Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Facebook!

I've finally made a Greg's Gourmet Facebook page!

http://facebook.com/gregsgourmet

I'm not sure of my plans for this at the moment...BUT WE'RE NOW ON FACEBOOK YEAH!!!!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Why Photographers Should Make More Than the CEO


That looks pretty tasty.


That does not.  This was actually the best picture I took.  And look at how small this thing is, this supposed "Doublicious":


Dude, look at that!  I don't even have really big hands to begin with.  It's like I'm holding one of those tiny gummy fruit snack burger thingies.  What's even worse?  There was no way I could make the whole meal look good.  Just look at this disaster.  I didn't even center it because I'm a rebel:


Dude, really???  This looks like a deflated basketball that had been bounced in dog crap.  Compare it to this:


Whaaaaaaa???  If the blasphemous figure above is accurate then my sandwich should have been twice as large as the drink and/or wedges.  Seriously guys?  Come on.  I couldn't even TRY to make the above look appetizing.  That's how hopeless it was.  Did it taste good?  It was alright.  The wedges were actually really good.  But this is why the photographers should be paid more than the CEO.  I mean, they can make ANYTHING look delicious. Here, check out these pictures for more awesome grossness. 

In my recent exploration of KFC I've really felt underwhelmed.  It tastes alright but it leaves a lot to be desired.  Part of the problem may be that in my recent exploration I haven't tried any of the original recipe which is what they're known for.  But they don't aggressively market it enough when you're in the store.  When you walk in you see chicken sandwiches, chicken bowls, chicken strips, chicken sandwiches made out of chicken buns, but not enough of the original recipe.  It's like the McDonald's Big Mac; seems like it may be getting lost in the wake of all these other novelty menu items.  Yes, sandwiches that utilize fried chicken as buns are novelties.

But then you get stuff like this which is effortlessly photogenic:


The thing is, this time around the meal actually didn't taste as good as usually does.  But it still looks really good.

If only I can find a photographer to make me look that good ahahaha. 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Hair with an Eggs Benedict Around It

In need of some comfort food the other day, Josh and I ventured to our old hangout, Lake Murray Cafe in La Mesa, CA.  As you may or may not know, things soured with the Murray a while back when their once epic large portions started to shrink along with the quality of the food.  Case in point: Thanksgiving 2010 they sold me a dozen half-baked rolls. The result was everyone losing their appetite and a subsequent boycott.  The boycott ended almost a year later when we ventured to the sister Mission Valley Cafe and it was pretty good.  But then in my only return visit to Lake Murray it was discovered that they shrunk the pancakes from plate-size to frozen Krusteaz size.  Cool story, bro.

Anyway, an ongoing gag with the Murray Crew is that Josh always wanted to try the Eggs Benedict but they stop serving it after 1 PM.  But on this day we arrived in time:


The meal itself was fine...until I found hair on the bottom of the plate.  It looked like facial hair.  It could have been from me so I can't be too quick to judge, but given Lake Murray's shrinking standards and the fact that I once got violently ill from eating their food, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was shaving while cooking this thing.  So I'm not quite sure what to think of this.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

La Jolla Brew House

Checked out the La Jolla Brew House the other day with the artistic Stephen Baldwin via a special deal produced by the Bone Crusher (thank you!); two burgers, fries, beers, and dessert.

The burger

Another shot of the burger and that disgusting romaine lettuce I rejected

Sexy

Good place overall.  Burgers tasted fresh.  The beer was something they brewed there.  I can't remember the name but it was good as well even though I'm not the biggest beer fan. 

Would go back. 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Thursday Night Oh Yeah!

Here's some Gourmet themed Blackjack for ya.  Enjoy!  Not perfect by any means, but you get the idea. 


This was made in Adobe Flash CS5.5 using ActionScript 3.0.  I was using a tutorial for the code but when I had it down I couldn't get the frickin' thing to work because I had put a "J" in blackjack when it should have been lowercase.  Finding those little errors can be annoying, kind of like how Jared from Subway uses low fat food to woo his wife.

Happy playing! 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My 5th Trip to KFC

I know this may sound hard to believe, but I've only been to KFC a handful of times.  Like five times, no exaggeration for once.  I really don't know how or why.  I've always liked KFC where they do chicken right.  I'm madly in love with their extensive menu of side items.  So why haven't I been there more often?  I really don't know.  I guess they're just not that high in the fast food totem pole for me.  Anyway, fifth trip right here:


I know what you're thinking: "Greg, you went to KFC for the first time since the Clinton Administration and you get chicken strips?  You must be a douchebag."  I know - I should have gotten the classic stuff.  I was also thinking about one of those bowls that has chicken, potatoes, corn, and cheese all mixed into one.  But those 5 dollar meal deals are hard to resist, man.  The whole thing, though, was just okay.  Maybe an off day, I dunno.  I mean, it wasn't bad but it didn't leave me salivating.  Still, I'm interested in trying it again before too long.  It was cool because I was in Lakeside and this was located in a big empty parking lot.  If you've been around me long enough then you know how much I hate parking lots and how horrible of a parker I am.  So that was refreshing.

But anyway, I've been to KFC so few times that I can actually recall each visit:

1 - 4th grade for Kyle Curran's birthday.  Even then I was amazed by their extensive sides menu.  The thing we found hysterical about this visit is the cashier dude sounded exactly like Jack from Jack in the Box.  

2 - I was about 13 when my folks went out house hunting for the weekend, leaving my sister and I home alone (I'm pretty sure we didn't see each other the entire weekend).  When they came back on Sunday they had some KFC with them.  It was good.

3 - A friend came to visit me in Sacramento, drove me halfway around the world, then stopped at KFC for dinner. I'm pretty sure it was good. 

4 - I was working at a film camp in Hollywood and for lunch one day we had KFC.  Or, as the party pooper health people prefer, KGC. 

So that's that.  I'd like to try it again.  Maybe get some of the classic recipe. And hey, since we're on the topic of chicken...I know I've never posted anything like this before, but...

I know I say this a lot, but if it were acceptable I'd eat this everyday

Seriously - never gets old.  And in a new turn of events, I actually ate this whole thing in one sitting.  I don't think that's happened before.  I consider that a notable accomplishment, right up there with the Nobel Peace Prize and the Silver Slugger Award.

By the way, the above meal?  5 dollar meal deal. 

OH YEAH!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Johnny Rockets What?

Went to Johnny Rockets in Valencia the other night.  The last time I went there I immediately went for the fries, which are notoriously hot when they arrive at the table.  Anyway, bit into this fry and it burned the inside of my mouth, so much so that I was spitting up blood with my toothpaste for a week.  Good times.

Anyway, I was pretty hungry on this night so decided to go with what's traditionally the largest item on the menu: the double cheeseburger (or as they call it, the Double Rocket):

Larger than the second degree burn I have on the back of my neck

Restaurants that offer endless fries don't give you that many to begin with

Feel happy that you're loading your stomach with consolidated donkey fat

So I wish I could say this burger was delicious, but it really wasn't.  It was cooked properly because I didn't get sick afterward, but the taste was very...not good.  I think it lacked seasoning and the bun tasted kind of funky.  Boo hoo.

But there was silver lining here.  The next night featured a big meal of chicken and beef at Kabuki:

Did they put the tomatoes and cucumbers next to the entree just to screw with me?

This was really good.  The steak actually could have used some more seasoning but it was cooked perfectly (you can see the pink hue inside).  What is it with unseasoned meat lately?  Is it really that hard to properly season something?  Is it because of all these health regulations that restaurants are now afraid to use salt?  Come on, guys.  Blah, whatever.

Thanks for reading!