Food Review: At home with the Irish

When @formulaoneut asked me what my favorite watering hole in the city of salt was, I didn't quite know what to say. Then I realized the one place Ava, Erin and I go to most often is the Irish pub proudly proclaiming itself, "a step down in social clubs." Yep, Murphy's Bar and Grill at 160 South Main Street.

It's not exactly the kind of place you would expect to find three 21-year old women on a Friday night, right? I mean, it's a pub in a basement lined with leprechauns. They serve PBR on tap, Irish stew and cheese fries. The food is good, but not yummy enough for me to go out of my way to get there. And it's not especially cheap, with $7 Newcastle and $9 burgers it's pretty average for a Salt Lake City pub.

Last time I was there, I had the fish and chips for just under $9. The menu declares the meal "world famous." I have no idea how it would have that designation given that the food was pretty average-exactly what you would expect from a pub.

So why is it when I'm starving and thirsty in Downtown, I inevitably end up at Murphy's? Well, because it is a pub. Murphy's is the kind of place where the city's blue collar guys go after a long day of work. They are at the bar to drink a few beers and talk with their buddies (intense man-bonding) before they head home to their wives and girlfriends.

And strangely enough, that suits me just fine. Every once in a while it's nice to go to a place where the guys are not ogligng every woman who walks in the door. Sure, no one pays for my drinks, but I can pay for myself. The waitresses aren't intent on picking up their clientele and manage to wear clothes that constitute cute, comfortable and covered. And if any guy gets out of hand, the waitresses are right there taking care of business.

So I guess on a quiet Friday night, I find myself with my two favorite girls at an Irish pub for middle-aged, blue collar guys because everyone is there just to hang out with their friends. And seriously, where else can you hear two Irish guys talk for hours about Ireland?

Where do you like to hang out after a long day?

Alcohol Review: No good Long Island, no good bar

Sometimes you walk into a place and you know you will never be back there unless someone drags you.

For me, that place is Lumpy's Downtown. I'm not a fan of giving bars, restaurants and pubs negative reviews. I usually go with people I love to hang out with and have a good time unless the food is seriously disgusting, the service ridiculously awful or the ambiance is simply bizarre. Lucky for Lumpy's they strike out on all three.

Triple T, Ava and I arrived around 11 p.m. The owner was filming a commercial for his bar so the bouncer asked us to wait outside. The wait wasn't long as the camera wasn't ready and a PA let the bouncer know the kids could go inside.

Inside we were greeted by too loud hip hop and beautiful TVs showing the nights preseason NFL game. Lumpy's is a sports bar with a dance floor (it's what their website says) although no one was dancing to the sounds of crap blasting in the air. I'm always happy to hang in a sports bar. I like men tackling each other in tight pants as much as the next guy, but the TVs on the tables felt invasive like they were there to distract customers in case they didn't like the other people at their table, which could be helpful given Lumpy's clientele.

Our waitress was quick and courteous to serve us our first round of Cape Cods. The vodka cranberry cocktail was good-well mixed with just enough vodka and lime to taste. Next, we tried the watermelon kamikaze. Triple T pointed out it looked nothing like the one served at the bar she works at, but it still tasted yummy. The cocktail was a little sweet for my taste. It's definitely on the list of dangerous cocktails you could drink and drink without ever tasting the alcohol. My next choice was the standard Long Island. It was terrible. There was tons of club soda, no coke and a lot of whiskey in the cocktail. The total bill was about $15 a little less than I would expect for three cocktails in Utah.

The Long Island was so terrible I have decided it is my baseline cocktail. If I can go to a bar and get a decent Long Island, then I will give the bar a second chance even if they are yelling, "Quiet on the set" while playing music so loudly you can't hear the person across the table from you.

And if all that's not enough, Lumpy's is the kind of bar where everyone comes to get laid-I'm passing judgement based on the number of skanks and tool boxes I saw. That sounds rude, but no one wants to see your hooha when you bend over. And terrible one liners from films and TV will never be good no matter how young the woman you say it to is.

