Fat Kid Reviews: Dem Po Boyz BBQ

I like barbecue. There's something delightfully gluttonous about it, something deeply American. There are few times when I feel like a patriot and oddly it's mostly as I'm chowing down on some ribs or smoked pork. There's an almost spiritual component to it that always makes me think of that "soul food" moniker.

Also it's just damn tasty.

Now technically speaking I've talked about this place before. Though not. Back at the beginnings of this blog we did a showing on the various Pastrami Burgers in the valley and the one I dubbed best was the one at The Grub Box. Now, for reasons that are ultimately none of my business, that lovely burger restaurant (who has improved on it's lack luster fries) is sharing it's space with Dem PO' Boyz a nice little local BBQ joint. The place is out of the way but the service was friendly, and the place was nice and clean if visual uninteresting.

But the look of this kind of place is completely unimportant. This kind of out of the way hole in the wall is about the food. And that... that was worth the drive out to Magna.

They had the usual menu set up for such places a variable number of meats linked to a set number of sides. Between my companion and I we tried four of the meats, and four sides. I had the ribs and the pork, the potato salad and the mac and cheese, while my companion tried the brisket, chicken, beans, and cole slaw. All said a respectable amount of food for the price point. I had two large ribs and a nice pile of shredding pork with similar amounts for my associate's choices.

The sauces were just fantastic. They used a mix of different region sauces, though the Carolina mustard heavy one on the pork and ribs may be my new favorite anything. I could drink that, it's actually pretty close to a recipe I've been working on myself and well, honestly they did it better.

The brisket had a nice bark and flavor to it, and it's sauce was very nice. Deep, rich, sweet but earthy, all those things you want in a BBQ sauce. The chicken had good flavor but either needed a little more sauce or was just dry. Not inedible but the weakest of the meats. The pork was very rich in flavor and just about perfectly paired with that yummy sauce. (Please note that I do not use the Y word lightly) The ribs were just about as perfect as I want out of ribs. Thick smoke ring. Fall off the bone tender. Deep smokey flavor and a solid complex rub. SOOO tasty. I highly suggest it.

I did feel that maybe some of the stuff could have benefited by just a tad more salt but otherwise that meat was all I want BBQ to be.

The sides were a mixed bag. I liked the cole slaw and the beans were good, though they had a flavor profile I hadn't had before, obviously made in house. Sweet but not too sweet, nice little bit of spice and a clear bean flavor. They were interesting, and pretty good otherwise. The mac and cheese was tasty, had the texture of a homemade baked version with just a touch of tomato and spice. Spicier then I expected but I came around to it in the end.

The two sour notes were the oddity of having to buy out drinks from a different register, which was just odd. I mean, understandable given the situation but odd, and the potato salad. It was just kind bland. It was like it was missing something, I just can't figure out what it was.

However, my dear readers, I humbly ask that you try this place out. Not for Dem Po Boyz, and not for yourselves. But for me. So that they can stay in business long enough for me to become a regular.

See you in the Chow Line,
-The Fat Kid

Fat Kid Reviews: Leger's Deli

As I was growing up some dear friends of my family owned a deli. Their ownership of it is a thing of the past now, but it left in me a particular fondness for "deli" food. Because of this long history of sandwich consumption I really love a nice local (even if franchised) sandwich shop.

Now I came to Leger's on the raving suggestion of my dear friend and sometimes contributor "Drasago". He found the place wandering around on his lunch and after eating immediately texted me. So I decided to give it a go on one of my Fridays. This was another place that I'd drive by a hundred times, and was always looking for an excuse to try out.

First impressions upon entering? It was a sandwich shop. The kind where the guy behind the gives you a sample of his meat because he's just that proud of it. Very friendly without being pushy. The guy was mellow, sort of blue collar energy and obviously loved his job. As I was sitting there waiting he brought a piece of corned beef, He told me about the local butcher who makes all the corned beef and pastrami they use. And man... was it delicious.

I ordered two sandwiches. His weekly special (which that week was a Reuben) and the "Kitchen Sink". I'll start with the latter.

Every place like this has a sandwich like the kitchen sink. I've seen it called the "Garbage Sandwich", or the "Po'Boy" or some variation on the theme. Some places will even give you the history of the term "Po'Boy" when you order it. But basically it's a bunch of meats and cheeses on a sandwish. This one in particular had turkey, roast beef, and ham with provolone, cheddar, swiss, and american cheese. And they were fantastic. I could close my eyes and pick out each individual note of the symphony in my mouth. It was a fantastic sandwich. Which segues perfectly into the next sandwich.

I didn't know what a perfect Reuben was until I had that special. I didn't realize that the thing wrong with so many Reubans I had had was that they had too much meat until I had this sandwich. It has become the template by which I gauge other Reubens. It was magnificent.

I enjoyed it is what I'm saying there. If that wasn't clear.

Now, the one problem and it's not really a problem, is that he has a weekly special that they rotate in and out. The Reuben was one of those so there's no easy way to tell when the next time it will be available is. Aside from physically asking. And where's the fun in that?

