Lenten Lunch Battle - Fast Food Fish

For some, lunch during Lent can be difficult since meat must be avoided. With that in mind, we are pleased to present the first ever PhoodAddict.com battle -- fast food fish edition. Today's competitors are:

1. McDonald's Filet-O-Fish: This sandwich was actually introduced in 1962 because of declining Friday sales during the Lenten season. It contains a piece of battered fish (mostly Pollock, the same fish used to make imitation crab meat), a slice of cheese, and tartar sauce.


2. Burger King's Big Fish: This is also made of Pollock, and features tartar sauce, lettuce and a corn dusted bun. In Turkey it is called the Fish Royale and in El Salvador it is called the King de Pescado.


PRICE: The Filet-O-Fish costs $2.99, compared to $3.69 for the larger Big Fish. If you learn one thing from this blog, let it be that cheap fish is not worth it.

SIZE: There is a noticeable difference in size (141g per serving for the Filet-O-Fish and 248g for the Big Fish).

NUTRITION: The Filet-O-Fish clocked in at 380 calories, 18g of fat (3.5g saturated), 38g total carbs, and 15g of protein. The Big Fish is 630 calories, 30g of fat (6g saturated), 67g total carbs, and 24g of protein. McDonald's option was much better than I expected, although if you really are paying attention to this stuff, just stay away from both sandwiches.

TASTE: The Filet-O-Fish had a nice soft bun with a tangy tartar sauce. The fish itself was kind of bland and mushy.

The Big Fish bun was much larger and corn dusted, but not as good as the McDonalds bun. The fish was also larger, more crispy and seasoned than the Filet-O-Fish. The lettuce didn't really do anything for me, nor did the tartar sauce, which was pretty bland.

AFTERMATH: A weird thing happened after I finished both sandwiches. I didn't really enjoy either of them -- in fact I felt kind of bloated and sick, with a self-loathing more intense than what normally accompanies my overeating. But I found myself craving one more bite of the Filet-O-Fish. I believe the tartar sauce contains an addictive chemical. I also fear that this blog will cause me to gain 40 pounds and start wearing a muumuu.

WINNER: I guess the Filet-O-Fish was the big winner today, though it may have had an unfair advantage -- I believe the tartar sauce contains performance enhancing drugs. One thing is certain -- I am the big loser in today's battle. Nearly two hours later, I still feel disgusting and disgusted with myself. From now on, no more McDonalds or Burger King posts.

Subpar Sandwiches

Tough day at the PhoodAddict.com headquarters. Pastificio is a beloved lunch option here, as you might have guessed from our earlier post naming it a top contender in the forthcoming Chicken Cutlet Battle. So it pains me to say that we had not one but two disappointing sandwiches today.

The Chicken Cutlet Diablo featured fried long hots and hot pepper cheese on a cutlet. It was way too hot -- I had to remove more than half the peppers just to eat the sandwich. I also felt the sandwich was missing something, maybe some roasted red peppers or a little more cheese...some sort of extra kick to complete the sandwich.

The Sausage Special featured broccoli rabe and sharp provolone over sliced sausage. The sausage was pretty non-descript -- not spicy or sweet, just kind of bland and overcooked. Also, the broccoli rabe was tough and difficult to eat. This led to the awkward situation of having to stuff my mouth with the entire piece of broccoli rabe because I couldn't bite off a smaller piece. (Luckily, I was alone and no one was there to witness this completely unappetizing act.)

It would take a lot more for Pastificio to get the White Thumb of Disgrace -- both sandwiches were decent enough, and let's be honest -- we still finished both sandwiches. They just were not up to the normal standards we've come to expect from Pastificio.

Mac N Cheese at Lucky 13 Pub

II recently had the chance to get back to Lucky 13 Pub and try their Macaroni and Cheese. It was "all hooked up" with gouda and Locatelli (which I had to look up -- it's a famous brand of pecorino romano cheese) and topped with herbed bread crumbs. There was a hint of peppery spiciness which was a nice touch. I give it the Red Thumb of Glory, and will definitely go back for the deconstructed meatball and the mushroom risotto.

Devil's Den Disgrace

Okay, maybe disgrace is a bit harsh. When Devil's Den opened last year, I was excited to have a new pub with a great beer selection in the area. I went a few times, and while the food was nothing special for a place with gastropub aspirations, the beer selection made up for it. But the past couple of times I've been there, it's been overcrowded with horrible service. On one particular night, there was no hostess. I walked towards the dining room where I was greeted by one particularly obnoxious server who I had seen before. He stared at me without saying anything, so I said we wanted a table for two. His one word response: "Okay." So I said, "Is there a long wait?" and he responded again with one word: "Yes." We stared at each other for awhile, until I realized he had no interest in taking our names down or even talking to us and left the place.

