If you haven’t read part I which about the places we visited on our honeymoon then jump on that. This is ALL about what we know and love about America : THE FOOD. Diverse, crazy, abundant & everywhere, it’s no secret that Americans love their food and they do *it* pretty damn well. I ate, I saw and I conquered when I was in the U.S and fortunately, I’m an annoying blogger with a camera so I have some snaps and highlights for y’all.
My favourite kinda food ever. Being born in Jersey kind of makes you an instant seafood-lover and I was in my element especially on the coastal towns of California as you are unindated with seafood joints everywhere you go. First stop was Santa Barbara. If you ever go, you need to get down the main pier and at the end there is an amazing seafood cafe/restaurant called The Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. There are no bookings so you just waltz on up and write your name on the list outside and wait….and wait…..and wait. We got there just before 12 and we waited maybe 40 mins but absolutely worth it. It’s very small inside hence the long wait to sit in (you can take-away and sit on the pier) but we wanted to be amongst the action ; Fresh shellfish, crab, lobster rolls and beer…basic cafe decor, noisy and busy…you get the vibe.
Monteray is a fishing port/harbour town renowned for it’s fish chowder. It’s worth a pit stop just to get down to the harbour in the PM to sample the goods. Every restaurant is claiming to have the best fish chowder and they are all giving out free tasters so it’s hard to choose as a tourist but we just picked a place we liked the look of and lucked out. Not swanky-looking but great fresh seafood, good chowder and we sat by the window and could look at the seals and otters swimming in the harbour below as we ate our food. Double-Whammy.
San Diego is another seaside city that has a hella lotta great seafood. They are all about fish tacos which is kind of their signature dish. We heard about a little cafe called Oscar’s which is a really small, street-food style shack with maybe 5 seats so the huge majority of customers just come to takeaway. Big Q’s as expected but we placed out order then went and had an explore on the beach and then came back. Cheap, cheerful and absolutely deliciously fresh ceviche alongside the fish tacos which are well worth the wait.
DINERS.
One of our main goals was to hit up a *proper* roadside diner but when you are driving for hours and hours you kind of miss the places if you don’t know they are there and then you just can’t be bothered to turn around (omg have you DRIVEN on those freeways?!). We ended up just hitting up a few when we were in the bigger cities and we could research good places to have diner-style food and burgers. One of the best burger joints we went to, typical diner-style, was a place called Woody’s in Palm Springs. It was a really casual place, where you sit around the bar to eat your food and the burger’s are just insane. Served up in baskets and really simple. YUM.
FatBurger in Vegas was also a stumbled-upon winner. Not only did they serve a REALLY good burger, fries and beer, but you get to gawp at all the hella’ wrongun’s stumbling along the main strip which is just possibly the best people-watching you can do in the whole wide world.
You can’t go to America without going to a Denny’s. This is basically like our version of a Little Chef, but they are more abundant…and better ; great for all types of American fodder, gigantic portions and really cheap. We went to quite a few over the month-trip as they are easy to find and you know it’s gonna be a filler…plus you get to see some SERI-ASS American folk that could have possibly stumbled from The Jerry Springer Show to get their 3 plates of pancakes and sides.
BREAKFAST.
Probably what the Americans do best. Really. I enjoyed our breakfasts and brunches so much ; eggs, waffles, pancakes, streaky bacon and maple syrup everywhere. The absolute highlight has to be the infamous Hash-House-A-Go-Go which has been featured on Man VS Food and sells itself as ‘twisted farm food’. We attempted to go in Vegas but the Q was so big and we were too hungry to wait. In San Diego however, there was another restaurant and we went with determination and empty bellys (they don’t take bookings…they do however accomadate the Q’ers with seats and sun shades outside on the pavement!). They are renowned for their sage fried chicken, yes for breakfast, and I had the signature dish and the one of Man VS food which is Sage Fried Chicken (2 pieces) upon x4 maple bacon cured waffles, maple reduction, crispy leeks and 2 eggs anyway. Jesus God Lord. Just look at the photos. Then look at them again and gauge the size of the plates that the food comes on. Enormous and crazy. No-one ever finishes these probably triple-sized breakfasts they serve up so they put your leftovers in takeaway boxes. My one breakfast filled me up for breakfast lunch and I had it for dinner that day…..no joke. YOU MUST GO.
Anyways, the important part:
Oh I miss America.
Up next in the third and final instalment of my honeymoon trip is what could be the most important part for my lovely readers : The SHOPPING aka the beauty haul.