See you in the Chow Line,
-The Fat Kid 

Fat Kid Reviews: Pizza Rev

There's a couple of places around the valley that are working with this same idea. The "high-end but affordable" pizza. Upon entering that was definitely the theme of the place, from the decor to the menu. Though not wood or coal fired they had a nice big pizza oven right there to be seen. We had come for an early lunch so Chef Fatty and I were basically the only ones there. The service was personable and they were willing to modify our pizza slightly (I have to be careful about my spinach intake for health reasons). 

We got their sausage pizza with white sauce and the Mediterranean (sans spinach). They were out to us at fast food speed and smelled quite delicious. It's a thin crust pizza with some nice toasted char from the big oven. The cheese was a nice rich buffalo mozzarella and the white sauce was well seasoned but combined with the cheese and other toppings was quite rich. Almost too much by about half way in. It was at this point that we realized that we'd picked up two of the same kind of sauce.

Now... we realized that for the sake of review this was a problem but the lady behind the counter was exceptionally kind and gave us a little sample of their red sauce. And that was the point were this went from a decent but overly rich pizza to something fantastic.

Their red sauce is dynamite.

It's bright and fresh and incredibly delicious. Dipping the over rich white sauced pizza into it? Hindu Holy Cow. It was SO good. Now I admit I have a soft spot for that mix of marinara and Alfredo sauces but this was a really good combination, just fantastic.

Now for the critiques, the pizzas were a little small for the price point but you're really paying for the time in the oven and not the size. The toppings were of a nice high quality but a little sparse on the actual pizzas.

But personally I think that's sort of a wash as getting that perfect bite of the two sauces and the cheese and sausage or olives? That was totally worth it.

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See you in the Chow line,
The Fat Kid

Fat Kid Reviews: Dragon Diner

This is perhaps my favorite Chinese food place that I keep forgetting the existence of. I've been here on a number of occasions over the years, but always with friends. So as a good friend of mine was in town we decided to hit the place up, as he was craving Chinese.

As it was Labor Day and many places were closed the small dining room was pretty hopping. We were quickly seated and though it was a rather clean and comfortable room the amount of people did slightly hinder easy conversation. But we powered on.

The service was solid. Personable without being personal. I was well tended to with my profound demand for liquids.  (I drink a lot of water and/or diet coke.)

After we were seated and had our drinks ordered, they brought out these little bowls of fried wonton strips with sweet and sour for dipping. I had not ever seen that down in a restaurant of this type and as I was quite famished it was well received. The strips were well fried and the sweet and sour was perhaps the best I've ever had. If it wasn't house made then it was bought in the back alley of a factory that made wishes come true.

The entries I tried (I talked everybody to let me have a bite of theirs in the name of bloggery) were the General Tso's Chicken, Pon Pon Chicken, Teryaki Chicken Bowl, and the Tangerine Chicken. All were quite delicious. The Pon Pon had a slightly different breading then the General's and Tangerine, but had a nice texture. A little more chewy in contrast to the crunchy. The Teryaki was unbreaded but well cooked.

The one critique I can give of the food I had, and I admit it was a small portion of the menu, was that the different sauces had many similarities. Not to say that they tasted the same but the differences were more nuanced. If they had been mixed together I probably wouldn't have noticed. But... that being said they were all delicious and I look forward to coming to this place again.


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See you in the Chow Line,
-The Fat Kid

Fat Kid Reviews: Carlos' Kitchen #2

There are places that you drive by over and over again. You look out the window of your car and ask yourself "I wonder what that place is like". Bare minimum I've been driving by this place two to three times a week for years (it's on the route to my brother's house and out local game store). And every time that's exactly what I thought.

So one day while out lunching with my father we decided to give this place a go.

When we first entered I wasn't quite sure what to think. The decor was... uninspiring (think subtle stereotypes on a budget) and though the place was clean it had the look of a place that wouldn't be. I don't quite know how else to describe it.

Upon entering the hostess immediately greeted us like old friends. She was bright and friendly and asked us if we spoke Spanish. Sadly I did not, so the hostess had to translate what we said to the woman behind the counter.

The wait was a little long but the freshness of the food showed that this was a from scratch operation. They brought our food to us and I dug in quickly.

Pupusas.

I'll wait while you google it.

...

Seriously, if you have never had a pupusa you should consider yourself having missed out on a culinary milestone.

I tried a bean and cheese one, a cheese and pork one, and one filled with edible flowers. And oh my merciful Iron Chefs were they delicious. This wonderful mix of salty and savory topped with a brightly acidic and herbed cabbage slaw that made a wonderfully complete flavor. And BIG too. I got three (with beans and chips) and walked away quite full.

But delightfully so.

They also proudly show Philly Cheese Steaks on their menu. Which I didn't try... but due to my profound morbid curiosity will likely be trying sometime soon.

I'll let you know.

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See you in the Chow line,
-The Fat Kid

Fat Kid Reviews: Piper Down Irish Pub

I go here a lot. It's one of those places that always feels like it's somebody's favorite bar. The decor embraces this eclectic patchwork of Irish and the aged structure of the building itself into a strange but strangely fun atmosphere. The service is consistent and nice.

