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- May 11, 2010
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Snorting his way across the USA
CHARBROILED ATLANTIC CODFISH SANDWICH
Okay, I don't succumb to advertising and I could care less if some dizzy blonde chick with big tits makes a mess eating but I think that was promoting a burger anyway. Well Carl's Jr (here on the West Coast) and Hardee's (East Coast version of the same thing) are offering a "Charbroiled Atlantic Codfish Sandwich." I suppose Codfish is actually two words but they do purportedly use Codfish in their Cod Fish sandwich.
"Why go to a chain fast food restaurant to get seafood?" Simple. I've ran out of local options to try and I was seeking an economical alternative to a real seafood place. Maybe they have something better than the typical ground and formed fishmeal patties that they pawn off as fish sandwiches. Plus, Carl's will do lettuce wrap now for any hamburger or sandwich.
First, research. Arrive armed. Think of an eating strategy. Do I do one sandwich and a side salad? Two sandwiches? More than that? A quick Internet search revealed that said sandwiches were 420 calories (but with bun.) My normal meal there is a lettuce wrapped Six Dollar Burger (half pound patty) which is approximately twice the calorie count, also with bun. These things sell at $3.99 a pop. So, I got two of them, plus a side salad.
THE ARRIVAL
The tray arrived with the standard side salad and ranch dressing, croutons (WTF? I ordered a f**king salad and lettuce wrapped burgers, see a pattern here Sergio?) and two paper wrapped sandwiches. Suspecting the potential for an order foul up that could require immediate attention, I felt one of the sandwiches through the paper to confirm it was indeed lettuce wrapped. The cool, crisp feel of iceberg was indeed present.
THE EXPERIENCE
Different restaurants can have different levels of quality control and freshness. This one appeared to be on the upper end of the scale. The mixed green salad was fresh with no wilted leaves, and no green tomatoes. That set things off on a positive note. I don't multitask well at all so I eat one thing, finish it, and move on to the next. I normally go salad, then mix veggies or sides if present, then the main course.
I was tense with anticipation. I mentally reviewed every potential way this could go wrong. The heft of the sandwich was agonizingly, but not unexpectedly, light. Does Carl's have some Italian guy with a curly mustache in the back fileting freshly caught codfish and slicing them in to small sandwich steaks with the precision of a sushi chef? Probably not. More likely a gang of migrant workers received discounted cod by the lot which weren't quite restaurant grade, separated the skin and bones, and ran them through a slicing and processing machine which coated them with a preservative, non-stick formula with light seasoning, followed by a flash freeze and packaging at Meat Processing Central. Were these things shipped from the Atlantic? Who knows, likely the Atlantic Cod species were farmed in Southeast Asia and quite possibly preprocessed there as well. I mean they have to keep costs down. Seafood is expensive.
The taste was... sort of bland. The tarter flavored sauce gave it a little bit of flavor. The texture was not quite as firm as it should be. The coloration of the fish patty was brown, as if the color additive in the nonstick coating was intended to invoke a semblance of barbeque. It was... okay. A little messy. Fell apart. A meager 420 calories gets eaten quickly. On to the next one.
THE ANALYSIS
It was a calculated, measured risk and I'm okay with that. Was it really any better than the standard processed square battered and fried fish patty at McD's and Burger King? Not really. I expected mild disappointment and I was slightly more disappointed than that, but not majorly so. Conclusion? Stick with a damn burger, you know better than to order the seafood in a steakhouse anyway.
At least I don't feel stuffed, if there is a way to cast a positive light on all of this.
PHILLY CHEESESTEAK BURGER
Well anyway that was today's excitement. I just had to relay the excitement of a few days ago, on the way from Fresno back to the Bay. Well I stopped in Chowchilla for lunch (yes, Chowchilla is on the 99 and the 5 would have been a more logical choice but I hate driving the 5 plus I took 5 to get there and I wanted to take another route on the return so I didn't get whacked). I'm not a real fancy eater, even on the company's ticket so if I'm by myself I tend to go to fast food. Enter Carl's Jr. As previously reported, my standard meal at Carl's would be a lettuce wrapped Six Dollar Burger and a salad. Well I decided to take a walk on the wild side and try their Philly Cheesesteak Six Dollar burger, purported to be topped with sliced steak and Swiss.
THE ARRIVAL
"Oh, yes, we can do leddes wrap, sure." I popped open the small paper box that contained the burger just to confirm. Dammit, happens all the time. "Miha, theese burger was supposed to be leddes wrap no?"
"So sorry, I will have them leddes wrap it yes." Well fine, I'll just enjoy my salad. Round #2 comes back. Well, okay, it looks like the standard Six Dollar Burger patty, but with some sort of oily brown goo on the top. No discernible sliced meat. No visible cheese. Oily brown goo which looks like it might be some sort of sauce with a little bit of over caramelized onion.
In Miha's defense, this is the South San Joaquin Valley. Farm country. Nobody orders freakin' lettuce wrapped burgers even though it's a menu item. She probably had to review the policy and training manual to learn what that menu option actually meant.
THE EXPERIENCE
It tasted, like a beef patty cut with filler (yes, a Six Dollar Burger patty is in fact cut and not 100% beef) with oily brown goo that sort of resembled the taste of the stuff you scrape off the griddle after you've fried a few burgers on it. No actual texture to the "sliced steak" ostensibly topping my burger. Very disappointing.
THE ANALYSIS
I've had the Bacon Guacamole Six Dollar Burger before and found it to be enjoyable. I did not find this thing to be enjoyable. So get that instead. Or better yet get double standard patty version of whatever burger you want, as those patties are in fact 100% beef and better tasting.
