Restaurant.com never ceases to amaze me by how insane their deals are. Every day, until the end of December (so that’s only 8 days left!) you can sign up 31 email address a day to get a free $10 gift card to use on their website. Now if you remember, you can get a $25 gift certificate for several Buffalo restaurants for only $10. And now you can use the code SANTA and get 80% off that, which means for $2 you can get a $25 gift card.
Buffalo Eats wishes everyone a safe holiday and look forward to Food Porn’s from Left Bank and Tokyo Shanghai Bistro coming after the holiday weekend.
Since going to the Taste of Buffalo this summer, Alli and I have still been trying to cross off some restaurants on our “wish list”. One of those restaurants that I thought I would have visited along time ago (especially since we now live less then a mile away) was the Niagara Cafe.
The only menu item I knew I absolutely had to order was their Beef Pattie (pictured below) or Pastelitos. Now this would be probably the 4th appearance of a Beef Pattie in any form featured on this website, but this is the first Beef and Cheese we’ve tried. If there was ever a food that was designed for a 4 am snack, this would be it. I would trade a hot dog stand for a beef pattie stand on Allen in a heartbeat.
It was such a delicious fried crispy shell, and the meat inside (combined with the cheese) was a perfect mix. For roughly $2 we got a fairly large pattie and if I ordered 5 more of those I would have been satisfied without trying anything else. It was just as good as I remembered from the Taste of Buffalo, maybe a little less crispy but filled with more beef.
For the main course Mike and I each ordered some fried pork. Mike ordered the Fried Pork Chops (~$9)which came with some rice, a bowl of tomato/bean soup, and a tiny salad. Ignoring all other sides, the spectacle of this dish was the fried pork chop. Clearly this was fresh from the fryer as the Pork chop was glistening with oil and the meat was juicy and warm. It came clean off the bone with just his hands and teeth.
I ordered the Fried Pork Pieces (~$8), which essentially was the same basic principle (frying the hell out of pork) but in a different form. Instead of a single chop, the pork was cut into little pieces and deep fried. The taste was phenomenal. Not only is oil and pork a great (albeit unhealthy) combination to begin with, but you could tell the oil hadn’t been changed in while (which is a good thing because all the flavor from previous meals were added to those pieces).
The Niagara Cafe is located on Niagara Street on the edge of the West Side of Buffalo, but don’t let that dissuade you from trying this little restaurant out. The area might have a bad reputation but you don’t have to worry about parking your car in the lot. If you want to, they appear to have a pretty fast takeout system and potential customers beware they only take cash (but they do have an ATM inside). Regardless, the food was fabulous and they menu has many other great options that are sure to satisfy most taste buds (they even offer fried chicken in a quarter, half, or even a full size which would easily feed a whole family).
When I found out that PF Chang’s was coming to Buffalo, I was pretty excited and I barely knew anything about their restaurants. I knew they were a national chain and I had heard a lot of kind words from my family and friends and I fondly remembered when they were mentioned in a hilarious South Park episode. Even with my stance on “no chain restaurants”, I have already broken that rule with The Melting Pot and figured that I could bend the rules for another “upscale” national chain.
The problem with these new restaurants in the Galleria Mall is that Buffalo apparently goes nuts and EVERYONE tries to go at the same time. It happened with The Cheesecake Factory, Bravo, and The Melting Pot. Just for kicks, Alli and I tried to stop in (without a reservation) on a random Tuesday evening and found out that the wait was 3 HOURS. I love food, and I love fine dining, but there really should be no reason to have to wait for 3 hours for food. The following day I made my reservation, 2 and a half weeks later.
Egg Drop Soup
Hot & Sour Soup
We arrived on our pre-defined date and only had to wait maybe 10 minutes to be seated. To start, the service was honestly great; our server was very friendly and constantly around to help with refills or to take our order. She also mixed together her “signature” sauce (pictured below) which included some vinegar, chili oil, and soy sauce. Apparently each server has their own thing and it’s a cute idea. I didn’t really use the sauce for much but Alli enjoyed it.