But honestly I really don't care as much about all that. Because I go here for the food.

It's an odd menu. American food modified to be more... Irish. A burger with Corned Beef on top, "Irish Corndogs" (fresh dipped bratwurst corndog with a Guiness and mustard sauce for dipping.),"Irish Nachos" (Fresh Potato chips with cheese, pico, guacomole, and small diced corned beef), and other dishes of a similar bent. There's also a good selection of classic British Isles food, the best of those being the Bangers and Mash, and the Scot Eggs.

Now, this is a place that I just keep coming back to. Their Irish Nachos may be one of my favorite things to cram into my facehole. It's high quality, just odd enough to make you want to try one more, and be sad when you eat the very last one.

They use a very delicious corned beef that is perfectly tender and has a nice flavor to it. On a burger? It's just delightful. On it's own? Just as good. Even as I write this I can feel my mouth watering. And their brown gravy is just a work of art. Mmm... just mmm. That's my review of the food. The kind of delicious stick to your ribs stuff that you want to eat after a rough week.

They also have a rather nice selection of vegetarian and gluten free options (little shaky on my memory of the gluten so that might be a lie) that I have not personally tried but given their work with the things I have consumed I'd be surprised if their veggie stuff was not as good as everything else.

Their selection of drinks is quite nice. It's a full bar and they have some really tasty cocktails. I've only tried a handful but they've all be quite good. I'm really quite partial to the Duckfart.

But regardless of what you drink I can't say enough good about this place and it's incredible food. Give it a try.

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See you in the Chow line,
-The Fat Kid

Fat Kid Reviews: El Paisa

This is one of those places that I've been meaning to write about for ages. But I haven't mostly because it's one of my favorite places to go, and well, on my proper favorites I don't always fully trust my judgement.

However! For the benefit of my readers, I shall attempt to temper my deep love of this place to let you know if it's worth your time. (It totally is.)

Off of the 201 State highway next to a tiny bakery and up from "The Great Sandwich Chinese Food" is a well decorated and lively Mexican Restaurant. If you come during the evening you'll likely see the tiny parking lot full and either Latin Karaoke or a live band playing. The atmosphere is always lively and fun, and though the service can be inconsistent at times it's never enough to spoil the experience.

But what this is really about is the food.

The food is just glorious. Authentic and the kind of yummy that makes you want to keep coming back for more. I have tried much of the menu and can bare minimum say that everything is worth a try. Their rice and beans are consistently fantastic and their house made corn tortillas (when you can get them) are just glorious.

My favorites on their menu are the Queso dip with Chorizo (which is extra but totally worth it), the Taquitos (which are far and away my favorite thing to cram into my face hole), the Chili Verde, the Enchiladas, and the just fantastic Tortilla Soup. (My mouth waters and the thought of those... Just so good.)

They also do a Weekday Lunch Taco bar that is well worth the time. Generally between six and ten different meats with a nice little bar with creme, various salsas, and veggies to top off, it's about nine dollars but well worth the time. I've had a number of gluttonous episodes at the taco bar... Just delicious stuff.

I'm not overly a fan of the hot stuff but I can take my spice and all the various sauces they make have not only heat but a great depth of flavor.

The last thing I feel the need to mention is their bar. I haven't tried much there, but I have tried a drink that is a little bizarre but has become my go to "Happy Time Make the World a Better Place" beverage of choice... The Avocado Margarita! A luscious mouth feel from the creamy avocado the flavors of the Tequila, the lime, and the avocado melding and turning into something truly bizarre, but utterly glorious. You're first sip is almost always "this is weird" but by the time you leave you'll be talking about how good it all was.

Not unlike all good things in life.

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See you in the Chow line
-The Fat Kid

Fat Kid Reviews: The Other Place

So this particular review comes with a story.

My brother (Chef Fatty) and I had not seen each other for ages, and so we decided on a culinary adventure. He'd been to this particular place a time or two before and said that they produced solid food, so in the spirit of "why not" we went there on a Friday for their "Braised Lamb Shank".

The atmosphere itself was sort of displaced in time. It had a distinct retro vibe, or to put it more clearly it had an old decor. We immediately joked about how this place would only appeal to old people and hipsters. And then we laughed and then we had a moment of awkward realization and then we were seated.

The service was friendly and they kept out glasses full (no small feat with Fatty and I). We ordered the Braised Lamb, some bacon, and a cup of the Clam Chowder.

Now... I eat a lot of Clam Chowder and I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to it. And this soup was very different than I was expecting. Unlike most Chowders I eat it had a very strong aromatic flavor. The carrots and celery were very pronounced, but somehow it really worked. They didn't mask or overpower the clam flavor in fact they seemed to dial it up. Very tasty and just a little different.

The braised lamb was just fantastic. Deep rich flavors, earthy tones, bright tomato tones, melt in your mouth deliciousness. It's very worth a trip out there. The spaghetti it was served with was underseasoned, the sauce was just the braising liquid from the lamb which was delicious, but the noodles were a little overdone and they hadn't salted the water.

But that being said this was a very nice a little trip and the food was very worth your time.

See you in the Chow Line,
-The Fat Kid