3 Stations East

Miniature Japanese Foods OMG

2007-07-15T02:24:41Z

A few years back someone named Mena Trott decided to make miniature donuts. It's still one of my favorite random things from her dollarshort.org days because, who would make miniature donuts?

I now have a better answer than "Mena Trott." The correct answer is "Mena Trott and the Japanese."

I obtained these amazing miniatures from our local Mitsuwa:

The level of detail is incredible. Each of these is just about a half-inch high or so - the potstickers even have sauce with them. I just about flipped out when I saw a shelf full of these - and they even had a $20 miniature grocery store shelving kit!

Restraint kept me to just one box. It includes what you see above, a chiclet of gum (meh), and little signs for the shelving kit.

Impressively, these are made by a company called Re-Ment and they have American food too. Check it out. And, yes, donuts and coffee, complete with mini-sugar packets. (!)

I love this miniature food stuff, and am going to try very hard not to buy them all.

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Double Lemon Bar

2007-05-12T23:37:04Z

I think Jeani will be happy with these.

Double Lemon Bar

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A+++, WOULD EAT FROM AGAIN

2007-04-11T02:25:46Z

Classic Chocolate from Satura Cakes

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Dear People in SF!

2007-02-25T21:03:31Z

Lazyweb!

Can anyone recommend a good restaurant near Burlingame and/or SFO? Preferably something where not everything is fried. Once my flight gets in I expect to be Rather Hungry.

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Paul on the Street: Cereality Evanston

2006-11-21T17:02:55Z

No video review for this edition.

Cereality almost seems like a ridiculous concept: sell cereal for $4 a pop, with ancillary items like smoothies, parfaits, milk, and coffee. But I tell you, it works.

The price is the big deal here, so let's get that out of the way. Yes, $4 is expensive; yes, you can buy a box of cereal for $4; yes, I think it's too much; yes, I would absolutely go back and try it again.

Cereality's menu is simple but the choices are extensive and perhaps confusing. You can get hot or cold cereal your way or their way. Hot cereal gets you a scoop of grits (!) or oatmeal along with another hot scoop; cold gets you two scoops. "Your way" means that you get to choose the ingredients; "our way" is pre-chosen goodness. For "your way" you have a choice of over 30 cereals and 20 toppings (ranging from sweet stuff to fruits) as well as a choice of milk (soy is 50 cents extra, sadly.) If you're unable to pick, "our way" is the way to go. I was tempted to get a hot cereal on this chilly day but elected instead to get a cold "my way" cereal: Reese's Puffs and Cinnamon Life with mini-marshmallows and chocolate syrup.

If you get it to go, it's served in a stubby container that's a hybrid of a Chinese take-out box and a Big Gulp. You can get your milk on the side or help yourself from the milk vending machine.

In addition to cereal, Cereality offers cereal bars and the aforementioned parfaits and smoothies. The smoothies are prefabbed (and compete with Jamba Juice in price), but the parfaits can be made to order. Worth noting is that Cereality also sells coffee, and it's the cheapest coffee in the area: $0.99 for a small, quite reasonable.

With that all out of the way, it's hard to throw a general "it's good!" or "it's bad!" on the food because, well, the food is cereal and we all pretty much know what it tastes like. It's worth noting that it's possible to get a healthy snack here, as granolas, fresh fruits, and the like are available. You can also just go crazy and get a pure sugary treat like I did. Above all though, Cereality is really fun: experimenting and mixing cereals is a blast.

The shop itself is reminiscent of a kitchen, with big tables and comfy chairs. It still has that New Store Smell, so get in while you can. A display near the front of the store sells various crap such as t-shirts, books, hats, etc.

Overall I think Cereality is a great idea and it's definitely in a place where it'll succeed with Northwestern nearby. I can't say I'll be back regularly due to the price (it needs to be $2.50), but I'll be back for the fun factor.

The Place
Cereality
1622 Sherman Ave., Evanston
847.864.4400

The Meal
Cold cereal "my way": Reese's Puffs and Cinnamon Life with mini-marshmallows and chocolate syrup: $4.34 with tax, no tip.

The Verdict
A.

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Paul on the Street: Five Faces

2006-10-10T20:08:41Z

Introducing Paul on the Street, a semi-regular video food review.

For the inaugural edition I review the hot dogs at Five Faces in Chicago. Do watch my marginal editing skills, won't you?

Paul on the Street 20061010

The Place
Five Faces Ice Cream/Gyros/Hot Dogs
10 W. Division, Chicago
312.642.7837

The Meal
Hot dog special ("everything on it") with fries and a Pepsi: $4.85 with tax, no tip

The Verdict
Marginal C+.

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If loving cornbread is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

2006-10-06T17:27:47Z

Boston Market's cornbread has the consistency and taste of pound cake, but with... corniness.

It seems like it's wrong. But I don't wanna be right.

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Final Meal

2006-09-23T23:09:09Z

Tonight is probably the last time I'll enjoy the food from Evanston Chicken Shack for a while, due to our upcoming move.

It's simply the finest fried chicken I've had from a restaurant, bar none. (Hecky's is good but not as good, in my opinion.) I have yet to have Harold's, which has a ton of fans... but Chicken Shack rocks.

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Yan Yan

2006-08-30T17:03:23Z

I forgot how much I enjoyed Yan Yan!

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What the heck, Quizno's?

2006-08-11T17:58:54Z

There was a time when I really, really liked Quizno's for a fast-food sub. Then Potbelly came along and, well, the rest is history.

But I was feeling nostalgic today (and thrifty!) and decided to visit Quizno's. Coupon in hand, I headed inside to get a nice, tasty sandwich. Visions of nice, bubbling cheese and charred bread floated in my head...

and all of that vanished when I read the menu board.

The average price of a regular sub was - no exaggeration here - $8.00. The cheapest was the veggie at $6, but anything above and beyond that was high. The regular sub is a little big, so I decided to get a small sub. Cheapest (veggie) was $4, and ran all the way up to $6.50.

Large subs - which must be really big - were $9 and up. And up! For a sandwich!

Quizno's isn't doing anything really unique here. They're trying, somehow, to market their basic sandwich as some sort of premium food. But the "Let's pay $8 for a sandwich" game is best left to Cosi, where they at least pretend better.

I just can't see any reason to spend $6.50 for a Quizno's sandwich when I can get the same thing at Potbelly for $3.89.

What's worse is that the Quizno's also pulled the "you must charge at least $5 in order to use a card" deal without posting said restriction anywhere. So for more than the cost of a sandwich, chips, and soda at Potbelly I got a sandwich and a cookie.

Quizno's, you stink.

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