Deep, Deep America

Restaurant Oct 26, 2009 The Waffle No Comments Civilization is an interesting concept.  Being far from it is even more interesting.  Stephen Von Worley, an american blogger and photographer, decided to find out how far from it you could be.  How deep in America can you be. You know, where the buffalo roamed. Or, more to the point, what is the McFarthest Spot in America. As you can see below, McDonald’s got the territory covered very well, with 13,381 outlets. Von Worley studied, mapped out (Download a bigger, wallpaper-ready version of the map), and found that between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley, you would be 107 miles away by helicopter or 145 miles by car from an outlet that could put an end to your Big Mac craving. It is quite unlikely that I’ll ever move there. But perhaps Phillip and Tina Sherman should. As for Canada,…

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Galvaude!!

Restaurant Oct 23, 2009 The Waffle 2 Comments As per the tradition, we had to stop Chez Ashton for our usual fix of cheesy-gravy-goodness on our Quebec City trip. This time, we stopped on the way in, at the St-Nicolas location, just before the bridges. It was surprisingly busy, even though it was past lunch time. The staff was struggling to keep up, and the poutine was lining up on the counter, along with Expo burgers, Rostbif platters and other delicacies offered by Ashton. Mel went for her favorite – a bébé poutine, sauce piquante. I decided I would go with something different this time, another classic but not as well know outside Quebec borders, and, in fact, outside of Eastern Quebec. La Galvaude! Ashton’s Galvaude is the classic recipe, which was invented in Gaspesie, according to Charles-Alexandre Théorêt. Here, the french fries and the gravy are the same as in…

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Breakfast in Chlag

General, Restaurant Oct 23, 2009 The Waffle No Comments During a campaign, breakfast rallies are interesting events.  Some people are barely awake.  Everybody is sitting down.  Some are eating, most are sipping coffee.  And it was the case again at the Resto-Deli Jimmy on Hochelaga Boulevard in Montreal.  Jean-Claude Rochelau was hosting NDP Leader Jack Layton, ahead of the November 11th by-election. Owner Jimmy Stefrimitos was on site, happy to see the NDP Leader visit his establishment.  The staff, who’ve seen weirder stuff, kept serving, squeezing by the tables, the chairs and the orange balloons. I ordered the workers’ breakfast special: 2 eggs (scrambled), beans, home fries, french toast, pancake, sausage, bacon, ham for $5.  Quite a deal. As far as greasy spoons go, this was half decent.  The french toast and the pancake were a bit soggy, the eggs a bit dry, the beans a bit boring.  But the…

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Scandals at Subway, part II: Frito-Lay fights back

General Oct 16, 2009 The Waffle 3 Comments So following the Waffle’s last exposé, Frito-Lay wrote back to answer my query about the lack of Guacamole-flavoured corn chips in my bag of Doritos Collisions.  For the record, I did attach the photographic evidence. Although “Linda” offered no satisfactory explanation about the unbalance of the bag, she clearly had the mandate from Frito-Lay to make sure they retain my customership. And The Waffle, being a sucker for free food, will remain a customer.  For the time being. Note:  You will notice the emphasis put in the auto-sig on quality ingredients.  Which is, of course, irrelevant if the product advertised is not actually delivered. ————————– Hi, Thank you for writing. I’m sorry you had a negative experience with Doritos Collisions and apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this caused. I’m sending a coupon to you which should arrive in about a week.…

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Scandals at Subway

General Oct 14, 2009 The Waffle 5 Comments I just came back from the Subway on Sparks Street where I grabbed lunch. As usual when I go to Subway, I picked one of their classics for $5.00. This time, I went for a Cold Cut Combo, and I made it a Meal Deal for an extra $2.60. I usually go for a bag of chips, as opposed to the cookie, and I grab a bottle of pop. But as I was in the process of doing so, I was informed that it was now $0.20 extra to grab a bottle instead of the glass. A 13% cash grab!  Shame! How could they?  Aren’t they aware there is an economic crisis? They have 31845 restaurants in 91 Countries, 2459 of them in Canada!  They are doing well. I refused to pay the extra money and went with a fountain Coca-Cola. But my problems did…

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