Just wanted to let it be known that I've put together a fairly comprehensive list of Omaha restaurants that are open on Sunday, as this is the day I seem to eat out the most and have the hardest time doing so.
Eat Here, Sunday
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
13 October 2009
02 September 2009
Meat is the New Bread
Perhaps you've heard of the new KFC "sandwich", the Double Down. Since we do not have television this beast remained unknown to me until about two weeks ago when at lunch my boss asks me, "Have you seen the ads for that new sandwich that has chicken instead of bread?" to which I quite obviously replied, "What?! No! I can't believe it's finally come down to that". He was determined to have one and I said good luck sir, that doesn't seem like anything a sane person would want to ingest. A week or so passed, he had one (unfortunately while I went home for lunch one day so I didn't see it) and remarked that it was pretty good. I didn't think much more of it until I saw this dreaded concoction appearing on some of the food blogs I read.
Turns out KFC is testing the sandwich in two test markets: Omaha and Providence, RI. Well, that changed my opinion of the thing. If there was a chance that I may never be able to eat a sandwich with deep fried chicken cudgels surrounding two types of chees, two strips of bacon and "Colonel Sauce" in the name of science I simply had to try it. And on a more socially conscious note I figured there would be some sort of survey accompanying the thing where I could do my part to make sure it never sees a wide release.
It was all over the KFC on 84th and Harrison, the marquee spoke of it, there were signs in the windows and a humongous picture of it was on the menu. $4.99 for just the sandwich or $6.99 for the combo which included fries and a drink. Not a bad deal considering you are more than likely getting an entire days worth of fat, calories, sodium and probably a host of other things from it (KFC has not released nutritional data ranging from KFCs "estimates" of 590 cal and 31g of fat to an independant lab which suggests it has more than 1500 cals and over 80g of fat). I decided a combo would be a bit much and just went with the sandwich. Sure enough when they handed me the bag accompanying it was a piece of paper with an internet address where I could fill out a survey and then recieve a $10 gift certificate to KFC. Great I thought, I can buy 3 or 4 of their death bowls for that on my way to the hospital after this sandwich!
When I got back to work a hush fell over the lunch room, apparently word had spread that I was going to get a sandwich with chicken instead of bread and people were anxious to see. Inside of its cardboard house I found the thing wrapped in a protective wax paper sleeve to prevent chicken bits from getting all over your hands. It's got some heft to it, which should be an indication to anyone that when something that is relatively compact weighs that much it can not be good for you. I took my first bite and it tasted exactly like you would imagine that unholy combination of things to taste. Pretty god damn good. My two complaints, other than the obvious "why the hell would you unleash a sandwich with chicken instead of bread on an already obese and addicted to fast food nation" were that the sauce is too salty and oddly enough there wasn't enough bacon. If we're going all out, lets go all out people. My bacon was cowering somewhere near the back and could barely be tasted over the salty sauce and chicken. Needless to say I ate the whole thing much to the horror and amusement of my co-workers.
I was feeling pretty good too, I wasn't so full that it was painful and I didn't appear to be having any stomach distress. Until about 2pm, then I was struck with the most intense food borne tiredness and sluggishness I have ever experienced. Getting through those last 2 hours of work was a chore unlike any other, all I wanted to do was sleep. And sleep I did, immediately upon getting home I crashed for about 45 minutes after which I by no means felt good, but at least the tiredness was gone.
When it came time to let KFC have it on their survey I was very much angered by the message I recieved. "Thank you but we've gotten all the feedback we need for this product". Damnit! If anything that will at least prevent me from eating at KFC again for a long time since I won't have $10 to burn.
Has our society come to a point where we can allow a 1500 calorie sandwich to be readily available for 5 bucks? Is this worse than any of the mega sandwiches at fast food joints? We are a nation of gluttons and I guess the only thing we should be shocked about is that it has taken someone this long to come up with the concept.
Turns out KFC is testing the sandwich in two test markets: Omaha and Providence, RI. Well, that changed my opinion of the thing. If there was a chance that I may never be able to eat a sandwich with deep fried chicken cudgels surrounding two types of chees, two strips of bacon and "Colonel Sauce" in the name of science I simply had to try it. And on a more socially conscious note I figured there would be some sort of survey accompanying the thing where I could do my part to make sure it never sees a wide release.
It was all over the KFC on 84th and Harrison, the marquee spoke of it, there were signs in the windows and a humongous picture of it was on the menu. $4.99 for just the sandwich or $6.99 for the combo which included fries and a drink. Not a bad deal considering you are more than likely getting an entire days worth of fat, calories, sodium and probably a host of other things from it (KFC has not released nutritional data ranging from KFCs "estimates" of 590 cal and 31g of fat to an independant lab which suggests it has more than 1500 cals and over 80g of fat). I decided a combo would be a bit much and just went with the sandwich. Sure enough when they handed me the bag accompanying it was a piece of paper with an internet address where I could fill out a survey and then recieve a $10 gift certificate to KFC. Great I thought, I can buy 3 or 4 of their death bowls for that on my way to the hospital after this sandwich!
