East Hampton Sandwich Co. (Park Cities/Dallas, TX)

This is a photo of the Lobster Roll from East Hampton Sandwich Co. I didn't want to spend $17 on a sandwich but I figured it was time to take a chance and go for the ever-bragged about Lobster Roll since it's been my third or fourth visit. Again, I heard it was very good but the $16+ price tag was already causing me buyer's remorse without me even having it yet.

The picture I took does not look anywhere close to the picture the EHSC website has of the same entree. That's to be expected of most restaurant food photos done by the restaurant or their marketers.

Either photo doesn't properly relay the size, or rather amount of the lobster 'stuffing' inside the roll. It's not as much as it looks. You would think that the stuffing is indeed stuffed into the roll. Your thinking, as mine was, would be mistaken. I've seen this item be delivered a few times while waiting for my usual cheeseburger to-go order. I'd take a good gander as it passed to see how it looked and try to assess the amount of stuffing there was. I obviously didn't do a very good job in my assessment because I expected more. Truthfully, I expected about double of what was actually received...especially for the price. I know different 'meats' have different costs but the cheeseburger comes with two patties for about $10 and they aren't the smashed Steak-n-Shake or Smashburger patties. Even the salmon special I wrote about had more salmon in it than the lobster roll had lobster.

So, I'll try to give it a proper visual: take the roll and split it down the middle. Spread it a very little bit just enough to put a few spoonful scoops of the lobster stuffing in the roll from almost end to end. Ah! It's like a baked potato. Where the toppings are almost all piled high on top of the potato to make it look like the potato is stuffed with the toppings when in actuality it's all sitting on top of the potato. Then when you mix the toppings into the potato, it looks pretty small compared to the initial presentation. That's the lobster roll. Pushing the toppings into the roll makes the filling look pretty light.

That being said. The lobster stuffing was good. It was flavored but not overly so. I personally would have preferred it to be closer to overly so. It came with a side of butter, or butter drizzle as they list it on the menu. In my opinion, the butter drizzle added nothing to the meal. I just didn't get any kind of butter taste from it not even a hint of butter. I don't know why, maybe I'm weird and others have a different experience but that's how it was for me.

The bread roll by itself tasted good, like an actual dinner roll that you would eat by itself.

The chips are just chips. They added some crunch and texture to an otherwise soft meal.

Overall assessment of the lobster roll at EHSC: Truthfully, I still felt hungry after eating the lobster roll so I'd have to say skip it unless you don't mind paying a premium price for an unfilling amount of food. Was it good? Fairly, yes. Was it worth the cost? Definitely, no. I did not feel like I got my monies worth.

The Legend of Hercules (2014)

The Legend of Hercules (2014). I can see why this didn't do well in the theaters. I wouldn't say it was a bad movie overall. It could have been done better sure but for $1.20 from RedBox it wasn't too painful to watch. The acting could have used some more directing, inflecting or something but it wasn't unwatchable. It was the occasional horrendous digital imaging that made it laughable and would make me question spending the movie theater admission price.

Kellan Lutz shouldn't try to "act" or "speak" too much in his movies. He's got a decent face, a muscular body and that's what he should go with. Again, I think with some professional guidance, his acting could have been better. The action/fight scenes were interesting but often predictable. No fault to his acting but more of the storyline. What has Kellan really been in? There was the 3 or 4 Twilight movies where he hardly spoke. There was Immortals where he barely spoke and when he did it was laughable--although I did like the movie overall.

Scott Adkins should follow the same advice I shared for Kellan but times three. Scott's freaking ripped and looks like Supermofo! But he's purely a hardcore action actor. Have you seen Undisputed 2 & 3, Ninja I & II, Assassination Games, and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. The dude is one bad ass. His character wasn't hugely conversational in this movie but he's best speaking with his fists and feet.

I have no idea who Gaia Weiss is but I know that there was not any nudity of her in this movie! It's a freaking gladiator, Roman soldier-type movie and we know that the Romans were sexual beings! I mean not even a boob shot. I was thoroughly disappointed. [my inner 12-yr-old boy yells] 'SHOW ME THE BOOBS! SHOW ME THE BOOBS!'

It was interesting to see that Liam McIntyre was the sidekick to Hercules. Is he type cast because of his Spartacus role? I really haven't seen him in ANYTHING else but what do I know. He wasn't quite the warrior Spartacus in this movie but he did okay.

FINAL VERDICT: My overall assessment of this movie is rent it from Redbox or borrow from a friend. If you go into the movie knowing that it's kind of cheesy, you won't have too high of expectations but you will more than likely overall enjoy seeing it.

