Choices Buffet at the Pala Casino

by Mikey

I thought that it would be a good time to add buffets to the wide array of food on EMC.  On a trip to Huntington Beach, my Uncle took us out through Temecula to the Pala Indian Casino to try out the newly remodeled Choices.  How can a fat guy pass up on all you can eat?

Choices Buffet – Pala Casino near Temecula

Choices is to the right of the main entrance to the Casino.  It’s actually a really well lit and beautiful dining area.  The food is spaced out, giving you lots of elbow room, and the food is categorized pretty well.  It’s definitely had a very modern facelift and resembles more of a high end Vegas buffet rather then the Laughlin spaghetti oh’s and mashed tater buffets.

Choices has one of the coolest features in a restaurant that I’ve ever seen: a steak bar.  A place where steak exists in different forms and cuts.  It’s just like how heaven should be.  All I need now is Megan Fox asking me if I want mine medium rare.  Let’s just go ahead and say “Yeah, Mike had him a few steaks.”  After the third one, my heart kinda started to slow down a bit, but I hurried and got a taco with hot sauce to get it up to speed again. Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Temecula

Man Vs Food Honolulu

by Mikey

Adam is in Hawaii for a bunch of places and foods that are great to eat but suck to spell. I’ve yet to go to visit our brothers and sisters on the island except for an occasional visit while watching Hurley eat, Jack frown, Kate pout, Sawyer glare, and Lock think. At some point I’ll cash in all my Kmart Blue light points and pay them a visit.

Honolulu, HI

Adams first stop is the Hukilau Café. He gives us a glimpse of the Hukilau Burger which is a patty, teriyaki beef and a fried egg all on one burger. The only thing missing is the spam. My heart slowed a little just watching him eat it.

The next big thing they have is the Loco Moco. This is two ground beef patties on a bed of rice covered in eggs and tons of gravy. Both looked pretty good I’d get down on both. Though it could use a bit more gravy not all the rice was floating.

Next stop was Helena’s for some traditional Hawaiian food. It looked pretty traditional too. Usually someone will tell you its traditional food and it comes to you in a Styrofoam container with a spork. One of these dishes shows up in leaves. Can’t get anymore traditional then that. Some spiced up pork belly with cod then wrapped up in two types of leaves. The only part that bothered me was watching the dude use his teeth to tighten the leaves up. I don’t really want my chefs teeth involved in my dinner please boil the hell out of mine. For all of you that love Hawaiian naming schemes it’s called Kalua Pig.

mvf_honolulu_ss_008

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other big menu item is the Short ribs. The dry the meat out hanging for 5 hours and then fry it up. This looked much better then the pig wrapped in leaves. I can get down on some short ribs. Leaves are only for wiping yourself in the jungle. Little tip, check the leaves for insects. Last thing you want is some foreign spider up your butt.

The final spot for the big showdown is Mac 24-7. The battle is between Adam and 4lbs of 14 inch pancakes with toppings and he has to do it in 90 minutes.

There are two things I don’t like about this. The first thing is I don’t like pancakes so I’m already out of the competition. The second thing is that they must have been going for some television record on how many times they could say Mac Daddy. Yes, yes we know it’s a mac daddy spatula, a mac daddy mixer, a mac daddy stove. You guys are worse then McDonalds.

mvf_honolulu_ss_010

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam gets blueberry and vanilla glaze on his stack and the clock starts. He’s finished with a quarter of the stack in 10 minutes and it doesn’t matter. I know the guy isn’t gonna finish. When the numbers are 300 have tried and 4 have done it only that special someone with a gut that could hide a midget wrestling team is gonna finish this thing.

Sure enough Adam slows down and needs some bacon to help move along the starch and give his pallet a little variety. Alas the pancakes are too much and the clock expires. There was no was these cakes were going down. So I guess there will be no t-shirts, no pictures on the wall. The food was victorious.

Jeez I hate pancakes.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Happy Labor Day from EMC!

by Mikey

Hey everyone just wanted to wish you all a happy labor day. The day we celebrate working by not working. B and I are still workin our way around California to find you some really good eating spots, however today we are joining the rest of you in doing whatever it is you do on the last long weekend of summer.

Let’s raise our glass or bottle and thank the people out there who do those jobs that nobody else wants to do but need to be done. I present to you EMC’s first annual I’m glad somebody else does it top 10 list:

Number 10: The guys in apartment communities that dig through the dumpsters for recycled and un-recycled treasure. I apologize for the cat poop I put with the last bag of cans I had no extra baggies to put it in.

Number 9: The Hobo’s in the Ventura river bed. Out there keeping the seagulls company and keeping the riverbed warm at night.

Number 8: That guy at Jack and the Box that gave me a chicken salad instead of my sourdough chicken club and making sure to cover it with lots of napkins so that it would be a surprise just for me when I got home.

Number 7: The guy who tastes the food for evil dictators. Talk about pressure.

Number 6: The guy who had to edit any Mariah Carrey movie.

