Seattle: Capitol Hill: Dino's Tomato Pie

Hello again, my dear blog and any readers who may have found their way here! I know, it's been an age and a half since I'd last written, and for that, I'm truly very sorry. It's been a wild ride here at 710 Headquarters, AKA my life, and I've been dashing all around with hardly any time left to plop my butt down and get to writing. On the upside, I certainly have ample new material to share with everyone! All this roaming in Seattle (and various areas nearby) has afforded me a rapid familiarity with the area, and some incredible sights along the way. Did you know there's a park here with a giant pair of cowboy boots? Apparently! It's especially surprising to spot from your peripheral as you wind your way through unfamiliar streets for the first time. This post, however, is about another location, one in Capitol Hill that we found ourselves standing in front of on a cold, hungry night. It's a little grungy, a little divey, with brilliant buzzing fluorescent red lights beaming through the night, guiding you like a moth to the warmth. 

I tend to spend a fair amount of time in and around Capitol Hill, whether I'm taking in the farmer's market on Broadway, drooling over the restaurants (and often bookmarking ones like Top Pot Doughnuts, Momiji, The Wandering Goose, Dao Tai House, or Bakery Nouveau), there's generally a buzz of activity and lots to see and do. Naturally, parking can be a bit difficult, which is why we tend to favor finding a spot we can leave our vehicle and go about our adventures walking, biking, or using ride-share. On this particular outing, we'd gone all the way down to MoPOP to take in their limited run Marvel exhibition while it was still going on, and then walked our way back up and then along much of Denny Hill. It was during this uphill slog that we happened upon Dino's Tomato Pie, a dimly lit bar and restaurant slinging up round or square pies in a variety of different topping arrangements. Our tummies grumbling in hunger, and our glutes barking, we opted to take a brief load off and refuel. Our timing was fortuitous, as it was happy hour and we were able to grab a couple of cold brews and some garlic knots along with our slices at a reasonable price. Costs in Capitol Hill haven't exactly remained low over the years, so it's always nice to know there's a place to grab a good meal without breaking the bank. If you want to hop in a time machine, I highly recommend checking out their website, which is a shrine to a bygone era in internet aesthetics. So many blinking items and all the scrolling text! The gifs! It's a site to behold, friends. 

You'll have to go up to the bar and flag the attention of one of the employees to place your order, but there's a handy sign to guide you in the darkness. The food was delicious, and we totally enjoyed the dive bar vibe. The crew seemed to have a good banter going, and their menu was pretty extensive, with a lot of different choices for everyone. We kept it simple with our happy hour brewskies, but they had a pretty impressive cocktail menu with some creative offerings if that's more your thing. 

Las Vegas: Taco Y Taco

Las Vegas, Nevada, is a great city to find something delicious to eat, especially if your pockets run real deep. If you're willing to shell out top dollar, you can find some of the most luxurious meals served in some of the culinary celebrity worlds biggest names' own restaurants, from opulent sushi spreads to the latest in creative, avant-garden cuisine. Personally, I prefer to veer off The Strip (aka Las Vegas Boulevard and all those glitzy casinos) to find my meals, and Taco Y Taco is one of my favorite neighborhood spots for a satisfying, affordable, and consistently fantastic meal. There are other, more famous, restaurants that you could grab some tacos at, and some of those even have locations dotting that main-drag, but during my brief visit to my old stomping ground I made sure to pop in and get my fill on all the delicious offerings I could stuff into my face. CeeDro joined me on this venture, and we both got down on some taco goodness before parting ways for the evening. It was great to catch up with him over the evening, and who would complain about tacos?  

Taco Y Taco has a self-service salsa bar with an almost overwhelming array of options to choose from. I recommend the grilled jalapenos, who add a fresh pop of flavor with a smokey sweetness to contrast their shop bite. The ordering system can be a little confusing, especially if it's your first time, but the staff are used to it and are generally friendly and happy to steer you in the right direction should you get lost. All the meats are good, but they do offer vegetarian options (and maybe even vegan ones) for those who'd prefer that so you can bring everyone along! I ordered a ridiculous amount of food for just myself, but managed to devour all of it with gusto. I waddled my way out of the restaurant a very happy, very satisfied lass. Should you choose to visit Taco Y Taco, you too should feel that stuffed-to-satisfaction glee. 

