WTF Food

richlevy • May 30, 2008 9:09 pm
Greetings from Las Vegas. We went to Hash House a Go Go today and got there too early for dinner, so we ordered lunch and breakfast. HHaGG is sort of an upscale diner that prides itself on reinventing comfort food and they like to jazz up the presentation. Jeff ordered the fried chicken with waffles. His expression when his order came is priceless.
xoxoxoBruce • May 31, 2008 12:47 am
Is that plate as big as it looks in the picture?
Sundae • May 31, 2008 4:36 am
Rich there is too much wtf in that one post for my little English brain.

- Hash House a Go Go
- Fried chicken with waffles
- The presentation
- The Independence Day sized plate
- Wearing a hat while eating breakfast/ lunch

I'm not knocking it though.
I'd like it if more Dwellars took pictures of their meals :)
DanaC • May 31, 2008 7:47 am
Sweet baby Jesus look at the size of that meal! It would take me a couple of days to work through that lol.
richlevy • May 31, 2008 3:18 pm
Yes, the portions are large. I ordered the banana maple flapjacks for $7-8 and the flapjack was a single flapjack on an over sized plate with a hole in the middle for the cup of butter. The flapjack was large enough to cover a dinner plate. We were all thinking of Uncle Buck and John Candy.

I did do one dumb thing. I used a more expensive coupon from Restaurant.com. The $50 coupon, in addition to requiring me to spend $100, was only for dinner, a fact which I had overlooked.:smack:

If possible, we are going back for dinner. Jeff loves duck and they had it on the menu. I'm sort of curious as to how they're going to present it. Maybe they'll make it look like an ostrich.;)

Here's their food gallery.
Cloud • May 31, 2008 3:31 pm
it's sorta funnier because fried chicken and waffles is a decidedly down-home dish. definitely not frufru
jinx • May 31, 2008 5:10 pm
Damn Rich, that pancake is almost as big as the ones at Jennie's truck stop in Lancaster! It's hilarious to hear the truckers whine about their waistlines when their shortstack shows up...
Cicero • May 31, 2008 5:25 pm
There is finally a reason for me to go to Las Vegas! Give me a CFS that size and I'll book the trip right now!!!! With extra gravy...plzzz....:)

Awesome Rich!

You guys always make me hungry. I wasn't even hungry and now all I want is comfort food.
DanaC • May 31, 2008 7:37 pm
The pancakes at the Dutch Pancake House in Manchester were platter sized like that. Could not believe it when they brought them out to us.
Urbane Guerrilla • Jun 1, 2008 3:33 am
There's a diner -- Miami Beach Café? -- just barely south of the intersection of Lake Mead and Buffalo, on Buffalo. Stainless steel diner ambiance, huge omelettes with pancakes or biscuits. The corner location is occupied by Calico Jack's Casino.
barefoot serpent • Jun 2, 2008 5:39 pm
Sundae Girl;458285 wrote:
Rich there is too much wtf in that one post for my little English brain.

- Hash House a Go Go
- Fried chicken with waffles
- The presentation
- The Independence Day sized plate
- Wearing a hat while eating breakfast/ lunch


- The diamond plate decor...:eek:
DanaC • Jun 2, 2008 5:43 pm
waffles, to me are purely a sweet dish. I'm happy with savoury pancakes, but chicken with waffles? That jars with me just as much as the phrase 'biscuits and gravy' :P
monster • Jun 2, 2008 8:29 pm
DanaC;458866 wrote:
waffles, to me are purely a sweet dish. I'm happy with savoury pancakes, but chicken with waffles? That jars with me just as much as the phrase 'biscuits and gravy' :P


never mind the phrase, have you seen what it is?
Image
Scones in White sauce. And they call British food stodgy and bland.... :p
Sundae • Jun 2, 2008 8:39 pm
I was talking with the landlord (at work in the pub) about Merkins tonight. He is partial, having travelled extensively in America over three decades. I put his age at about 67? Bout the same as my Dad I reckon, but John's a smoker so you never know.

