The Situation

You know what's great with tapas? Sangria.
For one of my wedding showers, Brian actually made mass amounts of sangria (and mojitos. Go Brian!).

Your Mission

There are a million recipes out there, and while I'm willing to try some, what I want right now is your recommendations of where I can go get the best sangria in Manhattan, Queens, or Nassau County, NY; Philadelphia or Montgomery County; New Jersey; or Dover, DE.
Leave a recommendation in the comments below -- I'll try as many as I can in the weeks ahead, and give you a round-up with the results.

Thanks!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cafe Buenos Aires (reviewingwhatever.blogspot.com)
• Your Mission: Healthy Food edition (reviewingwhatever.blogspot.com)
• Your Mission: French Fry edition (reviewingwhatever.blogspot.com)

The Situation

Last time I gave you a mission, it was for French fries. Delicious, but I think we need to combat them by finding some awesome healthy food.

Your Mission

My stomach appeals to you, folks: where can I find the best healthy food in Manhattan, Queens, or Nassau County, NY; Philadelphia, Montgomery County, or Chester County, PA; South Jersey; or Dover, DE?

Leave a recommendation in the comments below -- I'll try as many as I can in the weeks ahead, and give you a round-up with the results.

Thanks!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Five Guys Burgers and Fries (reviewingwhatever.blogspot.com)
• Time to Save Money on Food (thesimpledollar.com)
• Some Thoughts on Angel Food Ministries (thesimpledollar.com)

The Situation

I've written about burgers in the past. I like burgers. But... where are the fries?

Your Mission

So, folks, tell me: where are the absolute best french fries in Manhattan, Queens, or Nassau County, NY; Philadelphia, Montgomery County, or Chester County, PA; South Jersey; or Dover, DE?

Leave a recommendation int he comments below -- I'll try as many as I can in the weeks ahead, and give you a round-up with the results.

Thanks!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Five Guys Burgers and Fries (reviewingwhatever.blogspot.com)
• Time to Save Money on Food (thesimpledollar.com)
• Sonic (reviewingwhatever.blogspot.com)

Image via WikipediaImage via Wikipedia

Burger Heaven was something else. I took lunch a bit on the late side, but still within the normal lunch hour. I was seated quickly, and ordered a Classic Beef Burger ($6.55), but had to pay extra for lettuce and tomatoes ($0.95). I also had a Coke ($2.05), but again skipped the fries.

While the burgers don't come with lettuce and tomato by default, they do come with red relish (tastes like chunky ketchup; not my thing but not bad), a big slice of fresh onion, and three large pickle wedges. They also come with mayo on the side, which I love because while I like a little something to moisten the roll a bit, most places that add mayo put about half a gallon on, which is just disgusting.

I ordered my burger medium, which may not have been the world's greatest idea, since the meat was a bit pinker on the inside than I usually like in ground beef. On the other hand, it was so tender and juicy that the burger was falling apart in my hands. Delicious.

Over the to Dog House. Again, as the name suggests, this place focuses more on hot dog than hamburgers, and with a few exceptions, I do not like hot dogs (Gray's Papaya? Big exception. Yum).

If you eat in, you sit right at the counter, which is not something I love to start. I just prefer seats with backs. Your food is served up to order, with your choice of toppings.

Brian got a massive hot dog with mustard ($2.75), and a Coke ($1.50). I got a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, and onion ($2.50), and a lemonade ($1.50). The burger was decent; not especially memorable, but tasty enough. I had no complaints. The scene wasn't really my thing, though. This is probably my issues screaming through, but I felt sort of like I was intruding on a group of people who all knew each other already, and who were nothing like me. That's not a feeling I like.

Also, the Dog House doesn't have an online menu, so I can't vouch for the exact prices, but everything was much cheaper than it was at either of the other places.

Rating

Try them
They're all good, depending what you're looking for and where you are. Burger Heaven was easily the best, but Cheeburger Cheeburger was great for atmosphere and sheer size of the burger, and the Dog House had the best deal for the money. Next time, I think might go with takeout from the Dog House, though.

The rest of the Internet

Cheeburger Cheeburger

The Wikipedia article on Cheeburger Cheeburger.
David St. Lawrence at Making Ripples loved Cheeburger Cheeburger.
Dolores Kostelni at The Roanoke Times was not impressed.
Scott Joseph at The Orlando Sentinel found it to be decent, but not amazing.
Restaurant Mom was pleased with her family's lunch.
Jason Perlow at  Off the Broiler has lots of great pictures of the restaurant and food.
Lee Barnes at The Richmond Times-Dispatch was pleased with his meal.
Learn about the parent company.
You probably don't want to know, but check out the nutritional information.

Burger Heaven

The Wandering Eater has some great pictures.
A glowing review of Burger Heaven's patty melt at Midtown Lunch.

