Fun Fall Drinks From Across the Pond

One of my favorite things to do is get some friends together and try drinks that are different from our own. Sometimes these quests work out great and other times not so much, but they make for great adventures and for great stories! This is what happened when we went to Asia World Market in scenic Plano, Texas:

Caution: May cause salivation and happiness

Yeo’s White Gourd Drink- country of origin: Malaysia. So my little brother and I like to dare each other to try new things and this happened to be my particular dare. When I first popped the tab, I was terrified that it was going to taste disgusting, but a dare is a dare.  I mean, honestly: white gourd drink? Does that even sound appetizing? When I took the first sip of the drink, I was amazed. It was absolutely DELIGHTFUL. It tasted like hazelnut coffee without that first cautious sip! 

Ooooh, the colors!

Ramune- country of origin: Japan. So I tried original at first, and let me tell you- it made a believer out of me. I was a skeptic because I heard that a marble floated around inside of the drink to prevent against the consumer drinking too fast and causing indigestion. How thoughtful! The original tasted like a less carbonated version of Mountain Dew, and it didn’t set my teeth on edge. It was delicious and a subdued sweet instead of burning all the way down like most lemon lime sodas. I highly recommend this for people who love soda, but want to stay away from that stinging carbonation feeling. 

May cause: warm fuzzy feelings and Flintstones music

Chiao Kuo Papaya Milk Drink- country of origin: Taiwan.This one totally knocked my socks off! When I first saw it, I was expecting it to taste like your average, run of the mill milk tea. Oh no. This was so much more. The second I opened the tab on this one I knew I was in for a treat. I tried it chilled and it tasted exactly like Fruity Pebbles. This drink is delicious Fruity Pebbles in a can, with no soggy cereal to suffer through or dirty dishes to have to deal with, ladies and gentlemen; I have found the Holy Grail of breakfast drinks. The flavor is nostalgic and sweet, but not overbearingly so to where you feel like you are drinking a soda. It lacks the aftertaste and thickness of milk. 

The UT Tyler Debate Team Food Tour: Kansas City, Missouri

The UT Tyler Parliamentary Debate Team (the nerdy thing that Carver and I are a part of) consists of a group of hardworking students, constantly pushing to improve our craft and be successful in the national circuit in which we compete.  With the amount of dedication we give to the event, we often feel we deserve a reward, generally in the form of ridiculously good culinary experiences.  We travel to various places in the US, such as Kansas City, St. Louis, San Diego, Portland, and many others, and they all have different restaurants with amazing food for us to try. After each tournament, I will dedicate a blog post to detailing the food tours from various cities.  The first city is Kansas City, Missouri.

From July 7^th to the 13^th, our debate team took part in the Midwest Parliamentary Debate Cooperative, hosted by UT Tyler’s own Patrick Muenks.  If you do not know, Kansas City sports a huge array of restaurants that specialize in different things, all of which are worth trying at least once.  Preferably, however, they should be enjoyed multiple times.

Our first stop was Arthur Bryant’s, one of the original joints to make Kansas City famous for its BBQ.  Known to be the “King of Ribs” in Kansas City, Arthur Bryant’s has become one of most nationally recognized restaurants for BBQ enthusiasts.  Renowned author Calvin Trillin called it “…the single best restaurant in the world…” A bold statement, but perhaps accurate to what it offers its customers.  There is even an episode of Food Wars dedicated to the ribs at Arthur Bryant's.  I personally had the burnt ends the first night I was in Kansas City, and they were outrageously delicious.  Definitely, a good start to the KC debate team food tour.  

Chicken Spiedini with
Garozzo and Diabolo Sauce

The next night, we decided to go for Italian food, another famous genre of food in Kansas City.  The best restaurant in town for Italian is Garozzo’s, located in the Columbus Park neighborhood in Kansas City.  The restaurant carries with it a feeling that Frank Sinatra hangs out with the staff, showing the Italian heritage of both the restaurant and the entire neighborhood.  Their chicken Spiedini dish is well known to culinary enthusiasts, which the prestigious Zagat National Restaurant Survey called …”among the best dishes in town.”  This place is a regular stopping point for the UT Tyler debate team every time we visit the city.

Gates' Spicy Sausage

The next restaurant on the food tour is Gates, another famous barbecue joint in Kansas City.  Out of all the restaurants we visited, this place definitely provides the best service to its customers.  The moment you walk in the door, counter personnel call for your order, even if a dozen other people are in front of you.  They receive special training with the cooks and other workers to keep track of each order without missing a beat.  The only thing more impressive than the service is the spicy sausage, the burnt ends, and the ridiculously good barbecue sauces they offer.  Another must have for the Kansas City barbecue tour.