When I got back to work a hush fell over the lunch room, apparently word had spread that I was going to get a sandwich with chicken instead of bread and people were anxious to see. Inside of its cardboard house I found the thing wrapped in a protective wax paper sleeve to prevent chicken bits from getting all over your hands. It's got some heft to it, which should be an indication to anyone that when something that is relatively compact weighs that much it can not be good for you. I took my first bite and it tasted exactly like you would imagine that unholy combination of things to taste. Pretty god damn good. My two complaints, other than the obvious "why the hell would you unleash a sandwich with chicken instead of bread on an already obese and addicted to fast food nation" were that the sauce is too salty and oddly enough there wasn't enough bacon. If we're going all out, lets go all out people. My bacon was cowering somewhere near the back and could barely be tasted over the salty sauce and chicken. Needless to say I ate the whole thing much to the horror and amusement of my co-workers.
I was feeling pretty good too, I wasn't so full that it was painful and I didn't appear to be having any stomach distress. Until about 2pm, then I was struck with the most intense food borne tiredness and sluggishness I have ever experienced. Getting through those last 2 hours of work was a chore unlike any other, all I wanted to do was sleep. And sleep I did, immediately upon getting home I crashed for about 45 minutes after which I by no means felt good, but at least the tiredness was gone.
When it came time to let KFC have it on their survey I was very much angered by the message I recieved. "Thank you but we've gotten all the feedback we need for this product". Damnit! If anything that will at least prevent me from eating at KFC again for a long time since I won't have $10 to burn.
Has our society come to a point where we can allow a 1500 calorie sandwich to be readily available for 5 bucks? Is this worse than any of the mega sandwiches at fast food joints? We are a nation of gluttons and I guess the only thing we should be shocked about is that it has taken someone this long to come up with the concept.
11 August 2009
Clean Plate
Last Saturday I headed down to 13th and Webster to check out the new experimental resturant concept Clean Plate. A little background; Clean Plate exists in a place called the Empty Room, which is a very small store that is in the bottom floor of the 22 Floors (not actually 22 floors) lofts next to the Filmstreams/Slowdown complex. The only way to actually see the space is if you are in the Slowdown parking lot. Basically a handful of creative people in Omaha submitted ideas of what they would do with the space and the best ones were chosen to operate for a month, rent free. This month is a raw food resturant operated by Elle Lien, who apparently has been making food like this for a while out of her house and has been hosting some brunches, which I have somehow never heard of.
On entering the restaurant I was struck at how small it actually was; the centerpiece of the room is a very large rectangular family table with stools all around it, this is the only seating. Towards the back there was a taller table with all sorts of things to nosh on to the right of a large standing fridge, which other than a sink is the only "kitchen-y" type thing in the place.
On entering the restaurant I was struck at how small it actually was; the centerpiece of the room is a very large rectangular family table with stools all around it, this is the only seating. Towards the back there was a taller table with all sorts of things to nosh on to the right of a large standing fridge, which other than a sink is the only "kitchen-y" type thing in the place.
The food that night appeared to be a smattering of things from the appetizer section of the week 1 menu. Kimchi spring rolls, salted chili almonds, several kinds of olives, a berry tart, chocolate ganache tart and what I believe were the sloppy nut joes on onion bread sans slaw. I tried the spring rolls, both tarts and the sloppy nut joes. I would have no problem paying for any of the items I tried with the exception of the chocolate ganache tart, it was very dense and dry and I thought it just tasted like "health food", a bit like chocolate Genisoy bars which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not what I had made them out to be in my mind. The berry tarts on the other hand were to die for and I don't know what exactly the sloppy nut joes were made out of but it was good, and surprisingly meaty tasting.
The best thing I think they are doing is offering a late night menu every night Slowdown has a concert. From 12-2am they will be open for your healthy drunk cravings. I have always been irritated that unless you want to go to the Donut Stop or one of the casinos there really isn't anyplace in Omaha that is open late. For a city that has a thriving music scene with lots of young people out till all hours of the night you would think someone other than Taco Bell would want to cash in on some of that. I can say with certainty that if I go to a show this month at Slowdown I will go to Clean Plate afterwords, and I recommend anyone else to do the same. Ms. Lien has something here, here's wishing her all the best.
The best thing I think they are doing is offering a late night menu every night Slowdown has a concert. From 12-2am they will be open for your healthy drunk cravings. I have always been irritated that unless you want to go to the Donut Stop or one of the casinos there really isn't anyplace in Omaha that is open late. For a city that has a thriving music scene with lots of young people out till all hours of the night you would think someone other than Taco Bell would want to cash in on some of that. I can say with certainty that if I go to a show this month at Slowdown I will go to Clean Plate afterwords, and I recommend anyone else to do the same. Ms. Lien has something here, here's wishing her all the best.
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