People always ask us what a normal food day is like for the people at Chomple. Between the 20 course sushifests and endangered birds, we eat some seriously normal meals. I feel like Maddie Marie from Spendidmishap trying to convince our readers that we're normal people behind the blog.
The only real difference is that we spend more time looking for little known places to eat. We probably spend less on a daily basis than your average office worker eating lunch at the company cafeteria or a chain restaurant and then having crappy takeout for dinner.
Spend less and get tastier food. That's a good rule of thumb.
Breakfast was a Sausage McMuffin with Egg Value Meal. No photo (sorry).
For lunch it was time to try a new place so we scooted out to Khun Suda, a highly Yelp rated Thai place a few minutes away.
Work Girlfriend wasn't really hungry, so she tried to inhale the menu. Didn't work.
Work and Actual got Thai Iced Tea. They do the perfect blend here, has evidenced by the color of the drink which looks like a shiny penny.
The "ordered by all white people" Tom Kha Gai, or chicken coconut soup. Bonus points awarded: +1 for serving it in the flaming pot, +1 for not having galangal and lemongrass stems (both inedible) still floating in the soup, +1 for not assuming I was going to eat the entire thing myself like some other Thai restaurants.
It was a bit heavy on the onions though.
Actual's green curry. Tasting notes: Actual: Best green curry ever. Work: I like yours but I like mine better. Yod: They're not messing around with this one, they used straight up coconut milk as the base.
Work's yellow curry. Tasting notes: Actual: I like yours but I like mine better. Work: I'm not even hungry. OM NOM NOM. Seriously, I'm full. OM NOM NOM. Yod: Perfectly spiced. A good yellow curry is hard to find.
My mussamun curry. Tasting notes: Actual: Woah. That's good. It's not sickly sweet like most versions. Work: OM NOM NOM. Yod: This is really good. Enough with the onions though.
On the way home we decided to get some takeout from our favorite neighborhood taqueria La Fiesta.
Jody's al pastor super burrito. Hands for size reference.
I got a combo with carnitas topped sopes. They have the best spanish rice and refried beans in town. The refried beans have lard in them, like proper refried beans.
I probably will have these tomorrow sometime, but I couldn't resist picking up a couple chorizo tacos.
Lastly, my beverages of choice. Sam Adams Octoberfest and Maui Brewing Big Swell IPA. The Octoberfest is a pretty standard Sam Adams offering. The Big Swell is f****** fantastic.
So there you have it. A boring record of what I ate today. Hope you're still awake.
Back before third grade, I went to school in an inner city elementary. While there, I met all kinds of unique kids from varied backgrounds.
One of the kids was named Stefan (spelled Stepegeneh, no joke, the teacher was dumbfounded). I'm too lazy to keep typing out his name so I'm going to just call him Stefan.
We were in the same class and were sort of friends, so we ate lunch at the same table every day. One day I noticed that Stefan never ever bought milk. One day I pointed this out.
Me: You never buy milk.
Stefan: Man, I don't gotta pay for no milk.
[Stefan reaches into his pocket and brings out a handful of little disposable creamers from a fast food restaurant]
Stefan: My mom and me get free milk. They just give this stuff out at restaurants.
Stefan proceeded to have about 8 creamers with his sandwich.
Fast forward a week, and my parents' friends are watching me for the we
This is my favorite Mexican place anywhere in Northern California outside of San Francisco. Rudy is a genius when it comes to Mexican food.
I'm going to say it right now: Rudy is the Bo Jackson of Mexican food. Err, Bo Jackson circa '87-'89, when Bo Jackson ruled the sports world. Or better yet, "Tecmo Bo", the Bo Jackson character in Super Tecmo Bowl that is considered the most overpowered sports character in the history of video gaming.
In keeping with my belief that Rudy is the Bo Jackson of Mexican cuisine, I'm going to revive one of my favorite ad campaigns of all time: BO KNOWS.
I make a point of trying everyone's food and every meal I've ever had at Rudy's fires on all cylinders, from start to finish. Getting this sort of creativity and consistency in a small family run restaurant is almost unheard of, but that's what you'll get here. Why? Because RUDY KNOWS MEXICAN CUISINE.
RUDY KNOWS PLATTERS.