We decided to go with their “PF Chang’s For 2″ Special that is a great deal for any couple. For 39.99 we enjoyed two soups, 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, and 2 mini desserts. For our two soups, Alli ordered the Egg Drop Soup and I ordered the Hot and Sour Soup. While the Egg Drop soup was pretty standard in flavor, the Hot and Sour soup was fairly lackluster. To be fair, however, I haven’t enjoyed any Hot and Sour soup since trying out The Saigon Cafe’s this summer. Maybe its the gelatin.
Lettuce Wraps
For our appetizer we ordered the one item we had been dying to try, the Lettuce Wraps (see above). Literally every person who had been to aPF Chang’s made mention of how great this appetizer was. So, naturally, I was pretty excited to try it out, and it definitely lived up to my high expectations. Mixing in some of our server’s “special sauce” they were messy but very good. If there was one menu item that I can recommend for anyone considering a meal at PF Chang’s, it would be the Lettuce Wraps.
Crispy Honey Chicken
Sesame Chicken
For our main entrees we chose the Crispy Honey Chicken (in part because of a twitter follower’s suggestion) and the Sesame Chicken (a long time favorite). The Crispy Honey Chicken was pretty good, infact we ate the entire order fairly quickly. It wasn’t as “crispy” as I was hoping…I thought it would have a thick crispy batter that was completely unhealthy but instead it was very lightly fried (I should have paid more attention to their description on the menu). Still the honey glaze on the chicken was sugary sweet and quite delicious. I wish I could say the same for the sauce on the Sesame Chicken. It was really thick and tasted weirdly like BBQ sauce to me. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever eaten but I have had much better (and cheaper) sesame chicken from the cheap little Chinese restaurant down my street.
Overall, it seems to be that most of the entrees you can order at PF Chang’s are just prettier looking (and much more expensive) versions of what you can get at any corner Chinese place. And to be honest, your local Chinese take out probably tastes the exact same if not better. The Lettuce Wraps were the only menu item that I would go out of my way for. The service was great, the restaurant was actually gorgeous inside, and the atmosphere made you feel like you were in a hip “LA Style” restaurant. I’m glad Buffalo has gained another “high end chain” and that it gives us some weird form of credibility as a “real city”, but in my opinion the food isn’t that great and its definitely not worth a 2+ hour wait.
I’m upset I didn’t make it to any of the 4 challenges, but I’m really hoping to go to Season 2. For more information about the video check out Buffalo Rising’s article or Nickel City’s YouTube Channel.
source: CelebrateCanada.WordPress.com
For Day 2 of our Toronto Trip we decided to leave Yonge Street and the Eaten Centre and head off to Toronto’s Chinatown. I was expecting something similar to New York City’s Canal Street with the street shops, bootleg DVD’s and fake Purses. While those are fun and enjoyable at times they are also annoying and make walking down the street almost impossible.
We left our hotel and started the trek down Yonge Street for Chinatown with our lunch plans undetermined. After walking by a Korean BBQ place and being tempted we decided to have a light & cheap lunch and grab a bowl of Pho from Green Fusion, located right on Yonge. This was our first Pho attempt outside of Buffalo and Alli and I were pretty excited. Walking into the restaurant we noticed immediately that this was a good choice as we were the only english-speaking patrons inside (always a good sign for authentic cuisine). Alli ordered the Beef (top, roughly $5) and I ordered the Seafood (bottom, roughly $6). It was fairly typical with bean sprouts and rice noodles and available rooster sauce. Alli’s was really good, the broth was fantastic and the beef was very tender and rare when they brought out her bowl. My seafood was actually a little odd, the imitation crab wasn’t that great and the broth was noticeably very sweet. Needless to say it was a decent lunch (and reasonably healthy) and we saved ourselves some money that we planned on saving for future shopping that night.
