For a Limited Time Only - Food Reviews

[dusematic]

I learned my lesson long ago about eating "healthy" smoothies.  There's just nothing right about a thick dollop of pureed fruit in a cup.

Yeah.  You're in deep shit when you honestly believe you're eating "healthy" *(i.e., wight loss) when you drink a 400 calorie smoothie.  Fat City baby@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ingmar]

Depends if it is replacing a meal entirely or not.

[Furiously]

Fruit, fat free yogurt and low-fat milk is fairly healthy. Not a horrid breakfast or lunch.

[NowhereMan]

I'd argue that there are better ways of controlling your calories than just making everything low fat, though with the caveat that if you're not changing anything else it's an improvement at least. The thing I had referred to was the Protein smoothie thing. A smoothie is delicious (although hardly low calorie) but compromising stuff like that so it's 'healthy' usually results in a shitty version that's still not particularly healthy. Frankly I think people would be better off factoring having something like a good smoothie into their calories for the day (or just as the occasional treat) and actually enjoying them rather than having a very so-so alternative that still isn't that good for them.

People who assume fruit=healthy and so thing that a blueberry muffin and a smoothie is a good way to start the day when trying to lose weight is a different thing just because some people don't seem to realise fruit not only has calories itself but doesn't magically negate the calories in all the sugar, butter, etc. that's added to it.

[dusematic]

People who assume fruit=healthy and so thing that a blueberry muffin and a smoothie is a good way to start the day when trying to lose weight is a different thing just because some people don't seem to realise fruit not only has calories itself but doesn't magically negate the calories in all the sugar, butter, etc. that's added to it.

Yeah that's what I was referring to.  I work with people who eat salads drenched in gobs of bleu cheese dressing and then polish it off with some pizza because, after all, they had a salad.  They consider it a great mystery why they're fat.

Best I can figure it's a form of willful ignorance in an age where all of the knowledge of human civilization is a few keystrokes away.

[tazelbain]

Oh, that's why there is a salad bar at CiCi's.

[Merusk]

Oh, that's why there is a salad bar at CiCi's.

That is exactly why.  Anything that helps us lie to ourselves.

[MuffinMan]

Good thing FiCi's is nasty because all you can eat pizza is like a deal with The Devil.

[Paelos]

This weekend I went to Cracker Barrel to review the pancakes. They didn't have the granola ones I originally thought were on the seasonal menu, so instead I had their summer pancake special, the Multi-Berry Pancake Breakfast.

Pic take by my friend Ashleigh of the meal:


Taste - In a word, awesome. The pancakes are fluffy on the inside and have a softly crispy edge on the outside. The berries are fresh and they give you a raspberry sauce to go with real maple syrup to cover the dish. It's fantastic. The eggs are eggs, but the turkey sausage is nicely spiced and doesn't have that overly fatty taste you get from normal pork sausage. All in all, I'd say it's very very good. I also added a little bit of hashbrown casserole because that's my favorite thing at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Taste - 5

Quality/Presentation - The food all looks very good, except for the eggs. The pancakes are fresh off the griddle, the berries are fresh cut that day, and the raspberry sauce has bits of fruit in it. The turkey sausage tastes better than the stuff I get at the grocery store. I give it high marks for the quality and the service as well. Our servers were very nice, took care of our drink refills, and even discussed the NFL lockout and our teams with us. Overall - 5

Nutrition - I'm not going to pretend it's good for you, except for the fruit. Pancakes covered in syrup aren't the best for you. In fact, Cracker Barrel doesn't even publish their nutritional info. That fact should be enough to let you know it's probably the only meal you should eat in a day. Overall - 1

Value - The whole dish covering two plates costs $7. That's a great value in my book, as it's on par with somewhere like IHOP in cost, but sooooo much better in terms of flavor and quality. I don't think anybody would walk away from this meal hungry and/or feeling like they paid too much. Overall - 5

Final - 16

Ranking System:

0-5 - I should have used these pancakes to wash my car
6-10 - I think the maple syrup is just sugar mixed with brown food coloring
11-15 - Better than IHOP
16-20 - Better than my grandma's pancakes. Don't tell her or she'll kill me.

[SnakeCharmer]

Holy crap that looks good.

[MuffinMan]

When do we start placing bets on when all of this food kills you?

[Ingmar]

When do we start placing bets on when all of this food kills you?

