Pat's King of Steaks

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Well, I had an early morning flight off to Philly after seeing the one and only parade on my Mardi Gras agenda. Needless to say, I was quite hungover. So, what better way to cure it by filling my stomach with a Philly Cheesesteak! Oddly enough, I just to happened to go to another site that was featured in Food Wars and Food Feuds. The episode of Food Wars that took place in Philadelphia was for the best Philly Cheesesteak. The contestants were Pat's King of Steaks and Tony Luke's. In Food Feuds, it was Pat's vs Geno's, a rival that sits just across the street. This time, I picked the winner of BOTH shows. Pat's has been around since 1930 and is considered as the co-founders of the cheesesteak. You step up to the window and ask for a cheesesteak "wit", meaning you want onions on it. They operate at a super fast pace. So fast that my cheesesteak came out literally in seconds. I ordered the pepper cheesesteak "wit" with an order of fries.(which you order separately a window down)

The difference with this place compared to many other cheesesteaks is the cheese. If you don't specify what type of cheese you want on your sandwich, they automatically load it up with cheese whiz. You can ask for provolone or American too. They use thinly sliced rib eye for their meat and place it on Italian bread, which tends to be a little bit chewier than what I'm used to in the South. (French bread) This cheesesteak was delicious. This place is the definition of "simpler is better". Very tender chopped up rib eye with some grilled onion and cheese whiz, can you really go wrong with that?












Pat's King of Steaks - 1237 East Passyunk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
http://www.patskingofsteaks.com/

Crabby Jack's

New Orleans, Louisiana

You're in New Orleans for some Cajun/Creole influenced food, sure you are. But, it's not the etouffee or gumbo that reigns supreme. In this city, it's all about the Po'boy, and the Po'boy will always be king. I haven't tried every place that sells them... yet... but I can tell you that this place is DEFINITELY worth stopping by.

Crabby Jack's doesn't sell just Po'boys, they range from seafood specials such as blackened fish with hollandaise, fried green tomato salad, fried chicken and sides that cover all bases (jambalaya, mac & cheese, potato salad and slaw). I haven't explored much into their full menu, but I would assume it's good. After all, they do belong to the same owner that owns the famous restaurant, Jacques-Imo's on Oak Street.

I ordered both the Calamari and Cochon de Lait Po'boys. And you can order them to be fully dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickle and mayo.

So, for the calamari, it was fried really well. Definitely not over cooked because they can end up hard as rocks if they're fried for too long. I can't say much other than that it was really fresh, and delicious. I added some Crystal hot sauce on it for an additional kick. (As listed on their menu, these things really are overstuffed)

The cochon de lait on the other hand, needed nothing. It had a good amount of spice to it which was pleasant. The sauce was delicious and the meat was so tender that you have no problem shredding through it with your teeth. This does get a little sloppy but, who cares when you're dealing with something that tastes THIS good.

The bread that they use is also a very good find. The crust is firm enough to not fall apart and the inside is so soft that it could be mistaken for a pillow. I absolutely love this place. The atmosphere, the food, and the people that take your order shows what New Orleans is all about. Making new friends and eating delicious food!

*Note*
Their hours are limited from a lunch time to an early dinner.

Crabby Jack's - 428 Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, Louisiana
http://crabbyjacksnola.com/

New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Burgers and seafood? Yeah sure, why not?

I had a friend craving some white beans and rice when she rolled into town, and this was the spot she mentioned. New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co., an establishment with nine locations around the New Orleans area. We dined in at  the St. Charles location, which is a block down and across the street from Superior Seafood.

Well, I'll go ahead and get into the meal. We started off by ordering the Oysters Saint Rock. It's a fried oyster served in a half shell on top of creamed spinach, pepperjack cheese and a Tabasco hollandaise. Not the conventional way to serve oysters, but I must say that it was pretty damn good. The creamed spinach was maybe a little bit on the dry side but the Tabasco hollandaise made it out to be pretty nice.

Considering that this place has the word "hamburger" in their name, I figured that I couldn't really go wrong by ordering one. I went with The Grand Parade. It comes with apple smoked bacon, bleu cheese, red onion and bbq sauce. Every burger also comes with their garlic herb fries.

First, I tried one of their fries. Just based on it's physical appearance and the smell, I figured they'd be ridiculously good. Unfortunately, this garlic butter and herb dressing they put on it was a little over the top. The flavor was good, but made the fries unbelievably heavy. There was actually so much of it that it made some of the fries on the bottom rather soggy, and also crept onto my hamburger bun. So heavy that I couldn't finish them all.

The hamburger on appearance again looked pretty tasty. The bun by itself made it look pretty delicious. The actual hamburger patty didn't hold much flavor at all, poorly seasoned. The toppings were pretty much the only thing saving this guy. The bacon was cooked well though. Pretty disappointed,  I would have to say.

What they seem to pride themselves on is their thin cut catfish, which comes along with the order of white beans and rice.