So good.

Seattle: Dog in the park

Dog in the park is a small, unpretentious food stall nestled in to a corner of a park just around the corner from Pike's Place Market. That means it's in a primo location, surrounded by luxury names and high-end products, endless swarms of milling, often quite hungry, tourists. Like I said, it's a pretty primo spot for a place that sells food, especially at such reasonable prices (considering it's in such a high-traffic, high-end area). The food is not going to be overwhelmingly fancy; there's no foie gras to be found, no flourishing of the plate, nay, there aren't even plates. Your food is wrapped in paper and meant to be eaten, now, before it gets cold. The premise, like most street food stalls, is pretty simple: after examining the menu and deciding what you want, you tell the friendly fellow manning the grill and he'll heat it up for you, fresh, so your food is steaming hot when handed to you. A novel touch, for us, was that he sliced the weiners in half, but this is genius in that it gives you even more of those delicious crispy seared edges of sausage. Yum. I opted for the Seattle dog, because it seemed appropriate and I like cream cheese, so it was an easy choice. I don't recall what style Antho ordered, but he prefers to keep his dogs clean and simple, so it was something classic without too many additions or toppings. We were both quite happy with our choices and devoured our hot dogs in glee, hardly wasting any time on photos or erroneous conversation. You know the food is good when it gets notorious chatterbugs to quiet down and focus.    

If I remember correctly, we ended up paying about $12 for our two hotdogs. Yeah, that's a lot when you consider the hot dogs at Costco that retail for only $1.50, but tourist tax is a real thing, and this is definitely one of the more affordable options in that particular corner. When you're hungry and need something quick, hot, and delicious, this isn't the worst sausage you could find going into your mouth on a street corner... 

 

Was that too much? I know, sometimes I just can't help myself. Anyway, it was a gorgeous, albeit slightly chilly, day when we were visiting the stand. It had a pretty regular turn over in our short time of waiting and then eating, and most people seemed to get their food in short order. I imagine that at peek tourist traffic times of year there may be something of a line to wade through to get your fix, especially if they've garnered any awards recently. 

 

Vegas: Sushi Wa dinner

When it comes to food, there's absolutely no question in my mind that the supreme contender for my utmost favorite thing to put into my face-hole has to be sushi. I love most forms of seafood to begin with, whether it's black-bean coated stone crab at the All-You-Can-Eat Chinese buffet nearby during their seafood special night, or slippery slabs of cold salmon sashimi bedecked with golden orbs of salmon roe upon a bed of steaming hot white rice. I will gladly consume most things you can dredge out of the ocean, though sea cucumber and daebul aren't things I'd eagerly seek out again. Sushi, though, is the kind of food I can eat any day, anywhere. I mean, there's definitely a huge distinction in quality between your typical grocery store ready-made packages of sushi and a legit sushi restaurant, but when you're in a bind there are the occasional lucky finds.  Luckily for us, we weren't resigned to eating sushi pre-packaged in thin plastic containers from the deli section! Sushi Wa is a good bit more out of the way than we would normally dine at, but when Antho and I happened to be in the area, hungry and in need of fuel, Sushi Wa was there so we decided to give it a go. We weren't disappointed! 

We had to have our usual favorites, of course, like the fatty goodness of salmon or the unctuous briny essence of the sea that is uni, but there were some fun new dishes available for the curious consumer to sample, too, like this dish below with tuna and sweet, sticky rice crisped on the outside drizzled with a spicy sauce and a piquant pickled jalapeno to wake up your tastebuds. Everything we tried was tasty and fresh, full of flavor and contrasting textures, like in the fried ice cream! Yes, fried ice cream. I know that's not a novelty to some of you, but it's always an amusing conflict of temperature states and textures to me when I find it on a menu. Overall it was an excellent meal and the only reason we didn't frequent the restaurant when living in Vegas was the fact it was so far removed from us. There's no shortage of delicious places to eat in the city, but if you happen to find yourself out in Henderson this is an excellent option to fill your belly with some quality sushi goodness!  

