Jacks Cosmic Dog

Sep19

<> Jack’s Cosmic Dog
I went to Jack’s Cosmic Dog in Mt Pleasant specifically because it was featured on Food Network “Best thing I ever ate” for their gourmet hot dogs. Because of the way that Alton Brown described this eating experience, I was expecting to be wow-ed but left there saying “Eh” and wanted some of my money back. To understand my disappointment, let me dissect the layers of this dog and tell you why I felt it fell short of my high expectations.
1. BUN- The bun was too big for the hot dog. The first bite was mostly bun and I actually took it out of my mouth see if there was any meat in the bite. There was not (visualize my sad face here). Because there was so much bread, I was not able to get the real flavor of the sweet potato mustard. It seemed to be totally absorbed by the bread.
2. HOT DOG WIENER- The hot dog wiener was a boiled basic all beef frank. Nothing special. I was expecting grilled perfection. It was as if I made it at home. I boil my hot dog franks because I do not use the grill (but I digress). Boiling is fine for regular hot dogs, but when I am paying extra for GOURMET…well that is a different story. If I was to chart my expectation level, the more that I pay is directly related to the how much I pay. If I pay $1 for a hot dog, I am not expecting much and I do not mind a boiled dog. If I pay $4 for a hot dog, I pretty much expect grilled, crispy skin with a snap when I bite into it.
3. BLUE CHEESE SLAW- This was the crowning achievement of this hot dog. I like cole slaw and I like blue cheese, so the combination worked for me. The cabbage was crisp and tasted as if it was freshly cut. The ratio of cabbage to cream was also balanced. It was not heavy, wet slaw but there was enough cream to hold the slaw together well. The slaw had a little tart bite because of the blue cheese but it was not overpowering. I wish I could just order this cole slaw and put on my own homemade hot dogs.
4. SWEET POTATO MUSTARD- At first glance it looked like honey mustard. From what I could taste of this (extracted from the copious amounts of bread) it did not taste like anything special. Maybe if there had been more of it, I would have a different opinion.

Final thoughts: It was tasty but not OMG-forsake-all-other-hot-dogs good. I can say that I went there, but I do not have to eat there the next time I visit Charleston.

La Torta

Sep8

<> Hola mi gente!
When I was in Mexico City in 2009, my friends took me to this wonderful little restaurant called La Torta.
These days I am not sure about the safety of trying to find this restaurant on your own if you are not already living in Mexico City. I think that it is well known since they have been around since the 60’s. I do not have a very good idea where this place is in relation to anything in the city. I know we were walking in the looking for something to eat. We passed China town and probably a few blocks later we found La Torta.

If you by any chance can get to this restaurant, you will not regret it. The food was delicious. I had the torta al pastor (small pork cuts with chili and spice seasoning torta). Tortas are sandwiches on thick bread usually with some type of meat, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, salsa. The meat at La Torta was seasoned and cooked to perfection. Even the guacamole was good.

To drink, my friends and I shared a jarra of agua de piña (pitcher of pineapple water). I think the recipe for this is pineapple juice, sugar, water. I do not know the measurements to replicate. But I do know that this is very refreshing. I know that some people will probable gasp that I drank the water, but this place used purified water. So my weak tourist stomach did not get sick.

If you are ever in downtown Mexico City, have your local friends take you to La Torta. You won’t regret the food or the experience. YUM!

Atlanta restaurant review – Veni Vidi Veci

Sep6

I was in Atlanta November 2010 and wanted some really good Italian food. I did not want to go to a chain restaurant but wanted to visit a place with a little more personality. My friend recommended going downtown to Veni Vedi Veci. I checked the website and saw they recommended making reservations. They use Open Table reservation system so it was easy and quick to reserve a table. Unfortunately for me, Atlanta traffic was going to make me late for my original reservation time. I called the restaurant and changed the time with no problem. The person that answered the phone was polite and courteous. At one point on my way to the restaurant I was lost, I called the restaurant again and the person gave me directions. Once I finally arrived, the valet parked my car and I went inside.

The hostess took my name and seated me almost immediately. I wanted to taste everything on their menu because it looked so delicious. I decided to go for the three course menu for $29.

For my Antipasti, I chose shrimp polenta. I thought this was a fitting dish for an Italian restaurant located in the South since people love to eat shrimp and grits. The shrimp were very tasty and not overcooked. The texture was firm but not tough. The polenta was creamy and cheesy. I am not a big fan of polenta, but I can say this was probably some of the best tasting that I have ever tried.

For my Primi, I chose rigatoni with sweet peppers. Only one word to describe this dish: SUPERB. It was really good. It was not spicy for those people who cannot handle

For my Secondi, I chose Trota Salmonata. This was Idaho Red Trout cooked with olive oil and parsley, served with potatoes. The skin on the trout was crispy, while the fish flaked apart without much effort. It tasted very fresh.

For dessert, I decided to try their strawberry with marscapone pizza. The server did not describe this dish very well and I was disappointed. It was a pizza (dough was not sweet) with strawberries (that were not sweet) and marscapone cheese (that was not really sweet). And it was served hot. So after the light delicious flavors from dinner, I had this warm not quite sweet, not quite savory pizza. I tried to eat just the strawberries, but eventually gave up on that. Since I love my desserts, this was a disappointment. If they had added more sugar, I think that it might have tasted better. The overall concept had promise, but there was a lot missing in the execution.

Overall, I would go here again. Next time, I would probably not experiment on the desserts and just go with cheesecake. It is hard to screw up cheesecake.

ADDRESS:

Veni Vidi Vici

41 Fourteenth Street Atlanta, GA 30309

Cross Street:

(404) 875-8424

Maggianos creme brulee

Sep5

One evening when I did not know what I wanted to eat, I decided to go to Maggianos and see what they had on the dessert menu. I was prepared to spend about $10 for dessert and coffee because I wanted something that much. To my surprise, Maggianos now has these mini dessert options that were less than $5. They were like dessert bites. That is good for me because I really only wanted a small portion. I cannot eat all of the regular size.

Today I went with the creme brulee. It is not often that restaurants really do this dessert well. Most times, the custard is cooked at too high heat and the result is not creamy goodness but more like cooked vanilla eggs. In this case, Maggianos did everything right. The burnt sugar on top was thick enough so that it took a swift tap of the spoon edge in order to crack. Then the spoon scoops the creamy custard. When I put it in my mouth, it tasted like candy velvet.

Maggianos Creme Brulee = AWESOMENESS

Crave big breakfast

Sep5

After finishing my corn muffin, I turned my attention to my Big Breakfast. The pancake was the size of the plate, I ended eating that for 2 days! So much food! The potatoes were seasoned with some herbs and were very tasty. The bacon was crispy perfection also.

Everything about this meal was awesome. Coupled with the fast, friendly service and this brunch was a good experience.
Crave was my plan B for brunch this day, but next time they will be the first choice.