Number 5: The person who has to clean the rest room in any gas station.

Number 4: Your neighbor who likes to say, “How about this heat?” to everyone who passes them.

Number 3: Anyone involved in the crime scene clean up for Jeffrey Dahmer.

Number 2: Anyone who does clean up at a zoo. Who in there right mind wants to clean up 80lbs of elephant crap when its 90 degrees out. Don’t even get me started on the monkeys. Sure its fun throwin poop but cleaning it up is a whole other story.

Number 1: Last but not least to the mentally unstable homeless guy who stands outside the Vons shopping center with the huge stuffed snake. If you’re going to be homeless might as well live it up with a giant plush snake. Thanks for letting me know to vote for Jimmy Carter this year. You have my vote.

1 Comment

Filed under Everywhere

Man Vs Food – Durham, NC

by Mikey

Adam is in Durham, NC for the Dough man Triathlon relay. Adam and friends are going to compete in a triathlon that also includes some power eating. Will Adam lead his team to victory or will it be defeat? Adam also hits some great spots around town for some great eats. Get yourself a milkshake and cozy yourself around the computer monitor as we all snuggle together for Man Vs Food.

Man Vs Food – North Carolina

Adam starts us off at the Backyard BBQ Pit. It is the only open pit BBQ in Durham. I’m a bit confused on the whole open pit thing. The pit is inside what looks more like a smokehouse. It’s a fire pit of sorts but to me it looks more like a wood burning oven. They said it has something to do with the type of heat and its proximity to the meat. All I know is once they got it all lit up to cook the whole place filled with smoke. This guy cooking must have firemen’s lungs. Usually when smokes fills a room like that your doing the whole wet rag over the face shimmy out the door checkin door handles cause we all saw what happens in Backdraft. Thank you Kurt Russell.

At the BBQ pit pulled pork is the specialty. I also learned that the pork butt they cook to make the pulled pork is actually from the shoulder. Over here in California a pigs butt has nothing to do with its shoulder and if someone offered you some pulled pork off a pigs butt used probably say, “I’ll just have some pie.”

3_11_tight-shot-of-food

It actually looks pretty damn good though. It was falling right off the bone and the 12 secret seasonings in the rub looked pretty tasty too.

 

 

 

Next stop was Wimpy’s Grill. At the Grill their special item is the Garbage burger. Horrible name for a tasty burger. Another unique feature about this joint is that they have nowhere to sit. You eat out in your car in the parking lot. What a great way to save clean up.

The Garbage Burger is 2 quarter pound patties, chili, cheese, bacon, pickles, onions, mustard, mayo, ketchup, and their famous slaw. They have their own in house grinder too which they use to make the hamburger and the meat for the homemade chili tender.

8_41_cheeseburger

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally we get to the Dough man’s Triathlon. Adam, a gymnast, a cheerleader, and Dhani Jones all join together for this eating, running, biking, swimming marathon. Here’s how it went:

The cheerleader started team Food Fighter off. She downed a bowl of crab mac and cheese and then runs to the pool. She then swims a lap and Dhani Jones is next. He runs to get to the Bold City BLT and then takes off towards Adams leg on the bike. Adam takes down the Tomato Triple threat and starts his leg of the run. Team Food Fighter is in 6th place out of 54 when Adam tweaks his ankle sliding them down to 23rd. The gymnast takes over taking down the Portable Defibulator burger and then runs for a whole team finish. The team as a whole has to eat a bunch of cupcakes and run for the finish. The team as a whole finishes in 19th which is pretty good after Adam tweaks his ankle. Watching it kinda made me want to throw up. I did this competition at a bbq once where we ate as many hotdogs as we could eat in 15 minutes then run a sprint to the finish. I actually one but ended up giving the bears most of the hot dogs. Running and eating don’t really go together for me.

22_10_finish-line

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Fred’s Mexican Café

by Mikey

Yes it’s another review for a Mexican Restaurant; this one however has 2 great things going for it. Location and atmosphere. Fred’s is on the main drag in Huntington Beach and its got good food and a really great atmosphere for drinkin and hanging out. Only issue is stairs…….

Fred’s Mexican Café – Huntington Beach

Just like the Huntington Beach Brewery, Fred’s has a mass amount of stairs. Drunk people must be much more coordinated in HB cause stairs around here means drunks giggling, laughing, yelling, and then falling. Drunks need flat ground as they drink in herds and need flat space to sip from the well and run in the event of an ex or the police.

Once you make the assent up to Fred’s you’ll see that it was worth it. Half their seating has a great view of the nightlife below and they even have the place split in half with the serious drinkers on one side and the social drinkers on the other side. They have a fireplace which is beautiful but unnecessary for the alcoholic as we have internal heating systems that are triggered by the consumption of Vodka or Whiskey.

0808092332

Fred’s also has some pretty good music. Anywhere they play 80’s and early 90’s is good for me. I know Brian is more into Yani and old guys that play wood flutes but it was still pretty rockin.

