El Pollo Loco - Carne Asada Plate

Finally got around to trying this, the plate came with tortillas (I got corn), rice, beans (I got bbq black beans), lettuce, pico de gallo, and of course the STEAK.

The STEAK was void of grisel but was a tiny bit on the chewy side.  Definitely better than Baja Fresh's carne asada.  Overall, the flavor came from (I think) a citrus marinade and from being (I think) fire-grilled.

Speaking of grills, I've heard grilling takes off years of your life because you inhale carbon dioxide or something, kinda shitty.  I've also heard that the grill marks on food have a similar effect, they're not good for the body.  Don't know how valid these claims are, but meh.    BACK TO FOOD.

El Pollo Loco's rice is meh compared to competitiors, the bbq beans are a nice break from regular black beans, but as with the steak, seem to be a little on the salty side.  Lettuce was like Taco Bell's, iceberg and full of stems but tolerable, and the pico de gallo here is solid.

Fat rating: 5/10

Salt rating: 7.5/10

Taste rating: 7/10

Tacos Don Chente - Gordita

Yesterday I had gay-ass jury summons in Norwalk, which is easily out of my Designated Taco Zone (DTZ).  After getting out, I walked over to this taco place to try.  Even if it was the greatest mexican food ever I don't think I would be making any special trips.

The decor and glossy pictures of the food made it seem like an Americanized place, but the menu was in Spanish and I didn't undertstand the majority of it (had a bunch of terms I've never seen before.)  After scanning over the menu I decided on a carne asada gordita.

The salsa bar had an array of shit, I got the mild salsa (which was like Juan Pollo's but without carrots) and hot avocado sauce (which was like El Pollo Loco's).  

When I got my gordita I was a little surprised, I thought it would be in a taco shape but it was not.  It was carne asada with pico de gallo, lettuce, a dab of guac, and cojita cheese in between two fried double-thick corn tortillas, like a sandwich.

The shredded carne asada had a slight kick,  but I was disappointed with the pico de gallo.  It had peppers in it like Denny's pico, so there was a slight green pepper aftertaste at times.  The guacamole was not noticeable, and the cojita cheese was also...there.  As for the tortillas, they were really doughy/heavy.  The bottom one was greasy as fuck, but the top one wasn't which was puzzling.  If I have to go back to jury duty, I'll go back here, but get something else.

Fat rating: 6.5/10

Salt rating: 6.5/10

Taste rating: 5.5/10

 

Acapulco - Carne Asada Plate

Back to Acapulco, this time with better results.  Since my family used coupons I got the Carne Asada plate which was $17.  I can probably eat two days of food for that price but I didn't pay for it so NO CARE EVER. 

I was about to get fajitas but saw this at the last second.  It's rare that I order something as is (no substitutions).  It's the steak with a cheese enchilada, guacamole, and side of rice and beans.
The charbroiled carne asada was so damn good.  The amount of flavor was literally a joke.  I ate half of it and there was only a small piece of fat.  The cheese enchilada was pretty standard but it is a good pairing.  As with their chips and salsa, Acapulco's guacamole rules. This meal overall ruled and I still have half of it left. Too bad I got a pretty bad case of dry-mouth from how salty it was.  If you can notice the picture quality is a lot better because I borrowed my mom's camera since I left my phone at home.  9.1 mp instead of 1.3.  IT'S A SIGHT TO SEE.

Fat rating: 7/10

Salt rating: 10/10

Taste rating: 9.5/10

Taco Bell - Double Decker and Chicken Enchilada Burrito

I am fully aware that Taco Bell's food does not look appetizing at all.  My love affair with the food ended awhile ago.  One of my taco mistresses was the Double Decker, which I've mentioned before.  I finally went to a Taco Bell not on campus a few days ago after my internship.  I got the taco shielded by a flour tortilla and kept together with a bean adhesive.  It was devoured as usual, for some reason they never get old.  It has a plethora of tastes/textures in one bite: chewy, crunchy, smooth, crisp, salty, meaty. 

Fat rating: 5/10

Salt rating: 6/10

Taste rating: 7/10

The chicken enchilada burrito is something I remember really liking back a few years ago.  It's different but not really - a chicken grilled stuft burrito with red sauce instead of pico de gallo and sour cream instead of the jalapeño sauce.  Of course I got no sour cream, shit is nasty.  The burrito was very good.  The mild red sauce was light and gave a great flavor to the burrito.  It complemented the cheese and rice well.  Easily one of, if not the best Taco Bell gimmick.