If you ever want to go out and have a good time with your friends, Lumpy's isn't the place. On the other hand, if you just want to go out, get smashed and get sexed up then Lumpy's is the place.

Food Review: Smash in line, Smashburger is in Utah

Last week Ava, Eirn and I were invited to the opening of SmashBurger in Sugar House. Smashburger is a franchise and is located inside the same building as Pei Wei on 2100 South. The opening was a smashing success everything was on the house and the line was l-o-n-g.

I'm not a fan of crazy busy restaurants, but considering the food was free I'm not complaining. I had the mushroom swiss burger. It was yummy. My favorite part was the egg bun even though it sounded scary it was soft and delicious. I also tried out the haystack onion rings. The rings were paper thing slices briefly drudged in a batter before being quickly deep-fried. They were good, but they won't be replacing beer-battered rings for me any time soon. The aioli sauc (spicy fry sauce for Utahns) was very good. It had a nice kick and great flavor.

Erin had the spicy burger. It came with a few jalapenos and was a little too spicy for her taste buds. She also had the smashfries (shoestring fries with rosemary). She loved these little guys.

Ava also had the mushroom swiss burger and declared it good. I believe she had regular fries with salt and fry sauce. They were also very yummy. Ava and Erin also tried the chocolate shake, which I'm guessing they liked, but I don't remember hearing any comments about they level of yumminess to Smashburger's shake.

I probably won't be back to Smashburger anytime soon. As a casual-dining-meets-fast-food restaurant (think Noodles & Co. with burgers), the average burger costs about $7 along with $2 for fries, more than my beloved local Millie's across the street.

Any burger joint, you just can't get enough of?

Alcohol Review: Mixin' drinks ain't easy

I've always thought if I were alive during the 20s I would be a flapper and maybe that's why Speakeasy was so easy for me to love. Ava and I went to Speakeasy in downtown to check out the location with the 20s name and live jazz entertainment. I also needed to speak with the fabulous Rita Boudreau about doing vocals for my upcoming film "On the Other Side."

Speakeasy has amazing decor. The owners are dedicated to their Prohibition-era theme. "Casablanca" was playing on the pretty, HD, big screen TVs before the live act was on. The lights are dimmed low and even the chairs feel like something my great-grandmother may have owned.

After being denied a lemon drop because the bartenders didn't know what one was, I started out the night with a dirty vodka martini. Mostly, because I've never had a straight-up martini before as I usually take mine with apple. And with Humphrey Bogart staring down at me I was feeling brave about the vodka and olive mixture. (Yes, I know a martini usually has gin, but I chickened out and went with Grey Goose.)

It was okay. Not my favorite cocktail, but I can see why it's considered classic. I love olives and should've asked for extras. And judging from the few men who were there drinking martinis as well I'm guessing Speakeasy makes a good one.

Next I tried the night's special "Sparkly Cosmopolitan," which was described as a regular Cosmo with champagne. When I ordered the bartender said okay, then proceeded to look up the recipe in his handy-dandy flip book. I'm okay with this and I waited patiently--after all, Speakeasy is a fairly new club and most likely he's a fairly new bartender. My complaint? All the ingredients for the drink are listed on their menu so I fought the urge to just hand over the menu to the bartender. The recipe search meant the wait was a little long.

Once I got my pink, girly drink, I was happy to down the sweet drink. I love cosmos and they rank in my top cocktail list right after Long Islands and Cape Cods. The addition of champagne made the drink a little too sweet for my tastes, but the drink was mixed well.

My next adventurous drink was the sidecar to finish off the night. Another classic cocktail, I hadn't tried before. This drink was my favorite discovery of the night. It was sour and sweet with a mixture of cointreau and lemon. Ava didn't like the harsh aftertaste, but I thought it was a great finish to such a sour drink. Maybe I just like knowing there is alcohol in my drink.

At the end of the night, Speakeasy was a great bar for a girls' night out. We'll definitely be back again for more classic cocktails, 20s ambiance and great music. Hopefully between now and next time, the bartenders learn how to mix a few drinks so even the wait for the drink is easy.