Okay, I don't succumb to advertising and I could care less if some dizzy blonde chick with big tits makes a mess eating but I think that was promoting a burger anyway. Well Carl's Jr (here on the West Coast) and Hardee's (East Coast version of the same thing) are offering a "Charbroiled Atlantic Codfish Sandwich." I suppose Codfish is actually two words but they do purportedly use Codfish in their Cod Fish sandwich.
"Why go to a chain fast food restaurant to get seafood?" Simple. I've ran out of local options to try and I was seeking an economical alternative to a real seafood place. Maybe they have something better than the typical ground and formed fishmeal patties that they pawn off as fish sandwiches. Plus, Carl's will do lettuce wrap now for any hamburger or sandwich.
First, research. Arrive armed. Think of an eating strategy. Do I do one sandwich and a side salad? Two sandwiches? More than that? A quick Internet search revealed that said sandwiches were 420 calories (but with bun.) My normal meal there is a lettuce wrapped Six Dollar Burger (half pound patty) which is approximately twice the calorie count, also with bun. These things sell at $3.99 a pop. So, I got two of them, plus a side salad.
THE ARRIVAL
The tray arrived with the standard side salad and ranch dressing, croutons (WTF? I ordered a f**king salad and lettuce wrapped burgers, see a pattern here Sergio?) and two paper wrapped sandwiches. Suspecting the potential for an order foul up that could require immediate attention, I felt one of the sandwiches through the paper to confirm it was indeed lettuce wrapped. The cool, crisp feel of iceberg was indeed present.
THE EXPERIENCE
Different restaurants can have different levels of quality control and freshness. This one appeared to be on the upper end of the scale. The mixed green salad was fresh with no wilted leaves, and no green tomatoes. That set things off on a positive note. I don't multitask well at all so I eat one thing, finish it, and move on to the next. I normally go salad, then mix veggies or sides if present, then the main course.
I was tense with anticipation. I mentally reviewed every potential way this could go wrong. The heft of the sandwich was agonizingly, but not unexpectedly, light. Does Carl's have some Italian guy with a curly mustache in the back fileting freshly caught codfish and slicing them in to small sandwich steaks with the precision of a sushi chef? Probably not. More likely a gang of migrant workers received discounted cod by the lot which weren't quite restaurant grade, separated the skin and bones, and ran them through a slicing and processing machine which coated them with a preservative, non-stick formula with light seasoning, followed by a flash freeze and packaging at Meat Processing Central. Were these things shipped from the Atlantic? Who knows, likely the Atlantic Cod species were farmed in Southeast Asia and quite possibly preprocessed there as well. I mean they have to keep costs down. Seafood is expensive.
The taste was... sort of bland. The tarter flavored sauce gave it a little bit of flavor. The texture was not quite as firm as it should be. The coloration of the fish patty was brown, as if the color additive in the nonstick coating was intended to invoke a semblance of barbeque. It was... okay. A little messy. Fell apart. A meager 420 calories gets eaten quickly. On to the next one.
THE ANALYSIS
It was a calculated, measured risk and I'm okay with that. Was it really any better than the standard processed square battered and fried fish patty at McD's and Burger King? Not really. I expected mild disappointment and I was slightly more disappointed than that, but not majorly so. Conclusion? Stick with a damn burger, you know better than to order the seafood in a steakhouse anyway.
At least I don't feel stuffed, if there is a way to cast a positive light on all of this.
PHILLY CHEESESTEAK BURGER
Well anyway that was today's excitement. I just had to relay the excitement of a few days ago, on the way from Fresno back to the Bay. Well I stopped in Chowchilla for lunch (yes, Chowchilla is on the 99 and the 5 would have been a more logical choice but I hate driving the 5 plus I took 5 to get there and I wanted to take another route on the return so I didn't get whacked). I'm not a real fancy eater, even on the company's ticket so if I'm by myself I tend to go to fast food. Enter Carl's Jr. As previously reported, my standard meal at Carl's would be a lettuce wrapped Six Dollar Burger and a salad. Well I decided to take a walk on the wild side and try their Philly Cheesesteak Six Dollar burger, purported to be topped with sliced steak and Swiss.
THE ARRIVAL
"Oh, yes, we can do leddes wrap, sure." I popped open the small paper box that contained the burger just to confirm. Dammit, happens all the time. "Miha, theese burger was supposed to be leddes wrap no?"
"So sorry, I will have them leddes wrap it yes." Well fine, I'll just enjoy my salad. Round #2 comes back. Well, okay, it looks like the standard Six Dollar Burger patty, but with some sort of oily brown goo on the top. No discernible sliced meat. No visible cheese. Oily brown goo which looks like it might be some sort of sauce with a little bit of over caramelized onion.
In Miha's defense, this is the South San Joaquin Valley. Farm country. Nobody orders freakin' lettuce wrapped burgers even though it's a menu item. She probably had to review the policy and training manual to learn what that menu option actually meant.
THE EXPERIENCE
It tasted, like a beef patty cut with filler (yes, a Six Dollar Burger patty is in fact cut and not 100% beef) with oily brown goo that sort of resembled the taste of the stuff you scrape off the griddle after you've fried a few burgers on it. No actual texture to the "sliced steak" ostensibly topping my burger. Very disappointing.
THE ANALYSIS
I've had the Bacon Guacamole Six Dollar Burger before and found it to be enjoyable. I did not find this thing to be enjoyable. So get that instead. Or better yet get double standard patty version of whatever burger you want, as those patties are in fact 100% beef and better tasting.