For Toronto, their Chinatown really occupies the West Side of Dundas, a road that intersects Yonge and runs West to East. Instead of the shops that spill out into the streets, the shopping takes place actually inside stores (not much like Canal Street, which was nice). Walking down Dundas (which has a very hip, artistic vibe) you walk by Sushi restaurant after Sushi Restaurant (all advertising “All You Can Eat”). The buildings increasingly have less and less English written on their signs and you start to smell all these delicious restaurants coming from both sides of the street. We had read about a shopping center called Dragon City that has 3 floors of various food and shops and decided that was our first destination.
Walking into Dragon city I smelled this amazing dessert/waffle cone type scent coming from the corner. Surely enough, right as we walked there was a stand (pictured above) with two women making some type of waffle-like treat. I had literally no idea what it wasor really how I would order since very little if no English was spoken by anyone around. So I just walked over and gave the universal “1 Please” paid 3 dollars and received a bag with little “waffle buttons” and preceded to eat the order in less then 2 minutes. It truely was awesome and after getting back to the hotel later that night and doing some Google research I found out they are called Hong Kong Egg Waffles (I’m guessing because of the appearance). But in all seriousness, who doesn’t love a freshly cooked super sugary waffle?
As we walked deeper and deeper into Chinatown our original goal was to find Soup-filled Dumplings. We had only tried this out once before while visiting former Buffalo Eats staff member, Mike in New York City. They were pretty awesome and we’ve never seen anything like that since that trip in the summer of 2008. Well, after realizing that searching on our phones would roughly cost us $3,000 (thanks AT&T!) we walked around and hoped that something would stick out. Luckily we did in fact run into a fantastic hidden gem Banh Mi Ba Le. Now I’ve had Banh Mi (more info) once before but it was at 99 Fast Food and instead of the typical French Baguette roll they used a Constanzo’s roll (a Buffalo staple but not what I wanted). This location in Chinatown seemed incredibly authentic and smelled delicious. I ordered a Spicy BBQ Pork with all the fixings. Theirs had a great spread, a delicious mayo like sauce that was spicy and creamy that had just enough heat without becoming distracting. I’m not sure if this is the best place for Banh Mi in Toronto, but if you are in Chinatown I suggest stopping by for a sandwich. For 2.75 Canadian it is a fantastic steal for a large sandwich that would make for a great lunch.
After our Asian experiences we made it back to the Eaton Centre, did some more shopping, and started our search for our dinner location. For some reason, Fish and Chips was on our mind and we were slightly tempted to go to the Eaton Center’s food court and try out their “London Style Fish and Chips” but we decided that was pretty lame.
Looking through our magazines of the best places to eat in Toronto, The Duke of Kent stuck out for some reason. Were not sure why but we decided to drive a couple kilometers down Yonge Street and check out this English/Scottish Pub. Walking in, I automatically knew we made a great choice. The place seemed full of regulars and all were incredibly happy with pints of beer in hand. All of the beers on draft were heavy beers, most of which imported from England or Ireland. Already in the mood for an order of Fish and Chips we decided to split a large order (top, 12.99) and split a Traditional Shepherd’s Pie (bottom, 10.99). While Buffalo has a similar restaurant with WJ Morrisey’s (located next to HSBC Arena) I wasn’t as adventurous when i tried it and I can’t compare the Shepherd’s Pie. But if WJ’s has anything like The Duke of Kent’s I will be a regular in no time; the gravy and mashed potatoes were both great but it was the ground beef and lamb that made the dish delicious. Alli joked that it was a classy KFC Snacker Bowl but in all honesty it really was. After our meal and my pint of urBock’s Creemore (I know, its made in Canada) I suddenly had an urge to root for a soccer team and drink only dark beers.