Japan: Yurakucho Food Alley in Tokyo

Throughout most of Tokyo, as is the case for probably most of urban Japan as well, you're rarely ever more than a stone's throw away from something delicious to eat. There's a lot of people living in Tokyo, like, around 38 million or so people these days. That's a lot of people needing something to nosh after a long day, yeah? My hometown of Las Vegas only comes in as averaging around 2 million residents, while my second-home in Seattle has roughly 7 and a half million residents and my beloved third home of Seoul clocks in with roughly 25.6 million residents. Suffice to say, Tokyo has a lot of residents, and those people are going to need food. Ideally, they're going to want good food, because anyone can just pop into a 711 and grab an onigiri or bento if they want low-cost sustenance.  Where, pray tell, does the average salaryman find himself stopping for a bite after an arduous day of, uh, salary-manning? One popular location is going to be Yurakucho food alley, a narrow street tucked under the tracks of the Yamanote line is teeming with restaurants on either side offering delicious bites and something to sip on, too. The typical solution to this need-to-feed (and drink) is an izakaya, where small plates are served alongside lots of booze, to help take the edge off while facilitating your buzz. If you need something a little more nourishing, there are plenty more restaurants to fill that niche, too!

On this particular outing, my friend A-chan and I opted for a grilled beef restaurant, though other dishes were, of course, available, like that big plate of gooey cod fish-sperm goodness shown above on the right known as shirako (which, yes, I absolutely ate). There were also places to pop in for yakitori, or grilled chicken, along with a restaurant serving horse, a coffee shop, and several other options tucked away into the narrow space so your options aren't limited to be sure. Most of the restaurants had a shared restroom, found not far from our seating spot at the beef place, and most of the restaurants are enclosed by sliding plastic barriers, a common trend throughout the region (as I've seen it in Hong Kong and Seoul, too). Suffice to say, if you need a tasty meal, you can't go wrong by following the hard-working salarymen who's tireless efforts keep the economy of Tokyo churning along into the narrow space of Yurakucho alleyway. Where better to literally rub elbows with the local people? 

Vegas: Sushi Twister

When it's time to #TREATYOSELF, to pick out one of your utmost favorite, most luxurious and decadent choices to eat, what would you choose? For me, there's no doubt I'd veer hard into the seafood section, especially towards things like sea urchin, sweet shrimp, salmon, and salmon roe. I'm a sucker for sushi, what can I say? I won't say it's the penultimately perfect food, though it's bite-size portions with their perfectly balanced balls of tender seasoned rice and meticulously sliced servings of succulent fish are definitely getting pretty close to what might entail perfection. Each bite of rich, creamy sea urchin gunkan (or battleship) style sushi floods your palette with that briny essence of the sea and deep umami flavor that makes sea urchin such a decisively loved or hated food for many, much like raw oysters who's texture and flavor I find absolutely enjoyable, despite their resemblance to some kind of awful lung-lump you might hock up during a particularly bad chest infection. Maybe I'm the weird one here, but Antho loves many of the same oddities I do, so perhaps they're not so odd after all.

If the gonads of sea urchin and roe of salmon are too freaky-deaky for you baby, you can always opt for the warm, flaky, oily goodness of grilled eel smothered in a sweet and sticky sauce that compliments its flavor. Not only is the eel cooked, for those who struggle to stick cold slices of raw fish into their maw, but it's also served warm fresh from the grill so it's extra-enjoyable! There's also a ton of different side dishes available, along with "hidden" extras like the fried sweet shrimp heads, which a chef may politely inquire about your interest in prior to dishing it up. I recommend the crispy little craniums, but I've also mowed them down in raw, living form while living in Korea, so it's safe to say I love all things shrimpy. What I'm trying to say here, though, is that Sushi Twister has long been a staple restaurant of mine for sushi in Vegas for a very good reason: their food is good, very good! And consistently, at that! That's a wonderful thing, because there aren't that many restaurants on this side of the Strip offering sushi, let alone quality sushi, so Sushi Twister is a unicorn of sorts. They were the first decent sushi restaurant I ever encountered this side of Eastern, and the chefs have always been extremely pleasant, or at least polite when I interacted with them. This place is a gem, and while I no longer reside within a reasonable distance to visit them, I hope they are able to prosper and dish up these delicious dishes for years to come!

Korea: 설렁탕 Seolleongtang, again, because it's delicious AF

South Korea is something of a wonderland when it comes to delicious food, regardless of your preferences! Are you a total carbohydrate fiend who can't get enough of the starchy stuff? You'll be pleased to learn that there's not only the spicy noodles you've probably heard about or seen on places like Youtube (or even here on my own little blog *blush*), delicious things like steamy jjampong loaded with seafood and vegetables in a warming red broth or chilled mixed noodles like bibimguksu, but there's plenty of non-spicy options to get your fill, too! One of my favorite hot noodle dishes combines a rich and milky beef broth with ultra-tender pieces of beef, chunks of aromatic vegetables and silky mushrooms with thin wheat noodles to slurp it all up with. This delicious, warming, soothing cauldron of goodness is known as 설렁탕 Seolleongtang, which can be found throughout much of Seoul as well as in any community stateside with a large enough Korean population. If you're out somewhere where you're unable to find this delight served in a restaurant, you can always opt to make it yourself! It's a labor of love more than anything else, as the ingredients used aren't especially scarce or rare for the most part, they just require a long cooking time to extract all their goodness into that unctuous, ridiculously-good broth. A point of note is that in many recipes for seolleongtang salt is added at the very end, as in by you at the table, so don't be surprised if you eagerly dip your spoon in and ladle up a big unseasoned slurp of soup! It's okay, my dears, don't fear. Happens to the best of us sometimes when we get over-eager about our tasty treats, right? Once you regain your composure and whereabouts, you should find a small bowl with a salt and pepper mixture to add seasoning to your preference. This is pretty ingenious, really, as it prevents the dish from being overly salty when reduced further and allows salt sensitive patrons to limit their sodium intake, or for those without any sensitivity what-so-ever there's the freedom to go as hog-wild with your salt as your heart desires. You do you, booboo. 

Korea: Samgyeupsal dinner with egg river!

One of the greatest joys in travel is discovering new foods and exploring the different cuisines of the various cultures of the world, and Korea is an exceptionally excellent location for any food-obsessed fellow. Each culture, each region, dramatically influences how the food culture develops and what ingredients will be most abundant throughout the area. South Korea is lucky in that it not only has ample access to the sea and all the wonderful fresh (and sometimes frightening) foods that can be dredged from its depths, but they also have a robust agricultural community and system throughout the country and a good growing season during the spring through fall, though the harsh winters influenced the development of pickled and fermented goodies like kimchi to preserve and extend the harvest. This also means quite a wide array of delicious regional goodies to choose from, whether it's apples from Andong, dakgalbi from Chuncheon, or grabbing some sizzling hot samgyeupsal in the Jogno-3 area. On this particular outing, I didn't venture all the way into the city for my porcine fix, but instead popped into a small restaurant (part of a larger chain throughout the country) that was just across the street from my residence. A lot of the restaurants in my smaller suburb catered solely to larger parties, turning me away at the door for being a solo diner, adding insult to any potential shame one might feel at having attempted to feast alone. I guess that's just not how food culture in Korea operates, though- while in Japan it's not at all unusual to go to a restaurant and pull up a stool at a counter to grab a quick bite, dining out in Korea seems to be generally more of a social endeavor. This restaurant, however, had no qualms with allowing me to get my pork belly barbeque on in solitary fashion! Not only that, but they provided a river of egg along with the delicious grilled meat, a first-time encounter for me. It was delicious, and an all around filling and robust meal that is perfect for celebrating any occasion, whether it's with a large group of friends or you just so happen to go solo. Be forewarned that it's not always easy to find restaurants in South Korea that will accommodate single diners, though, so you may need a smidgeon of patience in your pursuit of deliciousness. 

Korea: Roasted bird and fire's goods

There are few things that harken back to our primordial days as proto-hominids quite like fire-grilled foods, whether it be slow-roasted rotisserie style duck (like above) or crispy crackly fish on sticks broiled over charcoal, charred and oh-so-creamy eggplant grilled whole, sweet and softened onions in kebabs next to blistered tart and juicy cherry tomatoes and hearty chunks of flavorful meat, or full-on-whole-hog slow-cooked to crispy, succulent perfection. All humans hark from a time where the invention of fire served as the literal spark for that catalytic change from beast to a beast with a torch and toasted foods. With fire, we were able to spread from the milder climates of the fertile valley or whichever particular garden our species sprung up in and spread out into colder reaches. With fire, we were able to cook our food, as my quixotic rant above demonstrates, but this also meant making some foods accessible that previously hadn't been, along with improving the overall quality and safety of the food. Cooking makes a lot of foods more easily digested, after all, freeing up more of our energy towards things like growing our brains to adapt to our evolving lifestyles, or experimenting with tool-making.  Fire provides light, and warmth, and all those cozy things that make surviving a harsh, cold winter more bearable, too. 

Is it getting cold where you are, yet? Winter was beginning to sink her claws deep into Korea by this point, though snow hadn't fallen enough to stick just yet. A flurry here or there, though, definitely added a romantic touch to the days, especially when I worked at the Ssamji location, though the outdoor nature of that location meant we had to take proactive measures to keep from freezing our hands to inoperability.  Even with our blankets and scarves and portable space-heaters, the cool seeped into your bones over time, making warming foods all the more necessary to get through. And what more warming or soothing foods than those roasted over a fire or in an oven? Roast bird and breads are a popular pairing the world round, even in a country that came upon bread later in the society's culinary evolution such as South Korea. These little loaves of bread had sweet beans and nuts, a lovely treat to round out a cold evening!

Korea: 부대찌개 Budaejigae and snacks in Insadong

In the magical and mysterious, far-flung land of Seoul, South Korea, there are a seemingly insurmountable variety of selections available for your culinary delight. You can grab a steaming hot cup of Americano from your local train station or Starbucks, then mow through some fresh-off-the-griddle gyerrangpang, these addictive little sweet breads with a fresh egg on top, then stop for sushi for lunch and Italian for dinner...or switch out the different variables for whatever combinations of foods you personally enjoy, whether it's thai, slow-cooked American-South style barbeque, tacos... This was not always the case, though- the Korean peninsula has gone through a lot over its many centuries of civilization, and a hearty resiliency and ingenuity have become a point of pride in the people. After the Americans began to occupy the country during the height of the Korean war, then lingered after the tentative ceasefire took hold, their culinary presence spread, from dishes to canned goods ready to use, and were adopted by the locals. The continued presence and popularity of American fast food chains, like McDonald's and Taco Bell, demonstrate this fact to this day, but subtler influences remain, like the almost perverse love of Spam that can be found from Seoul to Okinawa, Manila to Hawaii... all places where a strong American army presence has lead to the introduction, and then infiltration and acceptance of processed tinned meats and other Americanized foodstuffs into the local cuisines. 

Budaejigae, or Army Base Stew, is a self-aware epitome of this phenomena, utilizing ubiquitous Korean foods like kimchi, gochujang, and local vegetables tossed into the pot with hot dogs, baked beans, spam, ramen, and maybe a slice (or three) of good old American processed sliced cheese for good measure. There are a billion different ways to make budaejigae and nearly as many different restaurants to choose from when trying to find a place to try it. You can also buy it in premade instant ramen form, heavily leaning into the popular role instant ramen noodles typically serve in soaking up the flavorful broth left in the pot at the end of the meal. It's a satisfying hodgepodge of sweet, savory, spicy and creamy, and this particular vat of goodness was enjoyed with a coworker during our lunch break, not far from Ssamziegil in Insadong area of Seoul. It was a delicious and filling lunch, and budaejigae combines comfortingly familiar flavors with Korean seasonings in a way that I think most any American could enjoy, were they brave enough to try it. 

Be brave, my friends. Try all the things!

Vegas: Dining at Ichiza restaurant

In the city of Las Vegas, the only predictable constant seems to be perpetual change itself. Celebrity chefs rise to the pinnacle of their careers and open their namesake restaurants along the glistening Las Vegas Strip, where they either rise to become a towering success or crumble into mediocrity. While there may not be as much drama surrounding the restaurant reviews, openings, and closings, as in say, New York City, there's still plenty of drama to take in. Take, for example, the recently opened Hell's Kitchen restaurant, which rumor claims was booked up to capacity within moments of opening for business, not to mention the show's own egregiously theatrical turns on the television. You can find everyone from Guy Fieri to Nobu, Bobby Flay to Wolfgang Puck... a veritable who's who of famous cheffing, and even Anthony Bourdain stopped to sip the brewskies at the Huntridge Tavern on his own show. The Strip itself, the hub of Las Vegas's goings-on, is in a perpetual state of flux, as namesake casinos are imploded and replaced, new structures seek to dominate the skyline and old try to cling to relevancy with new thrill rides and attractions. This endless churning  of change makes it all the more satisfying and surprising when a small restaurant, without any big names attached, manages to hold on for a long haul. Ichiza is one of these small joints, an unassuming little restaurant tucked into the second story of a Chinatown shopping center, that has been a staple of my restaurant outings for the better part of the last decade. I don't know when they opened, nor do I consider it especially relevant... The important thing here is that Ichiza is good, and their longevity is a testament to this fact. 

While it is entirely possible to spend a couple Benjamins at dinner here, it's not really a high-end restaurant. If you're looking more for luxury, try Raku on the opposite side of the road. Both restaurants share a similar approach; delicious small plates of Japanese food, high in quality and small in portion. Raku, however, is where you go if you want your salt to be laced with meticulously sourced and extracted green tea leaves and the same approach is applied to each individual ingredient and its preparation, whereas Ichiza is the place to go for a pitcher of Sapporo and some reliably good grub from yakitori skewers to ramen. It's a build your own adventure in meal form, whether you stick to the small paper menus they provide or wander the restaurant to select from the additional "secret" menu that winds through the entire space. Don't miss their daily specials, where some of the best dishes reside! The grilled salmon belly or collar is always a hit, but they can sell out fast. We managed to secure the last grilled salmon collar on this outing, a cut that's basically the bacon of the fish it's succulent flesh so studded with layers of unctuous fat and juice you almost wouldn't believe it's a fish. Our neighbors at the bar tried to order it as well, prior to our's being served and were disappointed then audibly jealous and annoyed when it arrived. Sorry fellas, them's the breaks.  

Whatever you decide to order, know that it's going to be delicious. We were celebrating my birthday with this meal, and between the two of us our bill ran about $100, which isn't terrible, all things considered. I'm always happy when I eat here, whether it's the authentic izakaya vibe bringing on the nostalgia from my time living in Japan or the delicious food filling my belly, I love Ichiza!

Korea: Midnight snackies & Korean convenience food love

While big sexy dishes like their fabulous fried chicken and grilled meats tend to steal the show when talking about Korean food, there's a lot of other areas in which the South Korean food scene excel. One especially under-respected arena in both Japan and South Korea are their highly innovative approach to baking and bakeries, where uptight beliefs about traditional techniques can be tossed aside and unusual (at least compared to those who view French baking as the standard) combinations proliferate. Red beans and cream cheese? Sure! Handheld pizza with corn kernels and spinach? Why not! For a savory food lover like myself, who will generally reach for something salty or cheesy long before eating sweets, this seemingly endless variety of handheld baked savory goodies is a blessing. Any grocery store, whether it was the smaller farmer's market near the train station I loved to frequent, or the larger supermart buried underground down another corridor inside the train station itself, there was a bakery doling out goods. Heck, if I walked outside of the building I lived in with Yonie, there was a small standalone bakery just across the street churning out wholesome loaves baked in-house to fancy fruit-decorated cakes for special celebrations. Some of the best, though, were the ones you grabbed while hauling through the train station during the morning commute, heated to steamy eggy goodness as you mow through it waiting for the train to arrive... 

Speaking of which, coincidentally, brings me to another arena in which South Korean ingenuity avails: Convenience foods. Not only is there a convenience store nearly a stone's throw away from you at any point in the city of Seoul, but they are replete with an incredible array of ready-to-consume or can-be-consumed-after-minimal-effort-exertion foods, from hot and cheesy pizza buns to questionably made tubes of meat-like substance ready to squeeze into your face hole as your drunk ass stumbles home. There's also plenty of desserts, too, like this tasty little Cookie and cream parfait I devoured one chilly evening on my little sofa-bed in Hwajeong. Not the most glamorous thing, but tasty enough and undeniably convenient! Plus, it was marked down because with the cold weather rolling in ice cream sales had tanked. Is it weird that I like to eat ice cream when it's cold out? Maybe it's because I'm from a place where the summer temps are routinely over 110 degrees, so ice cream on a hot summer day doesn't stand much of a chance...

So, while it's maybe not the kind of thing you're used to finding at your local bakery or convenience store, don't be afraid to try new things when traveling! You could miss out on some real hidden gems!

Vegas: Flippin' Good Burgers and Chicken

Regulars to the blog will be fully aware of my feelings about fried chicken, and how a particular country's chicken rises above the rest as the supreme form of deep-fat-fried birdy goodness... But every once in a while a contender comes along with a coating so crackly, crunchy and good that it gives me pause and makes me reconsider that stance. Naturally, I've always gravitated back to my original opinion thus far, which is that Korean fried chicken is the penultimate greasy bird, but I've gotta give Flippin' Good credit for serving up some pretty damn good chicken! Which, ironically, isn't even what their primary focus is if the name is any given. Burgers and shakes are the main feature of their brief menu but their chicken is legit. We opted for delivery because, believe it or not, we're balls-deep into the process of moving out of our current abode as of my writing this, and will long since be out of Vegas by the time this reaches posting, so while it would have been nice to go out and sit down with one of their shakes in what I presume to be their fine restaurant, we had sh*t to do and things to pack. Even though we opted to get our food brought to our house, like the lazy bastards we are, it was all nice and fresh and hot still when it arrived. And look at that food porn above- that crispy crackling coating is to drool for! They did a damn fine job on their batter, and the Nashville heat seasoning we opted for on our tenders was definitely bringing some heat for Antho's palate. I got the fire fries as an upgrade with my Dirty Bird, featured above. The Dirty Bird is certainly one dirty, naughty bird! Not only does it come with the super crispy hunk of bird, but a nice thick slab of bacon and an egg with a still-creamy yolk adorn it for extra pizzaz. If any city calls for being extra, it's certainly gonna be Vegas, right?  

They also offer fried pickles, y'all. FRIED PICKLES! Served with ranch, because, duh, right? I mean, I'll be honest here...I'm not a Southerner, even though Las Vegas is squarely located in the Southwestern corner of the United States, Nevada joined the union during the Civil war to back our buddies in the North (because f**k slavery) so I'm absolutely not a person of authority when it comes to what something like fried pickles are supposed to be served with. For all I know they're traditionally served in the hollowed out gut of a rusted old Ford and drenched in pure molten lard... But suffice to say, these fried pickles right here, they were damn fine fried pickles as far as my uneducated palate is concerned. I pretty much scarfed the entire box to myself, because I forgot that Antho is vehemently anti-pickle. His loss, my (weight) gain! 

And if we're gonna be extra, why not upgrade for $2 and get the dressed up fries? They have a few different variations, most with some cheese and bacon, though I opted for the "Fire Fries" in particular, which came with pickled jalapenos and a dangerously generous heaping of powdered spice seasoning dumped on top. The fries definitely lived up to their name, and were too spicy for me to conquer on the first night...but, also, we had a mountain of food to work our way through. The fire fries were a bit soggy and yielded to the cheese sauce by the time I got to them the next day, but the heat had also spread a little bit more evenly throughout. Still spicy, even for my tastes, though!

All around solid meal, and I'm sure their shakes are good, too. They have booze-filled milkshakes, guys, what's not to love?