Fat rating: 5/10

Salt rating: 8/10

Taste rating: 7/10

WaBa Grill - Steak/Chicken Plate

WaBa is very modern looking place with bright colors and the word "healthy" everywhere.  I go once in awhile if me and my brother need a break from Del Taco, it's a nice 180. 

I got a combo plate which included a heafty portion of rice, steak, and chicken, a side salad, and a piece of an orange.  The dressing was oriental, I assumed it was healthy until looking at the site's nutrition facts a few minutes ago... 26 grams of goddamn fat and a shitton of sodium.   NICE DECEPTION WABA.  SO HEALTHY. 

The meats were grilled and topped with "WaBa sauce" (teriyaki sauce) which was enjoyable.  The thin chopped steak was leanish and didn't have grisel.  One piece had two tiny bones in it though, the hell.  The chicken was skinless, and like the steak, was pleasant tasting.  I got two meals out the whole thing.

Fat rating: 6.5/10 (not a typo)

Salt rating: 7/10

Taste rating: 7.5/10

Baja Fresh - Steak Taco Combo and Chicken Tortilla Soup

I rarely go here because it's a little out of the way and has a bad location.  I dropped my brother off at his friend's and went to get some tacos.  The menu was overwhelming, took a few minutes before I decided on a steak taco combo and chicken tortilla soup.

After I ordered I got chips (always good when places give chips before a meal) and headed toward the salsa bar.  While Rubio's (competitor) has smooth sauces, Baja Fresh has a plethora of both chunky (mild) and smooth (medium-hot) sauces.  It's pretty damn impressive, especially the PINEAPPLE SALSA (far left of pic). I got that and the mild salsa, which was mainly tomatoes (far right).  It reminds me of El Loco's salsa (a local place, will review sometime).  Pretty much this is how salsa should be done.

The chicken tortilla soup was pretty hot temperature wise, as to be expected.  The main flavor was from the tomato broth, it tastes like it looks pretty much.  The grilled white meat chicken in the soup was tender from being marinated in the broth.  There were also pieces of avocado, cheese, tortilla strips (which were basically melted), and basil/onions.  I would have probably not mind the onions but they were still crunchy which created problems.  Oh, and the soup was the saltiest thing I've tasted in awhile.

Fat rating: 2/10

Salt rating: 10/10

Taste rating: 8/10

Onto the food, the steak tacos were quality, using shredded romaine instead of iceberg lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes on flour tortillas. The steak had a little of that green sauce pictured from the bar above which helped. Some of the steak not covered in the sauce had a generic steak taste, which was meh. Other than that, this is quality Tacographics material. The black beans and rice were literally identical to Rubio's, but when combined with chips and pineapple salsa, it created a unique flavor that I've not been accustomed too. It's mmmmmm though, sweet and salty is a great combo usually.

 

Fat rating: 4.5/10

Salt rating: 8/10

Taste rating: 7/10

Denny's - Crispy Chicken Burrito

I bet I piss Denny's cooks off with all my custom orders (dealwithit.gif), I got a chicken burrito with crispy chicken strips instead of the standard grilled.  No pico de gallo (too onion-y) and no ranch (32 GRAMS OF FAT IN A SERVING, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME DENNY'S). 

What was in it was pepperjack (only worthwhile cheese at this place), avocado (wasn't fresh), and two chicken strips.  I don't know why I decided to punish my body with this thing, it was obviously a taste explosion, but at the same time wasn't worth the heartburn and feeling terrible the rest of the day.

The main flavor was pepper, combining peppery chicken strips with pepperjack was overkill, the always-mild avocado fruit (it's a fruit right?) helped, even though it wasn't ripe. The pic isn't exactly appetizing, I know. 

Fat rating: 9/10

Salt rating: 8.5/10

Taste rating: 7/10

Subway Chicken Marinara

Saw a commercial for this just now and it reminded me I needed to review it.  I had it on Tuesday after finals.  I got a six inch on 9 grain wheat, the ingredients were just chicken, sauce, and swiss then toasted.

The flavor of the sauce was decent.  It was a little chunky, I prefer smooth marinara sauce without clumps but whatever.  The majority of it was on one side of the sandwich which kind of sucked because it masked the rubbery chicken taste.  The texture of the whole sandwich was without flaw, but the chicken was clearly filler, at least 2/3 of it.  Subway has shitty chicken with artifical grill marks, fuck that. I would probably not get this again despite it being somewhat tasty.  It was one of the messiest things I've eaten, salty, and didn't put a dent in my MANLY HUNGER CRAVINGS.

