BevNerd.com

Restaurant Review: Wangcho Korean BBQ Chino, CA (Highway Man)

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:19:25 -0500

Hey folks, Highwayman’s back with a new find. Yeah, its been a while since I’ve sent anything in, but I’ve been having some writers block, and since I’ve been put on a regular route; new places are getting harder to find (but mostly I’ve been lazy).

But every now and then they screw up and I find places like this. After my usual pick up in Cypress, CA got cancelled, I had to find somewheres to park till they found me another load. Now anyone who lives around LA knows there ain’t many/any places fer trucks to park inside the city. Matter of fact, its about the most truck unfriendly area I’ve been in outside of the north east.

So I wind up having to chance parking behind the Walmart in Chino and hope they don’t mind. Now I usually prefer parking at Walmart’s cause there’s usually a lot of places within walking distance to check out. After all, I discovered the Claim Jumper while I was parked at a Walmart, and this time around I found another gem, the Wang Cho Korean BBQ restaurant in Chino, CA.

Now there’s no shortage of Asian quazeen, cuazine… food in Stillaintgonnatellya, AL. The Chinese takeouts and buffets are a dime a dozen, we even got a couple them Japanese places that don’t cook the food, sushi, I think. Anyway, I was pretty sure I’d never had Korean before, and after seeing it was all you can eat, I figured why not.

Now, like most people, when I saw AYCE, I automatically thought buffet with a bunch of big pans of meats and vegetables marinated and cooked different ways, (insert Kevin Spacey from Superman Returns clip here) WRONG! Apparently you order as much of whatever you want off the menu and cook it yerself on a gas grill in the middle of the table. Now ol’ Highway Man ain’t no stranger to a grill, and I’ve seen these places on the tv box before, but I was still a little nervous.

First of all the grill top looks like a hubcap, solid and humped up in the center to concentrate the heat in the middle and slopes down around the sides to let the juices and fat run down into the vents along the edges as it cooks. Second, as soon as I sit down, there’s already a huge bowl of salad and about 9 little square plates all with a bunch of different side dishes on them. Found out later they’re called banchan, and according to the wiki it basically means side dish (insert nbc the more you know clip here). Huh? clips aren’t as funny on written reviews for some reason.

Anyway, among them was seaweed salad (off to a good start), rice paper, spicy radish noodles (not bad actually), and something called kimchi. I used to think the only way to make vegetables (in this case cabbage) taste better was to batter and deep fry them, but apparently fermenting them and coating them in spicy chilies helps too, cause this stuff is gooooood.

Now let’s get to the menu, actually menus. There are three, each with more selections than the other and each with a different price, lunch/$14.99, regular/$19.99, and premium/$24.99. Yeah, a little pricey considering I’m doing all the cookin’, but then again this is California. You basically pay for the menu you want to order off of and get as much off that menu as you want (I’m really liking this concept). This time around I ordered off the lunch menu cause even off the smallest one there was no shortage of new stuff to try. First round I got the marinated boneless beef and spicy marinated pork belly.

The beef, like most of the meats, was thin sliced so it could cook quickly and evenly. It was good and I liked that I could cook it rare to my liking.

The pork belly was phenomenal, a big pile of pork cut super thin and red with that sweet spicy flavor cooked to lightly charred perfection. Wish I’d ordered more but there was more I wanted to try before I got full.

I decided to go all out and ordered the marinated beef abomasum (a cows forth stomach) and marinated large intestine. I made sure to check the intestine fer corn before I started cooking it (think about it, you’ll get it). After cooking it thoroughly to a light char, I found had kind of a crispy sausage taste and went great with the kimchi. The stomach… sigh… ok, this ain’t the first time I’ve had it.

I’ve tried it boiled Mexican style in menudo. Had it battered, deep fried, and smothered in hot sauce on a sandwich at a bbq joint in Memphis. And now marinated and grilled with some chili sauce and tea salt they had set out on the side. I can now safely say I’m done with stomach because there is NO taste to it, only texture, a tough rubbery texture.

I was glad my waiter suggested I try a small portion first to try it out. Apparently its not a very popular item, even among the Korean crowd and I can see why. Fortunately I had some of that pork belly left and got to finish off on a good note.

Back to the waiters, they were very helpful in informing me about the menu and how everything was done. There’s a call button on the ends of each table to let them know you want something but it hardly seems necessary cause they keep checking on you making sure everything’s good, if you want to order something else, or even if you want the grill changed out. Then again, when I went it was a Monday afternoon so not a big crowd. Still, I can’t wait to get a chance to go back and try the premium menu. You can check the menu out yerself at wangchobbq.com.

I highly recommend this place and any place like it if y’all are ever in that area and want to really try something new, but not something cheap.

Well folks, its about time fer me to turn off the lights, put up my “no lot lizards” sign and turn in.

This is the Highwayman signin off, yall be safe out there.

