrascafesandiego.com

Bay Area Review - Plum, Oakland

Daniel Patterson is a two starred michelin chef. his restaurant Coi in san francisco is the only SF restaurant with 2 stars. in september, he opened his new place on broadway in oakland, Plum. its a fairly small joint, 8 tables probably, with some bar seating. it seemed to be a fairly small kitchen as well, which is ok for a small dining room. the decor is very classy cool, pictures of plums adorn the walls all the way down the building. there were 5 of us, so due to a relatively small menu, we were able to taste 90% of the dishes. i really did have worries of things being pretentious and the dishes being small for the prices. i was mainly wrong. first we started with the 3 "Snack" share items, unfortunatly we were all so hungry that we gobble up the first two before i got to take pictures. but they were "Onion Crisp - black pepper, sea salt"(4). they were essentially Funyions on crack. they were house made dehydrated onion crisps hit with some salt and pepper. they were tasty. i could definatly mack on a couple orders just sittin at the bar drinking a beer. next was the "Wild Green Panisse - homemade yogurt"(4), it was basically house made falafel made with fresh green chickpeas. it was very light and had good texture. not deep fried, seemed pan fried, so that helped steer away from being heavy. ok, now to the pictures.

"Foie Gras Mousse - rhubarb, toast" (8). the crostinis were not stale, they were not salty, they were not oily. they werent the best crostinis ive ever had, but hey, they didnt suck, so they made i decent platform for the mousse. the mousse itself was delish. texture was so money and flavor was on point. it tasted even better with the rhubarb, but my only gripe is that there was so little rhubarb on it.

next we did a round of appetizers that we basically all shared.

i had the "Pork Terrine - little gem lettuce, radish, fennel, cilantro" (10) this was really good. the terrine had great flavor and texture and the set was very light, yet worked well with the flavors of the terrine. it was nice just the simplicity of it, it didnt bogg down the main focus of the dish. yum.

moms had "Savory Dumplings - artichoke, cardoon, crescenza, shallot" (12). the dumpling were light and texture was good. the set was a little odd, it seemed as if it needed some sort of sauce to bind it all together. it was mainly just a bunch of little things in a dish that you eat. flavor was good, but a little odd.

dad jumped on the grenade. no one really liked beets enough to order the beet dish, so he did it so we could all try it. good choice! "Roasted Beets - white strawberry, arugula, goat cheese, rose" (9). the beets were cooked perfectly, the goat cheese on the plate was spiced with something, i couldnt say. there was also little pockets of what seemed like graham cracker crust on the plate which added a nice little crunch. it was a tasty dish. even if youre not big on beets!

ryan orders the "Oyster and Potato Stew - parsley, frisee, rye" (12). the soups. the soups were unanimously voted the best parts of the meal. not to take away from anything else, but they were reaaaaaalllllly fucking good. this stew wasnt really a stew? or at least the lightness and airiness of it tricked up into not believe it to be a traditional stew. it was smooth, deep, and delicious (just like me...HELLOOOOO). it had a very strong oyster flavor, but only in the best way possible. it was so fresh. so good. i would highly recommend.

alli had the "Spring Onion Soup - date, sheeps milk, sorrel" (9). un. fucking. real. this soup is hands down the best soup i have ever had, allison will agree. the textures, the flavors, the thickness, everything! everything about this soup was right. it did all the right things to all the right taste buds. also, visually, BOTH soups were poured at the table into the bowls with all the guts in them, so thats why they dont look so stunning in the pictures. but it was a nice touch. the only thing i was bummed about was after we ate the soup, i was hungry for the inevitable little bit of soup left in the pouring aparatus.....damn.

onto the entrees!

moms had the  "Delta Asparagus - mushroom, ash creme fraiche, watercress" (12). this one was hit and miss for us all. everything on the plate was seasoned and cooked nicely, and the flavors were there, but it was just lukewarm. that was kind of a let down.

ryan got the "Line Caught Halibut - new potato, sugar snap, pea, clam" (18). the fish was cooked well, not overcooked, like most halibut is, so that was a plus. the set was nice. just a very light, late spring party. seasoned and cooked correctly. you know the deal. not my favorite, but it was a good dish.

i myself opted for the "Monterey Sardine - butter bean, spinach, kohlrabi, horseradish." (14). i really really liked this dish. the butter beans were yummy, the sardines were amazing quality, not too salty. mm. it was a really good dish. i would recommend it to anyone. regardless of whether you like sardines or not.

now the hum-dinger. i didnt want to order lamb. because i usually cook lamb. and ive gotten laced up for cooking lamb soooo many times, i really cant enjoy a lamb dish because i can only focus on how perfect it isnt. im glad i didnt order it. "Spring Lamb - torn bread, carrot, garbonzo beans, new onion" (22). this was a mess. the lamb (im assuming loin), was thick cut, waaaay too fatty, and unevenly cooked. half of it was mid well, half of it was mid rare. the set was greasy and stupid.

i only had 2 bites of this dish, but i think i was more angry than anyone who ate more of it. it was stupid. everything else was great, but this lamb was fucking weak. stick to the soup and fish. anyway.

