The Game of Lent!

A good two years ago when I was still blogging on myspace, I set up my own personal goal for Lent: To go around Long Island and try the Fish Sandwiches at every Fast Food chain. For those of you are are NOT Gentiles or simply don't know what the hell Lent is (I have a loose grasp of it myself), is that in the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday & Easter, you can't eat meat on Fridays, and everyone usually eats fish instead. Unless they forget.



Basically when this season rolls around, many of the meat favoring fast food chains deck out special Fish sandwiches that are only available during this brief window of time. The only three ingredients of a fast food fish sandwich is the fish itself (usually haddock of something), tartar sauce (a nice compliment), lettuce (gotta have your greens), and sometimes cheese (just 'cause).



Fortunately, my dear readers, I managed to complete this quest in the alotted time, with a week to spare! Here, in my rewritten original words, is how they all weighed in (w/pics borrowed from Flickr):





1) McDonald's - Filet-o-Fish (regular & Double)







We start the list off with the reason why fish sandwiches are around in the first place: McD's Filet-O-Fish. Created for the Lent season after the failure of the Hula Burger (a slice of pineapple sandwich with cheese), it is one of the most popular sandwiches McDs has to offer. It's also the one sandwich I've eaten at the most. Taste-wise, it's alright, you can really taste the fish, the cheese as well as the globs of tartar sauce on it.



Through some whim, I've also once eaten the Double that they offered at the time, and it's basically the same, but with another patty. It's one of my favorites, and it doesn't give me that "I'm gonna die!" feeling that most of the other stuff McDs offers gives me. Strangely, it's one of 2 Fish Sandwiches that did not come with lettuce and came with cheese (the other is White Castle's)





2) Wendy's - Fish Sandwich






This is the sandwich that inspired me to create this challenge in the first place. Taste-wise, its OK, it was crispy, and the lettuce that was on it was a bit limp and moist, but it was OK, but not as good as the Filet-o-Fish.





3) White Castle - Fish w/Cheese







Ah yes, the Legendary White Castle. The smallest (1/2 the size of an index card), and the cheapest ($1.25). I've told several people that White Castle is an acquired taste, and this one could either be the best sandwich, or the grossest. Fortunately, I'm in the party that loves this, and I thought that it was great. Besides being one of 2 sandwiches that includes cheese and does not have lettuce, it also does not include tartar sauce (you have to put it on yourself). It has good taste, and you're better off eating it if it's the first in a series of WC sandwiches you get (impossible to have just one, as I mentioned before).





4) KFC - Fish Snacker







Ah, another newcomer to the fast food world, the KFC Fish Snacker! Depending on which KFC you go, the price can range from 99 cents to 1.50 (saw it in NYC) I, getting it in a mall, had to pay $1.39 for it. There's a reason why it's called the "Snacker", since the sandwich in the pic above is the actual size. I'm just kidding, but it is small, roughly the size of 3 White Castle burgers. I have to say, it was alright, not the best, not to worst (I'll get to that one in a moment), but I can see why The Pope wouldn't bless it.





5) Burger King - Spicy Big Fish







Here we come to one of Burger King's 2 fish sandwich offerings of the BK Big Fish. I had the spicy version, and man...BK is evil. They do mean that it is the "Big" Fish, as it is the biggest regular-sized sandwich that I had on the whole quest. They trick you into thinking that when you're eating it that it's OK to eat it, and that it tastes OK with the lettuce & spicy tartar sauce. And then the aftertaste...ick, I can still taste the low tide feeling in my mouth now. You know how some saltwater places like a bay or the ocean smells during low tide? Well, that's how the Big Fish sandwich tasted and it made me nauseous for the rest of the day and it almost derailed my quest just a week into officially doing it.





6) Long John Silvers - Classic Fish Sandwich







Ugh, I gotta cleanse the palate a little bit. Now we come to a rarity in these parts, a Long John Silvers! The one I went to, pictured above was only non co-branded one on Long Island, and coincidentally, it was directly on the other side of Sunrise Highway of my college, St. Joseph's in Patchogue. All my life, I kept wondering how that place stayed in business, only to have it close roughly six months after eating there.



If I can say this about LJS: It's something worth trying once. When I ate it, I thought it was pretty good, top tier, but not the best. Size-wise, it's the 3rd smallest, if this sandwich's lenght was measured in White Castle Bugers, this would be 4 WCs long.