So maybe it was just the one server. I'm not opposed to giving the place one more shot, but for now I'm going to give Devil's Den the White Thumb of Disgrace.

Once you go Black N Brew...

Now here is a great breakfast option!

Passyunk Ave. has had a revitalization of sorts over the past few years. Sure, the area still has it's share of wife beater-wearing, unemployed 40 year old dudes who still live with their parents and litter on their own property, but it also has some great restaurants!

One of those places is Black N Brew at 1523 E. Passyunk. It's a great little spot for weekend brunch with tasty food and endless refills on coffee. There are so many reasons why this is a perfect neighborhood cafe: delicious weekly specials, friendly service, wireless Internet, and even artwork from a different local artist every month.

One of those artists is my friend, Heather DiPiazza, who displayed her photos at Black N Brew last July. Check out her website -- she is a fantastic photographer and all around fun chick. (These photos are from her blog)

One of this week's specials was the Mother Earth Omelet. Normally, I don't go for the vegetarian option but this was a particularly delicious omelet, with a nice mix of homemade red sauce, mozzarella, and eggplant along with a side homefries and toast.

I'll try to make future reviews more structured, but for now I am going to award Black N Brew the first ever Phood Addict Red Thumb of Glory:

Free Breakfast at Ikea

True, it's normally only $0.99 anyway (plus another $0.99 for coffee) but IKEA is giving away breakfast this weekend. So head to your local IKEA and have some cafeteria style powdered eggs and soggy bacon before you pick up your $0.99 DROPPAR jars or $19.99 INGOLF bar stools (the other specials of this weekend).

Free Water Ice!

A loyal reader reminded us that it's the first day of spring, which means it's free water ice day at Rita's! From noon to 10pm, Rita's is giving away a free regular size water ice to every guest. Unfortunately, it's a little chilly and not the most spring-like of days here in Philly, but that won't stop me from hitting up my neighborhood Rita's later today.

Battle Chicken coming soon

In honor of March Madness, PhoodAddict.com will soon be holding the Tournament of Chicken Champions. I'm still working on the exact ground rules and format, but I think the basics are going to go something like this:

• It must be a chicken cutlet sandwich.
• It must be within striking distance of South Philly, though I'm flexible if it's a really good sandwich. Basically, I need to be able to get there during my lunch hour.
• All varieties (chicken parm, chicken cutlet Italian, etc) will be accepted, but only one sandwich from each location will be allowed.
• We'll try eight different sandwiches, which will be ranked by me ahead of time.
• They'll face off tournament style.

Desperately want your corner sandwich shop to be nominated? Feel strongly that Chick-fila, while not a traditional chicken cutlet sandwich, is so delicious and addictive that it should be a part of this competition? If you have any nominations, by all means post them.

In the meantime, a preview of a couple of potential participants: the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and the Chicken Parm from Pastificio located at 1528 Packer Ave (right next to Chickie's and Pete's). Only one can make it, and this is a tough choice: both are big and delicious, not unlike myself. Pastificio makes a bunch of great sandwiches, both hot and cold. (The Prosciutto Special will have to wait for a future battle) They also have great fresh pasta and a variety of Italian specialty items.

I'm leaning towards the Buffalo sandwich (top) because of the homemade sauce and blue cheese.

The Shamrock Shake: Mythical Mint Flavor?

If it's March, it's time for McDonald's Shamrock Shake. I don't normally patronize the Golden Arches very often (I prefer McDowells) but I do enjoy the Shamrock Shake. Apparently, there has been recent debate over whether or not the Shamrock Shake is simply a vanilla shake dyed green or if it is indeed a mint shake. McDonald's site doesn't list mint flavor as an ingredient. However, a public accounting firm conducted a double blind test this month and 98% of participants detected mint flavoring in the Shamrock Shake.

Here's another fun fact from Wikipedia: in conjunction with the release of Shrek the Third, McDonalds released the Minty Mudbath, a Shamrock Shake mixed with chocolate. It was discontinued shortly after it's release because it was discovered that 'Minty Mudbath' has an alternative meaning.

You're going to have to look it up.

Easy Dinners: Leg of Lamb

I cannot stand Sandra Lee, but sometimes a semi-homemade meal can hit the spot. I was in the mood for lamb but didn't plan ahead, marinate, etc. Luckily, Trader Joes has the Seasoned Butterflied Boneless Leg of Lamb. (Around $12 for a little over 2 lbs) It was about 15 minutes of prep time -- all I had to do was throw the lamb in a Pyrex, cut up some Yukon Gold Potatoes and season them with olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and kosher salt.