Rollngo - Dallas (Greenville Ave) 2nd visit

Had a 2^nd visit this evening to Rollngo. This time with my youngest. I liked what I had before but thought I'd try something different this time. I ordered #40—Grilled Combo Rice Platter (photo below). My youngest got #57—Beef Ball & Brisket Flank Pho Soup and #132—Hawaiian Passion Smoothie. We also shared a #1—Egg Rolls Pork and #3—Steamed Dumplings.

#40 Grilled Combo Rice Platter (Beef ribs, Chicken & Pork)

All that food for the low price of around $22. I'm not a pho snob but I thought it was pretty good. It was very similar to Pho is for Lovers so I don't know why anyone is being negative on Yelp about it. In fact, I don't think I've had any kind of pho from anywhere that has made me say, "Damn that shit is da' bomb!" However, Rollngo charged $5.99 whereas Pho is for Lovers charges $8.99. I do think the one difference is that 'Roll' has two meats while 'Pho' has three meats. Is that 3rd meat worth $3 more? Maybe, maybe not.

The Grilled Combo Rice Platter was very good. I liked it a lot. The portions were good (I could always eat more) and it was quite tasty. I wasn't too please with the veggies. I don't know if they were supposed to be cold or if they weren't heated up properly. It did seem that one or two broccoli were warm but the asparagus and carrots were cold. Maybe the veggies that were warm were so because they were by the meat and/or rice but I didn't pay too much attention as I just dove in since I was starving. I'll pay better attention next time.

The Egg Rolls Pork aren't like what most people are used to and expect...especially most White people. Yep, I'm calling them out specifically. Most people think of egg rolls as having more veggie fillings like carrots and cabbage with some meat sprinkles but if you know Vietnamese food, you'd know that Vietnamese egg rolls are mainly filled with meat. I thought they were pretty good and so did my youngest. They do have other choices for the egg rolls but we tried the pork.

The Steamed Dumplings were pretty good too. They come with a dipping sauce but they are fairly tasty without it as well.

Overall I'd say this place is pretty good for me so far especially seeing that this is my second visit. I'm sure I'll visit more times to try other dishes and the sandwiches. I heard the sandwiches were pretty good sized portions and they sell for $4.25 each or 3 for $10. I figured that I'd better get my feel of this place before they decide to increase the prices.

So, go and try it. I think you'll like it. Just don't try to be some food snobby. I can't stand people like that.

Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill Restaurant - Dallas (Lakewood)

Went to Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill Restaurant with a couple of coworkers today. It's an all-u-can-eat restaurant. I think it also has entrees but we did the buffet.

We got there around noon. It wasn't too busy. About ten minutes after we were seated then got our food and then sat again to eat, the place started to get filled. There seemed to be more large "family-type" parties showing than like business luncheons or even just two people.

Overall, the food was pretty good. I've had tasted most of the food choices before with being friends with a Greek family so I kind of knew what to expect. However, part of the problem I had was that there were no labels to describe the many different dishes available. I could kind of tell what some foods were but there were many that I just couldn't tell.

This was a nice change of foods and some good dishes to eat. I'd much rather go back more often to a BBQ or Chinese buffet restaurant. Will I go back to Ali Baba? Maybe, sure, if someone I know suggests it and it's been a while since my last visit.

Pappas BBQ - Dallas (NW Hwy near I35 )

This was my lunch today from Pappas BBQ on NW Hwy in Dallas near I35.

It's the pork trio special. It comes with two pork ribs, pork sausage and pulled pork for like $10.95. I comes with a choice of two sides which I picked the mac & cheese with large pasta shells and cole slaw.

Both sides were very good. The cole slaw was exactly like I like/prefer it. The mac & cheese was good too and my kids will love it!

As far as the meats...the sausage, pulled pork and ribs were tasty but nothing extraordinary that would put them above any other BBQ joints' offerings.

FINAL VERDICT: Would I recommend Pappas BBQ? Sure. The food wasn't bad and the price was on par with the likes of Peggy Sue's BBQ, Baker's Ribs and Sonny's BBQ.

The difference in my preference would be that my Pappa's meal was roughly $15.00. I've had the all-u-can-eat BBQ buffet at North Main BBQ in Euless for $15.00 (the price as of my last visit around a year ago).

East Hampton Sandwich Co. (Park Cities/Dallas, TX)

For Mother's Day, I thought I'd stop by a local sandwich shop that a few people have said, "It's pretty good but may be somewhat pricey." The wife is worth any expense on any day but especially Mother's Day!

The place is called East Hampton Sandwich Co. It's been around a little bit and it looks like they've got two locations. I'm closer to the one in Dallas at Snider Plaza.

