All posts by epicureasian

a gardening gamer girl in search of good grub
Dining, Reviews

Food finds part 1

SmashBurger

975 W John Carpenter Fwy
Irving, TX 75039
(214) 302-2681

Smashburger is like a movie that you’ve seen before and recognize as having a plot similar to a ripoff of a remake of a great original concept. The novelty of a Smashburger lasted only 5 seconds, then I realized I’ve made a much better burger with modest production values and a smaller budget in my own kitchen.

I spied this newest location on my way to a nearby restaurant and ducked in for a menu. I had Smashburger on my wishlist to try out for to-go and when the time came, I was almost surprised but largely disappointed.

Almost surprised to see that care went into their to-go packaging. I had to give them points for dispensing with paper bags and styrofoam and approved the use of cartons. However, any lead that Smashburger gained in the packaging department disappeared in the taste category.

Largely disappointing: for someone who likes fries with their sodium chloride, I found the Smashburger too salty and too dry (i.e. overcooked). In stark contrast I found their sides (fries and onion rings) strangely bland (and not travel-worthy). I applauded the option of VeggieFrites (I like asparagus)…though no less healthier than their other fried goods. One glaring omission was the sweet potato fries which had been billed on our receipt but was nowhere to be found.

I really wanted to like Smashburger; but the disappointing food, the steep price and the “newbie” ordering mistake means that we are unlikely to give this blockbuster bomb another review.

Rating by epicureasian: 2.0 stars
**

Five Guys Burgers & Fries

6440 N MacArthur Blvd Ste 110
Irving, TX 75039
(972) 409-7230

If one measured a burger’s success based on the number of banners, citations and awards wallpapering their dining room wall, then Five Guys Burgers and Fries must be the king of all burgers.

Mark Five Guys as another of those self-absorbed, gourmet burger-ants that’s been taking the media by storm lately. But don’t write them off completely.

Once you make it past the self-validation screaming at you from every wall in the house (it doesn’t help that Five Guys is done up in fire engine red and enamel white), you approach the register and deliver your order to the folks behind the counter, then shuffle over to a table while you wait for your food–sound familiar? Nothing new here, except that you get to snack on dry roasted shelled peanuts (not a place for those with peanut allergies) while you wait.

And still you wait when you order your food online…’coz Five Guys proudly declares their fries aren’t cooked until you get there. As painless as the online ordering process was, I found this aspect flawed. Isn’t the whole point of “ordering ahead” supposed to be “less waiting”?

However, Five Guys can be easily forgiven if judged on fries alone. I found their Cajun-seasoned fries snack-alicious–dangerous when you’re driving home, and depressing when you arrive home and discovered that you’ve snarfed down every fry in the bag–even the strays that sank to the bottom. Yes, those fries travel extremely well–if they make it home with you at all.

But a burger joint must be judged on the merit of their burgers–not their sides–and Five Guys does a passable job delivering a meaty burger. Their normal, double-patty burger is a hefty one (somewhat reminiscent of Kincaids, actually), though it suffers a little from the dryness of a “medium well-done” temperature that most places will cook to. However, I am a fan of the “one-price, any topping” concept here. With the exception of bacon and some cheeses, you can have your burger dressed in a variety of ways for the same flat price as a burger with all the fixins or plain ol’ patties sandwiched between two buns.

About those buns: on many occasions the bread threatened to fall apart with every bite. Something so flimsy shouldn’t be bookending such a beefy burger…I hope they rectify this soon.

So aside from some service snafus (mostly the long waits), Five Guys serves up a decent burger and better-than-average fries. On my burgers-to-go list, they are tops. Three point five stars when they get everything right.

Rating by epicureasian: 3.5 stars
***1/2

Ye Olde Garden

Easy plantings for difficult tree rings

The tree ring in the front yard is a terribly challenging spot to grow. Last year I seed the area with Cosmic Red and Yellow Cosmos which somehow managed to find only the sunny spots to root in. The ring therefore ended up with too many bald patches taken up by weeds.

This year I hope to heavily reseed by obtaining good amounts from Stokes. They had larger volumes available of the Yellow and Red varieties. This year, I intend to introduce two different ever-flowering varieties of plant. For a foreground, I’ve chosen annual alyssum…most likely a white-flowered cultivar. To background the cosmos, I determined that the prolific scarlet sage or salvia coccinea would have no trouble adapting to the arid conditions under the tree ring. I already witnessed the rampant prolific nature of the bicolor Coral Nymph sage which nearly overran the purple bed, and I’m certain that a red-flowered coccinea, such as Lady In Red, would suit the barren conditions in the tree ring. My fave wildflower seed distributor also carries this salvia seed in bulk.