If we keep getting pictures like that one, we can get WUA to draw a chart chronicling the rate of increase in the size of his gut to help predict it.

[Paelos]

When do we start placing bets on when all of this food kills you?

If we keep getting pictures like that one, we can get WUA to draw a chart chronicling the rate of increase in the size of his gut to help predict it.

Haha, luckily I eat healthy the rest of the time. Today after that breakfast I'm eating my 270 calorie breakfast, a nice lunch of black beans, brown rice, chicken and veggies, and a dinner of lean steak with whole wheat pasta, homemade tomato sauce, and salad.

[Paelos]

Ok here's the next list for those of you that like to pick what may or may not kill me.

A - BK Chicken Minis, I saw a commercial for these this week. Think fried chicken sliders.
B - Au Bon Pan's Lobster Salad Sandwich. Lobster and mayo! What could go wrong?!?! Off the list, no locations nearby.
C - Einstein Brothers Triple Decker Bacon Club. Does it strike anyone else funny that they would serve bacon?
D - Papa Johns Double layered Pepperoni Pizza. It's got big and little pepperoni, adorable!
E - Dunkin Donuts Big N' Toasty breakfast sandwich. I have a bad feeling whenever they put an 'N in something.

[Rasix]

B. Cheap lobster.  I wish ill upon your entrails.

[Furiously]

Lobster Salad Sandwich, on a Monday.

[Murgos]

You people must not live in the north east.

A lobster roll is pretty standard around here.  Everyone has a version of it.

[Mosesandstick]

I'm going to vote for D because I don't understand what double layered pepperoni is.

[CmdrSlack]

B. Will Au Bon Pain bring the, uh, pain?

Double-layered pepperoni is just like it sounds. Two solid layers of pepperoni on a pizza.

[Trippy]

I vote for E.

[Strazos]

B. Cheap lobster.  I wish ill upon your entrails.

Seconded. 

[Selby]

Lobster and mayo I say!

[Evildrider]

I'm going to vote for D because I don't understand what double layered pepperoni is.

It's just two different sizes of pepperoni.  The type you usually see on pizza. the smaller round ones, and the type you usually see on subs that are just bigger in size.

[MuffinMan]

It's a tie. Eat them all!

[SnakeCharmer]

Lobster and mayo I say!

I love me some lobster...But fastfood lobster with mayo?  Makes me want to hurl thinking about it.

[Paelos]

I will have to disappoint you. Turns out the only Au Bon Pain in Georgia is at the Atlanta Airport, which I won't be visiting until Labor Day. So, that's getting delayed.

Pick something else.

[Strazos]

In that case, I pick C - the "Triple" in that triple-decker makes me think of triple-bypass. 

[Furiously]

Can you go wrong with bacon?

[NowhereMan]

Voting for E because what the fuck is it? And because we have no Dunkin Donuts in this country anymore. The one there used to be on Leicester Square has been replaced with a shop with suspiciously similar signage called Donuts and Baguettes.

[Murgos]

People confused and frightened by Lobster Rolls, no Dunkin Donuts?  It's like bizarro world.

[Zetor]

Yeah, Dunkin Donuts tried to get a foothold in Hungary twice (second time they operated as part of Pizza Hut stores) and failed pretty badly both times. It's a pity, I liked their stuff.

edit: for this reason I must vote for E as well!

[Sky]

Jewish bacon ftw.

My favorite restaurant does seasonal menus, and you can generally order anything from past menus if they still stock the ingredients. About once a year I go for the Monster Truck Burger. A fat burger (not sure the weight, 1/3 at least) with lettuce, tomato, onion, large pepperoni, bacon, cheese and an over-easy egg (I'm probably forgetting some toppings, it's massive). The yolk running through the whole thing fills it with win. But it's about 5" tall, so you have to adopt the stance to eat it.

[Hawkbit]

Ha!  Once or twice a year I'll get a huge burger... the kind where once you pick it up, I don't put it back down until its either gone or has beaten me.  Setting it down for even a moment causes a chain reaction in the space-burger-time continuum and the whole thing falls apart. 

Hungry now...

[Paelos]

Looks like C and E are the frontrunners. I'll probably grab one of those tomorrow and do some testing.

[Rasix]

People confused and frightened by Lobster Rolls, no Dunkin Donuts?  It's like bizarro world.

Dude, fast food Lobster rolls, in Atlanta.  That lobster would have been frozen longer than Ted William's head.