7) Checkers (Fish Sandwich & Deep Sea Double)







Now we come to what I think is the best of the bunch: Checkers! There's the regular fish sandwich and there's the Deep Sea Double, the version pictured above. Hmm, I don't remember there being cheese on it, but then again, I did have that them a few weeks ago...freaking glamour shots, discombobulating me. Either way, both of them have the same stuff, tartar sauce, lettuce, (possibly cheese), and the sandwich overall tastes great. And the Double is...double good? (Edit: Turns out that this pic is indeed the Deep Sea Double and yes, I do remember Cheese being on it. Still awesome, though)





8) Checkers - Fish Screamer

Hmm, yes, it seems that Checkers made a 3rd Fish Sandwich at the time, the Fish Screamer to compliment their Chicken version for their montly promotion. There is actually a difference between the ones I just reviewed: The fish patty itself is great as always, and besides lettuce, it actually has mayo, onions, and pickles. Taste-wise..same good patty, but with all the fixin's, its taste eerily resembles the Filet-o-Fish.





9) Nathans - Fish Sandwich



(No obtainable pic found)



Here's an oversight I never noticed: Nathan's offers a fish sandwich too. I'll also admit, I cheated a bit and found it not on LI, but in Penn Station. Sure, I have yet to go to a Nathans in recent memory that was NOT co-branded with an Arthur Treacher's (I'll get to that in a bit), but I know they're out there. Very peculiar, as it is Triangular shaped, but nonetheless, it was pretty average compared to the rest. Since it was in Penn Station, It was also the only sandwich that I had access to the legendary Roy Rogers Fixin's Bar, despite already being served with lettuce, tartar sauce, and a tomato slice. It was good already, but with the fixins, it was made better. I can see why not many Nathans carry this, the ones that are co-branded would make having this seem redundant.





10) Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips - Fish Sandwich







Another obscure chain, this primarily Fish & Chips fast food place had recently been absorbed by Nathan's and are usually co-branded with them (I've heard stories about one co-branded with a Pudgies. Freaky). Look-wise, it's not much different from Nathan's, it's triangular shaped, but there is the difference that it was fried with batter, instead of being breaded like Nathan's is. There's tartar sauce & lettuce here, and it made the sandwich taste good, but the fish itself could barely be tasted on account of all the sauce on it. I know this is making you hungry reading this, right? Didn't think so.





And we come to our conclusion. There were also A&W and Roy Rogers chains on the Island, but they weren't covered, and I offer this explanation to you: I tried, I really did.



I searched the only A&W within driving distance of myself to find that is was co-branded with KFC, so it basically meant no Fish Sandwich, or anything else A&W-related for matter save for the root beer from a tap of all things. I did manage to read the website, which stated it was only going to be offered at "Select Locations" which I guess didn't mean the ones on LI, but rather an actual full-blooded A&W place, which around here...there are none. Roy Rogers, on the other hand, I managed to find 3: 2 in Penn Plaza in NYC, and one out in Shirley. None of them had the Fish Sandwich, or any evidence of ever having it. The only time I ever saw them mention it was as a news blurb on their poorly-designed website. (clicking on anything leads you to a blank page)



Still, with 11 different sandwiches in the span of around a month, I considered the quest a success, and I'm probably not going to ever eat at many of these places again.



If I had to rank them, they would be this:



1) Checkers (Fish Sandwich & Deep Sea Double)

2) Checkers (Fish Screamer)

3) McDs (Regular & Double Filet-O-Fish)

4) Long John Silvers,White Castle, Wendy's

5) KFC, Nathan's

6) Arthur Treacher's

Last) Burger King. Yes, it's that bad, don't go there. Period. Colon: Exclamation Mark!

Reference: http://galileo908.blogspot.com/2009/04/game-of-lent.html

Sea Otter Classic - "Climate Neutral"

I still like the good news better.



When I look at all the vehicles following the big races, and all the miles driven during multi-day tours I end up thinking about the disconnect.



My favorite way to think about the North American Solar Car Challenge that rolled through my town last summer is the image of a solar car being led by an SUV and followed by two SUV's.







So it comes as very happy news that the big spring race in California known as the Sea Otter Classic is partnering with Clif Bar to make this year's edition "Climate Neutral." From CyclingNews.com - "All told, Clif Bar and Sea Otter will offset nearly 748 tons of carbon dioxide."



