Autogrill - Ciao: Roma, Stazione Termini

rome's termini station has several quick food options ranging from mcdonald's to autogrill to spizzico. with the exception of mcd's, the other chain restaurants in termini are quite novel due to their foreign-ness. we meandered from restaurant to restaurant to check them out and grab something quick to eat before our train departed to sperlonga.

after refusing the "road house grill," we settled on what i think was autogrill-ciao because of their bright colors and clean interior. now that i think about it, perhaps this was gusto? dangit.

anyways, there was a back room after the sandwich counter that housed all sorts of tasty candies, breads, snacks, and fresh produce. there was also a cafe tavola, but then again, what place that serves food doesn't?

M. was in serious need of diet coke (or pepsi, which, btw, has very little market share in rome, at least). we picked up a coca-cola light, which you must pronounce "coe-kah laaaaiyt" if you want them to understand what you want. this made M. lol, but he grew to enjoy ordering his coca light's over the course of our stay in roma.

i also ordered him a vasco di gama panino, caldo, which was a small, toasted sandwich with an olive-studded bun, ham, and cheese. nothing crazy, but a nice, cheap, simple fast food 'wich in one of the craziest train stations in europe.

benvenuto a roma!
(welcome to rome!)

Med Mix

A few weeks ago I ended up downtown in P Square for a killer show at the J & M cafe. Shout out to the guy managing the sweet sound and the crazy bartenders who mixed the worst drinks . My friend M. and I went next door to grab a quick bite before the show and she was shocked to hear that I had never eaten at Mediterranean Mix. Upon first walking in I wasn't sure about this place but she insisted it was really good. I was overwhelmed by the choices because all of the pictures showcasing their menu items made it hard to decide. Do I want pizza, fish and chips, chicken salad, hot dog...!?!?!?!?

After a long deliberation we finally decided and stepped up to order. M. went with the Gyro, which she said is one of her favorite things to get. I went with the falafel.

While waiting I couldnt help but admire the art work on the walls...so random,

and so AWESOME!
The soda fountain was broken so we shared a can of sprite and helped it out with a little of beam, M. had in her bag. Such a classy move on our part. We totally fit in though, it seemed like lots of other patrons were enjoying spirits as well.

The falafel was hot, crispy and spicy. It has been awhile since I have had really good falafel and I was very impressed. The entire sandwich was right on the veggies, the pita and the tahini were perfect. I ate it so fast and had no time to focus on what M. was eating, I was in a trance. She loved her gyro as well and we both commented on the nice hot sauce on the side.


This sandwich was like under 5bucks too, and it was perfect. I dont get down to Pioneer Square very often but I will make sure to stop by for some more falafel when I do.

They dont have a website but this place is open LATE.
Pioneer Square
205 1st Ave S
Seattle, WA 98104

Wingzone

The weather changes and makes it hard to leave the house and face the cold pouring rain to get dinner. This time of year is when I go into my kitchen and open the junk drawer and pull out a stack of delivery menus. The choices are quite slim so we occasionally check the world wide web for some restaurants who might have decided to deliver to cap hill. L. started talking about how much he loved eating Wing Zone back in the day...he even told me a funny story about how he and J. sold a cd to a delivery driver to cover the cost of their meal. Awesome. I had Wing Zone wings once back in the day when I worked in the U-District, but I had never had the sandwiches.

L. claimed the grilled chicken sandwiches were BOMB. So to our surprise we are able to order a few online. I kept waiting for them to call us after we ordered to give us the bad news that we were out of the delivery zone. But that call never came. My favorite thing about these sandwiches is that you get to choose from 26 types of flavors. Options include BBQ, Blue Cheese, Cajun, Teriyaki and on and on. I had the Thai Chili sauce on grilled chicken and it was really good. You can also go with a fried chicken sandwich if you are feeling like going there. Because I wasnt sure if the thai chili would be hot we also ordered a side of their house hot sauce. All sauces were fantastic. The standard sandwich comes with a side of wedge fries but you can sub a salad, onion rings, mushrooms or mozzarella sticks. The sandwich comes on a soft bun and the lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, mayo, ketchup & pickle spear are on all on the side.