Fat rating: 3/10

Salt rating: 8/10

Taste rating: 6.5/10

Taco Bell Steak MEGA REVIEW

My second MEGA REVIEW, this one will be about 3 steak products from Taco Bell.  As I've stated, I'm not a big fan of the steak in one of my TB reviews, but it's ok once in a while as a break from chicken gorditas.

First the steak taquitos, these were pretty boring.  I'm not a big fan of taquitos and quesadillas because they're just lacking in the texture department.  Melted cheese and meat in a tortilla can only take you so far. 

Fat rating 5/10

Salt rating 7/10

Taste rating 5.5/10

Next, the grilled stuft burrito.  My chicken grilled stuft burrito sucked, but this was better.  It still wasn't "stuft" but had enough to be filling.  The pico de gallo at Taco Bell sucks, onions everywhere.  The texture of onions is god-awful in burritos.  You have mushy textures and all of a sudden you have the crunch of the onion which sucks ass.  Other than that it's rice and beans with cheese and steak, no sauce ever.  As with most burritos, it was fucking salty.

Fat rating: 6/10

Salt rating: 9/10

Taste rating: 6/10

No mention of the steak so far, yeah I'm aware.  For the steak taco, though, it was easiest to taste because there were no other dominant flavors.  The meat just reminds me of beef jerky but moist.  It's not exactly bad, just not real steak.  I mean, it's not like their ground beef is quality either, but I eat it because it's cheap and convenient, two key aspects of my eating decision making.

This taco had the most lettuce I've seen since Rubio's, stems have always been a pain in the ass whilst eating tacos, they will never be conquered. As you can see there is a stack of them on the right.  Fuck them.

Fat rating: 4/10

Salt rating: 6/10

Taste rating: 5.5/10

Denny's Chicken Sandwich

No, this is not on the menu.  For some reason this Denny's does not have chicken sandwiches, which is stupid.  So anyway.  I bought a cheeseburger, substituted the chicken, got pepperjack instead of american (I MOTHERFUCKING HATE AMERICAN CHEESE IT CAN FUCK OFF), and added bacon. 
This sandwich was sort of nostalgic, I made something similar where I worked and it tasted similar as well.  This was probably better quality and quantity wise though, probably because of the salt and grease Denny's piles on in their food.
The chicken was grilled and had some of those grill patches you get from grilling chicken over a greasy area. With the pepperjack and bacon, along with the shredded lettuce and tomato, the first bite was like damn. From every bite after that though, things went a little downhill.  To be expected thanks to the concept of marginal benefit but meh.  I'll probably get this once in awhile

Fat rating: 5.510

Salt rating: 6.5/10

Taste rating: 6.5/10

Elephant Bar - 3 Course Meal

Have to wake up early tomorrow for my internship and have to study but I'm writing a review for a place I went today.  If you know me and have seen that pic of me with my family (the one where I look MAD AS HELL), it was taken at this place on my mom's b-day about six months ago. 

Onto the review, I got a 3 course meal that came with a standard salad (with low-fat ranch because I'm NOT obese).  It didn't even have croutons but I dealt with it, no pic taken.  The entree was crispy teriyaki chicken with no veggies (not a fan of peppers fuck them etc.),  and a huge side of brown rice.  A pet peeve is when people bawww how white meat chicken is "too dry" because it's lean meat, of course it's not going to be oozing with grease.  But in this case, the chicken was dry.  Dipping it in the teriyaki sauce solved the problem.  The  chicken without the sauce was slightly crisp with a light sweet marinade. The brown rice wasn't of the sticky variety but still acceptable. 

Fat rating: 2/10

Salt rating: 6.5/10

Taste rating: 6.5/10

Onto the third course, which was a brownie sundae with vanilla ice cream.  This was goddamn not-even-funny good.  My favorite dessert is definitely warm brownies with ice cream, and this was god-tier.  While the brownie wasn't that warm, it didn't matter.  Along with the vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, I devoured this in a couple minutes.  Oh, and there were oreo crumbs on it.

Fat rating: 6.5/10

Sugar rating: 8/10

Taste rating: 9.5/10

Today at work

I heard Denny's uses lard in their fryer to fry shit.  That is pretty disgusting, wonder if that's something a lot of places do.  I know where I worked used a canola/cottonseed oil blend, no lard of any kind.

But yeah, more reviews on the horizon, been busy and have finals on Tuesday.