DESSERT!

"Cheesecake in  Jar - sour cherry, almond-teecino crumble" (9)

"Dark Chocolate Crunch - rosemary-caramel ice cream, pistachio." (9)

"Graham Cracker Cake - buttermilk ice cream, meringue, lemon roasted strawberry." (9)

all the desserts were really good. they were all very flavorful and had nice textures. we all picked a different one as our favorite.

Cuban Cocktail - lillet, lime, mint, prosecco. (8). delicious and refreshing. tasty.

ok, im done for a lil while now haha. i gotaa start dieting hahaha. shit was really good though. i would really recommend bringing a date here or just grabbing some apps and some drinks. i was happy after the meal! check it out!

Plum Restaurant
2214 Broadway
Oakland, Ca, 94612

www.plumoakland.com

Bay Area Review - Homeroom Mac 'n Cheese

whats that you say??? a restaurant that serves only macaroni and cheese?!?!? im into it. so today after some wine tasting out in livermore, we headed back into oakland over on 40th street and hit up homeroom mac n cheese. between the five of us we basically got to taste the majority of the mac menu. my order was the Trailer Mac (8.50) that is an homage to old school white trash macaroni and cheese:

classic cheddar sauce with diced niman ranch hot dogs, and crushed potato chips on top. it was awesome. the macaroni was cooked perfectly on all of our dishes, F.Y.I. Allison ordered the Exchange Student(7.50)

sharp pecorino and cracked black pepper. as someone who enjoys alot of black pepper on mac n cheese, this was very favorable. it was really good. and simple. brother ordered the Mexican Mac(8.50)

niman ranch chorizo, chipotle peppers, jack cheese, cilantro, and a wedge of lime made this hot pot of gooey latin mac lip lickingly good! pops got the Mac the Goat(8.50)

rich and tangy chevre and sharp goat cheddar, sliced green onion and crispy panko. this one was the most mild of the bunch, but man was it smooth. very rich, yet it seemed very light on the other hand. it was awesome. and then finally, moms ordered, what was unanimously voted by the table, the Bacon Egg and Cheese(10 bucks)

extra sharp cheddar, niman ranch bacon, toasted breadcrumbs and an up egg. i cant tell you why, but this was the most satisfying of the group. mixing the egg in there with the salty chunks of bacon and the tender cooked mac, it was like an out of control breakfast melt. it was fuckin tasty. hands down the number one winner. i would order that one for myself next time. 

to drink, they make limeade in-house and make arnold palmers with it.

very refreshing. we all had one. for the most part. so anyway, i really suggest checkin this place out, we went in around 3 oclock to we missed the lunch crowd, but i heard it can get pretty busy, so id say check out an off hour. we also had a slice of carrot cake and a homemade Oreo cookie. both were tasty. check it out yo!!!

HomeRoom Mac 'n Cheese

400 40th street

Oakland, CA, 94609

www.homeroom510.com

Bay Area Review - 900 Grayson (Berkeley)

so the only reason i could only eat one sandwich at C.R.E.A.M. is because we were so stuffed from lunch and hour earlier at 900 Grayson, also in berkeley. the night before, while chatting over our yummy meal at Oakland's Plum Restaurant (that review is next, its gonna be a doozie!), moms was all like, ayo, i know what we are having for lunch tomorrow. and they she gave brother the eye, and he gave dad the eye, and they all just happened to know what it was. the Demon Lover. whats that? - i said. chicken and waffles? im in. ok, so time travel 14 hours into the future and here we are, walking down grayson, past the private french school, and into the old-victorian-cottage-turned-indoor-outdoor-breakfast-lunch-eatery. fwew. that was a mouthful. but fitting, because so is the demon lover. lets get straight to it.

