Food Review: Get your vegan on

Joan, CBC and I went to Vertical Diner after an In n' Out Burger misadventure. Turns out vegetarian burgers are pretty delicious if you know what you're doing.

Vertical Diner is a misplaced vegetarian restaurant next to a meat packing plant just off 2100 South in Sugar House. They have a teensy parking lot with no lights so drive extra safe if you're there at night, but once you get inside you forget about the scary parking.

The diner was a little cold the night we were there. I'm talking cold for a restaurant people, not just me whining about winter again.

Our server Caleb was helpful and fun. He was definitely light-hearted and helped us feel better about the long drive to the long line at In n' Out.

I tried the vegetarian burger with french fries. Turns out everything on the menu is vegan friendly--and I didn't even notice. It was surprisingly good. I was so impressed by the tofu burger I ate most of it. My only complaint is that the bun was a little dry.

The fries were served with vegan fry sauce that has left me wondering how it is even possible to make vegan mayonnaise. They were pretty tasty and if I hadn't known the fry sauce was vegan I wouldn't have noticed.

Joan loves the avocado sandwich from Vertical Diner. And CBC tested out a pulled pork sandwich. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the vegan food of Vertical Diner. Joan says Vertical Diner is the best place for non-vegans to go with their vegan friends.

The cost was about the same for any other diner in town, which is to say a burger or sandwich will run you about $8.

Food Review: Finn's Cafe

Lovely Ava and I headed to the Salty City mainstay, Finn's Cafe for lunch one freezing winter afternoon.

Even though the world outside was gray and frigid, Finn's does a great job of being welcoming, bright and vibrant. The Cafe has been in operation since the 1940s and they have the memorabilia tastefully displayed to prove it.

Ava and I both had the cream of cauliflower soup. It was so good. I was not expecting the dish to be as delicious or pretty as it was. Finn's also serves onion rolls that were nice and crusty on the outside and all fluffy goodness on the inside.

I had the catch of the day for lunch. It turned out to be crab cakes and they were delicious. The sauce Finn's served with them was great! The whole dish was presented beautifully. Everything was so tasty I ate far more than I should've, which made this lunch a great intervention in an otherwise yucky day.

Ava had the weinerschintzel and she said it was good. It looked delicious! I'll have to try some of that soon. We both agreed the roasted potatoes and asparagus were good. The potatoes were cooked just right and seasoned well. Not surprisingly, the potatoes were my favorite part of the dish. Everything seemed to be cooked just right.

Our server was very helpful and did a great job of keeping an eye on us without hovering. The owner even stopped by to check everything tasted good. And it did! I have feeling you would be hard pressed to have a bad experience at Finn's. These people have been in business for over 60 years and it shows.

The only catch for me was the price. Lunch was a little more expensive for the two of us than I normally would like to spend, but the warm haven was well worth the price.

Food Review: Turning the tide on my favorite sushi

Ava and I made a visit to Tsunami in Sugar House this past week. She was craving sushi and I just like to eat.

Since our favorite sushi spot, Sapporo shut down we decided to return to another old favorite and made our way to the little place by the dollar theater. I should mention Tsuanmi is open until 10 p.m. on weeknights. Yes, Salters there is a place you can get a great dinner after 9 p.m. on a week night in the Salty City.

Ava chose to sit at a table, not the sushi bar. This made me happy because I find the sushi chefs rude and condescending-for some reason they don't seem to like it when I ask questions about fish. It turns out the table was a good choice as the sushi chefs spent much of the night arguing back and forth and writing the schedule with the manager.

I ordered the Tokyo Cowboy roll and Ava had the Malibu, then I ordered a veggie roll called Catalina.

The Tokyo wasn't as good as I remembered, it seemed a little bit spicier without the lovely balance of sweet and spicy my taste buds remember.

Ava liked the Malibu, but said she'll probably order something else next time. The Malibu had eel and was pretty tasty, but I wasn't a fan of the overall texture of the roll--it was just a little too smooth and slimy for me.

The Catalina had lots of delicious vegetables wrapped in soy paper. The weird part was that it tasted like peanuts only without peanuts. It wasn't bad, just unexpected. Even Ava who hates nuts ate some of the roll.

Our waitress was adorable and very helpful. So I'm taking back the sitting at the bar rule for sushi and amending it to say, "At Tsunami sit at a table and let the waitress deal with the sushi chef."

Food Review: Fry sauce ruins Millie's fries?

