Red Fez - @@@@

Went here for dinner tonight. Let me first start off by saying there is no sign to the restaurant. I think it is all based on local knowledge. When getting there, it is a small space with 5 booths, a long hightop table, and bar. We sat at the rather uncomfortable hightop which seemed too low for the barstools. The menu was similarly sparse with about 6 entrees and 6 appetizers. Mix in a few sides and you get a menu that supposedly rotates frequently.

So for dinner I split the steak frites along with chicken wings, corn fritters, and poutine fries. The steak was flavorful with a chimichurri sauce on top that just helped the flavor of the ribeye even more. The steak was cooked medium as requested and topped with a herb compound butter. The cool part was they put the crispy fries under the steak allowing them to soak up the juice and sauce.

The wings were Thai spiced and grilled. They were served up hot!! They again had a good flavor with some bonus heat. They were dry rubbed which allowed the spices to really penetrate the wings. I think they were served with some sort of sauce, but none was needed in my opinion.

Corn fritters and poutine fries were also tried. I didnt care much for the fritters; think hush puppies with corn on the inside. Usually I like fritters but today they didn't do it for me. The fries were again crispy but topped with a gravy that I honestly don't remember the flavor of.

Cool place, interesting concept, and good food makes me think I will return here in the future.

49 Peck St
Providence, RI 02903

Ironwood - @@@

Rare posting of a Michigan spot. Went here with some friends after golf and was decently surprised. This is a sports themed place that served some pretty good food. I got the brisket and while it didn't come close to the Texas stuff, it was passable. Fries were the seasoned ones and were amazingly hot, which I liked. Brisket had good flavor but was somewhat dry. Oddly I couldn't order the beef brisket sandwich but was able to get the platter. Does that make sense?

The 2 things I liked the most were the value ($13 for meal and included salad) and the abundance of hdtvs. It would be a good place to watch a game as flat panels were everywhere. It is not fine dining nor does it try to be. As long as they stick with their theme, I would try it again especially for a game with some friends.

840 West Ann Arbor Trail
Plymouth, MI 48170

Spain - @@@

Went back to Spain again last week and I was honestly a little disappointed from the first time. This time I got the arroz con pollo (fantasy football??) because the server said it was just like the paella except with no seafood. The problem is that the rice was not crispy at all. The food itself was good, well spiced and obviously presented amazingly, but I was missing that crunch to the rice that I expected. I think the problem was that the vessel it was served in was so deep. The food was super hot, so I know they baked it, but I think because of the depth the rice didn't get crispy. Chorizo, while there, did not add much perhaps because it was sliced so thinly. Still a good place to eat at, amazing value ($15.50 for this monster dish), and worth it to come back. I was just hoping to find that really good Spanish paella rice that I have heard so much about.

1073 Reservoir Ave
Cranston, RI 02910

Taco Bell.

Thursday night flight got cancelled so went international with dinner. I haven't been here in a while, so I tried all sorts of stuff: chalupa, nachos, Doritos tacos, and a potato burrito. Sadly they were out of the apple empanadas. It was as expected. Perhaps most revolutionary for me was this hard taco cardboard holder so it won't get crushed I can only imagine. I don't know if they are for all the hard tacos or just the Doritos ones.

This one was in Cranston, RI

Taco Bell

Thursday night flight got cancelled so went international with dinner. I haven't been here in a while, so I tried all sorts of stuff: chalupa, nachos, Doritos tacos, and a potato burrito. Sadly they were out of the apple empanadas. It was as expected. Perhaps most revolutionary for me was this hard taco cardboard holder so it won't get crushed I can only imagine. I don't know if they are for all the hard tacos or just the Doritos ones. 

Sent from my iPhone

Sedona from a distance

Amazing day driving back to Phoenix from Flagstaff. Had no idea it could be mid 80s in AZ in the summer

Brandy's - @@@

Early Flagstaff breakfast at a reasonably famous place that Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives went to. Obviously known for breakfast, I was eager to try something local. Though I am not usually a breakfast fan, I still can throw down with some omelets from time to time.

Went with the omelet with sausage, chorizo, and muenster cheese. I also ordered spinach too but there was no green stuff to be found. Boo to that. They also top the omelet with hollandaise sauce which is interesting. Regardless of what Anthony Bourdain says about hollandaise, I wanted to try it out here. First off the muenster cheese is so underrated it is silly. A great melty cheese, it tastes mild and melds well with other meats and toppings. Chorizo was a nice spice punch and sausage was good too. Hollandaise was creamy and unique; I wouldn't do it every time but was a good addition today. Side of country potatoes were well seasoned and slight crispy on the bottom, although I personally would've liked it a touch more well done.

