Tag Archives: Fast Food

January 12, 2014 · 1:20 AM

{ Wishbone in Brixton } ***

Unit 12, Coldharbour Lane

London SW9 8JX, UK

+44 20-7274-0939

Fried chicken is quintessential American food. As a tourist in London, I was on the hunt to experience all things un-American so I was pretty disappointed when my friend–a London native–suggested we visit a fried chicken joint for my final lunch in the city. However, in my effort to be a low-maintenance visitor, I kept quiet and braced myself for some dirty, deep fried, dude food.

When we finally arrived at Wishbone, I was pleasantly surprised by the modernized, no-frills, hipster vibe. Could this be posh fast food? Fuck yea. I was now pumped for some fierce hot sauce and finger-lickin’ fun.

All-natural, free-range chicken is the Wishbone hallmark, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that this stuff is healthy or good for you food. No, no, no….these are meaty chicken thighs, double coated in bread crumbs, deep fried to a rich golden crisp, served in the style of your choosing: Korean, Thai, traditional Buffalo, or the Moorish Salt N’ Pepa.

I kept things simple, opting for the traditional Buffalo style with tangy hot sauce and served with side of creamy bleu cheese dressing. The buffalo sauce was blatantly rich, with pools of butter collecting at the bottom of my paper lined wing basket. And although I thought the chicken itself was moist and delicious, I found the sauce a bit too tangy–it begged for the blue cheese to tone down the vinegar.

To “cleanse” my oil-saturated palate, I nibbled on bites of Fried Mac ‘n’ Cheese. They sound aggressive and trust me, they are. After eating just one square–and four come to a serving--I knew they were a bad idea.

It never ceases to amaze me how extreme hipsters are when it comes to their food habits. Either they’re preaching vegans or absurd junk food artists, creating unique delicacies by combining multiple bad-for-you items using only the best artery-clogging processes (i.e. deep fried oreos, french fry burger buns, chocolate covered bacon strips, and poutine pizza). These fried mac ‘n’ cheese squares are the epitome of a hipster snack–highly indulgent and bordering on sickly.

Although I enjoyed the meal while seated at Wishbone, I can’t say I enjoyed the 10 minute walk back to the car. I felt extremely lethargic and downright greasy from the inside out. It wasn’t until 3 cigarettes and an espresso later that my body returned to normalcy.

Overall, I think that Wishbone is a great, simplified, food concept but I opt for chick food over dude food any day. And how posh can a piece of fried chicken really be after all?!

La Cocina *****

Pueyrredon 1508

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Recoleta

(+54).4825.3171

La vida locro…

On the days when I don’t have time to sit down and eat half a cow for lunch, I find my way over to La Cocina located on Pueyrredon in Recoleta. This tiny, fast service restaurant only really offers two things; empanadas and locro. But they do both better than anyone else, and so the dinning room is always packed. Then again, this might have something to do with the fact that there are only 10 seats in the place…half of those being bar stools. None-the-less people are rushing in and out of this restaurant all day to get their ribbon-tied empanada packages on the go. Ohh, and they use pink ribbon, which makes me happy…as if the empanada inside hadn’t already!

If I had to chose my favorite empanadas from La Cocina (easier said than done), I would have to go with the Jamon y Ricotta (7 pesos) and the Carne Picante (7 pesos). The carne picante heads straight to the top of the list simply because it is spicy–a rare find in Argentina. I also like that it doesn’t have the egg in the meat filling, which is very typical of Argentine meat empanadas. On the other hand, the Jamon y Ricotta is perfect for breakfast, because the fluffy cheese seems to be whipped with egg. It’s the closest thing to an egg sandwich this many miles away from home!

If you’re craving more than a snack though, try a bowl of their hearty Locro–a thick stew made with beans, chorizo, ham, potato, and corn (27 pesos). It’s a stick to your ribs kind of lunch. A lunch, which is completely necessary in a country where they don’t eat dinner until 11 pm. I am still struggling with this concept because I prefer to eat like a baby–every two hours! If you like spicy, then ask for your locro picante and you’ll receive a generous drizzling of red hot chili oil on the top. It an experience for your taste buds.

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Filed under Buenos Aires Restaurants, International Restaurants

Tagged as Argentina, Argentinean, Beans, Beef, Buenos Aires, Chorizo, Dinner, Empanadas, Fast Food, Locro, Lunch, Recoleta, Restaurants, Spicy

February 22, 2011 · 9:55 AM

The First Binge

Exactly how I felt after each and every meal today…..

It’s been a full week of protein, protein, and more protein. Eggs on top of chicken, on top of spinach, on top of steak and beef. Not one carb. Not one cheat. But today is the glorious day. That’s right ladies and gentleman, today is binge day!