We ended our last day in Toronto with something that has become more familiar to our diets, some Lebanese Food. On top of All you can Eat Sushi, Korean BBQ and “All Day Dim Sum” restaurants that we saw everywhere the most popular type of restaurant that we saw was Lebanese food. One of those restaurants that we passed was Wrap n’ Grab on Dundas. Looking at the advertisement on the outside, we saw that the price of the combo meals would be incredibly cheap. For $11 we ordered two Chicken Shawarma’s… which was chicken cut right off the spit then made into a wrap with some dressing, hummus, pickles, beats, onions, etc. Similar to our cheap meals during the previous day, we saved ourselves more money by eating at Wrap n Grab.
Considering this was our first chance to spread our foodie wings on a vacation, I think Alli and I did a good job. Sure there are things that I still want to try…I really want to try Dim Sum and a really nice Korean BBQ restaurant, for example… There was a good amount of Indian and Thai restaurants that looked appetizing and all the different Tea joints were equally tempting. Toronto is a huge city and you could eat there for 20 years and still have a wish list of 100+ restaurants. It made me a little disappointed that Buffalo is lacking in such a diverse culinary culture. I realized that more than anything Buffalo is lacking from a “Chinatown”-esque area. Something like that would not only have the appeal of some cool shopping areas but the restaurants those areas bring would be well worth it alone. But I guess I’ll continue to try and find the best of what Buffalo has to offer in the mean time.
I’m definitely looking forward to our next trip to Toronto and for the first time it has nothing to do with shopping.
When Alli and I made our reservations for Toronto several months ago, we realized that food would be a large factor in our plans. In fact this was our first vacation/trip since becoming “amateur foodies” and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity of eating food that normally wouldn’t be available in Buffalo.
So we went to Toronto on a mission: we would try not to eat anything boring and we would go out of our way to eat as much Asian cuisine from Chinatown as possible. Everything else was kind of a nice accident; aside from the first restaurant that we ate at, we didn’t really plan too much more and just walked around until we found something that caught our eye.
The day started with our only pre-destined location; something that has sort of turned into a regular visit every time I have gone to Toronto. Right next to the Hockey Hall of Fame is a restaurant located in the first floor of a corporate building called Richtree Market. Richtree is a Toronto based and Canadian exclusive chain that offers a “cafeteria” style atmosphere. All throughout the restaurant are stations that each have their own theme; you can get a burger or freshly grilled steak or some homemade pasta or try out some Asian cuisine or get some freshly made pancakes.
The food has always been pretty good and the incredible variety of fairly high quality options being prepared freshly while you wait has lead to a slightly over priced but still charming experience. After surveying all of my options, I eventually made my way over to the “Far East” section and tried out the Chicken Stir Fry (top picture). For roughly $12, I tried the spicy Thai Peanut Sauce with chicken, snow peas, baby corn, mushrooms, garlic, broccoli and a bunch of other stuff that was delicious. Really it was the Peanut Sauce that won Alli and myself over more then anything. Alli went to the “Grill” station and ordered herself a a nice juicy Burger that was covered in Bacon and Caramelized Onions. Delish.
Unfortunately, the taps were broken at the bar and I wasn’t able to try any of their microbrews. In either case, it’s a great place to head post-trip to the Hall of Fame, especially if you’re not sure what you want to eat.
After several hours of shopping, Alli and I tried to figure out what we wanted to eat for dinner. We settled on a restaurant across the street from our hotel (in all fairness our legs were pretty damn tired, and I needed a beer) and we settled on The 3 Brewers Microbrewery. After looking over the menu I realized that this was some French chain, with only a handful of locations in North America (all of which are located in Canada). I ended up getting a pint of whatever their special was for the night and enjoyed it. Thinking back I believe it was a red amber lager, and it definitely was filling and warmed me up on a particularly cold night.
After visiting Canada since turning 19 several years ago, I have (sadly) never experienced a true order of Poutine. Yes I understand that this is a Canadian staple (or at least to American’s who love it) but it has never interested me. The idea was never appetizing; even when Jim’s Steakout added it to their menu a year ago I didn’t budge. But this time around I figured I would try it out since Alli swears by it was going to order it whether I wanted it or not. Now I’m not sure if it was my insane hunger or that 3 Brewers made a really good gravy, but it was better then my expectations. Alli and I destroyed that bowl in minutes and all without forks!
