Time Won't Stop

Once again, I have let my blog go unwritten for an extended period of time.... let me say that I am alive and well, and I am still consuming in considerable quantities. Sometimes life is a bigger distraction than we'd like.

Today, I am planning on visiting Sancho's Tacos in Hesperia to tackle their 4-lb burrito challenge. I found out about this restaurant from a recent posting in the EatFeats database. They opened shop in August apparently. I can't find anything about the rules or requirements - and the listed phone number doesn't even work - but finishers are supposed to get a free shirt and a refund on the meal. I will be reporting on this challenge this weekend.

And, in a first, I will list upcoming posts for this blog.... I will soon be reporting on a recent trip to Red Lobster, during which a friend and I took advantage of the Endless Shrimp special and each devoured 18 orders of shrimp over a two-hour period. Good times indeed.

There will be photos as well.

Going Mad

Near Sacramento, there's a small town called Lodi.... right off the 5 Freeway on State Highway 12. It's a little bit away from the major metropolitan centers, involves driving through some farmland, and seems isolated, but once you get into the urban areas it's really a city like any other.

One colleague liked to tell me that if you've seen one city, you've seen them all. It doesn't matter where in the world (or country) you are. You find shopping centers, religious institutions, municipal buildings, eating holes, sewage systems, government offices. Names and spatial configurations might vary. But... a city is a city. A place where people gather to live and work, produce and consume. If only he told me that before I hit the road.

Lodi has those rows of businesses, much the same way you would find them in Hanford, Carson, or San Luis Obispo. I was there to visit a burger restaurant I had read about on EatFeats. Called Andre's Cafe and Catering, this place boasted a huge hamburger meal that would be completely free to any diner who could consume it in 30 minutes.

This behemoth of a cheeseburger is called the Madd Dogg Burger.... I guess you gotta be a little mad to order it, or mad to believe you're actually going to get it for free. It's 2 lbs of beef stacked high with double helpings of all the usual hamburger condiments.... tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, onions, pickles, and mayonnaise. You are also required to finish the side order of french fries.

The interesting element of the challenge is the fact that you can order any variation of french fries they serve - the garlic parmesan certainly sounded tasty, but I know that it's never a good idea to eat more on a challenge than you have to! Less is more, in this case. It's just a very basic strategy when it comes to restaurant eating challenges. I'm sure they wouldn't have minded if I asked for the chili fries, because I would have been the damn fool trying to cram down an extra pound of food.

As a side note, I vastly prefer hamburger challenges that feature multiple meat patties as opposed to one huge slab of beef. The patties are cooked separately, come out juicier and tastier, are easier to chew and swallow, and require far less liquid to get through. Giant slabs of beef, by contrast, tend to be baked until the point of dry blandness. They're hell to get down. They also don't really remind me of true hamburgers.

This combo costs $12.99, but it's free if you can do it in 30 minutes. I didn't take any snapshots during the challenge, because I was so taxed by the task at hand. I had never done a burger challenge before, and I really didn't know how to go about it. I began by eating the patties separately with ketchup, mixing in the veggies as I went along. The bun was no trouble at all, but I hated the cup of mayo that came with this burger. Ugh.

I finished the last french fry exactly at the 30 minute mark. I didn't think I was really going to make it! I was certainly glad I did, though. No point in eating such a ridiculous amount of food on a dare, and then having to pay $14 for a handful of french fries. I would have been just as satisfied with a smaller serving of food, and a smaller bill. 

It's all in the thrill of competition, and I climbed the mountain yet again.

I agree with this statement! Life's also too short to eat bad food. Andre's Cafe puts out some excellent American-style grub... I'll be sure to sample those parmesan fries the next time I'm in Lodi.

Let's just say that won't be for awhile....

Chocolate Ice Cream, Squared

Nothing says chocolate like Ghirardelli's.

Especially if you're willing to pay extra for it.

On a recent trip to San Francisco with my cousin, I fell into the typical tourist traps in the Bay Area. I had to see the Fisherman's Wharf. Stand in that area where you can see both the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay Bridges. And yes, I paid for parking. That's something you just don't do at home. But when you're on the road, you'll do some pretty crazy things.

So we had to go to Ghirardelli's Square while in town. The place was packed, but we got to sample a free piece of peanut butter-filled chocolate as we waited. It was definitely up to par. I don't know if it justified all the waiting though. I guess I have to chalk up the whole thing to a cultural experience. You sometimes have to suffer (financially or otherwise) to enjoy something new.

The corporate propaganda was certainly in full effect! There were posters and note cards everywhere informing me that Ghirardelli's chocolates were simply the best in the world -- the best tasting, and the highest quality. Well, a double-scoop ice cream cone certainly cost more here than it did in most places. Hopefully that implied something.

I was more than a little disappointed when my food finally arrived.

I don't know, but there was something depressing about seeing my ice cream cone delivered on a silver platter. You're supposed to hold a cone in your hand, like you see in those movies on a hot summer's day. I couldn't do that in this big fancy ice cream joint. I had to eat my ice cream cone with a spoon. 

The taste? It was absolutely spot-on. I selected Ghirardelli's Chocolate and Rocky Road. Both were excellent, deep, rich, flavors. My entire gripe centered upon presentation and to a lesser degree price. The place was busy, obviously, and their name commands a high volume of customers. There is a cost to be borne for such considerations.

Don't count on me going back the next time I'm in San Francisco!