So after taking the week off, I guess we have some catching up to do.

First on the list of places I've been and you get to know about is Millie's Burgers on 2100 South in Sugar House.

I love this little 50s style hamburger shack that's just a short walk from my house. CBC and I went there for some burgers, fries and an introduction to that Utah wonder-fry sauce.

The Millie Burger was just as good as I remember--a quarter-pound of beef with cheese, pickles and fry sauce. Even though the burger was too big for me to finish, I was sad to see it go.

The fries were fresh, crispy and salty decliousness just waiting to be eaten. I think next time, I'll order to go and mix up some of my own fry sauce at home. They just don't seem to realize what a disservice it is to their fries to serve them with overly ketchuped fry sauce.

I warned CBC Millie's fry sauce is serviceable, but not the best ketchup-mayonnaise mixture in Utah. But he was brave and tried out the sauce, I don't think he liked it because the rest of the fry sauce was left for me.

As always the teenagers at Millie's were more than helpful. We had a very nice time in the cinder block restaurant with orange plastic tables. And the whole four other customers who were there at 9 p.m. on a Thursday night seemed to enjoy themselves, too.

Millie's

Ava and I decided to enjoy a little bit of deep-fried goodness in the sunshine for lunch. We walked over to Millie's Burgers on 2100 South and about 1000 East. The servers were helpful and fast.

I ordered the Millie Cheeseburger, onion rings and a coke. The Millie Cheeseburger is apparently Millie's version of the McDonald's Big Mac. According to Ava this means it's a burger, cheese, special sauce, lettuce and pickle on a sesame seed bun. I'm pretty sure the special sauce at Millie's is fry sauce.

The burger reminded me a lot of being a kid and having summer barbecues. Mostly because, it was a little overdone and a little messy. The onion rings were the frozen than fried kind and you've probably figured out by now I'm not a big fan. Millie's does add some spice after frying them so I could handle. Plus, they always give you fry sauce.

As always, the food is good. Nothing spectacular, but for $6 and supporting my local economy totally worth it.

Coffee

Today, I must reflect on the meaninglessness of decaf. Really? Really?? What we're the inventors of decaffeinated coffee hoping to accomplish when they first extracted the caffeine from the coffee bean. What's the freakin' point?

This morning in my apartment we were out of regular coffee because we haven't been grocery shopping in a couple weeks. One day a few months back Miss Ava mistakenly bought some decaf grounds so that's all we had on hand. Erin made the coffee just the same as always, but it's not the same.

I apologize to all the decaf coffee drinkers in this world, but I must ask why? How does a cup of flavored, hot water wake you up in the morning. If I wanted decaf, I'd drink tea. This is why I must agree with the Sugar House Coffee slogan "Death to Decaf."

That's all.

The Soup Kitchen

The bipolar weather of April in Salt Lake City makes me want to cry. So while I wear my sundress in the snow, I enjoy a nice cup of soup. One of my favorite soup places is the Soup Kitchen. The shop is right off Highland and 2100 South. So it's super close to my house and my school.

I love going in and grabbing some soup on my way to class. It's great! But the last time I was there I made an amazing discovery, onion rings!

We all know, I love onion rings. Rings are indeed deep-fried, golden goodness. At the Soup Kitchen, they are beer battered deliciousness. So good! Hmmm...

I got a full order for about $2.50, which ended up being enough onion rings for two people. The fry sauce was okay, not the best, not the worst. The onion rings themselves were amazing. They were hand-cut onions, dipped in a beer batter with some great seasoning and fried to the perfect level of golden, brown, crispy good.

I also had a cup of broccoli and cheese soup with two free cheese bread sticks. The bread sticks were great! As always a nice fluffy homemade bread. The soup was pretty good, but after the onion rings kind of a let down. It's probably still one of my favorite soups, but not the best cup ever.

In all I spent about $7 for a drink, soup, bread sticks and onion rings. It was a fantastic on the go lunch for cheap. I will definitely be stopping by again. If nothing else for the onion rings.

A photo is worth...

How many words?


Well, in case you were wondering that's a falafel sandwich.


You can pick up for $5.95 at the super cool and wonderfully cheap O'Falafel on the corner of 800 East and 2100 South.

The word on the street is the Turkish coffee is incredibly strong, thick and bitter. So if your like me and like coffee with your cream and sugar, it's a food adventure to take carefully. For more about O'Falafel you can read my previous review here.