Alli ordered herself the 3 Brewers Beef Stew, which had tender pieces of Beef, Potatoes, and Carrots cooked in their own beer-gravy and presented with some rice and greens. I ordered their “The Italian” Flamm, which they touted as their “Specialty”. Their Flamms or “tarte flambee” is a specialty from France which is basically “pizza-like” in its preparation, only recently becoming a popular item for restaurants to serve it resembles a thin crust pizza. At 3 Brewers their “Italian” had yellow, green and red peppers as well as Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese. While it wasn’t as “European” as I hoped, the execution was fantastic and I easily ate the entire thing by myself. There was just enough ingredients on the dish that it wasn’t heavy; you could eat an entire section and get all the flavors of the cheese, peppers, sausage and crust without feeling like you just ate a cake.
The service was pretty lackluster but the wait was actually pretty short and we sat down in less then 10 minutes (which is pretty impressive on a Friday night at 6:30 pm) but our waitress didn’t bring us drinks or forks until we were just finishing our appetizer. I understand the place was pretty busy but when asking if we could have a fork to eat our food with the response “those are kind of hard to get around here” was not the answer we were expecting.
When arriving back to the hotel we finally realized that we could indeed get free internet (thank god) in our hotel lobby and we went down t to get our facebook/twitter/perezhilton/sabres fix that we so desperately needed after 14 hours of no internet. As we sat down there we looked at the hotel’s menu and noticed some “Home made Chips with Caramelized Onion Dip” that sounded like a great 11 pm snack. So we put in an order and I enjoyed a Soparro on tap, which was fantastic. After realizing that we were sitting next to a semi-popular rock band, we also realized that this dip was fantastic and tasted like a high class, slightly creamier Bison dip. Such a simple item, yet it was so good that we ordered it again on Saturday night.
Check back tomorrow for Part 2 with our trip to Chinatown and an amazing English Pub.
Sorry for the lack of updates, we are currently enjoying a bit of a vacation in Toronto and have ate some fantastic food. When we get back into the states, you can look forward to a couple new Food Porns: PF Chang’s, Left Bank and The Niagara Cafe. In addition we will post a recap of the amazing food we’ve eaten in Toronto (a lot of Asian cuisine). Enjoy the weekend!
Going to the Buffalo Chophouse is always a treat, I’ve only been there 3 times (and to be fair, always as a “guest”) but each time it’s been quite awesome. My first trip was one of the first meals I ever had with Alli’s family; I ordered the Porterhouse and remember being shocked at how big a steak could be (along with the price). The second time was for Alli’s birthday, but for some reason the actual meal didn’t stick out in my head as much. This time we were treated by Alli’s family in celebration of our engagement and my meal might go down as the greatest I’ve had in years.
Over 2009 we have gone to several really nice restaurants, and I’ve eaten a decent amount of steak along the way. The rule of thumb when eating steak (from what I gather, I am not yet an expert in this area) is that the closer the cut to the bone (and the more fat distributed throughout) the more flavor the cut will have. Before I was a big filet mignon and strip steak eater, but I wanted to get something different this time. And I wanted something that I couldn’t order at a Outback Steakhouse or Applebees (both on my list of worst restuarants ever).
Everytime I have gone to the Chophouse, the one constant (aside from the dining party) has been Alli’s youngest brother ordering their Applewood Bacon. Now, I am not the biggest fan of Bacon but their $6 appetizer of 6 strips of fine Applewood Bacon is pretty damn delicious. Seriously each slice tastes like the bacon has been dipped in a warm apple candy glaze.
