Bravo Brasserie - @@@@

Went to dinner here tonight after I was inspired by Anthony Bourdains book Kitchen Confidential that I finished yesterday. Since he is a somewhat chef at Les Halles and he was talking all sorts of French, I decided I wanted steak frites.

Got to the restaurant and didn't even need to look at the menu...steak frites it was. I also mixed in a French onion soup as well, but that was fairly ordinary. The bread that came out however was really good. First off it was hot aka right out of the oven they say. The butter was whipped which meant easily spreadable. And it was just a loaf of white French bread, not even cut up. Just tear in and enjoy. Then the steak frites. For some reason I was envisioning a thin cut of sirloin, ha this was just the opposite. A fistful size cooked perfectly medium rare was finished simply with some fresh cracked pepper. Juicy and great, it was meat prepared straightforward from the broiler I imagine. The frites were nice and crispy, as I had imagined they would be. Golden brown, they were cut nice and thin and once finished with some salt were very tasty. Definitely hit the spot on dinner.

For some reason I always think of French food as cream based sauce meals that are really rich. I greatly enjoyed this alternative where they take good ingredients, spice slightly and cook perfectly. Do check this place out and I think one of my better PVD meals.

123 Empire St
Providence, RI 02903

Fenway seats

This was my amazing seat at Fenway. Forgot about the old school parks with obstructed view seats. Great game and really fun though - definitely need to check it out if in Boston!

Fenway Park - @@@

Went to a Tigers-Red Sox game a few weeks ago. Though the Tigers lost 6-4, it was still a fun time. Had a bunch of random food - steak sandwich, fries, sausage, but also had to get the famous Fenway Frank. Strictly on the food I have had better at ballparks. It is what it looks like, a hot dog served in a special New England style bun. Steak sandwich and sausage was good - I think better than the hot dog. All in all, decent for a 100 year old spot.

Chelo's - @@

Went to this waterfront restaurant last night with our team. It was really hot and humid, but thought it would be cooler by the water. Haha we were wrong. The food was meh, but I don't think people come for the food. The waterfront marina and weather gets the people in. Unlike Harborside, there is a wide range of people which makes it more of a laid back place. I could see it turning into more of a club-type atmosphere on the weekend though.

Got a steak sandwich which was totally standard, nothing special. Steak not overly tender, bread not especially tasty. But again the food is not the main reason why people go. Also I didn't have seafood which is obviously what this place is geared towards.

Would go back for the atmosphere but grab a bite somewhere else if you are hungry.

1 Masthead Dr
Warwick, RI 02886

Spain - dessert

Quick picture of the tres leches dessert. Can't remember ever trying it so I wanted to get it here even though I was full basically already. Good, not overly sweet, soaked cake with a vanilla cream on top. It was served chilled which I liked. I enjoyed it

Spain - @@@@

Went to Spain tonight for dinner. The restaurant in Cranston, not the country. It was really good, got a chorizo appetizer, smothered veal cutlet, and tres leches dessert. Oh and also garlic soup. All really good.

The smothered veal cutlets were covered with cheese, spinach, and imported ham in some reduction sauce over mashed potatoes. It was really good how it worked together. I am slightly skeptical about authenticity as I had a similar pork chop dish from an Italian spot yesterday.

Appetizer of chorizo was spiced with paprika and olive oil. It was well seasoned and crunchy on the outside, with tender pork on the inside. Oil was also utilized for the bread as it was a great compliment. Garlic soup was interesting. It was about the consistency of a cream soup and did not have overpowering garlic flavor. More refined, I did not finish the whole bowl but it was worth a try.

I do look forward to going back it was that good. I will look to try more typical dishes like either paella or arroz con pollo. Coworker also agreed that it was one of their favorite meals so far in RI. Will go back for sure.

1073 Reservoir Ave
Cranston, RI 02910

La Casona Restaurant - @@@

Went to this local Colombian restaurant with a local Colombian coworker the other day. Place is definitely not a tourist spot. I couldn't even find it on yelp. 

As you may imagine, decor was not first priority. The place is a half bakery, half restaurant. Definitely not as nice as the Bridgeport Colombian spot I went to and that wasn't even that nice. So let's go with the food here. Started off with a fruit juice with milk that my coworker ordered for me. I told him to get me something authentic. It was good, and quickly downed that with some empanadas. The empanadas were good and had an amazingly "fresh" salsa. It seemed fresh but was stored in containers that probably are not cleaned after each emptying. I enjoy the Colombian style empanadas because they integrate the shell with the filling. Sort of like mashed potatoes and gravy, they are paired together as opposed to a separate shell and filling like say a cannoli. Had beef and chicken ones; for $1 they can't be beat but I'll take the beef. 

For dinner again went with the main meal. I think it's called bandeja and has the rice, beans, pork, steak, sausage, egg, and arepas. So the food seemed reasonably spiced, but just didn't wow me like the place in Bridgeport. The meat didn't seem as tender or flavorful. Although I think I did eat the pork correctly this time, without the rind. I believe it's called chicharron. You can have either steak or chicken, and I was able to try some of the chicken. That was well seasoned and good; it went well with the rice and salsa. The arepa was dry ad I remembered even after dipping it in the beans as recommended. 

Overall the place was pretty cool and definitely off the beaten path. Locals for sure. Our business clothes made us stick out big time so it was good that my coworker was speaking Spanish to them or they would've thought we were really lost. Good and worth a try if you are adventurous both food wise and location wise. 