The Dog House

UPDATE: Paulusa302 at TalkDelaware.com provides a menu, so I have updated the prices for you.

I Am Legend
2007, in theaters

You should know
Once again, I have not read the book – but I want to. I hear the movie diverges from the book significantly.

I saw this film with Chris, Brian, and another friend of ours.

Also, be warned: there is at least one tear-jerking moment involving a dog.

So?
For the most part I enjoyed the film. The ending fell a little flat, although it could have been worse, and I had several questions about plot points (which are spoilery; scroll down).


























Maybe it was just me, but I had some trouble making the connection between the AlphaZombie/Vampire and Neville. Only on reading the Wikipedia page did I make the connection.

Why did Neville have to strangle Sam? (Hey, I warned you.) He could have put her down humanely; heck, he could have sedated her before injecting the cure, just like he did all the other test subjects. But no.

And how, exactly, did Anna and Ethan get onto Manhattan Island, anyway?

















Ok, spoilers are done.

As Dr. Robert Neville, Will Smith once again proves that when he’s actually challenged – that is, not just playing himself – he’s a terrific actor. For that matter, the dog was a very good actor, as well. I can’t swear it’s true, but I’ve read that she does her own stunts (except for fetching).

In all, it’s far more sad than scary, which I think the early marketing captured pretty well. Be prepared going in to be emotionally manipulated.

Rating
See it…
…Assuming you’re ok with emotional manipulation and zombies (or vampires. It’s ambiguous). Some people hate the one; some hate the other. These people should avoid the movie. And parents of little kids should definitely see it and make a judgment call before letting their children see it; nightmares could be caused by half a dozen aspects of this film.

The rest of the Internet
Warning: Spoilers abound
The IMDb page for the film.
The Wikipedia page for the book.
Decent, if not spectacular, reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.
Christianity Today reviews the film and offers some interesting discussion questions.
Stephanie Zacharek at Salon finds the psychology much more interesting than the action. Most critics seem inclined to agree (myself included).
Tom Russo at Entertainment Weekly compares Smith in I Am Legend with Charlton Heston in Omega Man.
Different reviews describe the film as timely or nostalgic.
At Off the Meat Rack, a big fan of Omega Man reviews I Am Legend.
Phil BC at A Very Public Sociologist considers potentially sexist themes in the film.
Dave Loveless at The Prodigal considers Smith the new Harrison Ford.

Awesome link of the week
Sars at Tomato Nation is one of the founders of Television Without Pity, keeps her blog chock full of movie and book reviews, advice, creative writing, shopping help, baseball talk, and slices of New York life. If you want to know where to get those shoes, how to get the cat to stop peeing on things, or exactly what is going on with the Yankees, cruise the archives.

The Green Room Billiards
2891 Rt. 73 South
Maple Shade, NJ 08052

You should know
Chris was in town, so he, Brian, and I went out for the evening. We stopped here before dinner.

We used to play a bit of pool in college – not enough to compete on any kind of level, but enough to practice the basics. Now, pool is a good go-to activity for a night out.

So?
The tables, balls, and cues all seemed to be in good condition. The lighting was good. The scorekeeping cords were a bit on the low side, so we occasionally hit them with our cues, but you could just as easily blame that on us. For the most part, we had a good time and were happy with the establishment.

Then we went to the front counter to pay. We waited a good ten minutes for an employee to show up so that we could pay. We were actually about a minute from walking out. When a man finally came to wait on us (read: take our money), he made a snide comment about how we could have taken a few hundred dollars out of the register. And this wasn’t in the sense of, “Hey, this was stupid of me, thanks for waiting.” It was nasty and rude.

Rating
You can do better
Had this incident not occurred, I would highly recommend the place. We had a very pleasant time, and no problems with any of the equipment. Still, we – and you – deserve good service.

The rest of the Internet
...There isn't much out there.

Whitman Diner
4990 Black Horse Pike
Turnersville, NJ 08012

You should know
I was in Atlantic City for the day, and met Brian near where he works. We roamed around a bit until we happened upon a diner, where we stopped for dinner.

Actually, I had technically already had dinner, so I only wanted something small

So?
After an incredibly long wait, we were seated. I ordered a Caesar salad ($7.25), and Brian got the chopped steak meal ($11.50 if it's what I think it is, though it looks like they've changed the menu slightly), hold the gravy (as he doesn’t like mushrooms). Both were priced on the high side – a bit overpriced, as it turned out, since neither was that good.

The portions for the salad were large, even too large in my case, but after I subtracted the wilted, disgusting greens, the size was what I wanted. Brian was unhappy with his meal, and packed the rest to go since he didn’t finish it at the same time.

Rating
Skip it
We decided not to go back. I recommend you not go in the first place. Jersey is sort of famous for diners; you can do better.

The rest of the Internet
Check out the menu.
And that's about it.