Photo Of The Day: Munich, Germany
Posted by Nick on October 26, 2010
Munich, Germany by Werner Kunz (werkunz1)
Kansas City BBQ: Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue Review
Posted by Nick on October 16, 2010
Having grown up in the South, I am a *huge* fan of barbecue. So, I have been super stoked about trying out the BBQ in Kansas City.
For my first taste of Kansas City BBQ, I ventured out to Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, which the locals seem to refer to as simply “Jack Stack.” The menu at Jack Stack has a little bit of everything – brisket, pork, ham, polish sausage and burnt ends.
One of my dining companions has a pretty severe allergy to MSG, but Jack Stack has an allergens list on their website. Kudos to them for that. The chicken & sausage gumbo was the dish of choice her, but after ordering it the waitress came back to let us know that they were out of it. FAIL. As a result, I ended up sharing my plate, which had brisket, pork, fries, cole slaw and the hickory pit beans. I also got to taste the burnt ends off my other dining companion’s plate.
For the meat, the burnt ends had the most flavor, which really isn’t saying a lot. The pork has practically no taste at all. It was just a fatty, greasy, nasty excuse for BBQ pork. The brisket was also less than flavorful. In fact, the Plymouth Meeting Whole Foods in Pennsylvania makes a hell of a lot better brisket, which you can get on their hot bar. Actually, the brisket from the barbecue bar at the Columbus, Ohio Whole Foods is also better than the brisket I had at Jack Stack BBQ.
I’d read a lot about the hickory put beans, which was why I added them to my plate. They were fine. Nothing to write home about really. In fact, I think I’ve had similar tasting beans at cookouts back home when I was growing up.
As of this writing, the Jack Stack BBQ location that I went to has 77 reviews on Yelp, with a 4.5 out of 5 stars. More than one review mentions their All Purpose Rub, which is on quite a few food items there. I know this because it’s on the food allergen list because it contains MSG. With that in mind, the only conclusion I can come to is that the MSG is responsible for people loving this food.
At this point, I’m not even sure I’m going to try any other Kansas City BBQ because this was so unbelievably terrible. If I do, I hope that the barbecue at Jack Stack is not representative of the rest of the BBQ in KC.
Review: Candlewood Suites Columbus Airport, Columbus, Ohio
Posted by Nick on October 5, 2010
Last month, I spent one night at the Candlewood Suites Columbus Airport hotel in Columbus, Ohio. This is my review of that night and it is purely my opinion.
Candlewood Suites is not my normal hotel chain, but I needed a place to stay in the Columbus area and I’m trying to take advantage of the current free nights promo from IHG. And this super cheap hotel makes that free night I’ll earn after two stays even sweeter.
I got the room for just $59.99 for the night. That was the advanced purchase rate.
Find the hotel was pretty easy. It was a little ways from the airport, in a safe business park type setting in the Gahanna area of Columbus. There was ample parking – but there was a distinct aroma of dog shit when you got out of the car.
Upon entering the hotel, the first smell was that of wet dog. The hotel clerk was nice enough. Although, she let the Priority Club Rewards member in front of me spin a PCR prize wheel for bonus points and I was not extended the same courtesy.
The hallways also smelled of dog. I later saw why, when I saw a child walking a dog through one of the hallways.
The hotel does not have Wi-Fi. It is tethered internet access only in the rooms. The clerk said the hotel was “working on it” when asked about Wi-Fi access.
The bed was clean and it was nice to have a refrigerator in the room. The TV was not flat screen and the towels were a bit on the rough side.
For me, I will never return to this hotel based on the dog smells. Considering the dog smells, it was cleaner than one would have expected though.
Review: Flying Delta PHL to SLC to PDX
Posted by Nick on September 13, 2010
*The following is a review based on my experience and is purely my opinion*
Today I am flying from Philadelphia to Portland, Oregon on Delta. The flight as a stop in Salt Lake City. Right now I am on the first leg of that trip. Much turbulence and not much fun.
This is the first time that I can recall ever flying Delta. In my opinion, this was a pretty dirty plane when we boarded. In fact, there was a crushed pretzel in my floor area. And when I dropped down my tray table it was practically covered in crumbs. And on the floor across the aisle, I can see a toothpick. Can you say, eewwww!!!!????!!!
I have to wonder – are Delta planes always this dirty? Or is it my lucky day?