He was telling stories of strange food combinations and I told your story of the pot luck dinner where people were putting your dessert (trifle?) on the same plate as the main course (lasagna?)

He nodded in agreement and we bonded over the strangeness of the American palate. With much love to that country's inhabitants of course.
Happy Monkey • Jun 2, 2008 8:44 pm
Sundae Girl;458889 wrote:
He was telling stories of strange food combinations and I told your story of the pot luck dinner where people were putting your dessert (trifle?) on the same plate as the main course (lasagna?)
Only if the line at the buffet table is long. In that case, try to keep them from touching, perhaps with a roll.
monster • Jun 2, 2008 8:52 pm
Sundae Girl;458889 wrote:
I was talking with the landlord (at work in the pub) about Merkins tonight. He is partial, having travelled extensively in America over three decades. I put his age at about 67? Bout the same as my Dad I reckon, but John's a smoker so you never know.

He was telling stories of strange food combinations and I told your story of the pot luck dinner where people were putting your dessert (trifle?) on the same plate as the main course (lasagna?)

He nodded in agreement and we bonded over the strangeness of the American palate. With much love to that country's inhabitants of course.



did you have a look at the other items on the menu in Rich's restaurant? I think it's the whole mixing sweet and savory thing -there really is no "sweet is only for dessert" thing here, so it just isn't weird like it is to us.

Mind you, some Americans view our Full English Breakfast with a mixture of trepidation and disbelief :lol: And most are horrified by the idea of eating kidney, liver, tongue, tripe, blood puddings....... have to say, I'm with the Americans on that one....
Sundae • Jun 2, 2008 8:53 pm
Oops, Beest's boss's wife. From here:

I never knew they ate these things when I moved here. At the first pot-luck beest's bosses wife went to (they shipped his whole department over), she took a sherry trifle and watched in horror as people blobbed it on the plate next to the lasagna and ate -and enjoyed- the two together.

Life would be boring if we all liked the same things, though (and maybe they were just better at being polite).

In the same thread:
Jinx's comment about pumpkin pie being more savory than sweet potato pie made me wonder if she's interpreting the question the same as I am. When I've commented on sweet/savory here (meaning main course (not sweet)/dessert (sweet) ) several people have taken savory to mean tasty/flavorful/not bland rather than not sweet. Maybe something to do with maple syrup being considered a natural accompaniment to sausages and bacon, carrots in jello being viewed as a classic dish and potatoes with marshmallows and other stuff a must-have at thanksgiving.

[amended slightly for clarity not content]
Sundae • Jun 2, 2008 8:57 pm
I did look at the menu - it matched with what you've said, what I've experienced myself and what others have told me on return from the States.

Funnily enough, the Cellar has meant I have defended American taste in food strongly in the past 3 years. I know from people here that offal is eaten and appreciated, and that cooking from scratch is not a lost art. Oh and that Dominos isn't the pizza apogee of the country!
jinx • Jun 2, 2008 8:58 pm
monster;458899 wrote:
did you have a look at the other items on the menu in Rich's restaurant?


It all looked fabulous. And you haven't lived until you've had a Southern Slam! Scones indeed [scoff]
Sundae • Jun 2, 2008 9:11 pm
I couldn't see the Southern Slam.
But I saw the Cobb Salad.

I'd remove the sticks & scone and enjoy :)
richlevy • Jun 2, 2008 10:55 pm
monster;458899 wrote:
And most are horrified by the idea of eating kidney, liver, tongue, tripe, blood puddings....... have to say, I'm with the Americans on that one....
Well, in Philadelphia we eat scrapple. It's the only food I've ever seen where one of the ingredients listed on the package is 'snout'.:sick:

We had very good Mexican food for lunch today. We've been using the restaurant.com certificates a lot, so until tonight we have not been to any buffets. Tonight is guys night out and we will experience the quintessential Las Vegas experience, the cheap buffet and cheesy topless show, both at the Riviera. If I remember correctly, the Riviera is or was the home of one of the wrestling federations.