Overall a good breakfast place to try out. Would I make it a must-stop every time...no. But I feel breakfast places are all around the same level, I can't think of anything where the breakfast was on a totally different level. There are bad places and good, with many at the good level. Two other people I was with also agreed with a 3 - pretty decent. If you are into DDD and around though, make sure you try it out for yourself.

1500 E Cedar Ave
Ste 40
Flagstaff, AZ 86004

Jacky's Galaxy Waterplace - @@

Went to this fancy Chinese restaurant the other day. I think I put this place on the blog before as an oxymoron. Fancy and Chinese don't seem to go together. Basically the same ingredients as your local Chinese spot but with a 200% up charge. The food was ok but certainly not worth the money. Our server was new and slow. He brought out food at odd intervals and different times. I did order the Restaurant Week menu which gave me a bonus app of boneless spare ribs and desert, but it didn't do enough to convince me to grade it higher. Also notice the broccoli is already cut which in my mind is a way to think you get more than you really do. The garlic was also halved as opposed to diced which made it tougher to eat. The decor was nice as one would expect from a PF Changs type restaurant; large fish, bright open area and white tablecloths. Overall if you want to see the water and eat Asian food then go here, otherwise there are much better places downtown.

200 Exchange St
Providence, RI 02903

Nautika - @@@

Went to this East Greenwich spot on the water this weekend. Got the veal and pepper sandwich. It was interesting since the sausage was beef not pork. Tasted good, pretty standard sandwich for a spot that specializes in seafood. It was also topped with balsamic reduced onions (actually sweet!) and roasted red peppers. Odd how I am starting to like these vegetables but they definitely added to the sandwich.

One bad thing was since it was a Friday night they had a live band who was playing about 10 feet away from where we were eating. Needless to say the conversation was limited when they were playing. At least it wasn't rock music but still detracted a bit.

Along the waterfront there are a bunch of places to eat at and I think this place is the best of the bunch. They all serve seafood though so these reviews may be skewed by the abundance of chicken sandwiches and fries type reviews. I still recommend this one the most but I think they all make the money off of the drinks they serve up endlessly on the weekends.

28 Water St
East Greenwich, RI 02818

Kitchen Bar - @@@

Went to Kitchen Bar tonight for a lightish dinner since we had grabbed some apps at the Marriott lounge. I went with an interesting sounding app...pulled pork fried wontons. Right size, they hit the spot. Inside was a good amount of pulled pork, allegedly house smoked. It tasted good but was slightly runny/puréed. Would've loved it even more if it had more chunks of pork. The fried wonton skin was perfectly crispy and topped with shredded carrot. Also it had a sweet and spicy sirracha glaze that was quite good. Think sweeter Asian zing sauce at BDubs. All in all good presentation and ingenuity I thought.

Only going 3 right now cause I didn't have a main dish. Others got a pizza that looked very standard and a calzone that looked typical. Will go back again to check for a full dinner but for now a decent find by my coworker.

771 Hope St
Providence, RI 02906

Block Island, RI

Just leaving Block Island, RI after a day of relaxing on the beach

Cabby Shack - @@@@

Went to this place out in Plymouth Massachusetts last Saturday before golfing. Wanted something to eat but not too much so this bread bowl clam chowder fit the bill nicely. Add that to the fact that this was much hyped by chef Beau MacMillan as "the best chowder he ever ate" and I was sold.

Chowder came out great, thick, creamy, and full of flavor. The base was a nice cream, but the telling point was the spoon that stuck straight up, allegedly a good judge of thickness. The bread bowl was slightly odd; a sweetbread as opposed to sourdough loaf. Still good though.

As a side note, my friend got a fried clam roll and it was absolutely packed with fried clams. They were also quite good, although it may have just been the fried-ness.

I would recommend this place to get chowder for sure. Best ever?? Quite possibly. As far as other seafood I am not sure since I dont eat it, but judging from the amount of people there and the great view into what I can only assume to be the Plymouth Bay, I would guess it is pretty good. Check it out!

30 Town Wharf Rd
Plymouth, MA 02362