eats along the 33rd parallel

 

San Diego is not known for fried chicken places.  What do you think this place is?  Charleston, SC??  The common chains are scattered about here: KFC, Church’s, and even Popeye’s.  However, a new fried chicken place has opened in what used to be Flavor Thai on Convoy.  It is called BBQ Chicken, which is a little misleading because “BBQ” is commonly used as the abbreviation for barbeque, in this case “BBQ” stands for “best of the best quality”.  BBQ Chicken is a popular Korean franchise boasting 3500 locations in over 37 countries.  I learned about BBQ Chicken through my friend Peera who is the “unofficial financial advisor” for this location.  (For those who know Peera best, they would not trust him to advise on anything financially.  Apparently BBQ Chicken does not know Peera very well.)  Their chicken is cooked in extra-virgin olive oil, so its healthier supposedly.  The chicken we had was seasoned well and tasted pretty good.  I’m picky and don’t usually eat chicken skin but this skin was tasty enough for me to eat!  It was served with some shredded cabbage with a tasty thousand island concoction on top and pickled daikon.  Their medium and large portions of chicken are moderately priced.  We ended up paying about $19 for two people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corey just flew in from New York for a couple days R&R - coinciding with my 5-day Fall Break.  Upon arrival at 10 a.m., we took him to that Souther staple: Waffle House.  I had first heard of Waffle House from my friend Rosie who ate there in Alabama when her man was in Marine training.  I thought she meant that there were many privately owned places that served waffles, not that there was a chain.  Oh, but what a chain.  They are one of the only places open 24 hours, they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they are known for their hash browns.  I know, I know, it’s called Waffle House.  But I’ve included a snap shot of their menu so you understand the complexity of the hash browns.  Having only been there once before in January, I had wanted to try the hash browns “all the way,” but was reticent.  That could do a number on a stomach and not all of the items sound like they would combine well.  Today was the day, though, so as Corey and Aaron ordered a ton of food for $7 each, I just got a plate of hash brown and oh my goodness.  I’m not posting a picture because you wouldn’t even be able to make out what’s happening, so use your imagination after reading the menu.  I am so full… yet completely satisfied.  I’ll need to take some more pictures to show you just how far a buck goes here.  

 

 

Here’s a little something I’ve been making at home. Yeah, it doesn’t really fit in with the whole 33rd parallel thing, as it’s not exactly San Diegan, Carolinian or Moroccan, but…it’s one of the few things I’ve remembered to take pictures of.

We were despairing: only BBQ, chicken, butter, and fast food.  But low and behold, a new Vietnamese restaurant opened up in Columbia about 6 months ago and they just started advertising.  Aaron, Collin, and I finally went to Pho Viet out in Forest Acres.  The place is an old fast food restaurant replete with a demolished playground that left nothing but the one bolted table for parental supervisors.  That said, it was ridiculously delicious, like having a homecoming in my mouth.  I haven’t been that happy about food in quite some time.  I ordered made-to-order veggie spring rolls with tofu, pho with brisket, and a taro snow ice with boba.  Wonderful!  The spring rolls came with peanut sauce, we put some sriracha on it, hoisin in the pho, and just ate until we exploded.  I like to savor food, but I felt like a wanderer out of the desert.  Needless to say, we’ll be going back and taking more people with us.  I think the best places are those with the least assuming decors.  They’re not playing off a gimmick, they are starting a business based on their faith in their food.  

I normally intend to write about food that I do not make… but I haven’t had any interesting gastronomic experiences lately so here’s a small summary of last night’s Office Party (with food).  Aaron and I decided to host a “Welcome Back to THE OFFICE” party and Aaron was the chef!  I normally am the food-maker for parties and Aaron is the dominant dinner-maker, but he exceeded himself by taking on the role of party chef last night.  We decided on Office-related foods, so Aaron made a yummy JELLO concoction with strawberries, bananas, and a sour cream layer.  We also had a sandwich bar that included BIG TUNA, Aaron made a CHINESE chicken salad, with had “Mexican lemonade” (lemoñadé), and in lieu of ice cream cake we had MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP Baskin Robbins ice cream.  I’ve attached a copy of the flier I printed out and posted around the apartment.  I also put a print-out of Dwight’s organizational flow chart and put it on the bathroom door (so those waiting would have something to look at).  And we placed a note-card on the bathroom mirror so when a guest washed their hands, they would see themselves in the mirror with a note card on their forehead indicating that they’re Jewish.  I think we covered at least seven episodes worth of inside jokes.  I am kicking myself because I forgot to take pictures of the party, but c’est la vie.