Should be fun.
monster • Jun 2, 2008 11:00 pm
Yeah, I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole either. or scratchings.


beest loves him a bit of Steak and Kidney pud, though. And liver and onions. :vomit:
Aliantha • Jun 2, 2008 11:08 pm
I hope he puts bacon in the onion gravey for the liver. and whorcestershire sauce of course.
dar512 • Jun 2, 2008 11:21 pm
monster;458886 wrote:

Scones in White sauce. And they call British food stodgy and bland.... :p

Monster, it's not normally a plain white sauce. There's normally chicken or sausage in the gravy.

Granted, it's a pretty heavy breakfast. It was originally intended to be a cheap and hearty breakfast for farm workers.

I'm also not sure that scones == (American) biscuit. The scones I've had were pretty dry. A good biscuit is moist.

Speaking of biscuits. I had a drama minor in college and got to see a lot of small amateur productions. One I attended was an English parlor thing complete with the best English accent the students could come up with. The hostess asks the group if they would like a biscuit and hands around a tray of Pillsbury poppin fresh. :biglaugha
monster • Jun 3, 2008 12:09 am
I'm sure that would be funny if I knew wtf a poppin fresh was. A scone-type thing, I'm guessing? in which case :lol:

Scones should not be dry. but often are, sadly. They should be served fresh from the oven and still slightly warm with jam and cream or butter. Not with white sauce with mystery lumps ;)
monster • Jun 3, 2008 12:13 am
Aliantha;458965 wrote:
I hope he puts bacon in the onion gravey for the liver. and whorcestershire sauce of course.


He only partakes when we are out and I prefer not to investigate.
DanaC • Jun 3, 2008 7:57 am
Funnily enough the tradition of serving sweet and savoury on the same dish was once the norm here. I think it began to die out somewhere in the 18th century.
dar512 • Jun 3, 2008 10:08 am
monster;458980 wrote:
I'm sure that would be funny if I knew wtf a poppin fresh was. A scone-type thing, I'm guessing? in which case :lol:

Scones should not be dry. but often are, sadly. They should be served fresh from the oven and still slightly warm with jam and cream or butter. Not with white sauce with mystery lumps ;)

Yup these. The commercials featured the Pillsbury dough boy also known as Pop 'N Fresh.
DanaC • Jun 3, 2008 10:38 am
'fluffy' and 'biscuits' simply do not fit together in my mind. I know your biscuits and ours are a different thing altogether but nonetheless my mind still rebels at that pairing.
Shawnee123 • Jun 3, 2008 10:45 am
Sundae Girl;458285 wrote:
Rich there is too much wtf in that one post for my little English brain.

- Hash House a Go Go
- Fried chicken with waffles
- The presentation
- The Independence Day sized plate
- Wearing a hat while eating breakfast/ lunch

I'm not knocking it though.
I'd like it if more Dwellars took pictures of their meals :)


I'm with you on all counts, SG, and I'm a lover of the Waffle House. :)
Urbane Guerrilla • Jun 5, 2008 1:15 am
Page 14 of the This Is The Most Recent Recipe Thread thread, post #198. We've analyzed biscuits to death somewhere around here.

Most of my acquaintance with scones has been through Starbucks. A rather dry, crumbly but somewhat soft texture, moderate sweetness, sundry pastry flavors. Possibly glazed on top. Good with coffee, best eaten over a table or plate to catch the crumbs. Not remotely like the American biscuit, a quick-raised simple bread type starch food.
Perry Winkle • Jun 5, 2008 6:33 am
Here's some WTF for you: British sandwiches. They are absolutely horrible. They're usually a "filling," or a (thin) slice of meat and a slice of cheese, with or without "salad" and possibly mayo or mustard. They're anemic.

Fillings are things like egg mayonnaise (egg salad), ham salad, savory cheese salad (WTF!?! Ok, it's like that polenta cheese spread shit my mom loves... BLECH) and prawn salad (mmm, grey shrimp and mayo!). I'm not going to mention the pastes (salmon, chicken, for example) *shudder*

When I get back home, I'm going to have to spend a month in NY eating at delis.
Perry Winkle • Jun 5, 2008 6:37 am
Another WTF. This time about Newcastle. There is one bakery in the Newcastle city center, and it's a chain (Peter's Bakery).