Ye Olde Garden

An affection for…

…my Tropical Breeze verbena. The cold snaps have finally forced it to halt blooming, but its foliage still remains green. I am impressed with this plant and hope to get some offspring from cuttings. According to its hybridizer, Ecke, this verbena is considered an annual, but I am thinking the warmer Texas climate might induce it to behave as a perennial. I look forward to the spring to see how well it survived winter in an above-ground planter exposed to full sun. 

…my dianthus chinensis. Even in the frigid December weather they are perhaps one of a handful of plants still blooming. The courtyard flower bed will hopefully fill out with the red and white dianthus bordering it. Meanwhile in the purple garden, some specimens of dianthus chinensis that survived the sweltering heat are now exposed (after I had cut back the overgrown gaura and salvia). Specimens of dianthus that were planted in the blue garden (picotee varieties) died off. An observation: they tend to bloom less and grow leafy in shady conditions.

…my foxtail ferns. These have been the most durable ferns in the garden so far. While the Japanese painted and Autumn ferns have died back continuously into the ground during the summer, these foxtails have continued growing and spreading. Now if I can only coax it to grow upright instead of toppling over when a new plume shoots out. Well, I suppose a comparison to traditional ferns is unfair, since these foxtails aren’t true ferns…are they?

…my violas. After their spectacular January-to-June performance last year, I’ve invested in 3 more trays of them for planting in the late fall. This season, I decided to go with the blues in the Sorbet series (purchased from Christina’s): Black Duet, Coconut Swirl, and Blue Heaven. Most of them are inhabiting the gardenia bed in the front yard and in the blue garden bed in the courtyard. I also invested in a half-dozen Penny series violas (from Strong’s Nursery), red and white, though I’m unsure if they will jump back after a week of neglect nearly killed them off.

It’s amazing what you’ll see if you stand in the garden long enough. This damp December morning I spotted an olive green bird, sparrow-sized, hopping about in the trees. My research determined it to be a pine warbler, female due to the dull coloring. While I didn’t hear any songs, it busied itself in the bare-branched myrtles, most likely foraging for seeds and/or bugs. Pretty!

Ye Olde Garden

One month later

The winter garden is finally shuttering up the show. The annual holdouts such as the angelonia and the ornamental peppers have given up their last seasonal colors. The man and I had done some diligent pruning and clean up of the front beds, such as shearing back the gaura, removing dead coleus and cutting back the salvias, including the Victoria Blues. I had planted some violas and ornamental cabbages/kale in the gardenia bed, which have been blanketed by fall debris. Too bad we didn’t have a way to compost all the autumn leaves; that’s a project for next year, hopefully. 

The purple garden has been cleaned of the dried out ornamental peppers. I’ve also removed as much of the bicolor salvia as I could. Here’s to hoping that my reseeding efforts will bear fruit in the spring. I’ve sprinkled as much of the seeds closer to the side of the house, where it’s been a challenge to grow anything. The only plant that’s managed to endure in the damp ground that killed off a lavender and a rosemary is the citronella plant  (Orange Fizz) which has soared to a whopping 3 feet high. Time will tell if it can survive the frost. Future plans: rearrange lorapetalum and purple salvias in a straight line, plant Picasso and Devils Wine callas.

I’ve gone ahead and planted the blueberry dianthus in the blue bed, after uprooting and repotting the plumbago and applying a generous layer of mulch. I’ve also taken some rooted bits of Wood’s Blue aster and replanted them. I finished off the bed with plantings of violas. It is perhaps the only color left…the oxalis top growth are turning an unflattering shade of brown.

I am happy to see that the herb garden is thriving, thanks to departure of the basil plants. The rosemary is enjoying good circulation, full sun and perhaps has grown more in the last few weeks than it has all summer. The oreganos, thyme and pineapple mint are sprawling happily…too happily in fact, since I’ve had to shear back the mint. I am hoping to clone the Hot & Spicy Oregano in the opposite corner of the bed, so that I can have a second specimen. The man and I have decided on two priorities for this herb garden in 2011: 1) plant only basil in this bed, and 2) purchase some fencing to keep the pups out. We might just pot up the pepper plants or set them up in a separate bed.

I’ve removed some of the Flame Callas from the courtyard flower bed. The bed is looking rather bare, especially with the annual azaleas dying off. I plan on moving the daylilies in this bed as well as transplanting the rest of the callas out. I hope to get some more red and white dianthus to completely border the bed. Some more of those chocolate ajuga might produce a red, white, and blue border in the spring. The question is: what shrubbery to plant for next year?

Shade garden: more ferns, caladiums and nandinas perhaps. I definitely want to look into variegated liriope as an option. I hope the hakonechloa come back.

Speaking of which, those dwarf mondo grasses bordering our gravel extension are doing quite well. I hope they will grow hardy in time for next summer’s drought and heat.