Wing Zone is a chain but it is the only on on the west coast. It is quick delivery to the hill from the U-District. The food although it comes in styrofoam is very warm and perfectly cooked. The chicken sandwiches set you back only like 8 bucks and once you get delivery they give you coupons for some amazing deals on your next order. I will certainly rep Wing Zone for a quick, lazy dinner brought right to my door. You have lots of options so check them out! Hamburgers, Chicken Fingers, Salads, Buffalo Shrimp, Wings, 2Liters and Brownies!


5042 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105

Monday-Wednesday: 4:00 pm–1:00 am
Thursday-Friday: 4:00 pm–2:00 am
Saturday: 11:00 am-2:00 am
Sunday: Noon–Midnight

chilies: so undercover it's not even googleable

this tiny hole-in-the-wall joint is sri lankan/indian party in the front and cold beer/convenience items in the back. chilies is a great little place next to pam's kitchen on 50th and the ave which serves a very limited, but tasty, menu of curries, soup, samosas, and dosais.

A. and i stopped here for lunch the other day. there's a bit of a language barrier, so be confident in what you're ordering and just insist that that is, indeed, what you want. while we waited at the card tables in the back for our food, we laughed at the random drugstore items on shelves, like the "macho" aftershave and "stick" deodorant.

for a tiny place, they had quite the selection of microbrews, domestic beers, and malt liquor. it was interesting watching people come in solely for the convenience store aspect of chilies.

this soup came with my dosai, but A. also ordered it a la carte. it's a tangy, tomato-based soup of potato, cilantro, cauliflower, and carrots. there was definitely black cardamom, fennel seed, and some other tiny, black eyeball-looking spice floating in it. whatever it was, the combination was tasty. my only complaint is that it wasn't (temp) hot enough.

A. also ordered the vegetarian samosas, which were bangers. the pastry was tender, and the filling was warm, comforting, and well-spiced. what really made the dish, though, was the mint chutney. i don't really know if it's technically a chutney (what is, technically, a chutney?!?), but it was grassy, fresh, and bright. though they look a little sad here, don't trust the picture. they were great. and cheap ($3.25)!

i ordered the masala dosai, which is a crispy crepe wrapped around masala-spiked onion, potato, and garlic. the dish is super simple, fast, cheap, and satisfying. the dosai also came with the mint chutney as well as some finely-grated radish...at least i think it was radish...it was white, a little fibrous, and cold. to be honest, it wasn't especially flavorful, but i ate it all anyways. my favorite part of the dosai ie the crepe's ends since they're so crispy and taste great dipped in the tangy soup.

i also snagged a pack of gum for the road (yeesh, garlic potatoes), and including the $.50 fee for using a card, my total was $7.06. thanks for lunch, chilies! if you're in the market for a 22 of camo ice and a plate of lamb curry, hop into chilies. it's seriously the shit.

NB: tip of the hat to Nancy Leson at the seattle times for these tidbits: 1. the cool, white relish was grated coconut, and not radish! interesting. and 2. it is, in fact, a mint chutney!

The Bite 2008

Holy Shit! The Bite of Seattle always creeps up on me and then next thing you know I spend the following day hung over, full for weeks and sad that the Bite reminds me summer wont last forever.

For the last few years it has become an annual tradition for myself, babs, leroy and carbo to over indulge. Apparently over 500,000 people attened the 27th annual event this year over the span of three days, we went on Sunday. Carbo and I attempted to take the monorail to the center to meet our eating partners but it was broken down. wtf. So we walked over to the Seattle Center and all met up by the fountain. As always our first stop was The Alley, now hosted by Mr. Tom Douglas. For $9.50 you can sample seven items from a handful of Seattle restaurants and all proceeds from The Alley benefit Food Lifeline. The menu changed from Fri-Sun and after looking them all over, I really wish I would have been able to sample Friday's menu. Anyway, below is the plate followed with what is represented.

