Tune Up Cafe @ Santa Fe, NM

A stop in Santa Fe to eat at Tune Up Cafe on our trip back to LA from Cleveland, OH. I chose this spot because it was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but meh. Really. So New Mexico is known for its New Mexican food. I don't quite understand what that is, but if it's white-mexican food, then no thank you. The restaurant was pretty and all, unique decor but too expensive for Mexican food. I'm a strong believer that ethnic food should not be expensive, if it's not pricey in the motherland then why here? Basically this meal for Panda and I cost a little over $40. I do believe it was one of the more expensive meals during our trip. Total let down for our first stop in New Mexico. Food was bland, it was attempting to be "fancy." The restaurant was known for the Paupusas and they weren't very good. Panda had the fish tacos and Wahoo's is better. How sad!

House Salad w. Balsamic Vinaigrette 

Caesar Salad

meh...dressing was not good, not enough cheese

Chips and Guacamole $6.50

can you believe how much this plate cost! yikes! i've had better guacamole and chips for less in california! for so much more less! the guacamole wasn't very fresh and the chips were just chips, i think the ones from chili's is better.

 

 Yucatan Fish Tacos $13.50

crazy price huh? panda said it was not good, and i believe him. the rice and beans were not your traditional rice and beans, and the fish wasn't good. sad

i've determined that fish tacos aren't good unless they are cooked with mahi mahi. and this place definitely wasted the mahi mahi!!! 

 El Salvadoran Combo $12.50

[banana leaf wrapped tamale and papusas]

one of the worse meals i've had

it may look pretty, but it definitely is not tasty

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE IF IN SANTA FE, STAY IN CALI FOR GOOD MEXICAN FOOD

Denver Biscuit Company @ Denver, CO

I do believe that this was the BEST MEAL EVER throughout the entire Road Trip. Chicago pizza was amazing as well and can't compare the two, so that's not included in my categorization. But everything else we ate on the trip after Denver Biscuit Company was compared to it. We really wish that the Biscuit Bus would come all the way to California, that would the best.

The service was amazing. I think they just opened for the day and the waitress was the sweetest girl ever. She explained to us who atomic cowboy was, the chef and all the goodies. We ordered the food, and I have to tell all of you, it was like heaven in my mouth. Panda and I both ordered The Franklin with Fried Egg, which is: buttermilk fried chicken, bacon, cheese, fried egg with sausage gravy. I don't think I've ever had a better breakfast sandwich in my life. I imagined that the sandwich would be something I could hold in my hand, boy was I wrong! My hands couldn't even fit around the thing! It was HUGE! We had to use a fork and knife. It would have been messy too because the sausage gravy was all over, but it was great.

Everything was perfect. The biscuit was moist itself and it didn't get soggy from either of the ingredients. The exterior stayed crusty while the interior was soft and buttery. The buttermilk fried chicken was the best, and it was chicken breast. It wasn't dry at all, it was juicy and flavorful. There was a nice piece of thick bacon and cheese. It didn't take over or anything, it was a nice compliment to the fried chicken, and as you bit into the whole thing all the flavors just meshed together. You know that fried egg adds to everything and it really did. I'm not even done yet, the sausage gravy! I could swim in it, I really could! Panda loved it, even though there was black pepper and he can't handle spicy. The sausage gravy was thick, it was flavorful, it was smooth, it was chunky, I don't know it was all those things. But everything added together, my taste buds danced! I'm so jealous of all the people in Denver that are right in the vicinity of this amazing restaurant. I wish one would open up in California, that would just be perfect. I guarantee that you'd make a lot of business too!

The chef was really sweet too, he gave us a fresh biscuit on the house. Fresh right out of the oven! It was warm, it was crusty on the outside and soft and buttery on the inside. I don't know how to explain it, but it was the best darn biscuit I've ever had. It was so good with their homemade jam too! My fav was the rasberry, it was a perfect amount of sweet and tartiness.

If you ever go to Denver this is a MUST!

