Yoji and the Foodies

I’ve been playing Cafe World in Facebook for some time now. The recipes in the game are quite interesting that some of the dishes I’ve cooked in the past three months or so are based on the game’s recipe. One dish that caught my eye was the Kung Pao Stir Fry. Chinese cuisine is pretty safe when it comes to taste;90% of the time, Chinese dishes are a treat to the palate. It’s hard not to like them.

It turns out Kung Pao (chicken) is a traditional dish in the Sichuan province.  Chili peppers and peppercorn are flash fried in the seasoned wok and then the  marinated chicken is stir fried with vegetables and peanuts. Westernized version is available and even fast food joints like KFC have attempted to win over a new market segment by introducing Kung Pao Pasta Bowl.

It looks yummy, isn’t it? I was expecting something edible, at the very least. It turns out, the dish is too sweet. The chicken seems to be leftovers from the earlier batches and the spaghetti noodles, overcooked. I ended up eating just the peanuts. It’s not even Growers or Planters.

Just stick to KFC original recipe chicken. Peanuts, you can buy at the grocery.

Chef d’Angelo is considered as an Italian fastfood joint. The Glorietta branch was the first I’ve visited and I still remember the long lines and the long wait. Since I’ve been living under a huge rock, I am not certain where they moved the food place after the bombing a few years back.

I’ve had a few hours of freedom from slavery so I was able to drop by Chef d’Angelo SM Southmall branch. There was no line (read: no customer), so I almost walked away, but since I was in a hurry, I decided to stay. Part of me wants to order pasta but the bigger part of  me was begging to try the burger. Well I thought, what the heck, let’s try some Chef d’Angelo burgers. I also ordered Salisbury Steak for my dad.

Packaging-wise, I give it a 5. Come on, they can do better than a flimsy plastic bag with logo.

The food? Wowzer, look at the onion! There’ll be no kissing after this.

For 140 pesos, it’s a little on the expensive side but it is filling. I ate half at 6pm and the other half at 10pm. That’s like 2 meals…not bad. The taste? It’s very ordinary. It reminds me of the burgers served at the office cafeteria. Let’s just say it’s a big letdown for a food joint that has been getting accolades from foodies. Note to self: stick to pasta.

Burger King’s Whopper Jr. is still my burger of choice.

Sarah Fuss of Yahoo Food wrote a very interesting yet disturbing article about fast food favorites and the  time it takes to burn the calories in exercise minutes. Granting that the equivalence measurement is correct, I am totally bothered by the suggested workouts that I have to undergo just to burn out the calories. Take the case of a Choco Frosted Dunkin Donut. It certainly is less sinful than, say, a chocolate brownie or a cheesecake, but it packs 230 calories. The recommended exercise: 59 minutes of walking.  If you fancy a slice of large Pizza Hut Hand-Tossed Style Cheese Pizza, then be prepared to endure 39 minutes of  swimming. You get the picture, yeah?

I am not so sure if I should subject myself to such “harsh conditions” but I think I have reached a point in my life wherein I no longer gain weight and I don’t lose them either. It would be nice to find time to exercise but the sheer joy and satisfaction I get from wolfing down a Whopper or two is just priceless. Anyway, in the long run, we’re all dead.

I am not sure if this is good news or bad news. I really don’t know. I’m torn. Alright, let’s break this down…

In New York, there is a new rule that will require fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, Dunkin Donut, Starbucks, Applebee’s, and Subway to post a calorie count on their menus. This is supposed to fight the obesity problem in the city.

According to city government officials, the “rule will prevent at least 150,000 New Yorkers from becoming obese and prevent at least 30,000 from developing diabetes over the next five years”.

In Los Angeles, city-council member Jan Perry is pushing for a legislation that would ban new fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s and KFC from opening in a 32 square-mile chunk of the city, claiming that these fast food chains are possibly contributing to the high obesity rates.

Now, what makes them think that these rules will stop people from eating trashy food? Will an 800-calorie label stop them from eating burgers? People already know the calorie content of the trashiest food they eat and they still eat it with much gusto, how is posting a calorie count be any different? And if they position these fast food chains as far away as possible from the city population, will the people start planting and harvesting vegetables in their backyards?

I don’t think so.

Sources: Wall Street Journal and TopNews