Here's my majestic grande combo. On the left is a traditional Mexican taco with al pastor pork. So tender and so very delicious. Perfectly spiced and juicy. On the other side is my pork tamale. Equally good. The sauce on the tamale is so crazy good I can't even begin to describe it. The closest description I can come up with is if you took Taco Bell red sauce, took out half the salt and replaced it with fresh herbs and spices. Maybe next time I'll just order a big bowl of sauce.
Barbie Girlfriend's cheese enchilada. Equally awesome and with more of Rudy's magically delicious red sauce. Did I mention the spanish rice and refried beans are great as well? Last time I came to Rudy's, the one thing I didn't really like were the beans. I don't know if Rudy changed the recipe or not, but I could have eaten a full bowl of those refried beans. You know, right after the big bowl of red sauce.
RUDY KNOWS DESSERTS.
Going out of order here, but I have to address Rudy's desserts. They are like crack. I don't even like sweets and I always have some of his desserts.
First up is the famous banana chimichanga. Take a banana, wrap it in a cinnamon sugar tortilla, then deep fry it, then cover it in powdered sugar, dulce de leche, and whipped cream. So good.
If you've survived the banana chimichanga, you can have the fried ice cream. Equally good. There was a big fight at the table over which dessert was better.
RUDY KNOWS SALSA.
There's a full salsa bar with fixins. Note the tortilla chips that have rounded outside edges... because they're actually made from tortillas.
The salsa assortment we had at the table. The stuff in front is Rudy's habenero salsa that he keeps behind the counter for good reason. He doesn't mess around with this stuff, it is full out buuurrrrrrrn. I'm Thai, so really, take my word for it.
RUDY KNOWS BURRITOS.
This is Work's carne asada burrito. Note the plate to her right, which is her burrito killing area. In our last review we touched on just how FANTABULOUSLY good Rudy's carne asada is. There's a reason Work Girlfriend made a mess eating this thing, and it wasn't because she's messy. She was driven. It was so delicious she wanted the burrito in her tummy immediately.
Girlfriend Actual got the grande seafood burrito. Ok, when Rudy says grande, he means it. There's probably enough seafood inside this burrito to handle an entire lunch service at Red Lobster.
RUDY KNOWS SOUP.
Best Cream of Turkey soup I've ever had in my life. What's it doing at a Mexican place? Who knows. Don't care. I didn't even eat most of my meal because I ate most of the large serving of soup by myself. You can actually taste the fresh cream and the turkey. Amazing.
RUDY KNOWS LEFTOVERS.
I didn't even touch my tamale due to eating soup and sweets but I mauled my spanish rice and refried beans. So Rudy comes up and says let me box that for you. I didn't even open the box until much later in the afternoon. Does this even look like leftovers? Rudy resauced the tamale and gave me fresh spanish rice and refried beans. It looks like a brand new takeout meal! This is the attention to detail and customer satisfaction that you only find at Rudy's.
Obviously, Rudy's is the rare restaurant that receives our "RUN, don't walk there, RUN. RIGHT NOW." rating.
RUDY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE YOU A GREAT MEAL.
This is NOT a paid advertisement for Rudy's Mexican Gourmet. It really is that f***ing good.
Before you read this and think that clearly I don't know what I'm talking about (people from Philly, this means you) I have eaten (or ATED, in LOLCAT parlance) between 100 and 200 cheesesteaks in Philadelphia. This isn't too impressive until you consider that I have never lived there and have only visited 6 times. I worked out the math, and every day I'm in Philadelphia I eat an average of 6 to 10 cheesesteaks. I love those things. I once consumed two full cheesesteaks at Pat's and promptly walked across the street to Geno's and ate two more. I stopped at four more places on the way back to my hotel and got a cheesesteak; I ate all four over the course of playing cards with my friends during the evening,
I have a decent appetite, but I'm not usually anywhere near that hungry, especially when it comes to sandwiches. Well, unless cheesesteaks are involved.
I will say it, and if I get struck down tomorrow by an errant McNabb pass, so be it. The Cheesesteak Grille is ALMOST as good as Pat's. Almost. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just as good, but in the end Pat's tastes better because you had to earn the thing form the surly dude behind the counter. The guys at Cheesesteak Grille are friendly, which is a requirement on the West Coast. Nobody west of the Mississippi thinks talking to some self righteous asshole with a spatula is "part of the experience". You Midwesterners and Right Coasters know exactly what I mean. There's no way that a place like International Soup Kitchen (Soup Nazi) or Wiener's Circle (see this video) would ever fly on the West Coast. We're friendly here. "F*** you a**hold c*** s**** *** *** *** **** jerk ** *** *** *** foot **** *** **** mother ******* **** **** grandmother ******* ** ***** *** rectum *** **** ***** *** **** donkey ***** *** **** kitten" doesn't fly as a friendly greeting in California. Unless, of course, you're like my stupid friend from Dallas who decided to show up at Roscoe's House of Chicken n' Waffles in a Confederate flag football jersey.