804 Broad Street
Central Falls, RI

Sent from my iPhone

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles - @@@@

Last meal in LA had to be Roscoe's right? I mean where else can you get that world famous combo of fried chicken and waffles? Ok everywhere but this spot is certainly one of the most famous.

I wen there a few years ago and remember the chicken to be remarkably crispy yet not greasy. Was it still the same?? Absolutely. The chicken was fried up incredibly crispy and moist yet seemed minimally greasy. How they do it I have no idea. It is some of the best chicken I've had because of the crispness and juiciness. It is unlike other fried chickens in that it is not overly spiced, just greatly fried chicken.

So why not a 5 rating? The waffle. It is simply not as outstanding. I guess they have their secret famous recipe, but it was too mushy for me. Full disclosure here though cause I am not the biggest fan of waffles, but I prefer mine to be a little thicker and have a nice little crunch to them.

I still don't have a clear idea why the chicken and waffles concept works so well, but it does. Maybe the salty chicken and sweet waffle? Or the extra butter and syrup just matches the chicken? I don't know, but you should check this out for sure.

Note I went to the Pico location and they have a parking lot which is sort of rare for LA according to my friend. So it has that going for it too. Also as we went for breakfast (9 am), they already had a security guard in the lot directing traffic and a couple of what seemed to be off duty cops chilling in front for crowd control. Intense....

5006 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019

Street tacos

Have no idea where I was, but we checked out this taco truck late night style. Food trucks are the new cool and LA is all about them I guess. I think these were steak and al pastor. Not as good as La Pasadita though...

Philippe's - @@@

Went to the home of the French dip sandwich while in LA. Now this is disputed with another LA spot (aren't these things always disputed?) but I still wanted to try it.

We ordered one beef and one lamb and split them. The lamb is the one on the right and beef on left. Surprisingly the sandwiches did not come with au jus. Rather the rolls were already dipped so it was constructed similarly to an Italian beef sandwich. They were good, but certainly not great. I really feel the place is still around because of the claim to fame rather than amazing sandwiches. The beef was certainly tender, though not especially spiced. Same goes with the lamb, though obviously a touch more gamey. Also had a side of cole slaw which was decent. Highlight of meal was thinking the squeeze bottle was mustard when it was really horseradish! Oops!

Try it cause it is the home of French dips, but don't be expected to be blown away by an amazing sandwich. It was relatively cheap though so it was worth it. The crowd was also an interesting mix of locals and clear tourists. Also had random wood shavings/chips on the floor, perhaps for that local barish (they served beer and wine) feel. Just an interesting spot all around.

1001 N Alameda St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Souplantation - @@@

Went here last Sunday when we were all pretty hungry. There is not too much to talk about at an all you can eat salad and soup bar. They had everything a normal salad bar would have including pre-made salads for those that don't want to construct one. I liked the Asian one, light and crisp with good flavoring and balance.

Also had unlimited soups with a decent variety including chili, broccoli cheese, chicken noodle, clam chowder, and buffalo wing. Again pretty normal although I surprisingly enjoyed the clam chowder the best. I think it was because it was thick, creamy and contained more potatoes and bacon than clams.

There were also other items that I really didn't try. Think of local bakery items and you would probably guess most of them. Also since we came at the tail end of breakfast they also had frittata-like items and waffles. They also have pasta but there was no chance I was going or that after many meals of Italian. Also had a modest dessert bar that did delight me with caramel sauce.

Overall cool concept that was certainly well received in southern California. Soon after we got there, there was a wait list for seats with many large families continuing to pour in. I liked it and the price was reasonable for essentially salad. I guess this place is also called Sweet Tomatoes in other parts of the country. I would check it out again on another trip.

2825 Main Street
Irvine, CA 92614

Jazz Kitchen - @@@

Went here back to back weekend nights last weekend in LA. Friday night went with the beignets, which were fried fresh, hot and covered with powdered sugar. They were quite good after a long flight and have you enough sugar energy to keep going. From what I hear, they stay with the Cafe du Monde style of coating the beignets by dumping the powdered sugar in a bag then the beignets and shake. Pretty effective if you ask me. There was so much sugar that my cousin just dipped his hand in the bag after all the beignets were dispensed and was still covered in sugar.

The next night everyone went back for the beignets again. I instead went savory with the chicken and andouille sausage jambalaya. I thought it was ok. The rice seemed clumped together in a fashion similar to Chinese sticky rice as opposed to moist rice with the sauce. I know that sounds weird, but you can definitely tell if it is clumpy or just moist. It was well spiced after I added some Red Rooster hot sauce to it. I have never been to New Orleans, but it seems that Red Rooster is somewhat indigenous to NO as some other Cajun themed restaurants I have been to had that hot sauce as well. It is good and does not kill your mouth. Very similar to my favorite Louisiana hot sauce. Not the best jambalaya I have had but was adequate for the night.

One thing I was pleased with is that both times we went the food was served hot. I know that can be altered by a microwave, but I am still glad to get hot food. All too often the food is sitting around it seems like and just a shade under hot temperature. And though downtown Disney is built around Micky, there were lots of adultish people there, including us. Walking around at night, watching fireworks with family and hanging out certainly boosted the ambiance and made the food that much more enjoyable.

Disneyland Resort
1590 S Disneyland Dr
Anaheim, CA 92802