As I was walking to the entrance, an elderly couple was walking to the entrance at the same time. Being the courteous man I am, I opened the door and told them to go ahead before me. I should have assessed them a little better. I saw that they were old...pretty old. I saw the lady had a cane. I did not realize HOW slow she was walking. I thought it was just because of the step up to the curb from the parking space but it was because she was SO FREAKING SLOW!! Luckily, I wasn't in any type of hurry because freshly-removed-from-freezer ice cubes would have melted by the time they got from three feet outside the door to the counter for ordering.

The entrees in the photo are half of the Cheeseburger with avocado, cured bacon ($9.58 sandwich + $1.00 for avocado & cured bacon) on the left and half of the Seasonal Salmon Sandwich Special of the day/week on the right. I don't recall the exact price of the salmon but my total bill came to like $24.00. So I'm assuming the salmon special was around $12 because adding 8.25% tax would make it almost $24.

Anyway, the cheeseburger was really good. It's two hamburger patties that were not too thick but also not too thin. The bun is tasty. The avocado was good and the three pieces of bacon were very good. It comes with a side of chips that aren't fantastic but the wife said she liked them and, for me, it adds a crunch to each bite.

The salmon sandwich was pretty good. I didn't expect the layers of salmon to be as plentiful as they were. If you look at the photo, you can see the onion between the salmon (on the bottom) and the tomato (on the top). That's a good portion of salmon and it looks just as thick as the burger patties. It came with the same chips.

Between the two, I think the burger was more flavorful. The salmon was juicy and tender but maybe not as well seasoned.

I will go back for more but next time I might try the lobster roll. I heard it's very, very good. My only hesitation is that it's like $16 and I like to make sure I get my monies worth when it comes to seafood...well, any food really. I have seen a few people in the restaurant order the lobster roll and it looks plentiful but I don't know if it was more filler or lobster. Eventually I'm sure I'll try it.

Rollngo - Dallas (Upper Greenville Ave)

A friend and neighbor of mine asked if I was available to go to lunch today. I said sure. He initially mentioned Chipotle but then asked if I'd ever been to Rollngo. I've never even heard of it. He said, "Man, we're going to Rollngo then!" I said, "I'm good for whatever" since I'm not a picky eater.

The prices at Rollngo are pretty reasonable — almost too low — which made me think the food portions must be related to price. My friend assured me that the food portions were generous. As long as they weren't really skimpy, I wouldn't mind so much for the cost around $5-$6. As I've never been, I entrusted my buddy to pick the dish to eat. He suggested #67 but with double pork versus pork and shrimp.

After we ordered, another neighbor/friend happened through the door. I went to give him a handshake and he wanted to fist bump. WTF!? We're not tweens, teens or even mid 20s. Fist bumping is not my first intuition. I'd high five you before I'd think about a fist bump...anyway, that's off topic sorry.

We waited about eight minutes to get our order even with how busy they had gotten. Seating inside is not abundant. They have these cool stainless steel bar stools that raise up and down like an office chair, if needed. However, there are only maybe a max of ten inside. They did have an outside patio but today it was too sunny, hot and humid to enjoy outside dining. My buddy said they used to have an awning but they probably lost during the crazy storm we had a week or so ago. There were two-tiered glass-top tables with chairs for outdoor seating but the thing that really was disconcerting was the little red ashtrays they had in between the tiers of glass.

TANGENT:
Why would you promote smoking at a restaurant-only in Dallas much less one that seems to have put some thought into a clean design and decor of the restaurant as well as halfway decent outdoor seating!?
END TANGENT

We got our food to go and ended up eating at the comfy, spacious dining table in his house.

Taking the food out of the to-go bag, I could see that the to-go containers had clear tops which allowed me to see the food...which looked plentiful. There was a pretty good amount of vermicelli and A LOT of pork...remember we basically got a double order of the pork. Opening the containers wafted a wonderful smell which made my mouth water. Now that could be because I was starving but it really did smell good and tasty! The meal came with what I call filler such as green onion, lettuce, bean sprout, cucumber, and carrot. I think it also included an egg roll, because we each had one, but I can't be sure since my buddy gave the order.

Overall, the food was very delicious and good portion at a pretty decent price. I will definitely go back to try other dishes or even the same. Two things that I will point out that I didn't like: (1) they didn't seem to have any fountain drinks. They had a cooler of drinks or smoothies you can buy but no dispenser for buying a cup and getting free refills and (2) the chopsticks were some of the cheapest quality I've ever eaten with. They seemed to come soft out of the package like moisture had gotten to them. They didn't stand up very well to my use of just grabbing particular foods to shovel into my mouth. It made it slightly frustrating to eat and I ended up using a fork!

Other than those two minor complaints, I think anyone would enjoy eating here or at least trying it for the price and size of the meal.