The Vitals:
the spot: Mr. Menudo 15323 Atlantic Ave Compton, CA
the eats: Menudo
the bucks: $9
the full nelson: a full on Menudo only specialist working the streets of Compton CA
The Vitals:
recipe: Instant Pot Lamb Dum Biriyani
difficulty: medium – lots of spices/ingredients, a fair amount of prep if you’re not used to making Indian food on the daily
health rating: indulgent. If you do this right with fatty lamb, whole milk yogurt and white basmati rice, you hit a cheat meal 4 sho
time: Instant Pot time 6 minutes + natural pressure release. 30 minimum minute marinade time. 1 hour prep.
Much to my chagrin, the wifey scored an Instant Pot during Prime Day last year and I could not be happier to be wrong about getting a new kitchen gadget. The Instant Pot is a fabulous excuse to try time consuming, slow cooked recipes within the context of modern life, i.e. cooking meals on the fly. Since getting an Instant Pot I stopped buying carnitas by the pound at the local Carnicería and ordering Indian takeout. Now it takes a few solid recipes + trial and error for me to full on quit takeout on genres like Indian and Mexican but they are out there.
The Vitals:
the spot: Everson Royce Bar 1936 E. 7th St. LA CA 90021
the eats: Single Burger
the bucks: $10
the full nelson: a delectably simple statement on a burger that much like LA will take all your money and leave you wanting more
And this is the moment when Bang for your Burger Buck jumps the shark.
The Vitals:
the spot: Julie’s Noodles 8557 Research Blvd #110 Austin TX 75758
the eats: Xiao Long Bao(crab and soup dumpling), Pork Chopped Noodle Soup
the bucks: $10 a person will set you up nicely
the full nelson: a divey Chinese joint that satisfies the itch for affordable & authentic dough driven cravings
The Vitals:
the spot: El Norteño Pollos Asados 4925 Craigwood Drive Austin TX 78725
the eats: tacos, carnitas by the pound, chicken and ribs grilled over hardwood charcoal
the bucks: $2 a taco, carnitas $10/lb, whole chicken $17, ribs $18 a rack
the full nelson: a real deal cheap taco truck that smokes up chicken and ribs + carnitas by the pound
El Norteño Pollos Asados is the kind of Cheap Eats find you want to keep to yourself but you just can’t because good food always tastes better when you brag about it. At $2 a taco, you have a legit Cheap Eats find in Austin where far too many tacos are nestling around the $3-$4 mark. Though sized like street tacos, you will find 4 tacos will cover your craving. My instincts told me to graze away at a few of the meaty offerings but one taco stood out by a mile . . .
The Vitals:
the spot: Uroko 1023 Springdale road bldg 1 ste C Austin TX 78721
the eats: handrolls all day!
the bucks: $4.50 – $7 per roll, factor about $20-$25 per person for a reasonable meal
the full nelson: Quality sushi hand rolls at an almost hand roll only sushi spot
Uroko is a fascinating sushi concept: a high quality hand roll only joint that moonlights as a sushi school on Thursdays and a Omakase(Chef’s tasting menu) restaurant by reservation only, on weekends. What this means is if you want to go hard and drop major coin, you have to really mean it. Sushi ain’t cheap and if it is . . . that’s not a good thing. Don’t take short cuts on raw fish a wise ER doctor once said. TBH I didn’t actually hear a doctor say that but I’m sure it has been said before. Back to Uroko and Bang for your Sushi Buck: you can waltz into this little “food hall esque” restaurant and for as little as $20 you can walk out full with about 4 hand rolls in your belly, maybe more if you go for the beef tenderloin or the salmon belly, but not by much.
But is Uroko as good as a premium sushi spot? Well the answer lies in the chef’s pedigree . . .