Best Burger in Abbotsford

The thing is burgers are a matter of taste. If you're really into lots of goop and sauces on your burger or you like a good, meaty patty. Now the tricky part of being an American in Canada is that Canadians have an intense love-affair with mayonnaise. This is probably a youtube clip somewhere, but in the movie The Whole Nine Yards, Bruce Willis has this great scene in a Montreal restaurant ordering a burger. He goes to extreme lengths to describe that he does NOT want mayo on the burger. He threatens, etc. Then the burger comes back later with mayo.

Another movie, the classic A vs C movie, Canadian Bacon (by Michael Moore - who would do well to think about making more funny movies like this to make his point rather than ridiculous ones like Farenheit 9/11). In CB, there is a scene of a news anchor describing the results of a Canadian takeover and one of his points is 'there would be mayo on everything'. My father-in-law likes to put mayo on his hot dogs. Can you handle that, Americans????

Now back to the best burger, which is what this is supposed to be about. What does that ridiculous newspaper vote as best burger every flippin' year? White Spot!!! Now these are good burgers. If you like tons of mayo that you MIGHT be able to convince them to leave off. I gotta admit, if you ask for no mayo, it's about a 50-50 chance it will come WITH mayo. So the goop lovers rejoice at White Spot, but the meat lovers, like yours truly, go good, but not BEST!

What's best? In terms of a good, satisfying burger with lots of styles of burgers to choose from. Not just goopy, but blue cheese, Hawaiian, avocado, etc. or a fantastic cheeseburger, then the hands down winner is Red Robin's!!! They are by far the best here in Abbotsford. So go down to South Fraser Way and order yourself a Blue Ribbon Burger!

Colombian Food!

I turn again to food that I miss. Now for Colombia! Yes, all you North Americans! COLOMBIA with two letter O's! It's amazing how often that's misspelled even in the most reputable of newspapters. When it's the country: Colombia. When it's the province: British Columbia. OK?

Anyhoo... my yummy misses from the corner of South America.

1)Ajiaco is a chicken stew. It's served with capers, heavy cream and avocado. The best ajiaco is a matter of taste. Everybody had their own recipe and argued over what the best was. I loved being judge for any contest! Here's a picture:


2) Arroz con pollo ('chicken with rice') I had a lady clean my apartment every week or so and she would make this for me. I loved just eating it out of the pot when I got home. A simple rice dish - the rice was tinged with a bit of ketchup while cooking. I would pour hot sauce ('aji') over it.

3) The lady who cleaned also made empanadas. A sort of meat and rice pie. I loved dousing those in aji too!

4) Hot chocolate with a mild, young cheese was served regularly for breakfast. I loved this - miss it more than you can imagine!

I guess I didn't have the links like the Philly one, so I'm thinking of some places in Bogota that I especially miss, too:

- I loved the hamburgers at El Corral. They actually had green tomatoes on them and then you could order anything else you would want. I loved getting mine with guacamole on it!

- I really miss the mall called Bulevar Niza - a short walk from my apartment! I called the third floor 'my office' as a joke - I almost always went there in the afternoons and often had supper at one of the many restaurants there. I had many a 'supernacho' platter with Ruth at Todo Taco. Sometimes we would eat at Crepes and Waffles! I remember a great ice cream place too - Benny's (I think it was called). There was a theater (movies were english with spanish subtitles!) and afterwards, we could check out books and have a cappicino at OMA libros!

Food, Glorious Food! (Part I)

Having slept just a few hours last night and feeling grumpy, my mind turns naturally to food. It just occured to me - and I was just saying this to someone at work - that of the things I miss about a place, besides the people, of course. (I think...) Is the food. So I thought I would venture into a review of some of my favorite foods from Philadelphia first. Hopefully, I'll find yummy looking links to go with this. Anyway, here are the foods I miss from Philly (in no particular order)

1)The Italian Hoagie! The thing about this sub-style sandwich is you just can't get the taste outside of South Eastern PA. I mean, they can't even make good ones in Lancaster - the last time I bothered to try. The hoagie must be thoroughly drenched with vegetable oil to be the best. Don't you dare try puttin' mayo on it you Canucks! I also like my hoagie with a mix of both hot and sweet peppers.

2) The Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. Now this is incredible if done right. And, I have had some good ones outside of Philly. There is even a site that lists where you can get cheesesteaks in each state. I like my sandwich with lots of grilled onions, mushrooms and grilled bell pepper. If you wanna get yourself sick, then have an order of cheese fries with it.

3) I miss the pizza that was so greasy it soaked through the box by the time you get it home. They're just too healthy here.

4) Italian water ice is just incredible. This is NOT chips of ice with syrup poured over it! (Yuck!) This is incredible stuff. Rita'sis just about the best! I love the mango.

5) I just can't find a good cannoli anywhere. Another fantastic dessert that I miss!

6) I grew up near one of the best bakeries for Philadelphia Sticky Buns I must say, as I hang my head in shame, I liked to butter these things and eat them.

7) The Soft Pretzel with Gulden's brown mustard!!

8) And 'Nobody Bakes a Cake as Tasty as a Tastykake!' Butterscotch Krimpets were one of my big faves here!!!

OK, now I'm off to get something to eat. Next time - my favorite foods of Colombia!