Sushi, sushi, sushi

Recently, I've been craving sushi. I love the melody of flavors in sushi, the dedication to the freshest ingredients and the beautiful presentation. Our craving for fresh, beautiful sushi led Mrs. Michael Scofield and I have to test out Salt Lake's sushi scene.

Sapporo
The first place we went to was Sapporo. They have no Internet presence that I can find, but they have great sushi. The restaurant is on Broadway (300 South) right next to the Broadway Theater. The restaurant has never appeared very busy to me and it certainly wasn't the night we stopped by. There was a couple at the sushi bar with us and another couple joined the four of us later.

The sushi chef was pretty young. (My guess is 17-ish.) But he was friendly and talked to us as he prepared our rolls. So while the chef didn't know what Kobe beef was, I have to give him props for making some excellent sushi. I really enjoyed the bar, the other guests were friendly and the chef did a great job of involving everyone in the conversation. Our waitress was very good. She saw immediately when drinks needed refilled and carefully made sure everyone was happy.

The sushi itself was incredible! I was stuffed after four pieces, but it was so good I had to keep eating. The ingredients were all fresh and everything went together so nicely. Plus, it was the most beautiful sushi I have seen.

I really enjoyed Sapporo and am looking forward to a return visit. For two sodas and two sushi rolls it was about $25. All the fish was incredibly fresh and even the pickled ginger looked amazing! It's definitely worth a visit.

Tsunami
I've posted about Tsunami before, so I'll be brief. They serve some of the best, freshest sushi in the valley. The Tokyo Cowboy is an excellent sushi roll and the prices are great for what you get. But I can't get over the atmosphere. The Sugar House location just isn't as friendly and warm as I would expect from any restaurant. The servers also seem a little stand-offish. I will go back to this place...if someone else is paying!

I Love Sushi
The last place we visited in our sushi sovereign was this little shop in Downtown. The place is known for excellent prices and great sushi. Mrs. Scofield and I have been meaning to go here forever and we finally made it with Jess.

Jess, Ava and I each ordered a sushi roll. They were a little thinner than the rolls served a Tsunami and Sabbarro, but with more pieces. The smaller pieces were easier to eat because they fit in my mouth easily.

I ordered something with yellow tail. The yellow tail was very fresh and flavorful. Unfortunately, the vegetables were not as fresh as I expected. The chef added some sauce and sesame seeds to the top. It made for an interesting texture and a fun presentation, but all the flavor didn't quite go together. I think a little too much was happening for a single roll

The atmosphere here was great. I felt like we were in the home of a good friend and was perfectly at ease to ignore my non-chop stick skills and eat with my fingers. It's a little bit of a sushi diner, restaurant implies no whiteboards with the daily special listed.

Our server was friendly and made great dessert recommendations for the green tea and plum ice cream. The deep-fried banana was great. Tempura does very well on fruit. I loved the green tea ice cream and will definitely eat more in the future.

Three sushi rolls, two desserts and three sodas later the bill came to about $35. Not bad, for all that food. Next time, I will try their bento boxes and branch out into other Japanese foods like ramen.

While there's a lot to love about each of these locations. The first sushi stop is my first love. It has great sushi, a great chef, fun decor and comfortable prices.

What are your favorite Salt Lake sushi places?

*Sigh*

I'm just dropping a quick note of apology. My life has been slightly out of control the past few weeks. But I promise to keep blogging. Please be patient while I work out the kinks in my schedule. The lack of an at-home computer, full-time school and part-time work make blogging a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated.

Soon I will post something more substantial. In the mean time, check out The Soup Kitchen on Highland Drive and 2100 South. It's next to Wells Fargo and shares the parking lot with Fiddler's Elbow (maker of yummy pizza.) The Soup Kitchen is cheap and delicious. They offer free bread sticks, free water and a $3 cup of soup that make this place an excellent place for lunch in the autumn.

Brookside Broiler and Grill

I want to apologize to my few loyal fans for being so slow. I have an excellent excuse. Getting to the library is too much work! See, I told you it was good.

On to the review, Brookside has an excellent patio. This little place sits right on the edge of the Sugar House Commons. Your typical suburban shopping center. The local eatery in the center is its own anomaly. The patio overlooks Hidden Hollow--a beautiful natural forest protected by local environmentalist groups.

Brookside has a really great looking menu. It's actual content is less than informative. We asked our waitress a lot of questions. She seemed less than knowledgeable and was a little shy. We finally ordered kabobs and salad. The portions were HUGE! I ordered the half kabob plate because I wasn't very hungry and it was twice the amount of food I thought it would be.

