The Ravenous Pig - Winter Park, FL

It has been too long since I've updated this blog.

After playing a 18 holes, Zane and I  had heard good things about The Ravenous Pig in downtown Winter Park.  Upon arrival, the restaurant was packed!  A table would be a couple hours, and the bar area had standing room only.  We ended up deciding to stand up for dinner rather than wait for a table.

For an appetizer we ordered the duck breast appetizer with pickled vegetables.  For my entree I ordered the pub burger which consisted of Angus  beef, caramelized onions,  buttermilk blue cheese all on a brioche bun.  Served with a side of straw fries, the quality of food was excellent, and I will need to make a return trip to try out the rest of the menu.

1234 Orange Ave
Winter Park
(407) 628-2333
http://www.theravenouspig.com/

South Korean Food

Spicy chicken

The guys on site had talked about eating dog at this same restaurant before, so of course I wanted to try it myself. On my last day on site, we went there for lunch and had the dog dish ordered. To my surprise, the dish was served steamed, and the cut of meat that we had reminded me of bacon. It was the fatty skin area of the meat. The dish was served with a sauce that consisted of oil, green onions, and red chili paste. The sauce was a little bit sweet and just a little bit spicy. The actual dog meat itself was extremely chewy. The consistency was so chewy it was difficult to swallow.





This past April I went back to South Korea where I was able to try lots of new food. There was a restaurant near the power plant where we would go every Monday for boiled chicken soup. The chicken soup was an entire small chicken boiled in broth, and the chicken was stuffed inside with rice and a piece of ginseng. On Wednesdays, this same restaurant had a spicy chicken dish which is shown below. The chicken was served with rice, and the usual appetizers (kimchi, carrot sticks, hot peppers, and bean paste).

The guys on site had talked about eating dog at this same restaurant before, so of course I wanted to try it myself. On my last day on site, we went there for lunch and had the dog dish ordered. To my surprise, the dish was served steamed, and the cut of meat that we had reminded me of bacon. It was the fatty skin area of the meat. The dish was served with a sauce that consisted of oil, green onions, and red chili paste. The sauce was a little bit sweet and just a little bit spicy. The actual dog meat itself was extremely chewy. The consistency was so chewy it was difficult to swallow.

To get from the hotel to work every day, I had a taxi driver, and a few times after work, we went out together and got dinner. One of the nights we got Korean barbeque. We ordered beef, which also came with a plethora of sides. The beef was eaten wrapped in lettuce pieces in combination with some of the sides (salt & pepper, red chili sauce, vinegar-based salad, raw garlic, and pickled onions). We also ordered mushrooms, which as my driver explained to me; you place on the grill with the cut off stem end pointing up. This is done because as the mushrooms cook, the little holes fill with the water from inside the mushroom, and that is how you tell they are done.

Sushi Palace - Edison, NJ

I met up with my cousin and her husband who live in New Jersey. We went to Sushi Palace, an all you can eat, made-to-order sushi restaurant. The place was ridiculously crowded, with good reason. The sushi was excellent. For appetizers we had the seaweed salad and edamame. The seaweed salad was very light and fresh. We ordered a wide variety of sashimi (crab stick, salmon, egg custard, salmon, white tuna, eel, mackerel, egg) and sushi rolls (California, spicy tuna, mango, dragon).





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Yats Restaurant - Indianapolis, IN

I was in Indianapolis ,and for lunch I stopped at Yats. A cash only restaurant, Yats had a very small town friendly feel. For example, if you do not have enough cash to pay for your meal, they will give you an IOU, which you can just pay back the next time you are there. I ordered the chili cheese etouffe with crawfish. Served over rice, it was a slightly spicy mixture of cheesy goodness and bits of crawfish. A cheap, quick, and delicious meal.

Yats Restaurant

5363 North College Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46220

(317) 253-8817

Mofongo - San Juan, Puerto Rico

I stopped at a restaurant in downtown San Juan before my flight out. I ordered the seafood mofongo. Mofongo is a plantain based dish. The plantains are mashed and then inside they are stuffed with different types of meats or vegetables. The seafood mofongo contained two giant scallops inside, surrounded by shrimp and fish, and garnished with a variety of peppers and vegetables.

Food from Brazil

Last year before Thanksgiving I went to Brazil. Here are some things that I ate while I was there.

Tiramisu-like chocolate cake.

Street food. Strips of seasoned beef and onions in a bun.

Street food. Ham and cheese roll.

Fried plantains with neopolitan ice cream.

Black Barts Steakhouse - Flagstaff, AZ

After a day trip to the Grand Canyon, it was time for dinner. On the drive back to the hotel in Holbrook, I passed through Flagstaff and came upon Black Barts Steakhouse. As I walked inside the restaurant's dining area reminded me of a barn. It was a wide open room with criss-crossing beams spanning from wall to wall. I sat down and ordered the rack of lambs. As I was waiting for my meal to arrive, little did I know that the wait staff would be breaking out into song and dance.

When the food did arrive, the lamb was served with a jalapeno mint sauce and a baked potato for a side. The lamb was a little tough, but very well seasoned. The combination of jalapenos in the mint sauce was gross. Overall a good meal with unexpected entertainment.

Black Barts Steakhouse
2760 East Butler
Flagstaff, AZ 86004