I put the lamb in the oven at 475 degrees for 10 minutes, then flipped it over and cooked for another 10 minutes. Then I lowered the oven to 325 degrees and put the potatos in. About 35 minutes later it was ready. I let the lamb sit for about 10 minutes, then plated everything along with some packaged salad with ginger dressing. All in all, a reasonably quick and pretty tasty meal.

The perfect hangover breakfast

There are some foods that just hit the spot after a night of drinking. One of those foods is the bacon, egg and cheese burrito from the food truck at 3rd and Pattison. Topped off with mashed potatoes, fried peppers, onions, and homemade hot sauce, this burrito is the perfect cure for the hangover. My meat of choice is bacon, but you can also get the burrito with sausage, chorizo, steak, chicken, and a variety of other ingredients.

My friend actually has the cell phone number of the guy in the truck so that he can call in orders ahead of time. The truck is only around on weekdays until around 2pm, but it is worth a special trip. This picture doesn't do it justice, but trust me -- you will enjoy this burrito.

Venuto's Old World Pizza

I recently had lunch at Venuto's, located across the street from Tony Luke's on Oregon Ave. It was a pretty decent slice of thin crust pizza, so I thought I'd do a little research. Apparently, it's a chain started by the people who brought you Hollywood Tans.

It's been pretty empty the two times I've been there for lunch, but I thought the pizza wasn't bad. I tried the Giotto (pictured below) which had fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and marinara.

Lucky 13 Pub

After Morimoto, we met some friends at Lucky 13 Pub, located at 13th and Passyunk. To be honest, when we first walked in I was afraid it would be overrun with annoying hipsters but it was actually a pretty cool, laid back hole in the wall type bar. Pretty good beer selection (I had a Young's Double Chocolate Stout) and a sweet Ms. Pac Man table that stuck a little but was fun to play nonetheless. Didn't get to try any of the food but the menu looked delicious -- I'm definitely going to have to make it back for the mac and cheese and the deconstructed meatball.

Philly Beer Week at Morimoto

Morimoto had a specially designed five course dinner tonight with Rogue Beer pairings featuring Morimoto signature beers and Rogue specialty beers. For my friends and me, it was the perfect excuse for a weeknight of drinking and extravagant dining.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Chef Morimoto was near the hostess station, welcoming diners. We sat down at our table and found a menu specially printed for the beer tasting menu and signed by Morimoto and John Maier, brewmaster at Rogue Brewery. Throughout the meal, Morimoto and representatives from Rogue roamed throughout the restaurant checking on diners and thanking them for coming. It was nice to see that Morimoto hasn't completely abandoned us for New York City and still spends a lot of time in Philly.

The meal started off with toro tilla, a piece of tuna with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, wrapped in a tortilla. It was good, but I would have liked a little more kick. With my last bite I actually got more of the spicy aoli, which made a huge difference.

The toro tilla was paired with Rogue's Mom Hefeweizen, which was a nice Belgian style wheat beer.

The second course was steamed mussels with lemongrass, curry, and Morimoto pilsner broth, paired with the Morimoto Imperial Pilsner. This dish was decidedly underwhelming. My mussels were a little cold and a couple were not even open. My friends all had either empty or closed shells on their plates.

The third course definitely made up for the subpar mussels. It was a Kurobuta pork (kind of the pork equivalent of Kobe beef) with an apple mizuna salad, paired with the Morimoto Hazelnut Ale. The pork was delicious -- there was a perfect crust of panko breadcrumbs and hazelnuts surrounding a tender and tasty slice of pork. It was paired with a delicious hazelnut ale.


The next course was a selection of sushi paired with Morimoto Soba Ale. The beer was nothing special; in fact my friends felt it had a strange aftertaste. However, the sushi was excellent; the yellow tail was particularly good.

The final course was a Rogue Chocolate Stout Ice Cream Float. I really enjoyed this, although one of my friends would have liked to have had the beer separate from the ice cream.


On the way out, we got pictures with Chef Morimoto and Brewmaster Maier!



All in all, it was a fun night out -- we got to enjoy a great meal, have some great beer, and meet a celebrity chef. (We also spotted Stephen Starr, though I didn't get to yell at him for appearing on Top Chef and not mentioning Philly at all) Service was excellent the whole night, and we even got fun little giveaways like Rogue temporary tattoos and a Morimoto magnet. Plus, we got to take part in Philly's Beer Week, the nation's largest beer festival. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to check out any other beer week events, but there are still a couple of days left!