The hiatus is over & phad eats is back. I spent a few days in Charleston soaking up the good vibes of massage professionals & eating too much phab food.
While those with diarrheal conditions are prohibited from the nearby fountains, they might be allowed in the kitchen. Ahhh, not really. As gross as that picture looks, the tuna carpaccio was one of many food wins this week!
Editor’s Note: Mr. Fuzzy Face contributed this week’s post
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Meow/meow
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Meow?
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Continue readingAfter a bloody power grab and failed coup (yes, they can happen at the same time), several members of PhadEats fled to
Our hideout was hidden in the second peak
the safe haven of Salt Lake City until the action died down a bit. Simultaneously afraid of being found by renegade members of Phadeats and starving, we left our nest to find grub. Molly has a phone from the future, and went on the “www” on it to find some places that were “yelped”. I think I’m phrasing that correctly. There was one called the Blue Iguana, but they closed at 9. As any phan of Phadeats knows, we don’t like to be rushed (unless while escaping certain death during an angry military coup). So we kept yelping, and came across the Blue Iguana’s evil twin brother, the Red Iguana (fraternal twins, b/c red and blue are different).
We demanded a cab from the front desk and went on to Red Iguana (736 West North Temple, Salt Lake City – (801) 322-1489). This would be a rare treat, as we’d already had 5 meals at Benihana’s (since it’s fun they should change the name to Benihaha’s). We were tempting the fates, having just done a review of nachos, but we didn’t care because we really wanted some Mexican food.
Salt Lake City Tip #1: When riding in a cab in Salt Lake, take a to-go cup! They’re conveniently provided by your generous hotel staff, right in your room.
Paul's mystery plate
We sauntered into Red Iguana, doubtful of the quality of Mexican food that could be found in The City of Saints. We were seated immediately, right by the window. Chips and guac and salsa were brought out, and there’s only one word for the taste: really really good and delicious. Before ordering, we asked for a to-go jar of salsa.
Margaritas were brought out, and we ordered. I got some mix plate, and there was a bunch of stuff on it covered in beans and cheese. Dave got “fish” tacos (in addition to alcohol, they must have strict laws on fish, because they were more like chicken). Pat got some tacos I think, and Molly got a bubbling brown bowl of stuff.
Everything was delicious, the waiter was fantastic, but we overdid it on the chips and salsa/guac. We had a ton of leftovers, and one of us promised to eat theirs later (despite being in a hotel and unable to heat it up. When in Rome).
Salt Lake City #2: The liquor store in town is a wonderful place to meet locals!
Feeling as stuffed as a brand new couch, we paid our bill (sike) and left. Barely able to move, we jumped into a passing cab and listened to the Jazz play the Trailblazers as we made our way home (spoiler: Jazz lost by 11).
Fish tacos?
Salt Lake City Tip #3: Don’t look locals in the eyes
Red Iguana was probably the best meal had out there. There is a great place called Sqatters (http://www.squatters.com/age-verify.aspx, 147 West Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1914 (801) 363-2739) that had some really good pub food and nice beers on tap.
Also, Benihaha’s!
Salt Lake City Tip #4: Murder is illegal in Salt Lake
That’s about it. If you ever want to spend a month someplace, spend 5 days in Salt Lake.
Fin
Next month: AlbuQUIRKY? (damn auto-correct, meant Albuquerque)
Hm
It has begun. Cavanaugh’s is our bar of choice.
This live blog was supposed to be Paul’s gig but he has failed us. To sum up…
Brooklyn pennant ales for $4 yay!
Mystery beer is long trail blackberry & it tastes like dirty toes per Will. He home brews his beer so he should know.
Thanks for scoring at least twice, Phils. More would be preferred.
Food was slow so we all probably found it to be better than it was. Starvation works like that.
Cavanaughs is our go to happy hour place so it was appropriate for opening day phils viewing.
WOW!! What an exciting 9th inning. Thanks, boys.
Go Phils!!
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/118990719.html
WE WIN
And remember, tomorrow is Live Blogopalypse 2011!!!
It ain’t a euphemism – we’re really talking Tom’s tacos. Thankfully, he takes pity on us center city workers and ventures out to 18th and Vine at lunch in the warmer weather.
Grilled sweet potato is banging
I know it’s not warm today, but that stupid rodent told us it was supposed to be an early Spring, and, luckily, Tom listens to rodents.
Enough about rodents, let’s talk tacos. Only two of us ventured out today, but we’re not the only PhadEats members to have eaten Tom’s tacos. So, I will speak for everyone. Paul had chicken tacos, and I had sweet potato tacos. I learned from a previous visit that I shouldn’t waste my time on the chicken.