They have a few beers on tap and my brother Alex and I ordered up a couple. I got mine in the huge ass Fred’s Glass which is great at the beginning but tends to get warm kinda quick.

I was the only one eatin tonight as my bro decided that beer, chips , and salsa is all that would be on his menu. I being A: a big dude, and B: a guy who writes for a food site tries to get food wherever I go. I ordered the carne asada enchilada plate.

First off their salsa is decent. It’s perfect for those alcoholics that like to graze while the drink with the heard. It’s not all that spicy but is still zesty and fresh tasting.

The enchilada was not too bad. The carne asada was good; it was cooked well and had a great flavor. The cheese is a bit bland and I would have enjoyed a more zesty and exciting sauce. It’s not a bad dish but it could use some life. Kick up the chili, the garlic, add some onion, cilantro, a little lime, anything to give it just a bit more life.

0808092335

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d like to try a few more dishes there so I’m counting on you guys to head over to Fred’s and try it out. It’s a really great place to drink and I’d like to know how some of their other dishes play out. See if you can get them to put in an escalator.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Huntington Beach, Orange County

Turf Supper Club and new beginnings…

by Brian

Hey everyone,  I’m sure at least a few of you have noticed that I haven’t posted in almost three weeks.  For those of you who haven’t, you must just visit the site because of Mikey’s unwavering dedication.  The reason that I haven’t been posting is that I’ve been pretty busy lately.  I moved to San Diego and started law school.  Today was actually my first day of real classes, and I just got done with my reading, so I figured I’d give you guys my first San Diego food review as a local.  Here we go…

Turf Supper Club – Golden Hill

Turf is your traditional dive bar.  That’s not to say that it is dirty or slum-like in any way; it’s very dark and just conveys that old-school vibe that you would associate with a dive.  The aforementioned lighting, red booths and old movies playing on the TV discourage the yuppie crowd from putting in an appearance and the resulting group is a blend of locals with a slight influx of hipster.

photo 3

I found this place through my friend Alexis, who lives in (or on?) Golden Hill.  She conned me into helping her unload her moving van this past weekend by offering free food and beer.  What starving college student can say no to that? Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Golden Hill, San Diego

Man Vs Food – San Francisco

by Mikey

Adam takes on the 2 gallon sundae and some other great food in San Francisco. From the Mission District to Walnut Creek Adam searches out some of the best food SF has to offer. I’ve been to SF many times and have never hit any of these places but that’s gonna change cause I want to eat at all of the places he went to.

San Francisco

The first stop on Adam’s list was the Taqueria La Cumbre. At TLC they have the 2lb Mission Burrito. TLC claims to have started the original mission style burrito and it looks absolutely fantastic. Adam gets the carne asada, and chicken burrito and it looks great. Filled with meat, cheese, and pico it looks exactly like one of the burritos I need to take down on my way to shooting for the B3 in Vegas.

tlc_burrito2

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next stop is Ikes Place for some sandwiches. This place looks phenomenal. The sandwiches the people were eating looked so damn good. Adam gets this monster sandwich called the Kryptonite. It weighs in at 4lbs and has 13 ingredients. They use this secret sauce called, “dirty sauce”, and bake it right into the bread. Then it’s covered in avocado, roast beef, turkey, pepperoni, jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, pepper jack cheese and more. The thing was a beast. They are definitely on the list of places to eat.

ikes-place-ext-570x292

 

 

 

 

 

The challenge was at the San Francisco Creamery. There Adam takes on the Kitchen Sink Sundae. 8 scoops of ice cream, 4 bananas, hot fudge, sprinkles, almonds, and 8 servings of whip cream. It is a 2 gallon sundae. Only 4 people have managed to eat this thing and if you can you get your picture on the wall and free ice cream for a year. These aren’t normal Baskin Robin scoops either. The scoops they hand out are huge.

mvf_sanfran_ss_08

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam has to eat the sundae in an hour including everything in the sink and the drip tray below. As usual he starts off with no issues and doesn’t seem to have any problems until he reaches the last quarter of the sundae. He requests some French fries to try and equal out the sweetness and it seems to help him finish out the sink. Then the owner reminds him he has to clear out the tray too. Adam gives a great quote. “I forgot about the %&^# tray.”

Adam still manages to finish it off as I kinda figured he would. Me personally I can’t take down that much ice cream. Way too much dairy and the amount of sugar would instantly secure me with diabetes. Just watching it I had to consider getting some insulin. Not a challenge I’d go after. Adam handles it in 45 minutes.

For food this was a great episode. For entertainment it was a bit short. They do this horrible 60’s montage right before the ice cream and it was painful to watch. He’s much better making jokes as he goes along rather then putting together skits.

The show definitely made me want to take a trip to SF just for Ikes alone. I gotta get me one of those sandwiches. You can eat them and use them to beat off someone trying to steal your wallet.

5 Comments

Filed under On TV