Demon Lover 12.0
Spicy Buttermilk Fried Fulton Valley Chicken Paillard,
Buttermilk Waffle & Old-Fashioned Cream Gravy or Vermont Maple Syrup
2.0 Extra for both


yea, i copy-pasted from the website, so what? im on vacation... but this bad mother fucker was yum central. we all opted for the gravy, since thats what they said to do, i wanted both gravy and syrup, but an extra two bucks for both? nawwww. shit was on point. the chicken was crispy and still juicy. not dried out at all. the waffle was lil crunchy on the outside, yet soft, like a set of satin sheets for the chicken and gravy to get nasty on. and that they did! i think im the only person that finished mine. oh well! next!

shoestring onions (4 bucks) were good. thin, crispy, yet kinda greasy, which was kinda nice, in a i love greasy onion stuff way. they came with copious amounts of chili aioli sides. which for those of you who are stupid and dont eat chili aioli, is sriracha, mayo, and lemon juice. its universally good. pizza, fries, burgers, sandos, fried shit, spring rolls, you name it. its the new black. those were good. between the 5 of us, we damn near polished off two orders. order them. now this

booooooooooooooooooo!!!!! booooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! chickpea burger, sounds good, allison should eat that since shes a veggie. booooooooo!!! this thing sucks all kind of balls. the patty, which im not sure whether it was made in house, is flavorless, textureless, and down right insulting. the toppings were stupid, it made no sense. as if the last thing they put on the menu was this burger and they were tired because they spent all day working on the menu and were just like, lets just put A and B on here, then throw on some C and D. ok, we're done! lets call it a night. carrot slaw? yea right, they fucking hit raw carrots on the cheese grater and threw them  on there without a care in the world. pickled red onions. im ok with pickled stuff, mainly because pickled stuff tends to have some sort of flavor. these just tasted like straight white distilled vinegar. get the fuck out of here. yogurt cucumber sauce? yea right. more like they opened a tub of yogurt, didnt stir it up at all, scraped the curds off the top, and threw is some cucumber scrap. we thought it was goat cheese honestly. so this whole thing was a bomb. A BOMB, not THE BOMB. get that straight. but i digress.




go here with meat eaters. not recommended to veggies unless they like flavorless bullshit. the chicken and waffles are killer and the shoestring onions are a good starter. check it out.


900 Grayson
(yea, you guessed it) 900 Grayson Street
Berkeley, Ca, 94710


http://www.900grayson.com

Bay Area Review - C.R.E.A.M. (Berkeley)

COOKIES RULE EVERYTHING AROUND ME
! CREAM! GET THE COOKIES! ICE CREAM SANDWICH YAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!

im in the bay trick. on vacation, meaning i get to try a bunch of sweet ass stuff that i normally wouldnt in san diego. so yesterday we were moseying around telegraph on the berk side down by the campus (ucb campus, that is), and on the corner of telegraph and channing, what was boarded up around 3 years ago and i remember speciafically it being advertised as a cereal store, now stands C.R.E.A.M. Cookies Rule Everything Around Me. no joke, people. it is and artisan cookie-ice cream sandwich store. they make all their cookies in house, and use delicious double rainbow ice cream. they also have plenty of vegan options, which is apparently somewhat necassary these day, at least in berkeley. for two bucks you can get one large scoop of any flavor with two big ol cookies. you can also order just ice cream, or just cookies. brownies and fruit bars also have their own spot on the menu. i ordered

Matcha Green Tea ice cream with two Butter Sugar Cookies. the green tea ice cream was smooth and sweet and the butter cookies were fresh out of the oven. no more than 20 minutes at the most. they were still gooey in the middle. delisshhhhhhhhhh. i wanted another one. moms got this

Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with Vegan Snickerdoodle cookies. her cookies werent warm due to the fact that the vegan cookies and brownies and stuff sit in a display case since they are obviously less popular. they were still good cookies though. so yea, this is just a small entry, but theres plenty more to come. so sit tight, and try not to get raptured!!!

C.R.E.A.M.
2399 Telegraph ave.
Berkeley, CA, 94704

http://www.creamnation.com/

Review - Chamarro Grill

so on my only day off this week i obviously wanted to get out and try something new, so i set off on yelp, per usual, and did a lil wandering around pages until i found something i was remotely interested, and was fairly decently reviewed. im all for trying places regardless of the reviews, but since it was my only day off, i decided id rather not be completely let down. so i stumbled upon this little place over on mission gorge in mission valley, claiming to be Island BBQ. emphasizing the "island" part due to the fact that the menu is Guamanian, Phillipino, and Hawaiian. so i set forth in search of Chamarro Grill! it wasnt hard to find...so i guess that was pretty sweet. i had already decided on my choices by the time i had left the house due to the online menu on their website, but im indecisive so i could have changed my mind at any point. i didnt.... walking into the place, its in a little strip mall with other random sorts of places in it. the decor is very...well...island, i suppose. like, flip flops hanging from the walls and shit. oh, and a map of guam. when i walked in, the 4 tables of people there eating were all P.I.'s so i figured i was in the right place. eat where the people eat, i always say. so when i approached the counter, i ordered myself and order of Span Musubi(3.50)

essentially it was nigiri sushi, but with spam. and they give you the option of red or white rice. i chose red. they came out hot, and wrapped in plastic wrap. i rather enjoyed them, mainly because i fucking love spam. but also the red rice had good flavor, and was cooked nicely. my only gripe about this appetizer is that the rice to spam ratio wasnt very good. it was like having a cheeseburger that it all bun and no burg.

