Fast Food Review: BK Breakfast Muffin Sandwich

One of my favorite meals to get at fast food restaurants is breakfast.  I love a hot breakfast at times, but I don't always want a lot to eat in the mornings so any breakfast sandwich on a dollar menu is the perfect fit.  McDonald's has some offerings in this area, but if you want meat, cheese and egg on a sandwich for only a buck you won't find it there.  Where can you find it?  Burger King.

Yes Burger King, the forgotten black sheep of fast food restaurants.  Admittedly BK is usually pretty low on my list of fast food choices, but with the BK Breakfast Muffin Sandwich they have won me back at least for now.  Admittedly it's nothing complicated and it's pretty much a ripoff of Egg McMuffin with sausage.  However, I found the sausage to be much better than what they're serving at the golden arches.  It tasted fresher, spicier and less greasy.  I could have used a little more toasting on the English muffin, but you can't beat the rock bottom $1 price tag.  It's also worth noting here that the egg is more of a scrambled folded egg as opposed to what's on an Egg McMuffin.  Everyone may not agree, but I enjoy egg sandwiches prepared both ways without a clear preference of one over the other.

Taste 8/10  An overall good breakfast sandwich with good sausage.  Lack of toasting on the muffin holds this back from a truly exceptional score.
Value 10/10  Tasty and everything I want in a breakfast sandwich at the cheapest price.

Chow Down Midtown

Double posting day!  What up!  I know I haven't posted as much this month so I guess this is like brushing your teeth a lot the night before you go to the dentist.  Anyway, I wanted to make sure you all do know about the upcoming event of Chow Down Midtown.  It's similar to the twice yearly even of Devour Downtown where select restaurants offer special deals for a week long promotion.  The difference is that for Chow Down Midtown all of the restaurants are in Broadripple and the surrounding northern areas rather than downtown.  This is especially convenient for those of us on the North side, and especially appropriate for all of the culinary attention that area has gotten as of late.  Some of the restaurants have posted their menus on the website, and some places are having a 2 meals for $30 deal and other more expensive places will be offering other $30 deals.  It's something of which I'm certainly going to take advantage.  Take a look at the menus and see if you see anything that sounds particularly good and if you do let me know.  Chow Down Midtown runs from June 6th-11th.

Hat Tip:  Erin of Food Obsessed In The Midwest.  I found out about it from her quite enjoyable Indy food blog.

Sweet Treat: Yogi Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt

One of the things we love and sometimes love to hate here at RDERF (I'm tryin' it out) are food trends especially those involving dessert.  If you have been eating your way around the greater Indianapolis area you might have noticed one of the newest burgeoning trends, self-serve frozen yogurt shops.  The idea is pretty ingenious from a business model perspective.  You let your customers select their flavor from a bank of various soft serve machines, they fill their own yogurt cup, they add their own toppings and pay a single cashier according to the weight of the yogurt+toppings.  It minimizes the labor and equipment required, but is there a sacrifice in taste or flavor?

When I went to Yogi the first thing I noticed, other than the barebones setup, is that the place was fairly new and certainly popular.  The amount of Fishers trophy wives soccer moms with their herds of children was certainly staggering.  It was almost like I didn't belong.  Nonetheless I soldiered on and got a cup of the cake batter flavored frozen yogurt.  When it came to toppings I thought things went a bit haywire.  The amount of topping choices was a bit overwhelming.  I didn't know what to chose between the various types of dry fruity cereal, chocolate chips, fresh fruit and sauces.  I ended up with fresh blueberries, cheesecake pieces and white chocolate chips.  These were all things I liked, but the flavor combination didn't really work.  Of course that is no one's fault but my own, but it would have been nice to have at least some suggested flavor combinations available.  Also, I found the blueberries really lacking in sweetness.  As far as the yogurt itself was concerned I didn't enjoy it at all.  While allegedly flavored like cake batter I couldn't discern any noticeable flavor whatsoever when I got a bite that didn't include any of my topping choices.  I found this particularly disappointing because I have really enjoyed froyo at other places in the past such as Incredible Yogurt in Muncie, IN.

Yogi's isn't on UrbanSpoon yet so if you want to check it out for yourself it's located at 12660 E 116th St Fishers, IN.

Taste 4/10  Decidedly meh.  It may be worth another shot with a different froyo flavor than cake batter, but I don't see myself rushing back.  People have told me Huddles is a better similar yogurt shop so I may try that.

Value 4/10  I didn't find it particularly expensive, but I would have much rather spent a similar amount on some other ice cream, froyo or dessert.

Memorial Day Eats

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  I know everyone probably has their own Summer holiday traditions, but in my family Memorial Day weekend means listening to the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500, and eating a lot of food hot off the backyard grill.  Sure enough we have stuck to that tradition today.  The combination of brats, hotdogs, hamburgers, deviled eggs and potato salad I have consumed in combination with the exciting finish of the race have practically put me into a pleasure induced food coma.  Nonetheless I wish all the best to you and yours on this holiday weekend and to all of our brave service men and women overseas.  Feel free to chime in the comments with what you are doing or eating over this long weekend.  I'm sorry about the slow blogging month, but I promise to have several new reviews and opinions forthcoming.  Until then, happy eating!