Can Tho Pho @ Denver, CO

7pm and about two more hours of driving until we reach Denver, CO. It's only our second day on the road and I'm sick and tired of burgers already. All I want is some good Asian food, but more specifically Pho cause I feel like I'm eating too much fried foods. Panda's excited too and he could go for a nice rice dish. Neither of us have an iPhone or a blackberry, what to do? Type "Pho" into the GPS to see what pops up, low and behold! It gives us a list of establishments about 1 mile from where we're going to stay. Find a place that opens until 10pm, perfect! So we're driving there, and when were in the vicinity it looks super shady and I start to notice Vietnamese writing all over the place, ok so we must be in Denver's version of "Little Saigon." Couldn't find the place the GPS told us to go, but we just randomly went inside a place - Can Tho Pho. That was our first mistake.

Went in, and said "two people" and I even used by fingers to indicate "two." The waiter didn't understand me, and granted I may have overreacted more than usual since I was starved and super tired (we drove a total of 18 hours that day from Chicago to Denver), but he was an idiot. It was downhill from there. He didn't bring us our tea. He took forever to take our order, and then he writes the wrong thing down and doesn't even admit it, and proceeds to charge us anyways! I asked for the egg rolls, and it brings out the cold one. Panda and I were looking forward to our traditional Vietnamese egg rolls, but the cold ones that has all the veggies in it. So I say, didn't order this. He says, yes you do. And both Panda and I are looking at him, waiting for him to correct it, because hey, we're the customers! He never apologizes, still charges us. Ridic. Never again.

Spring Roll

[rice noodle, shrimp, bean sprouts, lettuce, pork]

completely lacking in flavor. the pork was stale too, it wasn't even the pork belly like how it's supposed to be. fail.

Pho Tai

it looks innocent enough right?

i had to specifically ask for the complimentary veggie plate of bean sprouts and faux mint leaves. all pho places bring it out automatically without being asked. the soup was lacking in flavor, i think there was a lack of star anise and other spices. i had to douse this with hoisin sauce. fail. 

Pork Chop with Broken Rice

this was actually not bad, but also cost an arm and a leg. the broken rice was a little too mushy, but it was broken rice, and the pork chop was good enough, but too heavy on the lemon grass and msg. semi-fail

Egg Rolls

not fresh at all. it was stale and didn't seem it was freshly fried. the pork was horrendous in the inside. like i said it wasn't fresh ground pork but some kind of processed thing that was over salted. fail. fail. fail.

Sonic Drive-In @ Topeka, Kansas

Yes, don't judge. I went to Sonic Drive-In. But like I said in my previous post, Bobo's Drive in was closed! We were desperate and didn't know what to do. Saw Sonic Drive-In and just went for it. One thing about being in Cali, especially Northern, you see a lot of commercials for Sonic Drive-In, but there's no one where. So after seeing about 10+ commercials, I'm craving it. Sonic Drive-In was ok. Not super greasy, but just average. It wasn't the most amazing burger I've ever had, and it didn't even really come close. So just meh...

Cherry Limeade

i do have to say that this is the best thing that sonic has going for it....nice on a hot summer day

Chicken Toaster Sandwich

Popcorn Chicken

this was a good idea for the road ahead of us. after we left Topeka and two hours into our drive to Denver, it was time to start munching, and there were still good. not super breaded and there was actually chicken, which is nice for popcorn chicken. i hate it when KFC gives you all dough, it's gross.

Bacon Cheeseburger

Chili Cheese Tater-Tots

Baker's Dozen Donuts @ Topeka, Kansas

Topeka Kansas! What's in Topeka Kansas? Nothing really, but I wanted to see Brown v. Board of Edu., and since we were there we have to see what culinary edibles it has to offer! To our disappointment Bobo's Drive-In was closed. So nothing to blog there, but next on my list was Baker's Dozen Donuts. The facade was pretty much like any other donut shop, but inside was big. I didn't quite understand why, why so many tables? Do that many people eat donuts in the morning? Either way, there weren't that many donuts left and we chose three to see how great this donut really was. Ultimate taste test: donuts were good, but too crumbly. I think I may prefer Marie's in Sacramento. I always prefer my old fashion glaze. Donut's don't need to be fancy :D

[cinnamon apple; oreo cake; blueberry cake]