Ok, it's true that Marks & Spencer and Fenwick bake stuff, but they don't count. There's also a little Polish cafe in the ghetto shopping center (The Newgate) that bakes some stuff. Their stuff is good, though they really focus more on the "cafe" aspect, if you know what I mean.
DanaC • Jun 5, 2008 7:12 am
Perry, just go to a subway and get a proper sandwich. The sandwiches Brits really like aren't the ones you get in shops. They really are an anaemic version. The proper British Butty is a 'doorstep'. Very thick bread, with thick fillings.
monster • Jun 5, 2008 9:52 am
Subway's American.

I hear you Perry, although I do enjoy sandwiches with only one or two things in them so you can really taste them -just a hell of a lot more than you get in the limp cardboard triangles. Here is seems compulsory that every sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato and cheese, and whilst I know you can leave all those things out, it then feels like you're not getting your money's worth. :lol: How do the prices of Subway sandwiches there compare to the triangles in plastic boxes? In fact was is the price of a 6" sub? And what's the price of a cheeseburger in McDonalds in the UK? I've been wondering these things.
monster • Jun 5, 2008 9:58 am
Urbane Guerrilla;459606 wrote:
Page 14 of the This Is The Most Recent Recipe Thread thread, post #198. We've analyzed biscuits to death somewhere around here..


Some discussion are worth repeating. Like the one about how annoying you can be :D
DanaC • Jun 5, 2008 10:17 am
Subway's American.


Yeah, I know, I was directing him towards American sarnies that are available in the UK. They don't sell doorsteps:)
DanaC • Jun 5, 2008 10:18 am
@UG.....you glaze scones?
Perry Winkle • Jun 5, 2008 10:41 am
DanaC;459627 wrote:
Perry, just go to a subway and get a proper sandwich. The sandwiches Brits really like aren't the ones you get in shops. They really are an anaemic version. The proper British Butty is a 'doorstep'. Very thick bread, with thick fillings.


Subway is disgusting, though I do get their meatball sub occasionally. I wouldn't touch their lunch meat for anything.

I'm not just talking about those prepacked horrors that American's never see outside of vending machines. Even the mom & pop sandwich shops here serve anemic sandwiches: enormous amount of bread with nothing in between.

monster;459641 wrote:

I hear you Perry, although I do enjoy sandwiches with only one or two things in them so you can really taste them -just a hell of a lot more than you get in the limp cardboard triangles. Here is seems compulsory that every sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato and cheese, and whilst I know you can leave all those things out, it then feels like you're not getting your money's worth. :lol: How do the prices of Subway sandwiches there compare to the triangles in plastic boxes? In fact was is the price of a 6" sub? And what's the price of a cheeseburger in McDonalds in the UK? I've been wondering these things.


I like simple sandwiches, too. One of my favorite things is pastrami and swiss on rye bread with mustard. Simple, simple, simple.

I almost always get my sandwiches vegetable-free. If I'm buying a sandwich the only way I'm getting my money's worth is to get it the way I'll enjoy it most.

Triangle sandwiches are usually between £1.10 and £3, unless you go to a "fancier" place. I think you can find them for more than £3.00 at places like Starbucks and Pret a manger. A 6" sub at Subway is between £2 and £3. I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in 6 years or so. But I know from the ads I've seen that you can get a single cheeseburger on the £1 menu; I don't know what a quarter pounder or the like costs. I'll have to go look, now that I'm curious.

I try to avoid American chains, but their food is actually much better here than in America...

A large Pizza Hut pizza is about £12. A burger at TGI Friday's is about £8, and comes with really friggen good fries. The prices at pubs with edible food are similar, but I can't afford that very frequently.

Besides the fact that triangle sandwiches and 6" subs aren't enough to sate me, for 50p more I can go next door and get a small kabob that will fill me up for hours, even if it makes me a tad ill.