see what i mean? anyway, they were good and they have lots of other kinds of musubi as well. for another appetizer i ordered the order of 5 lumpia (3.25)

i ate one before i took a picture. oops. but these lumpia really surprised me. they were obviously made in house, which is usually a plus. they were fried very crispy, but not greasy, which as a fry cook, i can tell you is really hard for alot of places to accomplish. the filling was beef, mainly, some peas, and maybe carrots? but it tasted good. plus, dipping it in sweet chili sauce is always money. i enjoyed the lumpia very much so. now as for my entree, yelp was blowing up about the Chicken Kelaguen. i dont know what that is. but hm. guess ill go with it. i ordered the Chicken kelaguen Bowl (6.50)

i got about 3 bites into this and was about to go up to the counter and say "excuse me....this chicken kelaguan...is cold!" and demand a new one....but then i was like, wait...i dont know shit about this dish, i should google it. i did, and lucky for me...i found out this dish is supposed to be eaten cold, or room temp. boy my face would have been red. so what is it? it is a chicken (or often times beef or shrimp) dish that is marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, fresh coconut juice, salt, scallions and red hot chilis. oh, ok. cool. so i ate it. the bowl entree came with a huge helping of the red rice i was talking about earlier. it was good. now while i was eating, i had a can of dr pepper to wash everything down with, but as i was half way through, i realized my can was empty. sad face! but then i looked up to the counter and saw this

pineapple water!!! fuck yea. i guess im on a tear of going places that like to flavor their water. the pineapple water was delicious. it tasted like cold water...with pineapple!!!! whoda thunk it? but yea. thats free, so its chill. overall i enjoyed my meal, and i will definatly be back to try other things. they had a specials chalk board with abunch of random things on it. they also have a shitload of like short ribs and stuff that looked pretty tasty, so ill want to check that out. oh and everything is very moderately priced, so thats good. check it out!


Chamarro Grill
6628 Mission Gorge Rd.
San Diego, Ca, 92120

www.chamarrogrill.net

Review - Asmara, East African Cuisine

i felt like eating with my hands. so i yelped and i yelped and i yelped, i came upon this place. Asmara East African Food in City Heights. it looked cheap, it had good reviews on yelp, and allison was in the mood for ethnic food. so we set off! set on University right off the 15, it was sitting there next to a check cashing place i think? it was dark so i couldnt tell. as i pulled into the parking lot on the back side of the restaurant, i noticed there was 2 taxi cabs among the cars parked there. we walked into a damn near empty restaurant except for a group of fancy looking girls (and one gay guy) having a birthday party in the corner, and a bar filled with old ass african dudes chilling, drinking african beer and watching the Lakers - Mavs game. they were speaking a foreign language, but i could basically tell that they werent happy with Kobe's jumpshot. we got out menus and i had basically already decided on out orders before i left the house. for drinks someone on yelp praised the Honey Wine. so i ordered a glass.

it looked refreshing, so i dove right in. um. yea. basically it smelled of nail polish remover, and tasted like a combination of well vodka and cheap whiskey. not. a. fan. but i digress. allison only wanted water, so he dropped us two glasses of this stuff. allison took a sip, looked at me and said "taste the water"....uh oh.

cinnamon???..........in the water??? ok, so at SOME POINT, the jug of water they had, has been infused with cinnamon stick. because this water, tasty exactly like it had cinnamon stick in it. which we both found slightly distrubing, yet...pretty fuckin tasty! it was refreshing and different. way better then stupid lemon slices floating in the water. fuck that. we doin cinnamon, son! anyway, we started with an order of Veggie Sambusas(2.50):

they came out hot, they pastry was flaky and seasoned, and the filling which mainly consisted of lentils and a little potato, was pretty good. it was simple, but had alot going on. lots of different spices in that mix. and it wasnt just some smashed together lentil goo, there were full lentils all up in there. the red sauce was essentially cumin-paprika oil. thats all it was. but it worked well with the sambusas. for my entree, i wanted to try it all, so i got the Meat Combination Platter (12.95) which looked like this

now, as i said earlier, i wanted to eat with my hands. there are no forks, no spoons, no knives, nothing on  any of the tables. which is great, because you see that thing underneith all the meats? thats what you eat with. also they give you all these on the side as well

its called injera. its a very airy-yeasty-sour-pancake if you will. its tangy when you eat it by itself, but once you start picking shit up with it, you get it. ok, so i dont recall what everything was that i was eating, i just know it all tasted different, and it was all fucking awesome. ill try to recall though

this was a braised lamb stew of some sort. despite the fact that it looks like a dog turd, it was very flavorful and quite spicy, as in hot. it was delicious.