Oklahoma Joe's Burnt Ends
 and Beef Brisket Plate

Out of all of the food joints in Kansas City, top prize goes to Oklahoma Joe’s.  There is often a debate over which barbecue joint reigns supreme in Kansas City, but OK Joes is the undisputed champion of consistently strong barbecue goodness.  Famous for their ribs, burnt ends, and beef brisket, Oklahoma Joe’s makes the other barbecue restaurants in the city seem obsolete.  You do not have to take my word for it either.  Anthony Bourdain, host of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations, named Oklahoma Joe’s one of the 13 places you should eat at before you die.  It is the recipient of dozens of national barbecue awards, and barbecue fanatics consider it across the entire country.  Watch them make the burnt ends here; it is amazing!

Kansas City is obviously a favorite tournament location for the UT Tyler debate team, because the food spread is phenomenal.  Next trip to KC will be in September, and these places will hopefully be revisited! 

News From What About Kabob in Tyler

Here at the Call Center we have written several blogs in the past concerning local eatery What About Kabob. It’s probably because this gyro place is so darn tasty. I’m pretty sure a majority of the communications team here at UT Tyler have dreamed of bathing in their Grenade Sauce. So, it is no surprise that one of would be mentioning it yet again.

Local hot spot What About Kabob has something special in store for all of you. Now I’m not talking about their delicious Feta Fingers which run out faster than you can say gluten free hummus or the special $1 tacos which you have to follow them on Facebook to know about. Or the Wednesday only Gyro Nachos which I personally could not finish in the hour I allotted myself (fresh baked pita ships with nacho cheese and gyro meat and gargle drool fkjaslifjo) Excuse me while I collect myself.

Mmmmm. TACOS RULE!!!

St. Paddy's Day Birthday Lunch

St. Patrick’s Day was my birthday so I decided to go out with my girlfriend for lunch. We decided to go with the usual Don Juan’s but were forced to drive to their location down Erwin away from downtown since the downtown location is closed on Sundays. On the way there I spotted Mariscos DJ’s.

This restaurant is owned by the same people as Don Juan’s however they take a seafood approach to their food. So instead of Don Juan's, I convinced my girlfriend to eat at Mariscos DJ's. My girlfriend decided on the octopus and shrimp tacos (delicious) and I settled for Huachinango Frito or whole fried red snapper. This is what came out for my birthday lunch.

Some food for thought... Basil Thai

So, a couple weeks ago, Megan, Emmy, and I decided to take a little trip to a restaurant. We wanted something close, but exotic as well. Then, it dawned on us: why not Basil Thai Cafe? Where is that? It's only about 3 miles away from campus on Loop 323. I had never been before, as I had never had a chance to go before. No one I knew liked to eat Thai food, and honestly, I didn't even know there was a place to eat Thai food in Tyler in the first place. I had always heard good things about the place, so all in all, I was really happy to get a chance to finally go.

So, we all piled in my car and made our way to Basil Thai. The restaurant itself is kind of hidden in plain sight; there's a nail shop on one side and a Shipley's (YES) on the other. We walk in and I look around; the place is quiet, clean, and cozy. Not cozy in that tiny, crowded apartment kind of way, but in a way that means it has character. The tables were big enough for four people to have their own eating space; a father and his three boys were sitting beside us and had more than enough room at their table. The menu was up high on the wall in front of us, so we had no problem seeing what we wanted to order. The specials and new dishes were written on a dry erase easel, which I thought was pretty cute.

It took me a while to decide what I was going to order, one because there were so many choices and combinations, and two because I had never eaten Thai food before. So, I stuck to what I knew: chicken and ginger. Megan ordered tofu and vegetables, and Emmy ordered chicken satay and red curry. The cashier and waitstaff were incredibly polite and fast. They made sure we had eating utensils, different sauces, napkins, rice... Man, did we have rice. And the portions were perfect and way more than you would expect for the price you'd be paying. Megan and I spent no more than $10 and got a ton of food. Emmy ordered more than we did and barely spent $15. Needless to say, our take out bags were pretty heavy. When I found out you could order by phone and then come pick it up, I was sold on this place. If you want really good food for an even better price, your best bet is going to be Basil Thai Cafe.

So, after we returned to the office (my car smelled like amazing Thai food the entire night), we laid out our spread. This is what we got: