I'd Never Expect to Eat a Great Burger in Raleigh!

Well, I'm back in Raleigh for this post!  And I'm not going to lie, this post really shows you why I named this blog "Pocajama."  I was helping out with a summer camp at my high school a couple of weeks ago and after the camp was over, I went to lunch with a couple of people I volunteered with.  We went to this place called Backyard Bistro, which is right next to the PNC Arena/Carter Finley Stadium in Raleigh, about 10 minutes outside of Downtown.  When you look at this place, you don't imagine that the food you're going to get is anything better than what you'd get at Chili's or Applebees, considering the decor and the way it's designed.  Even the name, Backyard Bistro, is kind of odd in that despite the fact that they throw Bistro in there, the word Backyard makes it seem as if the quality is not going to be top notch.  Little did I know that this place was going to give me a good burger, not to mention one that would knock my socks off.

Now, I know quite a few burger joints in this town.  All of them are good, but they each have their shortcomings.  At some, the fries are good, but the bun is lacking; others have fantastic buns, but the meat isn't great or the fries just aren't anything worth a second pass of the tongue, etc.  But this place... if you like burgers as much as I do, you will enjoy this.

I ordered a Build Your Own Burger with Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Ketchup, Mayo, Pickle Spears, American Cheese, and Bacon, which came with fries.  I wasn't expecting much, based on how I previously described the atmosphere, but boy was I in for a surprise.

Isn't it beautiful?

I would just like to take a moment and take a look at this picture.  Don't you wish you could just reach out and grab that burger?  Well, let me tell you, it was about as delicious as it was pretty.  Just about everything about it was perfect.  The bun was freshly made at a nearby bakery, and was toasted and buttery.  Even the crust was buttery and enticing.  The patty was thick and juicy, with just the right amount of seasoning, and the meat was of very good quality.  The cheese was melted perfectly and tasted just as American should, smooth and mild, and the bacon was as crisp and smokey as bacon should be.  The lettuce, tomato, and onion were all crisp and fresh, and these alongside the pickles and the bacon added a nice crispness to the sandwich.  Ketchup and mayo are ketchup and mayo, but I seriously cannot have a burger without them.  Boy,  was this puppy good.

Even the fries were of excellent quality.  They were home cut and fried, and you could tell by the taste and texture.  They were a tad flimsy, but anyone who has ever made homemade fries will tell you that it is nearly impossible to get a thick potato slice crispy.  It can be done with extreme care, but considering the ambiance of the restaurant, I won't hold it against them.  Besides the slight floppiness, which reminded me of the fries my mother used to make, they had the perfect flavor.  The potato itself was slightly sweet, but with the salt, the balance was kept and the mixture was the absolute prime taste that any fry eater would want.

As I said earlier,  I was not expecting to have an amazing burger when I walked into this place.  I expected to have another mediocre meal in a mediocre restaurant across the street from a major sports arena, much like anyone else would have expected.  It did not appear to be anything special, but the food itself said otherwise.  When I took one bite of this burger, I knew that it was special, and that you can't get another burger like that anywhere in Raleigh.  So, this one is for the burger lovers:  if you want a fantastic burger, go to Backyard Bistro.  You won't be disappointed.

More Delicious Vegan Food! This Time, a Little More Special

As I stated in my last post, my cousin Emma is a vegan chef.  One thing I did not mention is that on Thursday nights at a bar in Brooklyn, Halyard's,  she prepares and serves vegan bar food to the patrons of this fine establishment as they enjoy participating in trivia contests put on by her roommate David.  Of course, since we were in New York, we had to try her amazing food, since we had only ever eaten her food once, and we wanted to see a day in the life of Emma-nemma.

So we went.  And we ate.  And, much to our surprise, she actually named everything on the menu after me and my siblings (including our precious puppy Pepe, who I of course consider as another little brother of mine).  Take a look for yourself:

Yep, that's right.  I'm a burger. No big deal or anything.

So yeah.  We ordered an Allyson (a black bean and broccoli burger with sweet mustard sauce on a sesame seed bun), a Hannah (a bean and cilantro taco with popcorn and other nuts on top on a corn tortilla), and a Pepe (a chocolate cookie with pretzels in it), and they were all delicious.

Don't I look delicious?

I will proceed from now on to address the food by its name, starting with myself.  I must say, I never thought I'd be eating myself, but I was delightful.  I had no problem substituting beef with black beans, because, hey, what Cuban doesn't love black beans?  But outside of that, the sweet mustard sauce really brought the bean and broccoli mixture together quite nicely.  It had a bit of an aftertaste, but nothing unpleasant.

This is what I call good.

Now it's on to the Hannah.  I typically am not a fan of soft corn tortillas, but this has to be my exception.   I usually find the smell of the soft corn tortilla to be kind of overpowering, but in this case, it went nicely with the flavors of everything else.  The innards of the taco, which included beans, tomatoes, spinach, walnut basil pesto, and pop corn, really complemented each other well, bringing out this rich, bean-ey flavor that was really delicious.  I never would have thought that pesto went in a taco, nor popcorn, but the crunchiness of the popcorn, which was slightly seasoned with garlic, really went well with the rest of the taco, and the pesto wasn't overpowering, but let everything else come out and say hello.  This is one of the best tacos I've had, and my sister, Hannah, who is a taco lover, thinks so too.

Just about one of the best cookies ever.  This is now up there with chocolate chip for me.

To top off the meal, we were able to indulge in a rare treat... the Pepe!  Despite the fact that it brought about the horrible imagery of eating my beloved pet, these cookies are the bomb, because they combine my two favorite snacks in the world:  pretzels and chocolate.  As a child, whenever we would have to have a snack or go anyplace, I would always bring a bag of pretzels with me, without fail.  As for chocolate, it is the only candy I will eat besides gummy bears.  The fact that Emma brought these two things together was just incredible.  The pretzel was crunchy, but not too crunchy, and the salt really complemented the sweetness of the chocolate. The cookie itself was soft and chewy, and overall quite delicious.  If I could, I could probably eat a whole pan of these things, but I won't because that is bad for you and I would probably feel terrible about myself afterwards.

Well, now that I've had my cousin's food, I can honestly say that she is an excellent chef.  I recommend her food to anyone who happens to be or live in the NYC area, and I'm not just saying that because she's my cousin, although that helps.  Her food is really delightful.

Vegan Fast Food? WHAAAAT?

So a couple of weeks ago, I was in New York with my sister and my dad, on the occasion of a business trip of his.  Since he would be working, my sister and I were going to have to spend some time alone, so we called up my super cool cousin Emma, who lives in Brooklyn, so that we could hang out for an afternoon.  After an afternoon full of thrift shopping and Brooklyn-ey awesomeness, Emma, who happens to be vegan, took us to dinner.  She had named several places that we could eat, all vegan of course, but the one that stuck us as the most interesting was what she called "this little vegan fast food place."  When she said this, we honestly had no idea what to expect.

First of all, if vegans gave up meat and all animal products, why would they want to imitate the greasy, fatty, grossness of the typical American road trip meal?  Second, what the heck would they make this stuff out of?  Of course, being the adventurous people that we are, we decided that this place, Foodswings, was the best place in Brooklyn to eat.  And we couldn't have been more right.

Just a side note, I thought that the name of this place was kind of hilarious.  Foodswings.  Does that not imply that it will make you want to waver back to the omnivorous lifestyle of most people, or that people eating there have cravings for meat and that it ain't easy being vegan or whatever?  No matter what they're trying to imply, the name Foodswings is kind of funny.  Feel free to make your own judgement.

I knew I could trust Emma, being a vegan chef herself (check out her page at http://emmaeatsplants.com/! She's kind of incredible), to know what was good and what wasn't.  She said that the (fake) chicken was really good, although you really couldn't go wrong with anything.  So, of course, I took her word for it and ordered a Chicken Caesar Club sandwich.  And it was really good.

Can someone please tell me what this stuff is made out of?