Send me an email at highwaymanfyeah@gmail.com

BEER REVIEW: He'Brew Funky Jewbelation

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:30:38 -0500

The sixth member in Shmaltz Brewing’s Limited Engagement Barrel-Aged series, Funky Jewbelation features a blend of six Shmaltz beers aged in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels, and dances in at 9.8% alc.

Funky Jewbelation is an expert mashup of Jewbelation 15 (aged three months), Vintage Jewbelation (aged nine months), Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. (aged one month), Origin Pomegranate Strong Ale (aged 14 months), Reunion Ale ‘11 (aged seven months), and Messiah Nut Brown Ale (aged 14 months).

So, you’ve got here is a blend of:
• a strong ale brewed with 15 hops and 15 malts
• a vintage version of Jewbelation
• an imperial IPA with a rye malt base
• a strong ale with a ridiculous amount of pomegranate
• a dark ale brewed with cocoa nibs, vanilla and chili peppers (itself a collaboration with Terrapin)
• a fairly straightforward nut brown ale
Oh, and they’ve all been aged for between a month and 14 months in rye whiskey or bourbon barrels.

VIDEO: SliceFest 2013 & The Beer Experience

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:18:00 -0500

On this action packed event/travel video, I’m at Slice for the 2nd annual SliceFest event. The video features “The Beer Experience” which pairs 5 custom Slice pizzas with 5 Alabama craft beers chosen by Chef Terrill! Some of the pizzas include The Chilton (Pork & Peaches), Rastafar Pie, and White Shadow! I try beers from Back Forty, Beer Engineers, Avondale, and Cahaba Brewing. I also take head chef Terill away from the kitchen and grill him about the ingredients and beer pairings! Also, I interview founders of SUKI Foundation and Alabama Forever charities that will be posted separately and ASAP!

Links: http://www.slicebirmingham.com

http://www.facebook.com/slicebirmingham

http://www.sukifoundation.org

http://www.alabamaforever.org

DRINK REVIEW: Arizona Cherry Lime Rickey (BevNerd 147)

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:00:59 -0500

On this episode of BevNerd, I’m reviewing AriZona Cherry Lime Rickey sparkling cherry lime drink. It’s one of the 20th anniversary of AriZona drinks and it features custom can art.

Links: http://www.drinkarizona.com http://www.facebook.com/arizonaicedtea http://www.twitter.com/drinkarizona

SNACK REVIEW: Toast Chee Xtra Fulls Crackers (& Contest)

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:36:00 -0500

On this episode of BevNerd, I review the new Lance Toast Chee Xtra Fulls Crackers!

These are our beloved Toast Chee cheese crackers with peanut butter BUT with MORE creamy peanut butter in the middle.

I also give you information on the 100 years of Lance contest series, too! You’ll wanna get in on these prizes.

Links: http://www.lance.com http://www.happy100lance.com

CRAFT BEER REVIEW: Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero | DrinkLikaFish

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:20:18 -0500

“Roasted dark malts plus extra chocolate malts plus ancho chile plus cinnamon plus vanilla extract plus a chocolate loving, beer drinking, Clown Shoes wearing, multi-limbed, gorgeous and glorious Mexican wrestler on the label. That’s the recipe for a Chocolate Sombrero!” - Company Description

Brewed by:
Clown Shoes
Massachusetts, United States

Style | ABV
American Double / Imperial Stout | 9.00% ABV

Links:

http://www.clownshoesbeer.com/chocolate-sombrero

New Craft Beer Content, Introducing DrinkLikaFish!

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 11:00:54 -0500

Bevengers Assemble!!

First off I’d like to raise a glass to the craft beer show Drink Lika Fish! This has been something in the works for a while. I’m happy to partner up with Big Fish and Double D, hosts of DLF, and to be providing BevNerd.com viewers a new craft beer review show to watch!

Craft beer requires the passions that can found with craft sodas, small snack businesses, and local food. To share the same interests that DLF fellas do with what normally gets covered on the site is something special!

They provide an entertaining style of craft beer review that shines through their different personalities and humor. Also, we’re all based out of the Southeast, so cheers!

So send them a friend request on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, check out their website and/or on YouTube

REVIEW: Grapico Grape Soda BevNerd LIVE! w/ Guests!

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:01:09 -0500

On this episode of BevNerd Podcast LIVE, I am joined by 3 guests to help me review an old classic soda from Birmingham, Grapico grape soda!

Maree Jones, @MareeJones, event coordinator for Alabama Phoenix Festival
Will Lochamy, @willlochamy, Oh Brother Radio & Birmingham Mountain Radio
Tony Gowell, @TonyGowell, Dragon*Con employee, casting assistant and actor/zombie from Zombieland & The Walking Dead

Grapico is made by the Buffalo Rock Company in Birmingham, AL. It is southern classic soda that dates back to 1914!

Watch us review the soda and I get some back up help with this review!