The beef kabobs were very good. The marinade they use is full of flavor and the mix of peppers and onions is just what I would expect. The meat was cooked perfectly, but was a poor cut so it was tougher than I like.

The vegetables on the side ended up being about a cup of cooked carrots and about a cup of cooked broccoli. I'm pretty sure the broccoli started off in their freezer than moved to the microwave where it was steamed with the baby cut carrots. Although, cooked to an expected state of crisp tender the quality was a little below what I expected after the great patio, the wonderful view and the expensive looking menu.

Brookside makes up for their pretentious appearance with fairly approachable prices. My dinner was $7.50 with a soda for $2. Not bad for a place that looks like it's easily $15 a plate. R's dinner was $9.50 for the extra $2 she ordered another kabob. J ordered the Asian Chicken Salad. It was gigantic and delicious. For $8.95 it fit comfortably with the rest of our ticket.

I probably won't ever be a Brookside regular, but for an elegant feeling dinner without the price tag at the last minute, I would eat there again. Although, I may request a different waitress.

Millie's Burgers

Right off 2100 South and straight to my heart. Ahh...deep fried heaven and fry sauce. Millie's Burgers is the quintessential burger shop. Cheap. Quick. Delicious. Millie's has been in Sugar House since the 50's and not much has changed.

The joint is a small shack positively reeking of deep fried joys, burgers and summer. They have picnic tables outside and small booths inside. The atmosphere is simple, small-town and fun.

The service is exactly what I expect from this kind of diner. The girls behind the counter are friendly and 16. So be prepared to hear a lot of "umm, like, yeah and stuff" with a big smile and small giggles. You order at the counter and they bring the food to your table.

For your perfect summer pig out you can get a cheese burger, fries and a shake for about $8. (Yeah, they are that cheap.) The burgers are delicious made with real beef and cheese and grilled nicely. The fries are pretty good, not the best, but they still beat the McDonald's down the street. The shakes are over-the-top, thick and yummy!

Now for that great Utah tradition...fry sauce. If you aren't a native to fry sauce ways, let me explain: fry sauce is a dipping sauce made from ketchup and mayonnaise. At Millie's (as with most local restaurants) it is served with your fries instead of ketchup.

The key to great fry sauce is the right ratio of ketchup to mayonnaise, buttermilk and pepper. Millie's comes close: this isn't the greatest fry sauce, but some of the best I have found in the Valley.

The onion rings were not up to my beer-battered deep-fried golden brown expectations. They are edible, but you will have better luck with the deep-fried, shoestring fries.

Millie's has an extensive menu of shakes, glaciers, burgers, hot dogs, sodas and almost everything deep-fried, but I suggest you try the basics before branching out.

Millie's is across the street from Sugar House Coffee on the corner of 2100 South and McClelland Street (1050 East.) Share the love, Millie's is best enjoyed with friends and family.

Sugar House Coffee

You knew it was coming...the coffee talk. That special time in a person's life when they get to hear all about the ins and outs of coffee beans. Okay maybe that isn't what you were expecting, but how can I resist the chance to discuss one of my favorite beverages?

I can't. Mmm...coffee. Undoubtedly, one of the best smells to wake up to coffee is the undisputed king of mornings. Coffee starts it's life as a seed the little seed grows into a tree. The beans are harvested, roasted, ground and brewed. Finally, you have a cup of coffee.

I don't know about you, but that sounds like too much work for my 6 a.m. wake up call. That is why coffee shops are successful. My favorite coffee shop is Sugar House Coffee at the corner of 2100 South and McClelland Street (about 1050 East).

Sugar House coffee has had a difficult year. They were evicted from their previous location and with the move across the street they have lost the majority of their clientèle. But they haven't lost their charm.

This coffee shop embodies the soul of the Sugar House neighborhood. It is eclectic, sweet, independent, friendly and liberal. The baristas offer not only some of the greatest coffee in the world with a super cool latte art to compliment your muffin, but coffee bar therapy. It is immediately apparent that these guys care about their profession--coffee and their customer--you.

Although, Sugar House has a menu including food, I stick to the lattes. I definitely recommend their mazurka bars, muffins and fruit. Everything on the menu is bought locally and vegan friendly. Coffee is about $1.50 a cup. A latte will run you at about $3. If you don't find your service tip worthy it must be a sign of an apocalyptic ending just moments away.