Food reviews: The armpit of the Elbow

I ventured down to Fiddler's Elbow for a meeting with the staff from, The Forum. I haven't been to Fiddler's in a while. I always find the food mediocre, the menu lacks focus and the service is well--let's just say you know that Fiddler's is an equal opportunity employer.

As soon as I sat down a wine menu was shoved in my face because as a girl I must not drink beer. Of course, I promptly ordered Wasatch Apricot Hefeweizen ($4.50 on tap). The server informed me their keg was broken so they may not have it available. She left to go check. About five minutes later, she appeared empty handed and let me know the hefeweizen was available. "Would you like the hefeweizen?"

Uh...yes, please.

I ordered the garlic burger for just under $7 without cheese. It came with fries and no choice of how the burger was cooked, it showed up well-done. The burger was easily the best thing I have ever had from Fiddler's Elbow. It was garlicky without being overwhelming, juicy and an even burger to bun ratio. A nice positive change for a brew pub. I was so impressed by the flavor that I ignored how absolutely messy the burger was (my ketchup stained shirt is in the washer as I write this).

Strangely, they didn't serve fry sauce and at this point I was avoiding any further interactions with my server so I just went ahead and had fries like a non-Utahn with ketchup. The fries needed some serious salting, but they were cooked just right and I believe hand cut. Moving their fries from a previous rating of "crap" to "yum."

As always, I love the micro-brewed apricot hefe from Wasatch. It's a great light beer. Refreshing, sweet and delicious without being too light for even the darkest beer drinker.


So I must conclude that service is the armpit of this otherwise great pub. But, I'm still looking forward to the next staff meeting at Fiddler's as long as we can just once have a server who doesn't make me question their ability to fill out the application. Oh and for beer, burger and fries it was just under $15. Not too bad for a sports bar in Sugar House.

Life: I was a firestorm

of blogging before August. (Yep, that picture was me in the blogosphere-you never knew I was so hot. Heehee!) Then I went home or more precisely I was away from the internet for a few days and I discovered *gasp* I could live without updating my blog or twitter everyday. Amazingly, it's lasted this long.

In the land of blogs I'm one of the many who fails to update regularly. That being said with the inevitable advent of school I will be much busier and hence less likely to blog regularly. But I will try to update you about my food adventures.

In slightly related news, I start a new job tomorrow. (Yay! Finally!) Which I guess means the biggest changes will be in my bank account and my wardrobe. I'm seriously considering wearing heels again. And maybe even pants.

I've also started working at the school paper, The Forum. In the way of college student newspapers, I'm already managing to piss off student government. I suppose I should be more upset, but every time I receive an email I think they desperately need a public relations lesson. The flaw of having an editor trained in PR, I guess.

In film news, the premiere of my film "On the Other Side" is inching closer. Everyone's invited to come Thursday, September 24 at 7 p.m. at the Jewett Center for Performing Arts on Westminster College's campus. It's been a crazy bit of planning and again working out how to pay for everything when I have no money.

Actually, that's pretty much the story of my life.

Food news?

Fifteen bizarre restaurants. I like to eat, but not from corpses or toilets please. I can handle the hobbits, though.

And if that's not enought, here's some more weird. I want to be a ninja princess!

Food Review: Bruges in Salt Lake City

Tuesdays Farmer's Market have begun at Pioneer Park. I found myself there with Ava and Erin and across the street I saw Bruges. I've heard great things about this little place near 300 South and 300 West that only offers fries and waffles made in the traditional Belgian style.

Ava and Erin were kind enough to indulge my nerdy excitement over finding such a highly praised restaurant. So after enjoying some fresh cherries and raspberries, we headed over to explore Bruges.

The shop is TEENY! The counter divides the shop in half against the windows is a line of stools at a bar. Most of the seating is outside and the two person staff is constantly getting in each other's way behind the counter as they take orders, cook waffles, fry potatoes and cut fruit.

At just 10 minutes to close, the staff was happy to help us and they continued to take orders until 7:15 p.m. We each ordered a small frites for just $3 with a side of "mayo." I put mayo in quotes because what you really get is mayonnaise mixed with a bunch of yumminess.