And you'll have to forgive me, but my good camera was left at home today because I didn't think I was going anywhere interesting for dinner. So instead of nice high rez food porn, you get blurry iPhone pictures.
There's a large supply of condiments available. This is the collection Jody assembled.
This is my classic whiz wit. Beef, grilled onions, cheese whiz and bread. That's it. Amazingly good and juicy. There's more whiz on this sandwich than is readily apparent, but it's on the underside of the beef.
Cross-section...
Jody's had a blue cheese sauce, bacon and provolone. Arguably better than mine, but I'm a cheesesteak purist.
Jody also got a side of potato salad. Seriously the best potato salad I've had in quite a while. I LOVE POTATO SALAAAAAAD. MmmmmMMmmMM
I'm going to go finish my leftovers now. I'm in such a hurry to eat my sandwich that I'm going to skip pasting in the Google map and just post a pic of the front page of their menu. Oh, and for those of you that know what they are, they have Tastykakes!
Q: What do you get when you combine a bunch of stylish ladies and the staff of Chomple (many of whom are stylish ladies themselves)?
A: Sushi and great karma.
Huh?
The Chomple staff is participating this year in the festivities of the Active 20-30 Club #1032 Monte Carlo night. This happy fun time event features unlimited wine and beer (must be over 21 to attend, sorry Naruto Girl), appetizers, dancing, Monte Carlo-style gaming, a raffle, and my favorite thing of all time, a silent auction.
In addition to all that, you get to hang out and party with the stylish ladies of Active 20-30 Club of Greater Sacramento #1032 as well as several members of the Chomple team. Definite Chomple attendees are: Me (Yod), Girlfriend Actual, Barbie Girlfriend, Uhura Girlfriend, and Cake Sister.
Here's a picture of Barbie and Uhura at last year's event:
The Chomple team is sponsoring a VIP dealer table at the event with the dealing being done by... anybody but me (I'm terrified of paper cuts and cards are scary).
Proceeds from this event benefit these wildly deserving charities: (please click the links to read about these charities... they're really awesome, and they can tell their own story better than I can)
If you want to donate money to the cause (and help me win my Fundraiser Princess MAN trophy), follow this link to my donation page (note, any donation you make will not help you win the silent auction described at the end of this post, although the positive karma you gain may help you).
But you, Chomple reader, you want to party. You're thinking, seriously, I would love to party with the crew from Chomple and a room full of beautiful women. I understand this sentiment.
Go here to buy tickets. Make sure to type "JODY MCCLELLAN" in the blank that asks you for the club member that referred you. That's Girlfriend Actual, and it's her club throwing the event.
One of the silent auction items will be "A Night with Chomple at Sakuran Sushi."
Your prize begins with a consultation with me, the sushi expert. We'll discuss what you like and what you don't.
Based on that consultation, I will work with the chefs and buyers at Sakuran Sushi to arrange a grand multi course Japanese meal for you and one other person with sake (or a beer, if you choose). It could very well be more than 10 courses, but it will be at least 10.
You can choose to dine alone, or have me and Girlfriend Actual along (we won't eat your food... your meal will be set). If you choose to have the Chomple crew along, we will also blog the meal. If you choose to not have your happy faces and dinner on the internet, we can just photograph the meal and provide you with the pictures. It's all up to you.
This will be an experience beyond measure. Even their daily lunch special blows my mind. Whatever you end up paying at the silent auction, I'm pretty sure you're getting a steal.
If you're not completely salivating right now, it's because you've never been to Sakuran. Here, let me show you the kind of stuff you're in for...
Cosmopolitan Girlfriend and Girlfriend Actual were both craving Chinese food. Utilizing two different Chinese restaurants in our otherwise culinary wasteland of an area, we assembled a Chinese takeout feast worthy of royalty! Err... maybe not royalty. It was definitely worthy of a few bloggers lazing around and playing Rock Band.
We got takeout from two neighborhood favorites: Asian Pearl Sacramento and Pearl House. Both have been previously reviewed here and both are mightily delicious. Asian Pearl Sacramento provided the dim sum buffet and Pearl House provided the entree buffet.