on top there was a cubed grilled beef dish which was the least spicy of the group, but it was very heavy of spices, yet seasoned perfectly and not overcooked! the bottom one there was a grilled lamb dish that was a medium spicy level and was also nicely cooked and well seasoned. also on the plate was a salad of pickled cucumbers, onions and lettuce. once again, seasoned, and it popped! the fresh crunch of the salad was a real nice balance when eaten with the meats.

now a little less carnivorous on the other side of the table, allison got the Veggie Combination Platter (12.95)

hers also came with its own plate of rolled injera. there was no shortage on injera, ill tell you what. so if i can remember correctly, the top green stuff was braised collard greens. they were slightly sweet and fairly butter, they were good. then on the top right, was some sort of potato and carrot dish, i actually didnt try that. i probably should have.

the front right here was a yellow lentil dish that wasnt very spicy but wasnt short on flavor. the lentils were cooked nicely, not all mish mashed like most places crank em out. im not sure what the middle left dish up there was, but that was allisons favorite i believe.

then this one was some sort of spicy bean dish, alli didnt care much for this one because it was the spiciest thing on her plate and she doesnt care for too much spicy. i enjoyed that one quite a bit though.

so, all in all, this places is doing the right things. the same things i get preached to about at work every single day. and that is this, proper seasoning and balanced flavors will take you a loooong way. everything we ate tonight was seasoned properly, it all had lots of flavor, and nothing was over/undercooked! it all had balance and the tanginess of the injera bread really ate well with everything. next time i can do with out the honey wine since i barely touched it and at 5 bucks a glass, its a bomber. ill probably skip on appetizers next time as well, the combination platters are alot of food. it doesnt look like much, but factoring in some injera with every bite, its alot haha. we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. we will be back, for sure.

Asmara East African Cuisine
4155 University St. (between 42nd and Marlborough)
San Diego, CA, 92105

Travis Likes Beer.

so heres a new little segment im gonna throw at you every now and then. Travis Likes Beer! its true, i do like beer. and am constantly trying new ones, and also usually drinking my obligatory bud lights. but this post isnt about bud light, nor shall it ever be! this post will bring you a few HOPPY brews. check it

First up is my Favorite beer at the moment. its been my fav since i tried it last january, and no others have taken the spot yet. it is from the Ommegang Brewery in New York, and it is their Belgian Style Hennepin Ale. i feel this is one of the most flavorful and well rounded beers ive ever had. its citrus-y, not too hoppy, a little bit tangy, and somewhat sweet. if it were slightly more orange tasting, it would be girly, but its not. so its a good man beer. ive drank this one while eating multiple different kinds of food, bbq, pizza, sandwiches, and it goes well with everything ive had so far. it was like an epiphany the first time i had it. i remember it like it was yesterday. it was at Newport Pizza. on draft. it was on special that day, i got a slice of pepperoni pizza and a pint of that. i let elliott have a sip because i wasnt sure that it was real because it tasted so good. but anyway. its about 8% ABV. and a 22oz bottle runs about 10 bucks. any liquor stores that have a decent craft beer selection should have it.


on to the next one. since we are talking about belgian style ales, heres another one.

Pranqster Belgian Style Golden Ale, from North Coast Brewing, in Fort Bragg, CA. this is so far the closest tasting ive found to my the hennepin up there. its definatly less hoppy and less fruity, but its got a waaay more floral nose. it smells amazing. i enjoyed it very much so. its about 7.6% ABV i believe.


on to our last beer for the night, you've all seen it, some of you may have had it before. its expensive, but it is damn tasty

Chimay (red) brewed by belgian monks in a Trappist Monestary. no shit? its a 7% ABV and it is a very full, dark brown, buttery brew. its a little too brown for my likings, but hey, its beer, and it tasted good. i only had it once a few months ago, so i dont remember too much. all i remember is that id previously had Chimay White label and i enjoyed it more than the red.


ok, that wraps it up. i probably didnt inform you of too much new informations, but at least you killed some time and now have a couple beers recommended to you. Cheers!