On a pleasant note, the plane has Wi-FI and in-flight entertainment on the seat backs. Of course, the price of the Wi-Fi is rather steep. A shocking $12.95 for this four-hour flight. Sigh.
I’m sitting in the aisle seat, in economy, and while I normally like sitting in the aisle, I’m changing my seat on the return flight. You see, all of the aisle seats have less storage space under the seat in front of you. What does this mean? It means that my small bag won’t fit under the seat in front of me. Instead, my girlfriend has to put it in her space and I had to take her smaller bag. Since I was traveling with someone, it wasn’t such a huge deal, but had I been traveling alone it would’ve been horrible because neither of my carry-ons would’ve fit in the space. Regardless, a little warning would’ve been nice.
Service here on Delta is, in my opinion, lacking. In the past few months I have flown on Virgin America, Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue and found each to have way better service, in my opinion. Actually, I wouldn’t say Hawaiian Airlines was way better, just better. There in one flight attendant in particular that seems rather pissy. She’s really no fun whatsoever. There is also a rather large male flight attendant whose arse I became almost intimately acquainted with on several instances during the beverage serving. Not cool.
On another note, my girlfriend has a lot of food allergies that leaves just milk, coffee and water as what she can drink on the plane. She usually gets milk so that she can have something with flavor. The pissy flight attendant and the large arse attendant told her that there was no milk on the flight at all. So, she got the water. Hey, at least there was something she could drink, right? Well, about a half hour later another flight attendant delivered a milk to the child sitting in the row in front of us. Clearly, there WAS milk on the plane. Seems that maybe we got the lazy flight attendants doing our beverage service? At least that’s my opinion. Not to mention just terrible service.
Sadly, there’s just over 2 hours left of this flight. Here’s hoping the turbulence lets up.
Review: Park Hyatt Toronto
Posted by Nick on September 2, 2010
I recently spent two nights at the Park Hyatt Toronto hotel. The hotel is located in the trendy Yorkville area of Toronto, near the University of Toronto. High-end retail stores line most of the surrounding streets.
Review (this review is my opinion based on my 2-night stay at the hotel)
I booked a room with two queen beds and was given a room on the 12th floor of the North Tower. The room has the two beds in it, a desk and chair, two sitting chairs by the window and a large flat screen TV. The bathroom was large, with a soaker tub.
In-room amenities included a fully stocked mini-bar, complete with snacks, two robes, two pairs of slippers, a lint brush, shoe shine kit, mending kit, hair dryer, David Graves toiletries – shampoo, conditioner, lotion, body wash & flax seed soap, a loofah and free high speed internet access.
Overall, the room was very clean and pleasant. And all of the hotel employees I encountered were nice. The view from the room was of an adjacent building and part of Avenue Road at Bloor. However, it was lacking a coffee maker. There was also an ice bucket but no ice machines are available in the hotel. Instead, you must call room service to get ice or coffee. Each of those I find unacceptable.
Parking options are to self-park at the Four Seasons across the street on Cumberland St. or have valet park you there. Hotel website states that it is $38 CAN either way but a TripAdvisor review puts it at $44 per day. Keep driving down Cumberland and you will first pass a garage with a $16 CAN price and then a slightly cheaper garage. Go for it. It is the one with green signs. I parked there and saved something like $25 – $35 CAN for my stay. That garage takes cash, Visa and Mastercard.
The lobby seemed stuffy and uninviting. It was not the sort of lobby you would want to spend any time in. The on-site restaurant was incredibly expensive and offered only a limited menu. I was also disappointed in the “desk chair” in the room because it was not a desk chair at all. It was more like a sitting chair and for a luxury hotel I was expecting more of an executive desk chair.
Fortunately, there is a Whole Foods Market just up the street from the hotel. And a Tim Horton’s is just a few blocks down Bloor to the west of the hotel.
In general, I did not find a lot of redeeming qualities in the surrounding area. It was difficult to find just a market or bodega that was open past 9pm to get some bottled water. The restaurant choices in the immediate vicinity were not to my liking either. The best options nearby were Tim Horton’s and the Matisse restaurant in the Marriott at 90 Bloor, just a few blocks away.
For a wider variety of more reasonably priced restaurants, I suggest walking east on Bloor and heading down Yonge St, towards downtown. You will immediately find loads of restaurants and markets.
While the hotel was clean and the front desk staff was pleasant, I would choose to stay elsewhere if I found myself in this area of Toronto again. In fact, I would probably check out the Yorkville Marriott.