This is our spread. From left to right were the drink buffet, the dim sum buffet, the entree buffet, and the dollar store dessert buffet. Note the Keystone Beer and Shasta root beer which were not worthy of table space.
The drink buffet. The Shasta Cola was mine, and so was the beer. The Blowing Rock High Country Ale is some of the most disgusting beer I have ever had. It tasted like a sour spoiled wheat beer. So either they put the wrong beer in the bottle or it was just plain out rotten. Not a good experience.
The variety pack of ciders was for Cosmo and Actual. Fox Barrel is a traditional cider that actually tastes like apples and because they don't add any extra sugar to it, per bottle is as many calories as a normal beer.
Last but not least, the legendary Pepsi Natural. Pepsi MAXYUCKY is more like it. It tastes like water that was used to rinse out a glass that had normal Pepsi in it. Simply foul.
The dim sum buffet we got from Asian Pearl Sacramento was awesome. Clockwise starting from the left...
Regular pork potstickers. These had an extra thick skin that was perfectly fried. The filling was a little under-seasoned in my opinion, and they forgot to include dipping sauce which left me feeling unfulfilled by this dish.
Deep fried crab rangoons. Better than most. They used a sweeter filling which complemented the wrapper nicely.
Steamed pork buns. Surprisingly, these were the more doughy style that you would typically find in a Filipino restaurant versus the chewier variety that most Chinese places have.
In the grease stained bag is foil wrapped chicken. I have no idea why the bag was so greasy considering the foil wrapped chicken wasn't. Cosmo commented that the foil wrapped chicken was as good as the stuff she used to eat as a kid and hadn't been able to find since.
And then the shumai. Pretty standard tasting.
Entree time!
The box at the top of the picture is Pearl House's sesame beef. This is the craziest and tastiest sesame beef we've ever had. According to the lady I talked to there, they cover the beef in wet lotus flour and then throw them into a super hot wok. The whole thing cooks in a couple minutes and then they sauce it then serve it immediately. The outside of the pieces is crunchy and saucy, the inside is steaming hot and tender.
To the right of the sesame beef is salt fish chicken fried rice. Take standard chicken fried rice, now instead of getting the salt from soy sauce, use salted dried fish. If you like the flavor of fish, this stuff is magically delicious. If not, steer clear.
At the bottom of the picture is The Phoenix and the Dragon. Or as I call it, the "I can't decide" plate. This combines a fried sweet and sour chicken with a shrimp/veggies in white sauce. Both are very delicious, and the portion you get of each is probably equal to a single full order anywhere else. Again, they are using very hot woks at this place and any of the wok fried meats are the best anywhere.
Dessert was pretty crappy. Cocoa Pete's are chocolate bars made by the Pete's Wicked Ale guy. Now we know why his products started out for $3 at Whole Foods and are now found at the dollar store. Nobody liked any of the flavors, and the most uttered comment was "strange".
None of the animals have yet to email me with their reviews of the Lickitty.
Unfortunately, I can't crown a Chinese Pearl champion. They are both good at different things. I think they should do a joint venture.
If you would like to have some great dim sum, check out:
I wasn't sure what to make of Steve's Pizza. The local chain has been around for a while and I have heard very mixed reviews.
Well, I'm pleased to report that the Steve's Pizza in Roseville is wonderful. It might be the the best lunch deal in Roseville.
The $5.99 lunch buffet buys you the salad bar and the pizza bar. The salad bar was stocked enough for Actual to make this vegetable creation.
I was not happy to see that the pizza bar was devoid of food. This turned out to be a good thing as since we were the first people there for lunch, we got to pick what they made first! This meant we were getting fresh out of the oven pizza and even the kind we wanted. Great service! But was the pizza good?
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. The pizza here is arguably as good as Campelli's. It comes down to personal taste which one you like better. The crust at Steve's is thinner but is just as crunchy on the bottom. Both places use fresh toppings and great sauce. While Barbie and Actual had no preference between the two, I prefer the sauce at Steve's.
And when I mean fresh out of the oven, I mean FRESH. Check out the gooey strands of cheese everywhere!
Barbie was too good to do the buffet with us and instead ordered a personal size Californian pizza.
