February 29

I just wanted to make a post on February 29th.

lololol

Shaq Fu Punch

Shaq apparently has a beverage line, under the Shaq Fu brand name no less. What the hell?

I saw this stuff as I was browsing CVS. It sat in the upper left-hand corner of the fridge, peculiarly isolated from the other beverages. Like trying to guard Shaq on defense, none of the other drinks, apparently, wanted to be anywhere near this stuff.

Honestly, I don't get it. I bought it simply for the fact that it had Shaq on the label but I don't get what the hell this is supposed to be. As a juice it's just below mediocre. Not as bad as say, Kool Aid, but only a step up from something like Sunny D. The good news is I was able to drink it without gagging myself. The bad news this really isn't anything to write home about, but rather something to write on the Internet about and inform anyone who is curiously browsing.

Overall, not the worst thing on the market, but for $1.34 you can buy a pack of gum or a scratcher or sample size of travel shampoo.

SHAQ FU PUNCH - GRAPE

ONE AND A HALF GARGANTOS OUT OF FOUR

4 Egg Omelet - Broken Yolk Cafe

It felt like a breakfast-for-lunch kinda day in Pacific Beach, and after a morning of lugging heavy boxes around, I was pretty hungry for something big, wholesome, and probably constipation-inducing. Enter the Broken Yolk Cafe's 4 Egg Omelet:

So this is called The Californian, which is eggs, American cheese, bacon, and potatoes. Yes, I ordered hash browns as one of the sides despite there already being potatoes underneath that fluffy pillow of an egg pile. 

First off, the zigzagging sour cream here is really weird. It looks like cake frosting which is probably the last thing you want on your Mt. Rushmore of mixed cheese and eggs. Second, I originally ordered home fries but then switched to hash browns, which is something I regret for two reasons; A) I should have ordered fruit because there were already home fries in the omelet, and B) Frequently I find that restaurants tend to overcook the hash browns which creates an overly crunchy shell. That's what happened here. The toast, which I only ate one slice of, is just overkill for this meal. It's simply not necessary. If I had ordered the fruit instead then maybe. Otherwise it's just too many empty carbs.

The good news is that this is indeed a very wholesome meal. The omelet was exactly what I needed and it was pretty tasty. Despite the fact that I've cut dairy from my diet and am also avoiding anything that has sodium nitrites and nitrates (i.e. bacon), I'm in a cheating mood this weekend. 

The Broken Yolk is always a solid meal whether you're there for breakfast or lunch. I've been there several times over the years and have never been disappointed, though I've never considered it to be *THE* best breakfast in San Diego. It's kinda like the Portland Trail Blazers; always finding ways to win and get into the playoffs but never good enough to win it all. That's the Broken Yolk. 

This particular omelet isn't the best thing I've ever had on the Broken Yolk's menu but it was good and if I happen to be super hungry the next time I'm there, I'd probably order it again, or something similar. 

THE BROKEN YOLK CAFE

CALIFORNIAN OMELET

THREE OUT OF FOUR GARGANTOS

Greg's Gourmet: The Rating System!

The other night I was at Karl Strauss for a little company get-together. Most were there for the happy hour while enjoying some childish appetizers but naturally a few of us gravitated to the menu for some real man food. I'm a trendsetter, what can I say?

Richie and I ordered a pair of Mesquite Chicken Sandwiches but that wasn't the evening's highlight from a gourmet perspective. No, instead it was the revolutionary idea of a GREG'S GOURMET RATING SYSTEM! After 5+ years of food blogging I've never implemented any kind of official rating system to grade my meals and I just kinda sat there like...

So consider this the inaugurative post of...

GREG'S GOURMET:

THE RATING SYSTEM!

The Garganto - the official rating of Greg's Gourmet (until I decide to change it)

It took me all of four seconds to decide on the burger logo as the official rating system, but I soon realized that even after all these years, the burger didn't even have a name. Right now, at least in the interim, I'm calling it The Garganto, a play on gargantuan which, if you type into Google, will turn up a definition with an example of "a gargantuan appetite." Seems appropriate.  

The rating system will be applied to all featured meals and food and will go something like this:

4 Gargantos = Orgasmic

3 Gargantos = Good, I'd eat again

2 Gargantos = Eh, you can do better, dude

1 Garganto = This food sucks

Half Gargantos will be awarded where appropriate. To kick things off, here's a pic of the Mesquite Chicken Sandwich from Karl Strauss:

On this rare occasion I was one of "those" guys who ordered the sandwich with no cheese and requested fries instead of chips. I have no shame. Anyway, this was quite tasty. A very generous sized sandwich with perfectly seasoned bacon plus the additional smoke flavor of the chicken made this a really fun thing to eat. What I didn't like, however, were the two GARGANTUAN (lolz, see what I did there?) pieces of avocado that were served on the sandwich. Seriously, it was like eating a sandwich with a damn catamaran on it and I don't think this picture does justice for just how big these things were. Take it easy on the avocado, guys. 

Overall? I enjoyed it and would get it again.

KARL STRAUSS BREWERY

MESQUITE CHICKEN SANDWICH

I think I'll be making some future posts with ratings for past meals that I've eaten, just for fun. I like the idea of an official rating system and I honestly feel like a schmuck for not thinking of it sooner. Thanks, Richie.

Also, Blogger sucks. That's all.

Thanks for reading!

Food Blogging with a Canon T5i?

Sup.

So, I invested in a brand spankin' new camera: the Canon Rebel EOS T5i:

It seriously looks badass and I can't wait to play around with it but I want to read the manual first to see what does what so I don't feel like a total dumbass trying to operate it. My primary focus with this camera is actually gonna be video, but doing some photography I think is something I'd like to give a try as well, and what better subject to try it on than some food? 

I guess my question is to anyone who may use this camera for photography: have you ever tried it on food? What lens do you use? How's the overall quality? 

In general this camera is very well received and I'm obviously not looking to start a photography business or anything, but I think this opens up a lot of possibilities. I mean, a couple viral videos here and there and I'm all set. 

So far I'm impressed with the camera quality, most notably because the first picture I took with it turned out really well despite me not knowing what the hell I was doing:

Jenny is used to me sticking my phone in her face, but this was something completely new.

Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts on the food photography, that would be most appreciated. Otherwise, I'll be looking to amass my fortune when I get back to vlogging.