That said, there are a lot of things I love here when it comes to food. Cadbury, Milka, certain brands and flavors of ready meals, Gregg's lemon muffins (75p, up from 70p), the huge variety of crisps in ungodly flavors, really good chips if you search for them, the staggering amount of Polish, Middle Eastern and Indian restaurants.
DanaC • Jun 5, 2008 12:04 pm
There's quite a lot of regional variation in food Perry. This is true of pastries and sandwiches. Different parts of the country tend towards different types of flavour and texture (though there are a few staples that are everywhere).
Perry Winkle • Jun 5, 2008 4:15 pm
One of the more charming food habits here is the mostly eaten styrofoam take-away container smashed faced down into the sidewalk. These usually co-occur with piles of puke.
Sundae • Jun 5, 2008 5:02 pm
Perry Winkle;459772 wrote:
One of the more charming food habits here is the mostly eaten styrofoam take-away container smashed faced down into the sidewalk. These usually co-occur with piles of puke.

Revolting, anti-social and it disgusts decent minded Brits too.
If I did that in front of my Mum (not that I would do it behind her back!) she'd probably still wallop me.

Remember that you are in a foreign country. We have different sandwiches than you grew up with is all. I happen to like them. Occasionally I will splurge on a deli sandwich or bagel or baguette that serves as a meal, but to me - and to most Brits - sandwiches are traditionally part of High Tea. Therefore they are served with a whole host of other items. I'm not suggesting that most people buy supermarket sandwiches to serve with boiled eggs, teacakes, fresh tomatoes, cups of tea et al. But it's how they developed. I like a simple ham & mustard on wholegrain bread.

I do agree about the salad thing though.

Get thee to London child. I'll show you things you never dreamed of.
BrianR • Jun 5, 2008 5:04 pm
jinx;458383 wrote:
Damn Rich, that pancake is almost as big as the ones at Jennie's truck stop in Lancaster! It's hilarious to hear the truckers whine about their waistlines when their shortstack shows up...


Been there. Fine flapjacks they have too. But I'm TRYING to gain a few so I eat up! With extra syrup. And butter, toast and slather on the jelly please!

Yum!
Aliantha • Jun 5, 2008 5:29 pm
What I think is confusing is how Americans seem to call pretty much everything a sandwich if it's some kind of bread whether it's in the form of a roll or slices of any kind of bread. Like subway for instance. Over here we wouldn't call that particular combination a sandwich. We'd probably call it something like a salad roll or a meatball roll. (I don't like subway either. Everything seems to taste pretty much the same there no matter what topping you get.)

The confusion starts when Americans start talking about burgers, which can basically consist of all the same ingredients (some kind of hot meat and salad) a subway sandwich would have except it's on a round roll instead. Do you not put salad ingredients such as lettuce and beetroot and carrot on burgers over there? Then there's hotdogs. This I understand refers to either the sausage or the roll (can't remember which now), but over here, a frankfurt (red sausage) on a long roll (hotdog bun) equals a hotdog. Neither of the individual ingredients are referred to as hotdogs without being encased in or encasing the other then being topped with whatever you want on it in the way of sauces and fried onion or bacon or cheese etc.

I think our menus here are more similar to British as far as sandwiches go. There is a lot of variation from place to place here. Some places do good sandwiches, and others do shit ones. Mostly in sandwich bars you only get a choice of white or wholemeal bread though, and a choice of salad or meat toppings with the usual condiments.
jinx • Jun 5, 2008 8:44 pm
BrianR;459795 wrote:
Been there. Fine flapjacks they have too. But I'm TRYING to gain a few so I eat up! With extra syrup. And butter, toast and slather on the jelly please!

Yum!


Next time you're thee, get the turkey dinner. It's seriously enough food for 3 or 4 people.... turkey, dressing, mashed, saffron gravy, soup and 2 veggies for like $8. Brilliant hang-over food.
monster • Jun 5, 2008 9:22 pm
I can't go near Subway... it has this distinctive smell that makes me want to hurl.