I had the andalouse sauce-a combination of Tabasco, basil, peppers and lemon. The sauce was spicy without being overwhelming and the basil gave a nice balance to the heat of the Tabasco. The andalouse was my favorite of the sauces. My next favorite sauce was the mammouth. This sauce tasted the most like traditional fry sauce, but had a few other flavors mixed in like onion and garlic. I also sampled the aioli sauce a combination of mayonnaise and garlic and my least favorite.

The frites themselves were hand-cut and deep-fried to a nice deep golden color. A small is big enough to serve as a huge snack or small meal. The frites were delicious! Plus, you get them in a really cool paper cone so you feel like your eating an ice cream cone of fries.

Next time, I visit I'll try the waffles. They looked and smelled delicious. Judging from the line, it looks like Bruges has a permanent place in the hearts and tummies of Salt Lake City.

Food Review: The South is sweet, not spicy

On Sunday night I flew to Athens, GA for MSCNE 2009, a conference for editors of student news media. Well, after the first 12 hour day of classes I realized this would be a long week of hotel food, college cafeteria fare and fast food.

It was a rough start to my foodie week. It started Sunday night with dry chicken, bland honey mustard sauce and over-cooked broccoli that will never make a good dinner even if it is catered by a hotel with a trained chef.

As for the offerings in the UGA cafeteria, it was pretty yuck. Georgia does not know how to do Mexican. The state loves their sweet and for some reason the salsas and guacamoles I sampled were sweet. There is also an overabundance of mayonnaise on nearly everything including in guacamole from the student cafeteria. I do have to praise their sweet tea though, it was yummy.

Friday afternoon Rikki, Jenny and I went to Don Juan in the CNN center in Atlanta. Once we got the mayo-guac with our chips and salsa we knew we should be afraid. Don Juan also advertised serving enchiladas with gravy. I mean really guys? Are there no Mexicans in your state? American food and Mexican food can mix and work, but brown gravy should never be the sauce to a spicy corn wrapped meat.

The end of the week brought the yummy to my week of food.

Thursday night Melissa, Rikki, Jenny and I went to RA Sushi. For mysterious reasons the menu described nearly every roll with cream cheese. Luckily they also had all the basics like caterpillar, rainbow and California rolls so I was a happy camper. The sushi was fresh and delicious. Melissa was terrified to try the raw fish, but she seemed pretty happy with the chicken terriyaki. I was proud of her for being brave enough to try the veggie roll Rikki ordered.

After days of deep-fried and mayo covered food, it was nice to eat something as fresh and light as the sushi at RA. The restaurant is very lounge-y and super cool as it caters to the young professional night life of Midtown Atlanta. After RA I think everyone felt ten times better about six days of living in hotel rooms and duffel bags.

Around midnight Friday, Melissa and I went to Taco Mac for some munchies. I ordered the original buffalo wings with french fries. Taco Mac was voted "Best Wings in Atlanta" at one point in their history because it says so on their menu. And I can see why.

The wings looked a little dry when they made their appearance. Thankfully appearances are misleading and the chicken was tender and juicy. The flavor was a nice blend of sweet and hot. Our server Louis said his favorite is the habanero spicy, but I stuck with medium. The blue cheese dressing on the side cooled the heat nicely. The fries were salty, crispy and fresh. I had them with a decent ranch dressing, but I missed fry sauce.

Louis also pointed out that Georgia is the home of Coke so asking for Pepsi is not wise. If you like soda, you will only find Coke products in the entire state. Nice little tidbit for you.

Saturday morning started off with my favorite breakfast at the Midtown Cafe. I started off with coffee and water. The coffee like most in my Georgia experience was weak, but it was definitely the best cup I had in Atlanta. The two eggs over-medium came out a little closer to over-easy and without any salt or pepper which I quickly remedied. Toast is toast and I don't really have anything to say other than yays for real butter. The hash browns suffered the same fate as the eggs and had no salt or pepper. But the potato was cooked all the way through and crispy on the outside so I dug right in and was happy to pay the $7 for a full breakfast.

After that it was back to airports and mass transit, now I'm off to enjoy some down home Salt City food.