Okay.  So I'll be honest.  I have no idea what this stuff is made of.  And I know that this certainly not a club sandwich (where is the slice, or club, in the middle of the sandwich?).  But it was delicious nonetheless.  The "chicken" was perfectly grilled, and it (to my surprise) actually tasted like chicken.  They must have a wizard or some sort in their kitchen, because it was scary how it magically tasted exactly like chicken.  The bread was good, not extremely different from any french loaf, and the condiments were all fresh.  They put tomatoes, black olives, cucumbers, lettuce, and of course, their Caesar dressing concoction, which all did their part in making the sandwich.  The lettuce and the cucumber worked together to make the sandwich crisp, and the black olives mixed with the tomato well to balance each others flavors so that the caesar dressing could come out and make its appearance.  Might I add that it tasted like Caesar dressing, too.  It was weird.

I have no idea how this stuff was made, or how healthy it is for that matter, but it was good.  And that's all that matters, right?

Picture time!  I have to embarrass my sister and my cousin, who both ate some form of "chicken" as well.

Emma acting as ferocious as possible without actually turning into a carnivore

Hannah acting as glamorous as you can when eating fake chicken drumsticks

Winston Salem's Best Kept (Cuban) Secret

So you can't really tell based on things that I've blogged, but I absolutely love Cuban food.  Well, maybe you can gather that from what I wrote about myself.  Growing up in a household where the first thing you tell people when you meet them is that you are Cuban, you cannot escape the decadent flavors of our patria (homeland, fatherland).  From arroz con pollo to bistec empanizado, there is never a meal without the influences of our heritage.  There has to be some sort of semblance of mojo or rice or beans somewhere, or at the very least naranja agria (sour orange juice) or olive oil.  And garlic or onion.  There has to be something somewhere.  If not, we would be terrible Cubans.

That being said, when I was off at Governor's School in Winston Salem this summer, I was severely deprived of the fantastic food that my parents and grandparents have been making me since I can remember.  The food there definitely had room for improvement, although I would rejoice every time they made something with rice in it (hey, what can I say?  Rice is one of the 7 major food groups).  It was an absolute blast, but the food was, well, not so great.

Then, on weekends, my dad would come and take me out to eat lunch.  Oh, how much of a relief that was.  My dad was the one who really got me into the wonder that is great food, so I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed no matter where we went.

Since I had been craving Cuban food so much, we decided on going to this little place called Miami's Cafe.  When we got there, we knew immediately that the food was going to be good, based on the fact that there were actual Cubans eating there.  Yes, actual Cubans!  This doesn't surprise me, because as one of my aunts always says, "Cubans are like dog [insert synonym for fecal matter].  We show up anywhere."  If Cubans show up to a place, then you know that the food is good.

Their menu was basic, serving sandwiches, fries, milkshakes, and a daily special meal, but that didn't mean that we didn't expect the best.  We ordered Cuban Steak Sandwiches, our favorite, and a side order of fries.  Since we weren't exactly in the most metropolitan area, we weren't expecting much, but what we got was incredible.

Our sandwiches were absolutely perfect.  They were made on fresh Cuban bread, with perfectly cut Palomilla steaks, or thinly cut skirt steaks about 1/4 of an inch thick, with sauteed onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and last but most certainly not least, shoestring potatoes.

My dad enjoying his glorious Pan con Bistec.

The bread was perfectly crisp, the fruits of a great flat press, and all of the ingredients were fresh, excluding the shoestring potatoes.  Overall, the sandwich was crisp, as it should be, and rich with the flavors of the tomato and the mojo seasoning of the steak and onions.  Mojo, which is a mixture of garlic, sauteed onions, olive oil, and sour orange juice, is the staple of any Cuban dish, and adds so much flavor to the cuisine.  They put the right amount of pepper to make the steak sing, which contributed to the wonderful experience of this amazing sandwich.  And to top it all off, because we were Cuban and started talking with the other Cubans in the place, including the owner, we all got free cafecito.  Which I will do another general post about in the future, I promise.

This place, even though it didn't look like much from the outside, in a teeny tiny little strip mall in the middle of rural Winston Salem, really made me feel, well, like I was eating in Miami.  If you're ever in Winston and are craving Cuban food, check this place out.  It will do more than enough to satisfy your craving.