I tried my friend's white beans and rice first and it was loaded with a smoky flavor. I found it to be pretty appetizing, but if you're not partial to smoky flavors, I'd probably stay away from it. The thin cut catfish on the other hand was delicious! The batter made it very crispy and it was seasoned pretty well. I could probably eat a few plates of it by itself.

One pleasant surprise is the unlimited soft serve ice cream cones you can get! Our waitress told us about it at the end of our meal. The waitstaff was friendly, and the environment was pretty much like a normal sports bar. Overall, my experience here was fairly average.

New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co. - 4141 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
http://www.nohsc.com/home/uptown/

Louie's Cafe

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

You think "open 24 hours a day," and probably think of Waffle House and IHOP. If you're around the north gates of the LSU campus, save yourself the trouble of deciding on the two commercial places and hit up Louie's Cafe! Known for their awesome hashbrowns and hamburgers, this place has been serving up hangover cures and breakfast feasts to Baton Rougians and LSU students since 1941. One of the best things about this place is that you can order anything on their menu at any time of the day. A perfect place to get your "brinner"(breakfast at dinner time) on.


I decided to get Combo  #3, which comes with a waffle or pancakes, two eggs cooked any way, and your choice of bacon, links, patty or ham. I'm always a waffle man, but unfortunately their waffle iron was broken that night, so I had to settle for pancakes. I chose the bacon and ordered my eggs over easy. Everything is delicious. You can't really go wrong with this combo, the only thing missing was an order of their delicious hashbrowns.

My friend and I decided to split an order of their Pepper Jack Hashbrowns. It's Louie's hashbrowns, that always comes cooked with onions and other spices, but topped with jalapenos and melted pepper jack cheese. These are my favorite because I enjoy the heat, but you can get them in tons of different ways (chili/cheese, sausage/cheese, or with mushrooms, colby and sour cream).

This place can fix any hunger need at any time of the day, what else more could you ask for? Only downer is that their delicious biscuits are only served from 6AM-11AM.

Other than that, swing by, grab a seat on the old school stools and enjoy some history.

Louie's Cafe - 206 West State Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
http://www.louiescafe.org/

Fat Hen Grocery

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New Orleans, Louisiana
It's breakfast time on St. Charles and I was pleasantly introduced to Fat Hen Grocery. Immediately after parking my car across the street car tracks, I catch the aroma of cooked bacon in the air. If anyone is a fan of bacon... which many of us are, you'll probably enjoy their food.

I started off with a glass of their fresh squeezed orange juice and the recommended appetizer of the Billionaire's Bacon. Thick cut bacon drizzled with praline sauce. Well in my case it was covered, not drizzled but still AMAZING. If you're a fan of candied bacon, this is to die for. The combination of sweet and salty and the pecan garnish creates a great flavor. It's also probably the thickest cut of bacon I've ever consumed so they don't cheapen it there.

Here is their Breakfast Fried Rice, it comes with 2 eggs any style, jasmine rice, ham, mushrooms, English peas, topped with green onions and sesame seeds. I knew that it would be a play on just normal fried rice, but surprisingly found it with more Oriental style than I expected. It was okay, I caught a lot of ginger seasoning in it which pretty much overpowered the flavor of everything else for me.





This is an order of one of their pancakes. One single pancake turns out to be the size of a tire and about 3/4 of an inch thick. We asked to cook it with bacon inside, we caught an awkward look from our waitress but she came through and they actually did it.

One item that caught my mind was the Duck Hash & Eggs. It comes with 2 eggs sunny side up on top of hash browns with ShaneMade duck bacon, asparagus, roasted tomatoes, truffle vinaigrette, and your choice of either toast or one of their homemade biscuits. I had no idea what they meant by duck bacon, but any kind of bacon is good with me. It turned out to be slices of duck with a trim of fat on top, making it appear to look like bacon, quite delicious if you ask me. They certainly know how to cook eggs and the pairing of ingredients were pretty nice. I would have liked a little more crispiness to my potatoes though.

The homemade biscuit was really good too, they serve them with their homemade spread as well. Overall I had an enjoyable experience here. The atmosphere is pretty unique, they have stool seating on a bar, tables, and booths on the side. They catch a lot of flack for terrible service but we had a really good waitress. It was early in the day though and not very busy. This place did eventually get slammed as we were finishing. Another good thing is that they allow you to bring your own bottles of champagne. With their fresh squeezed orange juice, it made for some awesome mimosas.

Fat Hen Grocery - 7457 Saint Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
http://fathengrill.com/

Surrey's Uptown

New Orleans, Louisiana

On the historic Magazine Street of New Orleans is an incredible full service restaurant in the Lower Garden District. This is Surrey's Uptown. My friends and I decided to come here for breakfast after a night out, and it surely did the trick. The outside is covered by a gigantic oak tree and there awaits the hostess that takes a famous actor/actress' name to save your seats. Inside is very homey, and reflects the housing style of uptown New Orleans, "To a T."