(photo courtesy topuspost.com)

Review: Kabob Korner

A lot of my favorite foods tend to be various types of comfort food.  I know it has become a little cliche in today's food culture, but that's what I grew up eating and have fond memories of eating.  That's why it's such a treat when I get my adventurous side up and try something (usually ethnic food) that I'm not used to enjoying.  It's even more exciting when said meal turns out to be one I quite enjoy.

The place in question is of course Kabob Korner.  It's a little unassuming Afghani restaurant set in the corner of a small strip mall in the Castleton area.  It's one of those places that I enjoy so much because if you didn't know it was there you might miss it.  I myself have probably driven by the location across from the AMC Theater in the Castleton Square Mall dozens of times, but thanks to a suggestion from a co-worker several weeks ago I finally decided to stop in.

As all of you intelligent readers have probably figured out by now the main part of their menu consists of kabobs of various types of meat.  However, the kind of kabob they serve may not be the one you have pictured in your mind's eye.  Instead of getting served grilled meat and veggies on a stick what you get is your choice of meat prepared but not served on skewers, basmati rice with a tomato sauce topping and 2 pita bread pieces with a yogurt sauce.  On my trip I decided to go with the more expensive lamb, but I was informed this was their specialty and they did not disappoint.  The meat was heavily but nicely seasoned and cooked to perfection.  It was juicy and fresh, but in now way greasy.  The portion size was also quite large which I enjoyed.  The basmati rice didn't strike me as anything terribly special, but the homemade tomato sauce on top was quite enjoyable.  I just wished there was more of it to counterbalance the somewhat dry rice.  The pita pockets were also quite fresh and being served warm they were the perfect consistency.  The pitas were good both on their own and as a vehicle for containing meat and rice.

One thing I think you have to be aware of in regards to choosing to eat at the Kabob Korner is that if you judge the restaurant by its location, appearance, decor and plastic eating utensils you might draw the wrong conclusion.  I know I came in expecting something similar to a Chinese takeout experience.  Mediocre food quality at a low price prepared quickly.  What I got was something of much higher quality.  Yes the price was higher  than something you might expect to pay at a strip mall restaurant, but that's why it's important to look at what your eating and not where you're eating it.

Taste 8/10  The lamb was perfectly prepared and delicious.  I'd definitely get this dish again despite the just okay rice side dish.
Value 7/10  I paid just north of 13 dollars for a healthy portion of lamb, rice, pitas and a Coke.  I think that is pretty darn good.

Fast Food Review: Taco Bell Beefy Melt Burrito

In recent years Taco Bell has become notorious for coming out with "new" menu items every couple of months and placing them at the below 1 dollar price point.   I admit some of these items are tasty.  All of these items are darn cheap as well.  However, the reason for both of these things is that there is nothing new about any of them.  If you like Taco Bell you're going to like these "new" menu items because they consist of the same basic 4 or 5 ingredients just repackaged in different combinations under different names.  When it comes to the Beefy Melt burrito T-Bell has really outdone themselves on this front.

At a menu price of only 99 cents it's hard to be too upset about anything, but holy S the Beefy Melt burrito is so incredibly bland and boring it was like eating a soccer game.  Granted I would still rather eat these burritos for a week than watch one half (Do they even have halves?) of a soccer game but you get my drift.  The contents of the burrito was shredded cheese, ground beef and sour cream and some crappy rice.  It's simply a worse version of the Beefy Crunch Burrito which I referenced in an old post here.  What happened to the old days when new menu items would include things with at least some new elements like the Chicken Quesadilla or the short lived Bacon Cheesy Potato Burrito?  I guess it just comes down to the business wanting cheap products that can create "buzz" and be a big seller.  I fell for it, and I'll fall for it again.  I love Taco Bell, but I won't be getting the Beefy Melt Burrito again.


Taste 3/10  Not inedible, but certainly bland and not good.
Value 4/10  Hard to bang on the value of something that only costs 99 cents, but at a place like Taco Bell with a lot of inexpensive items your 99 cents would be better spent on something else.

Fast Food Review: Hardee's Turkey Burger

Okay, I want to start off by saying that I know I've been slacking a bit on blogging lately.  I apologize, but some extraneous factors have gotten in the way.  No matter because the Random Dude is back with more vengeance than Maria Shriver. 

As you all know I've been trying to cut a few calories here and there and with Hardee's constantly touting their new under 500 calorie turkey burgers I figured it was a really good opportunity for a fast food review.  These burgers were designed with the assistance of Men's Health magazine and consist of a ground turkey patty, toppings and a whole wheat bun.  I decided to go with the Mushroom Swiss Turkey Burger because that was my favorite variety of Hardee's hamburger growing up and I want to see how it translated. 

When I have had turkey burgers in the past I found them to be rather dry so I have to say going in I didn't really have high expectations.  However, expectations aside this turkey burger was just plain delicious.  The patty was of a good size, the 2 pieces of Swiss were nicely melted, it had a fair amount of mushrooms and the wheat bun was soft and pillowy.  I found the burger to be adequately juicy with plenty of flavor.  The mushroom sauce and cheese really helped in that regard.  I got the burger only and skipped the fries.  This kept my lunch at a reasonable 480 calories, and to be honest with you I found it perfectly filling.  I would have no trouble ordering the turkey burger again over the regular burger even if I wasn't considering calories at all.

Taste 8/10  Not just above my expectations, but above average taste overall.
Value 5/10  I at first experienced a bit of sticker shock paying 4 dollars for just a burger, but I quickly  realized it's just a normal price for a specialty fast food burger.  I'm just not used to going the non-combo route.