The morning after attending Feast on the Fax, I found this letter from my digestive system:
Dear Thomas,
WTF? We've been through a lot together recently and those of us in your digestive system thought that you had been making great strides in improving your digestive health - but then you had to go and screw it all up. Feel that pain in your stomach? That is the result of us having to work all night to process that random clusterf**k of greasy food and mixed alcoholic beverages you pounded for over 3 hours. Some things were never meant to be mixed - I mean, Ethiopian lentils and calamari??? Followed by chicken wings? C'mon now, we are a team, aren't we? At least you were stupid enough to eat the mac and cheese - you'll be suffering tomorrow for that mistake. Now get up, eat your fiber supplements and get us back on track today.
Sincerely,
Your Personal Poop Factory
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This event definitely had its highs and lows. Overall, we had fun going and checking out all of the different restaurants. But several of the places were seriously disappointing. Its not as if the disappointing places were necessarily bad restaurants, but they were obviously not taking the opportunity to win over customers (or at least customers with a discerning palate). Alas, here are my observations:
Senor Pepe's (pronounced by busriders as SEEEEEN-YOR PE-PES) - One of the obligatory starting points on the tour, we thought Senor Pepe's would be a good start b/c we could get some margs. It took 10 minutes to get food from the buffet line - waiting 5 minutes b/c they ran out of plates and no one working was making any effort to put out more plates. Surprisingly, it also took 15 minutes to get the margs. The food wasn't really worth the calories, to be honest - though I must say that the guacamole was quite yummy.
Spin-N-Chickn - The bus stopped in front of the restaurant, giving me a clear view of people sitting at the window. I saw a woman take a bite into something that looked chicken-like, make a funny face, then put the unidentified morsel down with disdain. Her companion was picking at his cornbread. Their sides had the vibrant color associated with canned veggies. I was comfortable in my seat and decided not to go in...I stand by my choice.
Habesha - Best Ethiopian food on the tour. Friendly hosts, good beer, pleasant atmosphere, good food and plenty of it. I don't remember the names of the dishes I ate, but all were tasty. I will definitely come back to this place.
Phoenician Kabob - I've been here once before for baklava - it was good. Today they brought their A-game to the feast. Armed with fresh pita, hummus and some bomb-diggity shwarma (I think?), they definitely impressed. Their meat was tender, lean and flavorful. The hummus was smooth, creamy and melted in my mouth. Yumminess - For that they get Thomas S's Second Prize Award --- which is a return visit from me!
Axum - Yuck! Enjera bread is not designed to hold greasy food for longer than 3 minutes. The bread gets soggy and turns into a nasty mush. I think they normally serve better food.
Solera - Worth the long wait - maybe. I question their pairing of calamari with chocolate brownie. I don't like to mix seafood and chocolate - and neither does my digestive system. Kudos for offering a complementary wine sampling and their sausage was lovely.
Africana Caf - A+ for moving the lines through quickly. Overall the food was just okay - normally they serve better quality.
The Elm - Best atmosphere, we sat outside on the patio and despite the woman who was blowing smoke in our direction --- we still enjoyed it. The food was so-so. I enjoyed the spice from their hot wings, but I think the chicken had a jerky-like texture. Their chips are always wonderful too.
Senor Rita's - A+ for the free tequila shots. Boo for the extremely long line. Instead of waiting in line, I decided to see what the wait was for. Chips, ground beef, cheese and some other mediocre nacho fixings. Wasn't worth the wait, so we moved along.
The Cork House - Excuse me, do you have a wine pairing to go with your Tostidos Tortilla Chips and Pace Picante Salsa? The Cork House obviously mailed it in with a mediocre performance. A dry turkey sandwich, cheap chips and salsa and average sweet and sour wings are not an accurate sampling of their menu.
Mataam Fez - Excellent!!! They served the best variety of menu offerings of all the restaurants participating. Food was succulent and delish! read more