2011 in Review: Top Five Worst Meals

Well it’s that time of year again when spirit of Christmas possesses me to start compiling lists of the good and bad thing that happened the previous 12 or so months.

Let’s start at the bottom with the worsts and work our way up to the good.  After all, the first rule in blogging is end on a high.  That and bring the hate. 

5	Remmington’s, Addison TX Thanks to an ill-advised Groupon purchase (not by me) I got to experience the horror that is Remmington’s.  If you ever want to go to see a restaurant that has given up and is content to serve frozen crap, Remmington’s is the place.
4	Lowell’s, Seattle WA Sure, the last meal on a trip to Seattle will be the worst because of all the sadness from leaving the greatest city in the USA from all your tears over salting your eggs.   Plus it gave both Lidia and I food poisoning.
3	Sonny Bryan’s BBQ, Irving TX In researching my probably never to completed survey of the chain BBQ joints of Dallas, I eventually made my way to the highly touted Sonny Bryan’s. It’s almost always at the top of D Magazine or the Dallas Observers list of best BBQ place (reader’s choice). BBQ is a quick and easy paleo lunch.  So knowing which chains I could stand is important.  I can’t always make it to Meshack’s, Hard 8 or Pecan Lodge.  And while the sausage was ok, the brisket had zero smoke flavor.  In fact, it had zero flavor.
2	Art’s Crab Shak, Hayward CA Sometimes after a long plane ride and another long car ride to the final destination – Yosemite – you can’t always be too picky where you eat.  Add to that my foodie instinct to try local joints and  dive joints and one is sometimes presented with a toxic mix of dumb locals going to a cheap-ass restaurant.  After all, Freud did say, “Sometimes a dive is just a dive.”  The food was obviously frozen sometime in the 90s.  And is margarine really that much cheaper than butter?
1	Random Indian Restaurant, Paris France Admittedly, the food wasn’t that bad.  Some of it was pretty good, in fact.  But considering that it cost JT a toenail, me my wallet and both of us about 20 minutes on a very crowded Paris bus, it just wasn’t worth it.