Gelatiamo
Chocolate Gelato - Delicious, smooth, rich in flavor but low in fat, this is Gelatiamo's Chocolate Gelato
Volterra
Porchetta Sandwich – Pork roasted with garlic, fennel and herbs on a rosemary roll
Al Boccalino
“Ancient” Roman Meatballs – Meatballs with red wine, honey, cumin, celery and fresh peas
Crush
Crispy Skinned Blue Prawns with Corn Soup and Basil
Green Leaf
Grilled Beef with Lemongrass – Thin-sliced rare beef steak and pork belly grilled on a lemongrass skewer and served with an anchovy pineapple dipping sauce
Lola
Cumin Scented Leg of Lamb, Pita, Tzatziki
Brasserie Margaux
Smoked Salmon Éclair – Smoked salmon and dill éclairs with goat cheese, capers and Walla Walla onions confit Balsamic glaze

My favorite taste was the corn soup from Crush, followed by the pork sandwich from Volterra...as a group traveling with a Fishatarian, we did some trading of bites too. Another part of The Alley is the wine tasting that we also always particpate in for $6.50 you can sample two Washington wines and listen to some smooth jazz. (Get your grown on. )I do not know much about wine, nor do I really remember what I drank....except for the dare I took to taste the blackberry wine, which was not awesome even though the presentation bottle was covered in medals.

After leaving the Alley we headed to the beer garden but not before grabbing some snacks to take with us. Below are a pork sandwich and beans from Famous Daves and some Schezuan green beans from Twist.

The sandwich was pretty tasty, not very memorable though...and the beans were too sweet

These green beans were really good, and the sesame seeds made them extra tasty!

While waiting for L. to meet us we kept laughing about the horrible California Pizza Kitchen cheese pizza that Babs brought into the beer garden. It was hot mess. I am so disappointed in myself that I dont have a photo. When L. arrived we walked out and he hit up Bambuza to get a plate of grilled chicken skewers and some soba noodles, I also dont have a flick of this plate, but it was good and well....exactly what you would expect. We also grabbed a few egg rolls, which were really nice. Babs rushed off to get in the corn line and when we walked up she was there with 4 ears of corn. Perfection.

After the corn we headed down towards the part of the park we had yet to visit and stumbled upon this small lane of little restaurants with small bites...aka "Just A Bite" This is where we ended up finding the 1st place winner for best entree at Divine for their spanakopita. While waiting in line for the greek feast someone showed up with some pasta...which I never got to taste!!!

Besides the spanakopita (which holy shit, I cant find a photo) we also had some phyllo stuffed with pork on top of arugula... and some lavender ice tea.


I was really impressed by Divine's food and I think I will plan a special trip to dine at their location up on Roosevelt. After this I really thought we were gettin close to being done, but instead we headed back to the wine garden and shared a nice bottle of red wine and got down on some of the free Ghirardelli chocolate squares.


After the wine, we decided it might be time for some dessert and we were on the hunt for some strawberry shortcake. Instead of the shortcake, we ended up at Klaissique Kollections’ where L. got a sundae and carbo ordered us some amazing catfish. The catfish won second place in the best entree competition and it was one of the best things I ate all day! Babs also threw a couple fried mozzarella sticks to the mix, but I really at this point have no idea where all the food was coming from!

Brownie Sundae!

Fried Cheese!

CATFISH!

Really at this point we should have just walked home, instead we walked right into another beer garden....and then realized there was an entire section of the Bite that we didnt even visit...oh yeah we needed to find the Alligator on a stick. Too bad they were out of gator but leroy found another replacement. Cheesecake dipped in chocolate on a stick...

I almost died just after taking a few small bites.

Next we went back to Babs and leroys spot and drank some more wine on their deck...this Bite really takes the cake as far as food consumption. I would even venture to say that it comes close in the most alcohol consumed category.