I've offset my own CO2 emissions in the same way by purchasing tags here.



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3/30 10pm - maybe 3am is a bit early in the day to be reading news. I'm pretty sure CyclingNews.com was reporting this story, but here 19 hours later the story is gone. Poof...or should I say evaporated?

Reference: http://minuscar.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html

Fast Food Review: KFC $5 Fill-Up Box

I learned a couple months ago, while reading a restaurant industry publication, that Subway's $5 foot-long promotion has been a massive hit and that the $5 price point is now considered the ideal number that customers respond to. That's why Quiznos introduced their "torpedoes" for $4, Pizza Hut came out with items starting at $5, and Boston Market created a $5 value menu. So it was not surprising to see KFC come out with their "$5 fill-up boxes." I decided to try one the other night.



You can choose from 4 different items to be paired with a side and a drink: two pieces of grilled chicken, three original recipe chicken strips, a "twister wrap," or five hot wings. In other words, nothing I really like. I wish there were other options, like popcorn chicken or boneless wings. I decided to order the twister wrap and hope it was better than the one other time I'd tried it.



I was impressed with the amount of food I received. There were more potato wedges than I could eat, and the wrap was a massive thing, much better than the wrap I had tried at KFC a couple years ago. The thing was the size of a brick and the chicken inside was nice and crispy, not the disappointing, limp chicken I had received the one other time I ordered the original recipe strips.



I did not like this wrap as much as I like a foot-long sandwich from Subway, but this is definitely a better deal. You get a large amount of food, and a drink, for only $5. If Subway were to offer chips and a drink for that same $5, it would certainly be a better deal than KFC. I am not sure if I will try one of these again. It was much better than I expected, but I usually get popcorn chicken at KFC, and that isn't available in the fill-up box.



By the way, I also had a coupon for 4 honey barbecue "Snackers" for 3 dollars. I've only tried that Snacker once and I did not like it. The bread-to-chicken ratio is way too high and the quality of the chicken is way too low. But I decided with that $3 deal I should at least give it another try. They were again lousy. The chicken was tough and there wasn't much of it. El Pollo Loco's chicken sliders are much better than these. I ate one of them with dinner, then the next day I reheated one in the microwave with Jarlsberg cheese and then added cole slaw and a pickle to it. That made it better, but still not good.

Reference: http://animmovablefeast.blogspot.com/2009/07/fast-food-review-kfc-5-fill-up-box.html

Subliminal Hidden Message in KFC Snacker Commercial

Reference: http://retank.blogspot.com/2008/05/subliminal-hidden-message-in-kfc.html

Towson U has redeemed itself - for now

You may recall last week I was bitching about an inedible buffalo chicken sandwich on croissant. If you remember, I got it at the Paws dining area at Towson University, before a graduate class. Well, the folks at TU have proved today that some of their food isn't just fit for dogs. I had a rather tasty, juicy "Tuscan" chicken with pesto, again on a croissant with lettuce and tomato. Much, much better, in every way. No, it's not worth $6, but it's better than most food you will find at Towson or any other university. Not going to Towson anytime soon? Fairly easy to replicate. Just grill a piece of chicken breast and do not dry it out while doing so. Then, put a slice or two o' mater and some lettuce (not iceberg) on a buttery croissant cut in half. Finally, put the chicken on top of the veggies (yes I know, tomato is technically a fruit), and put a generous dollop of basil pesto on top of the chicken. Oh, and close the sandwich.

Reference: http://baltimoresnacker.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html

What are you doing with your gov't rebate check?

Now that the rebate checks are in the mail and the economic stimulus package is well under way, what are the consumers doing? Clearly the government is hoping you will spend, spend, spend. Unfortunately for retailers, the needle barely moved on consumer spending which was up only 0.2% in April. I had expected more companies to actively market to $106.7 billion up for grabs after Congress passed the bill in February. So far the only thing noticeable is the lack of spending by the consumer and the lack of marketing by the advertisers.



Perhaps overcoming four straight months of job losses, a wobbly stock market, plunging home prices and record high gasoline price hasn't left consumers in a buying mood no matter where the money is coming. But that would be responsible buying behavior and that's NOT the American consumer I know.

Reference: http://marketingcollege.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html