It’s currently 9 am in the morning, and I am already about 2,000 calories deep. And yes, I did sleep, meaning that all this damage has been done within just a few short hours (I am now back in bed blogging with a hangover in a food coma…I’m a dedicated writer, I know). Anyways, I got the binge started around 4 am after a night out in South Beach. I was heavily intoxicated, but not too drunk to remember that I could now eat PASTA (one of my favorite late night grubs!!). So I put a pot of water on the stove and anxiously waited as I cooked out an entire box of De Cecco linguini. Of course, this felt like it was taking forever, so I munched down a Nature Valley Granola bar in the meantime (190 calories…start counting). Once my pasta was perfectly al dente, I drained it, tossed it in red sauce, and topped it with crushed hot pepper flakes. I ate my bowl and then proceeded to eat the bowls of others that had passed out during the cooking process. I would estimate that I ate about 2 cups of pasta total, which is 400 calories plus about 100 calories for the delicious tomato sauce. I’m at 700 calories now and it’s time for a nap! I push my bowl a few inches to the left and put my head down, passing out for a couple hours before driving home.

At 8 am, on the drive home, I get the sudden craving for pastries and not just any pastries….French pastries. So I keep on driving past the apartment building (with Sasha barely awake in the passenger seat), heading in the direction of Le Royal Bakery. I love this bakery dearly, but always find such a limited selection because I get there too late in the day. By the time I get there, all the croissants have been picked over and my favorite desserts are usually sold out. But it is only 8 am and I realize that I will have my choice of whatever I want, because the early bird gets the best croissant! So Sasha and I stumble in (we are both still in our clothes from the night before and she is barefoot), and I am literally taken back and aghast at the assortment of delicious pastries before my eyes. I can feel my blood sugar rising from the very smell of this place. My eyes scan over the case and then bingo…I’ve found it—The Almond Croissant. I order it, but then see that there is also an Almond Brioche located just below it. I should probably find out which one this bakery makes better (for blog purposes…wink, wink), so I order the brioche too! And as I am paying, I also see one of my favorite little Raspberry Custard Tarts. Can’t leave her behind, I’ll take one of those too. Sasha orders a Ham and Brie Sandwich on Baquette with Dijon Mustard, and while we wait for them to make her sandwich, I polish off the Croissant and Brioche. I don’t think I even stopped for air. I can officially say that although both pastries were delicious, the almond croissant was a million times more incredible. It was buttery and sweet and flakey and the almond paste was so pronounced. It was divine…really one of the most incredible food experiences that I have had in a while (certainly in this past week!). I polished off the raspberry custard tart on the drive home, and now I’m in bed holding my stomach and sweating out the food cramps. Too much sugar…too early…too fast. I feel like I’m going to die (although I don’t think even this feeling will turn me against eating that croissant in the near future….yes, it’s that good!). I am now going to try to sleep off this horrific pain (which is going to be tricky due to all that sugar consumption), but I have to be up in two hours for a event in South Beach where there will be buffet-style lunch. Ughhhhh…..the thought is miserable.

Almond Brioche Dusted with Powdered Sugar

I’m finally back in bed, and I am so thankful that the binge day is over. I never thought I would look forward to eating my plain protein diet, but I don’t want anything cheesy, sweet, or breaded for a while. I made it to the luncheon on South Beach at the Raleigh Hotel, and forced down a lunch consisting of; Ceasar Salad, Roasted Beet Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese, Fresh Mozzarella Sandwich with Tomato and Basil on French Baguette, and Chicken Chipotle Sandwich with Pepperoni, Pepper Jack Cheese, Sweet Peppers, and Chipotle Aioli on Baguette. The food was alright, nothing really special (compared to my breakfast at least!) The ceasar salad dressing was bland and the sandwiches were just so-so. I felt like the food was really under seasoned, so I wouldn’t recommend eating at the Raleigh’s Royal Restaurant. I checked out the menu and the prices were reasonable, but under seasoned food isn’t good at any price, in my opinion.

Shortly after eating, my cramps came back and I was holding onto my belly again. I walked it off, shopping at Victoria’s Secret, but had a hard time feeling sexy with such an un-sexy appetite. I crawled back into bed as soon as I got home, and slept for another 4 hours. I don’t know what happened during those 4 hours, but when I woke up, I had a ferocious appetite. I am not kidding you. The next meal on the binge day list was….drumroll, please….CHIPOTLE! Ohh yes, I wanted a large burrito to my face. So my friend, Sam, and I rolled out of bed, threw on some slippers, and headed out to Chipotle in our pajamas…diary of a fat girl. I ordered a Burrito with rice, black beans, carnitas, fajita veggies, tomato salsa, tomatillo salsa, sour cream, and cheese. I destroyed this whopping 900-calorie burrito in about 5 minutes, but found that I had a difficult time eating the cheese and sour cream. I think that my body might be getting adjusted to a diet without dairy and so the cheese and cream was overload. Whatever the case, I had to take eat around it. I also ate half a bag of chips and salsa before heading out the door.

I then decided that a trip to the gym was necessary. I ran about 3 miles and did abs and arm work for about 30 minutes. I then crawled back in to bed, where I am writing to you now. Sadly, as if I didn’t eat enough, I am polishing off a box of Godiva chocolate truffles while I type. I would estimate that I easily ate anywhere between 4,000 and 5,000 today and I feel like shit. I can’t wait to just eat simple meat and spinach tomorrow.