Now pastrami and swiss on rye with mustard -I don't call that simple. that's 4 strong flavors -too many to enjoy them properly. Brits would rarely mix meat and cheese in a sandwich -at least back when I lived there eons ago. Also, American "sandwiches" have far more calories and carbs that their smaller British cousins. If you ate them as often as Brits do, you'd soon be the size of a house.

btw you who come from a country when PB&J is a staple part of the diet are in no position to criticise Brits on their love of mixing things with mayo to put in a sandwich..... ;) And what is PB if not a "paste"..... :lol: :p
Cicero • Jun 5, 2008 9:55 pm
Perry Winkle;459772 wrote:
One of the more charming food habits here is the mostly eaten styrofoam take-away container smashed faced down into the sidewalk. These usually co-occur with piles of puke.


Uhh. What is the puke about? Is the vomit a part of the food habit?
monster • Jun 5, 2008 11:26 pm
Cicero;459864 wrote:
Uhh. What is the puke about? Is the vomit a part of the food habit?


it's terrible. The Tories privatized the public vomitoriums, which was OK, (although it meant that the council estates got nastier), but then when Labour got back in to power, they withdrew all the tax breaks and then "regulated" the industry, which resulted in one legal vomorium per half million! There are a few illegal vomitoriums, but it's actually not technically against the law to do it in the street, so......
Urbane Guerrilla • Jun 6, 2008 2:39 am
DanaC;459648 wrote:
@UG.....you glaze scones?


Some flavors, not all. Starbucks has a maple-nut scone with the maple-ness in a glaze on top. Their cinnamon scone puts the cinnamon in the scone proper. Miscellaneous berry offerings show up; usually blueberry or cranberry. Pumpkin around October. I vaguely remember an eggnog-flavored somethingorother for the winter, but I'll need another look at it to remember if it was... aw shucks, I think that was a latte. Good, though.
DanaC • Jun 6, 2008 7:15 am
*eyes wide in horror* oh no. Oh no that's not how to treat a scone. They're not muffins you know.
Urbane Guerrilla • Jun 7, 2008 2:16 am
Well, Dana, what can I say? America has always been about widening horizons, never narrowing them. If we want cinnamon scones, we're bloody well going to bake them and eat them up.

Even our national mythos features a much-repeated element of crossing the line: the frontier, the line in the sand at the Alamo, over and over, we step over.
xoxoxoBruce • Jun 7, 2008 2:27 am
DanaC;459942 wrote:
*eyes wide in horror* oh no. Oh no that's not how to treat a scone. They're not muffins you know.
And that's just in public. Would you like to know some of the filthy, perverted, disgusting things we do to your scones, in the privacy of sex shop video booths?
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha.:unsure:
Sundae • Jun 7, 2008 3:16 am
Filthy is one of my favourite words at present.
DanaC • Jun 7, 2008 6:32 am
One of my favourite words at the moment is 'wicked' but used in its proper sense.
richlevy • Jun 7, 2008 12:12 pm
DanaC;459942 wrote:
*eyes wide in horror* oh no. Oh no that's not how to treat a scone. They're not muffins you know.
They can do anything they want to them. Scones are ok, but not my favorite pastry.

Note: I am creating a pastry voting thread.
Sundae • Jun 7, 2008 12:14 pm
Scones aren't pastry!
Are they?
DanaC • Jun 7, 2008 8:34 pm
I've never thought of them as pastry....
Sundae • Jun 7, 2008 8:36 pm
Hey I just finished work in the pub (we had a band on and a late licence). What's your excuse for staying up? Shouldn't you be sleeping the sleep of the righteous?
DanaC • Jun 7, 2008 8:43 pm
*grins*

I should be.....I am up early to go leafleting in the morning (how the fuck did that happen? I am still on holiday til monday damnit!).

All this talk of pastries and assorted scrumptiousness is making me hungry ....hungry, I tell thee! But I have nothing in......nowt, bugger all, Sweet Fanny Adams, zilch. Bugger.
Sundae • Jun 7, 2008 8:49 pm
I want a 'bab.
I'll just have to wait for breakfast and have muesli. Not much compensation!