...I guess I just did.
Given the ground crumbling beneath my feet, I needed the Taste of Buffalo more than ever this year. For the most part, it was a fun experience. Let’s get into it.
Saturday
My first dish: OG Lito from Street Cravings. When I first saw this on the menu, I was a little apprehensive; what the hell even is Lito...
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...but then I looked it up and took a chance. I’m glad I did. This started things off on a very good note.
After that, I decided on some Smoked Deviled Eggs from BW’s Barbecue.
The breading (?) stuck to my fingers, but if you're gonna lick something off of your fingers, what better place? This reminded me of how seldom I eat deviled eggs nowadays, a crying shame.
One of the new kids on the block was right nearby:
Hiibachi Fried Rice (the name of the dish and the restaurant).
I'm sure the thinking was ‘we should try to make this fried rice healthy’, but who in the hell comes down here to eat healthy?! Moreover, who wants fried rice to be healthy?! Thumbs way down for this attempt at a Chinese food staple.
What do you have to wipe this bland taste out of my mouth? Loaded Jerk Potato Salad from Pudgy Potatoes. I mean, potato salad is pretty hard to screw up and ‘Loaded Jerk’ Potato Salad sounds damn promising.
It tasted like regular potato salad to me, which I already had at home. I suppose I understand not loading it with jerk flavoring so as to lay low someone with a weak constitution, but this was another letdown, plain and simple.
Surely, this streak of mediocrity can be broken with Smash & Roll’s Bacon Jam Smashburger, right?
Just about. I almost forgot what flavor felt like. Thanks for the reminder.
After that, I want to get a streak going. Can these Arroz con gondules from La Casa de Sabores keep it up?
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Can you believe this is the snack size serving? Only four tickets! I can’t imagine the full size satisfying me any more than this, a rare thing to say about the offerings at the Taste. ‘Twas delicious. Also, they forgot to give me the flag like they'd been doing for everyone else, so I added it myself.
From there, I hit up Babcia’s Pierogi for their
Asian Fusion Pierogi. Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied with finding a place to sit that I forgot to take a snap of it before I wolfed it down. I even had this whole
The Jerk-like bit prepared to underscore the presentation: "There’s so much slaw, you can’t even see the pierogi!" Of course, I ate most of it, but sometimes, more is less.
I had a plan to take a break from the Taste and head to the new downtown theater to see an animated movie. In this case, it was
Minions and Monsters. I check the showtime on my phone and the show started at 12:20pm.
At the moment I checked it, it was 12:30pm. Ack!
I haul shell to the theater, hoping that the trailer situation is not unlike that of Regal and that I can make it just in time. I get there and pay my money. The screening room is empty. The movie is unspooling. I’ve already missed the Universal logo and at least a couple of the names in the voice cast. Curse those conscientious bastards and their reasonable scheduling!
It seems snobbish to call lowered expectations on this, but I had a good time with the movie. It was almost like an MGM Marx Brothers movie, but with the Minions as the Marxes. The parade of movie references early on was particularly enjoyable. If you see only one Minions movie in your life - and, really, you should probably
only see one Minions movie in your life - make sure it’s this one.
Then, it’s back to the Taste...and much earlier than I anticipated. I made my way through the crowd to my next stop:
Crispy Pork Belly Banh Mi from Milk and Tea.
My Lord, was this tasty. And the bleacher seating (first year I can recall this being available) made for a nice environment. The Coke Zero washed this down very well.
From there, I made my way to Niagara Square and the restaurants along that circle. I wasn’t sure where to go, so I decided to stop at D.A. Taste for the
Avocado Friez (the ‘z’ stands for quality).
Repeating myself from last year, but as Michael Bluth said, “I don't know what I expected.” Avocado slices rolled in bread crumbs. All I could do was choke them down. The sauce really helped. Not the best food item, nor the worst, but at least there was a vision behind this. Not sure it entirely worked, but A for effort.
After that, I went to the WBBZ booth. All I needed to do for a prize was throw three balls onto a Velcro bullseye with all three landing on the buffalo's face in the center. I don’t know what frustrates me more: the network’s occasional signal loss on the days I want to watch it or my crappy aim that only landed one of the balls.
Screw this and the jackhole whose dog left a present in the path to the street.
One last stop for today. I’m irritated. Back to La Casa de Sabores for a
Beef & Cheese Empanada.
Just the thing to hit the spot. A bit too hot at first, but ultimately delicious. (You probably noticed the lack of desserts in this year's menu. Remarkably, there was a Tops location that made banana parfaits. I wish I could remember which one it was, ‘cause I missed it like crazy. Also, Half Baked Cookies was offering a number of Ben and Jerry’s-inspired flavors that week. It seems like the desserts at the Taste would be a step down.)
And now, I’m only left with seven tickets. Usually, I’d reserve this for grabbing a little something for Mom, but a) I don’t think she’d like the Blackberry BBQ Wings that Just Pizza was offering up (and even if she did, they were eight tickets and b) last year when I got her wings, they sat in the fridge for a week, uneaten...until I ate them. She didn’t really say anything about getting an item, so I’m assuming it's all good.
Be a real waste of money if I didn’t spend these, so I guess I’m going back on...
SundayA situation like this, you have to have a plan in place and I did. Two ten-ticket items (yeah, they’re still on that kick), a soda (eight tickets) and foods worth four and five tickets. As I got there, a group of people were leaving. One of them sees me and gives me two tickets he couldn’t spend anywhere.
Okay, new plan: two tenners, an eight-ticket soda and foods worth five and six tickets. I got this.
Deciding to keep to Delaware, my first stop is The Quesadilla Company for their
Nachos and Cheese.
A little salty, but delicious.
Not a lot of 5 ticket items here. Just the
Aloo Samosa from India Gate and the Loaded Nachos from D.A. Taste. (However, the latter had jalapenos and I really didn't feel like picking off jalapenos or olives or banana peppers. If I'm gonna eat something, I want to eat it, not wrestle it for a meal.)
Besides, I can never get enough of a good samosa and the green sauce I hit it with was a smart embellishment.
Afterwards, I favor AJ’s Kitchen for their
Loganberry BBQ Burger. Again, my eyes are bigger than my brain, so I have no picture with which to show off. Thankfully, the BBQ in the sauce that drenches the burger is more prevalent than the Loganberry. (By now, I also have a Coca-Cola.)
The last meal of the weekend had to be an amazing one. A lot of pressure here to end the event on a high. I’d like to hope I did with the
Chicken Loaded Potato Bites from Pudgy Potatoes.
Could’ve used a bit more spice, but still, this is the kind of comfort food that leaves you with a smile as you say goodbye for another year. Will I ever be able to afford these meals in full? Will I be able to drive out there without worrying about my car breaking down to and from these locations (some of which are insanely far away)? Only time will tell, I suppose.
Ah, but wait! Something new has been added! I'm gonna rank the meals I partook of. Behold:
Crispy Pork Belly Banh Mi
Beef and Cheese Empanadas
Bacon Jam Smashburger
Loganberry BBQ Burger
Smoked Deviled Eggs
OG Lito
Aloo Samosa
Arroz con gondules
Chicken Loaded Potato Bites
Nachos and Cheese
Loaded Jerk Potato Salad
Asian Fusion Pierogi
Avocado Friez
Hiibachi Fried Rice
Can’t wait to do it again next year.
Labels: Taste of Buffalo
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