For myself, I ordered the Lobster Bisque for my appetizer. I honestly could have had a bucket of this for my main course. Before trying the Chophouse’s offering I’ve only had Lobster Bisque at Eckl’s. While Eckl’s version was great, this blew it away. The actual bisque was creamy like a tomato soup and of course The Chophouse did not skimp on the lobster meat inside. To top of it off (literally) they placed a perfectly baked, flake-y biscuit. This was an awesome start to an awesome meal.
For my main dish I ordered myself the 32oz Bone In Rib Eye Steak. Easily, one of the most expensive items I have ordered in a restaurant so my expectations were already high before I even cut off myself a bite. For those aren’t familiar with cuts of meat, the Rib Eye is generally a fattier meat and has that great “marbled” look. With that extra fat, and after being cooked with the bone still attached, the beef has a incredibly strong and delicious flavor. To top off the steak, our waiter suggested we finish it off “Oscar Style” which, as you can see from the picture above. meant that they were covered in a Bearnaise sauce (a delicious wine/butter sauce) and a huge lump of crab meat. On the side we enjoyed a hefty portion of broccoli and some french fries. You may think to yourself, why would you order french fries at The Chophouse? In my defense, it was Alli and her father and brother who wanted the fries (which, actually, are pretty great fries) and I was just happy to enjoy whatever food was placed in front of me.
Other meals ordered around the table included Filet Mignon and strip steaks and I can say with certainty that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and found every bite to be delicious.
For anyone going to the Chophouse, you expect a certain level of quality when you are paying such premium prices. Does the fantastic service, the great atmosphere (including incredibly comfortable furniture) and valet parking help? Of course. That said, even with the incredibly high standards I had going into this meal, I was still blown away. This could be the single greatest meal I’ve ever had in a restaurant since I started Buffalo Eats. Does it help that Alli and I were celebrating our new engagement with her parents? Yes, that certainly put us in a good mood to start, but the combination of a delicious and flavor packed cut of beef that was cooked to perfection (medium) and HUGE pieces of crab meat covered in a butter sauce…what else could you ask for? My only wish is that I had room for dessert.
Start saving up your money now, because the Buffalo Chophouse can easily be argued as one of Buffalo finest restaurant and every dollar you spend is well worth it.
Since I quit the retail world, I have enjoyed actually shopping on Black Friday instead of being on the other end. Many people ask me why, after spending 9 years working at 4 am to midnight, that I wouldn’t want to sleep in and enjoy the day off. Nope…I want to make sure I can do my little part to make that retail worker’s life that much harder; it’s time to join all the crazy shoppers. Along with my new tradition of shopping at an hour that most would find disgusting, is going out to “lunch” at 9am. This year after some shopping at the Galleria Mall we tried to grab lunch close by and at the same time we tried out a favorite of Buffalo Foodie Josh Potter….so we hit up Alton’s.
I decided to go for the open Beef Souvlaki which came with a side of Tzatziki. I’ve had my fair share of souvlaki in Buffalo, and I would have to put this a close second to Ambrosia as my favorite. The house dressing was seasoned well and the olives and feta were a little conservative but none the less incredibly delicious. I chose beef because I’ve been doing the “chicken thing” a lot lately and really wanted to switch it up. The beef, unfortunately, was fairly bland which made me wish I had chosen the chicken after seeing Alli’s open Chicken Souvlaki (see below). On a side note, Alli could not stop raving about the dill dip that was served with her dinner. She still talks about it weeks later. It was a wonderful condiment to the dish. Looking back, I really wish they had a Lamb Souvlaki option. They do offer Greek Lamp Chops, but that wasn’t exactly what I was in the mood for.
We ordered a side of Greek Potatoes, which I am discovering could mean a variety of things and each restaurant has their own idea. With Alton’s, they were sliced and fried potatoes wedges that were covered in some kind of dressing. It didn’t come with feta, so Alli and I decided to get an extra side to sprinkle on top.