Paul wants more of Tom's taco
The chicken is great for those who find it imperative to fill their protein needs (Ryan), so perhaps it deserves more fanfare. Photos don’t lie and Paul is certainly taking pleasure in his chicken tacos. Whatever your choice, these tacos bust with filling as noted by Paul as he lamented Jackie’s Lean Cuisine lunch choice today, “one of my tacos had more chicken than that.” I doubt Jackie learned her lunch lesson since we didn’t wait to eat our tasty tacos in front of her. In the end, the real winning factor of Tom’s tacos is the guacamole. It’s the real deal. Fridays are fish taco day (with plantains as the
TACO
vegetarian option, I believe). Sounds tantalizing even if Jackie says she doesn’t trust fish from a truck (recall her bad lunch decision today).
Huge news: live blogging this Friday, April 1, at around 1pm. Something to help you working stiffs get through a tough day. Sit back, relax, and taste the food through your computer screens!!!
Can't wait for Friday
St. Patrick’s Day. March Madness. Hell on Earth. PhadEats was in the mood for beer and revelry, but many of us were worried about the prospect of green beer being vomited on us by Villanova jersey-wearing meatheads.
So, a plan was hatched, one crazy enough to work: we would go out on St. Patty’s Day, alright, but ON OUR TERMS.
Dave is looking for something special tonight
Sam and Molly laid it out; we would do a Mexican bar crawl. Further, it was decided (by Ryan) that we would sample each stop’s nachos, and rate them (see the card here). What could go wrong? (spoiler alert: nothing does).
Our first stop brought us to Mexican Post (1601 Cherry Street, http://www.mexicanpost.com/). What motivated us? Was it the promise of delicious food and an electrifying atmosphere? In a word, no. Sam had $50 in Mexicash (I don’t know what they call it; it’s a gift certificate for there). Molly had a reserve $30, but that’s a dubious claim, as she’s had like $500 there over the last 4 months.
They sat our group of about 12 or 13 rather quickly for a busy bar/restaurant. That’s where the good stuff stopped happening.
It’s not like we found wigs in our food or watered down drinks, we just didn’t have a very pleasant experience (as is our wont). Ryan noted a breeze hitting our table, and it took like 4 hours for our drinks to arrive (the nachos came out much quicker than the drinks).
I don’t think I’ll have to describe the nachos after you see them. Look at them.
Now, we’re not a bunch of self-proclaimed nacho experts, but when some of the comments on these nachos sound like “Very basic/boring” and “not robust, I could have made it”, then you’re in trouble.
No further words needed, the rating is 2.5 out of 5 sombreros, and that’s generous.
Stop number 2 was El Fuego (2104 Chestnut St., http://elfuegoburritos.com/) . It pains me to even write one word about this place, because they didn’t have one very important element for our purposes: nachos. Now, don’t get me wrong, everything else was great: they ran out of margaritas, the beer tap didn’t work, and one of us died (find out next month). Besides that, it was great.
Ryan explains the scoring system
If this rating system was for a fun happy hour spot on a sunny day, this place would be great. We sat outside, the drinks (they managed to find) were cheap, and they had green chairs. Can’t beat that with a bate (Spanish for bat).
But, if if’s and but’s were candies and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas (there’s a saying like that).
So, El Fuego, may God have mercy on your soul, you get a n/a out of 5 sombreros.
To show we were open-minded about places with “El” in the title, we made the next stop El Rey (2013 Chestnut St., http://www.elreyrestaurant.com).
After Mexican Post and El Fuego, we could have been served a plate of cow chips with ketchup on top and had a laugh. Or one would think. El Rey was perhaps the most controversial place we went to (it was). The crowd was very divided. Most either really liked, or really disliked, these nachos (one was afraid of the chorizo-only option). Most agreed the structure and texture was good, but we all split up when it came down to the basics: chorizo being the only option, the cheese was not of the traditional shredded variety, and some were too full already.
El Rey nachos
Final score: 3.1/5 sombreros
Now we’re getting to the nitty gritty. The end of the night, we’ve eaten at 3 places already, and we’re tired (also, remember there’s drunken St. Patty’s Day people everywhere). What better place to wrap this up than at Jose Pistola’s (263 S. 15th St., http://www.josepistolas.com/). This is one of our favorite bars, but we usually just have a couple pops downstairs. We got the full treatment this night, grabbing a couple tables on the second floor and getting some nachos.
PICTURE UNAVAILABLE
For brevity’s sake, let’s just say that everyone loved them. They elicited such comments as “stellar”, “right on”, and “I’m wasted”.
Jose’s wins the Nacho-off (Nachoff? Nacho Off?) with a score of 3.95/5 sombreros.
Bravo, Jose. Tonight, you are a campeón (champion in Spanish).
Next month: IT’S BURGER TIME!
PhadEats 