We had to wait a little while because the weather wasn't very cooperative. The seating outside eventually got shut down.







We were all practically starving so we didn't hold back on the amount of food to order. One of my friends ordered the Gaucho Sandwich, this bad boy came with a sausage patty, eggs, tomato inside two pieces of toast. The kicker to this great sandwich was the delicious chimichurri sauce that comes with it. The sauce highlighted the entire thing. Even though this breakfast sandwich came with sausage, it wasn't very heavy, and it allowed you to devour the delicious hash browns that come on the side. My buddy is obsessed with Crystal sauce (as you can see) What I love about this place is that they have Crystal, Louisiana and Tabasco hot sauces at every table. And the debate for which is best will forever continue...

A huge upside to Surrey's Uptown has to go be their ability to make delicious food for all customers. They are both vegetarian and vegan friendly! My little Indian friend opted to go with a spinach and cheese sandwich that also came with tofu and tomato. I tried it and it was actually pretty good. There were small hints of basil in the spinach mixture which was delightful, and the pieces of foccacia bread that they used for it was delicious. In fact, they make ALL of their biscuits, foccacia and bagels in house from scratch.

Even though the veggie sandwich was pretty good, there is no way that I can complete a breakfast meal without some form of meat. And Surrey's chicken biscuit was my answer.

Look at this masterpiece! I'm pretty sure that the chicken was fried in a cornmeal batter and it was very juicy too. The sheer size of this thing probably would've been enough for anyone, but the homemade biscuit made it so much better. The chicken was topped with a sausage gravy and cheddar cheese. You also get the option of adding two eggs, so I did that. One of them also had two yolks. Lucky me! And, I got the side of their delicious hash browns. They were seasoned very well and crispy at that. Overall, an excellent meal.

I highly recommend this place to all eaters. They have great food and very friendly waitstaff.

*Note* Cash Only





Surrey's Uptown - 4807 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
http://www.surreyscafeandjuicebar.com/Surreys-Uptown/

Blend

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Right off of the corner of Third Street and Laurel Street, there is a new hot spot that serves all kinds of wines, specialty cocktails and some great food to pair with any drink on their menu. The exact location is where The Wine Loft used to be located in downtown Baton Rouge. 

The interior is rustic but yet classy at the same time. It would be a great location to have a conservative night on the town, a business meeting or just a casual date. Highlights of this experience has got to go to the food. The chef, Eric Sibley, creates great innovative food that is not very common for this city.  As a Baton Rouge native, he seemed to be quite familiar to incorporate newer techniques with the old fashioned style that us southerners are so used to. He even graced our table with his appearance when bringing out our food, which was quite nice.

A few days before, I came across a picture of their Crawfish Croquettes that I was craving to try. So, without hesitation, that was what I decided to order. The friends I was with also ordered the Roasted Oysters, Beef Short Rib, and a cheese plate.

When ordering a cheese plate you get to choose from a variety. We opted to go with two cheeses from France. A goats milk triple cream goats milk brie and port salut made from cows milk. The other was from Spain, A sheeps milk Idiazabal D.O.  All were fantastic, and the presentation was great as well. It comes served with crispy flatbread, red bell pepper and strawberry jam, grapes, and roasted cashews. We were completely satisfied with the taste of all the cheeses and you could probably put the red bell pepper and strawberry jam on anything and make it taste great. 

The Beef Short Rib was absolutely delicious. It was set on top of stone ground grits, red wine au jus, wild mushrooms, spring garlic and roasted tomato confit. You could tell that it took quite some time and skill to prepare based on the tenderness of the beef and how nice and smooth the grits were. We were able to pull apart the meat easily with just our forks. Pairing it with the confit will give you a savory memory that you will not forget.

Next was the Roasted Oysters. This isn't the common chargrilled or rockefeller style that we're accustomed to. But, they certainly did not disappoint. It came garnished with creamed spinach, roasted red bell pepper, topped with an herb crust and dried corn. The flavor from the creamed spinach and roasted bell pepper worked really well with the oyster. It wasn't very heavy like some chargrilled or rockefellers might be. It was very light and subtle, but full with flavor.

The Crawfish Croquettes were all that I hoped for. It comes accompanied with New Orleans style chow chow (a type of relish), Tabasco and a chive cream reduction. I first tried the first one by itself. Which ended up being perfectly fine if it came served that way. Nice and airy for a fried food, and who doesn't love the taste for crawfish in Baton Rouge?

The plating for not only this item, but for all of them were great. This one in particular served more of a purpose. The chow chow and the cream reduction were spread around the plate to let you choose how you would like to eat it. The chow chow provided a nice contrast of sweet and spicy and the chive cream reduction provided a mild taste with a silky texture.

Every dish looked beautiful and every plate was completely clean by the time we finished. Our server was also on top of his game and very knowledgeable with the wine selection. You could definitely say that we were all satisfied with our experience.






Blend - 304 Laurel Street STE 1B, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
http://www.blendbr.com/main/