See you next year Bite of Seattle, better bring more gator. Divine your spanakopita better be just as good if I have to take a damn bus to eat it and take a picture.

in-n-out of the groovement

(click to enlarge)

of course, if you leave the great state of washington, you must make the requisite trip to in-n-out for some cheap and tasty noshes. we ordered two 3x3's, a double-double, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, three orders of fries, two animal fries, and a strawberry milkshake for about $27.00. now if that's not ridiculously inexpensive, i don't know what is.

unfortunately we made the mistake of ordering via the drive-thru since we had eager beavers awaiting beef and cheese at the homestead. since everywhere in california takes at least 25 minutes to get to, the trip left our food room temperature and a bit underwhelming.


don't be fooled by the above wrapper....that is no double-double! it's a 3x3, aka 3 beef patties sandwiched between three slices of melted cheese. below are patties and cheese in all their glory.



in my state of sheer excitement, i almost forgot to take a picture of my animal fries. so all you have is a pic of the ravaged remnants of half-eaten french fries smothered in grilled onions, cheese, and special sauce (which i believe is some mixture of mayo, mustard, and ketchup).


overall the trip was pretty successful, though underwhelming. one take-out companion noted that it is most likely due to the 25 minute ride home. agreed, young compatriot. in-n-out, until we meet again!

What time is it...?

(click any picture to enlarge for texture)

I usually find the mall food court a desolate place, especially for pescatarian options, except for the top floor at Westlake (they have so many tasty cuisines!). However, I wasn't at Westlake, White Pepper and I were trolling for sweet jewels at Northgate. I was at a loss, until I realized they have my beloved Taco Time, which offers a fish taco meal (full int'l menu here).

For $5.69 my self-busing tray included a medium lemonade, hearty fish taco, condiments on request, and a box of mexi-fries/tots/(racist term for mexicans which rhymes with "wiener") bites.

Condiments are key here. They ask if you want "hot sauce" at the register, but you must request the jalapenos, which are bomb, btw, because they are lightly pickled yet crisp. Delicious when combined one-for-one with tots. The hot sauce is pretty wack. White Pep best described it as "tomato water mixed with some sort of cornstarch or other thickening agent." Basically it tastes like nothing, but I'm compelled to ask for doubles and basically eat it dripping off of every tot.

Damn the tots were really good this time around: hot, crisp, salty. I couldn't ask for more.

Lastly, the taco itself. The "white fish" was piping hot, and the light breading was crispy. Taco innards consist of fish fillet, an assortment of chopped vegetables, cabbage, and some unidentifiable creamy, ranchy dressing. Nearly everything was on point. My only hang up is the salad that's stuffed inside. Chopped tomatoes, red and green (hollagang!) bell peppers, red onion...I'm down with all of these, but celery?? No thanks! Luckily there wasn't much in this taco, but I've had others that had big chunks of celery in them. Wtf, am I taking crazy pills? I don't want the distinct flavor of celery overtaking my otherwise pleasant fish taco.

Thanks for lunch, Taco Time! I enjoy your consistent turnout of cheap eats.

Ouch...Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box, is good for only one type of dining...and that is the meal you decide to eat at 2:30 am. I live so close to this place but rarely dine here. I was walking by on Sunday and it seems like someone is on a mission of hate. If you can't make it out it reads "Feed Your Fat Asses". If that isn't enough reason to not be the asshole who goes inside, I don't know what is.

Shout out to the Jack in the Box jalapeño poppers and the shakes!

The City Too Busy To Hate

Sorry for the lack of posts, last week was hectic and then I was off to Atlanta, Georgia for a work conference. I spent most of the time in the hotel...but was able to catch a few bites of local fare.
Let's start with fast food. My goal was to grab something quick and from a place I have never been...


Chick-fil-A

According to their website they have been making the same chicken sandwich for over 40 years.
It's pretty damn good, for fast food. I think the reason the chicken sandwich is so bomb is because of the pickles they slide onto the bottom bun. The lettuce and tomatoes were fresh and they let you control what kind of sauce you want on your sandwich.


I went with the grilled chicken and TK went with the hand breaded sandwich. Both of our meals came with waffle cut fries which were hot and perfectly cooked. Their menu, clearly focusing on chicken, features everything from nuggets, strips, wraps, salads and soups.


We were on the MARTA and met a local who we asked about a fast food place by our hotel where we could get something quick and good. I mentioned to him that prior to the trip I read about a popular place called Chick-fil-A...and he was like, "Are YOU kidding me! You have never been to Chick-fil-A?" So we had to go...