As we were finishing up our portions of pizza, one of the chefs slid a plate onto the pizza buffet and yelled "I got cookies!" Brilliant! You have an oven, why not bake cookies for your happy buffet customers! Actual ate them and I'm surprised she didn't pass out from cookie happiness.
There are other pizza restaurants that are as good as this place.
There are other pizza restaurants that are as cheap as this place.
You are NOT going to find pizza as good at this price. Plus... FRESH BAKED COOKIES.
Right now, there's some marketing guy at 7-Eleven headquarters bemoaning this blog entry. He's thinking... there's so much fresh and delicious food at my store, why did this moron go and buy the worst stuff we had?
The answer, of course, is pretty simple. I don't go to 7-Eleven for real food. I go for Slurpees, Big Bites, and booze. And their supreme selection of gas station snacks.
Our review panel tonight consists of: Me Girlfriend Actual Ebby the Cat
Before you discount the opinion of a cat, realize that Ebby has almost 5,000 followers on Twitter. That's 4800 more than me.
Product #1- Chester's Puffcorn
This stuff disappeared from shelves a while back but has now returned. Think puffy popcorn with no hulls that melts in your mouth. Also available in cheese.
Me: mmm mmm good I remember this stuff. Oh yeah!
Girlfriend Actual: I love this stuff, thank goodness 7-Eleven carries it.
Ebby: With trepidation, I approached the puffed maize product that the humans put in front of me. It bore a striking and disgusting resemblance to the dried meat scented cereal that the humans provide for me on a daily basis. The white object smelled of an astringent dairy substitute combined with some trans fat oils that humans put in their food because they like having chemicals in their body. The crunchy texture became melty almost instantly and provided a strange yet satisfying mouthfeel.
Product #2- Spicy Szechuan Chex Mix
Take Chex Mix, add some stuff from Asian bridge mix, and Asian flavorings.
Me: It's pretty good.
Girlfriend Actual: It's Chex Mix.
Ebby the Cat: It occurs to me that it is the job of human cultural groups to have their cultures be bastardized by human food companies. In this case, the proud Chinese Szechuan culture has been distilled into a coating for some cereal. The cereal, or human kibble, is quite funny in itself. Apparently if you take some plain cereal and then salt and toast it, humans will pay 4 times the price to buy it from you. You can charge even more if you steal someone's culture and turn it into a flavoring. I can't wait to sell my peeps out and have a bag of Bombay Cat Chex Mix. I'm also Jewish, but I don't think Matzo Chex Mix is coming anytime soon.
Product #3- Jack Link's Jalapeno Sizzle
Beef and cheese!!!
Me: Mmm processed cheese
Actual: Ew processed cheese
Ebby: Oh, how disgusting. Apparently some humans cannot decide whether they want a disgusting dairy product or a disgusting meat product. So they get both. The meat stick is a disgustingly fragrant tube of animal byproducts mixed with dehydrated spices and preservatives. My delicate palate was ruined perhaps permanently by this monstrosity. And then there was a cheese stick. As a cat and pizza lover, you could say that I am an expert when it comes to dairy products. I believe if you took a cheese single, and then pumped it full of artificial flavors, it might taste like this. Sometimes, humans use their skills to make fun things like jingle balls and Disney World. Sometimes they make this kind of stuff.
Product #4- Budweiser and Clamato
Beer, Clamato, salt and lime!
Me: Tastes like a weak bloody mary.
Actual: Ew.
Ebby the Cat: This was marginally delicious. I suppose. I think my human is right in that this tastes like a bloody mary. I'm kind of thirsty, maybe I should have more of this. Hmm... it's tasting pretty good... just one more sip. Oh, maybe a little more. OMGLOLZ THIS IS THE BEST STUFF EVARZ. WAHOO!!! I CAN HAZ BEERBURGER. THIS IZ THE AMAZINGZ!!! BEER CAT IS BEER! BASEMENT CAT LOVEZ BEERZ OMGOMGOMGYAAAAAAAAAAAY! WHAZZUP MUH PEEPZ!!!! YEEAAAAAAHHHH! MEAN DOGS AND DICK CHENEY CAN GO TO HELL!!! FREEMASONS RULE THE FREE WORLD!!! AAAAAAAADRIAAAAAANNNN!!! ALL KIBBLE AND NO BEER MAKES EBBY A DULL CAT ALL KIBBLE AND NO BEER MAKES EBBY A DULL CAT ALL KIBBLE AND BEER MAKES EBBY A DULL CAT HOOOHOOHOOOOOOOOOO