Overall, Alton’s offered a pretty decent post-shopping meal. I’m sure I didn’t order the best item on the menu, but Alli’s Chicken Souvlaki was fantastic and, according to her, the dill dipping sauce was out of this world.. They don’t have a huge Mediterranean food selection, but their menu variety is impressive and the prices are reasonable and what you would expect from a diner type establishment. They cover everything from Pasta, Seafood, Sandwiches and Breakfast. There aren’t too many great “Open 24 Hours” (every day except Sunday) spots around town, especially ones that aren’t named Denny’s. So, if you are looking for one in the Walden Galleria area (not the greatest of restaurant selections) then definitely give Alton’s a try.
If I were to say that the best taco I have ever eaten was from at the Colden Country Inn (a restaurant in the hills of Colden, NY-4 miles north of Kissing Bridge), I would understand a fair amount of the doubt and confusion that would follow. I should emphasize that this taco wasn’t the most authentic, on the contrary, this was incredibly huge, fried, and American-ized and could easily make an appearance on This Is Why You’re Fat.
The Colden Inn is probably not on many Buffalo-ians “restaurant radar”, but for those in at least in the Southtowns, it should be. Walking inside you’re greeted by a bar that looks full of plenty of regulars and an impressive beer selection (10+ on draft, 15+ bottles). Just walk around the corner and you’ll enter a hallway that leads to the dinning area. We sat down on a table that reminded me of one that would have been found in my grandparent’s old house. The mood is incredibly down to earth and simple, and I really was enjoying it.
Yuengling on draft, always a plus
Sweet Potato Soup
Sitting down, I had already decided that I would be ordering the Deep Fried Taco, Lauren (my fiance’s sister) and her boyfriend Ted have been telling me about it for weeks prior. But I was looking for something else to enjoy when I got there as an appetizer. Lately I have been on a Sweet Potato kick; for years as a kid I refused to eat them, but I now crave them. So I opted for their Sweet Potato soup as a starter. It was pretty much a bisque in terms of texture and consistency but actually had a good amount of spice behind it. For anyone who loves Sweet Potatoes, you really wouldn’t be going wrong with this soup. I wish I could have had tried more items on their menu such as their signature Hot Garlic Chicken Wings, but I was on a mission.
The Deep Fried Taco
More Deep Fried Taco
Now, when I originally imagined what a “Deep Fried Taco” could be, I had imagined just a regular ole’ soft taco lightly fried. However, this taco destroyed any preconceived notions I could have had. This thing was SERIOUSLY DEEP FRIED to a thick beer-battered crisp. You could hold it (provided it had cooled down) and actually take a nice huge bit without it falling apart in your hands. And inside was a delicious blend of cheese, lettuce, peppers, chicken (or beef/vegetable if you want) among other items that stayed juicy and delicious despite the incredibly fried exterior. It was fabulous.
Looking back, over the many delicious meals I’ve had since February when I started this website, nothing has defined the term “Food Porn” better then Colden Inn’s Deep Fried Taco. It was literally the size of the head and probably took a few years off my life due its fat content, but it was worth it. For a moment, I contemplated eating more, but after finishing the full taco I realized I made the right call with sticking to just one.
The cool thing about the Colden Country Inn is that every day of the week they have something special going on. Monday’s are Wing Night, Tuesday is Taco Tuesday and is the ONLY day you can get a Deep Fried Taco, Wednesday is Beef on Weck, Thursday has some seafood specials, and Friday is, of course, Fish Fry. They even have special meals for the various holidays and I was told they have a fantastic Thanksgiving Meal.
If any of this seems even remotely enticing, please understand that I can’t really do this delicious meal justice. It’s one of the best things I’ve eaten all year, in fact if I was going to make a “Best of 2009 List”, this would easily be in my top 5. So if you ever find yourself near Colden (maybe on your way back after a full day of skiing) do yourself a favor and stop in at the Colden Country Inn. The prices are incredibly reasonable, the tacos are delicious, and the atmosphere is casual and cool…a perfect combination for a great night.
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