Links:

http://www.buffalorock.com

http://www.facebook.com/grapico

Announcing Pepsi & Mtn Dew's Iconic Summer program!

Fri, 31 May 2013 17:15:56 -0500

With summertime just around the corner, Pepsi® and Mountain Dew® are excited to announce “Iconic Summer,” giving fans the chance to win a wide variety of incredible prizes and experiences.

For decades, Pepsi and Mountain Dew have celebrated cultural icons, larger-than-life personalities and hosted some of the most memorable pop culture experiences —but never before have they brought together so many iconic prizes and experience, in the same place, at the same time.

Get ready for the biggest event of the summer: this is the Iconic Summer!

Celebrating everything from the best concerts, sporting events, local happenings and much more, “Iconic Summer” is offering over 250,000 prizes to fans, including:

· A trip to MTV Video Music Awards in Brooklyn, NY

· A trip to iHeart Radio Music Festival in Las Vegas, NV

· Meet and greets with racing icons Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

· 2013 Winter Dew Tour Passes

· Bassmaster All Star Fishing Experience with professional anglers including Gerald Swindle

· A trip to the 2013 World Series

· A trip to Super Bowl XVIII

The program also includes a “Hometown Sweeps” component that enables fans to enter and win experiences close to home, including access to local college and professional sports franchises, as well as other nearby attractions.

To participate, fans simply purchase Pepsi/Mountain Dew products from participating retailers, and look under the cap for codes which can be redeemed online for “Icon” game pieces at www.iconicsummer.com.

These pieces can then be combined to unlock different prizes, or saved for future prizes.

VIDEO: BevNerd Podcast LIVE - Alabama Phoenix Festival

Thu, 30 May 2013 11:01:03 -0500

Featuring segments from the BevNerd Podcast Live! panel at Alabama Phoenix Festival 2013 in Birmingham, AL.

Clips include a Silent Bob cosplayer, BevNerd origins, sponsor showcase, gross review and comedy montages and a call to Coca Cola to tell them to bring back Surge!

Three review episodes & a local food video were also filmed for a future release.

Links:

http://www.bevnerd.com

http://www.wildbillsfoods.com

http://www.facebook.com/HannahsPickledSnacks

http://www.facebook.com/SurgeMovement

BLOG: Alabama Phoenix Festival & Weekend in Birmingham!

Wed, 29 May 2013 11:01:00 -0500

If you have been living under a rock that you can’t get BevNerd Transmissions from, I was at Alabama Phoenix Festival this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama! (May 25-26) as an event guest and to coordinate the BevNerd Sampling Booth & BevNerd LIVE! Panel on Sunday.

I want to thank the staff at APF, the event goers that accepted free meat snacks from us, the ones who attended the panel and especially those who joined the Bevenger community either on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! :)

I was joined by my first chum Twitterless Andrew, roving zombie & convention blogger Matt (from www.zombiesinmyblog.com), MaBo (cosplaying as Silent Bob), and The Highway Man!

Due to my Monday - Friday grind, I wasn’t able to make it for Friday’s festivities, but who’d thunk it that Silent Bob cosplayer would be such a great barker for BevNerd? He was drumming up people’s saliva glands and eagerness to try one of the snacks we would be dishing out the next day.

We arrived on Saturday morning and hurried with the booth setting-upping. I’m proud to have partnered up with two brands of snack food for APF and here they are:

Wild Bill’s Beef Jerky & Hannah’s Pickled Snacks

We gladly passed out to hungry attendees Teriyaki & Hickory Smoked Wild Bill’s Jerky and Hannah’s Pickled Red Hot Sausage & new individually wrapped Eggs!

Not to forget we were also spreading the word about The Surge Movement! These guys have started a rabid Facebook group that’s fighting to get Coca-Cola to bring back the citrus supercharged SURGE soda! Let’s get them even MORE followers!

We met lots of cool folks on Friday night. Before we knew it, our time had come to eat and head to the hotel. We stayed at Candlewood Suites in Birmingham and LOVED it. It was such a nice room at such a great value. ($48, thanks!) There was a slip up because of Hotels.com. They stated the room was 2 beds and it was only 1 bed. Candlewood only has 1 bed rooms/suites. They gladly upgraded us to their best room and the 1st one was ALREADY a great room. I felt important!

Checked in and tummies rumbling, we headed to Homewood to eat and film some content. We decided on eating at Urban Cookhouse. GREAT! CHOICE! I loved my dish called The Down Home; Thick slices of smoked turkey & pineapple ham, hot cheddar pasta, broccoli salad and a warm orange roll. They nailed it, and I polished it off with a Good People Pale Ale.

With rejuvenating food in our system, we had to pull a double duty next. That’s right, eat dessert AND film it! We drove a short distance to Steel City Pops. It’s a local gourmet popcicle shop that makes their frozen treats in house and with locally sourced ingredients. I was on hand to enjoy a pop and film a travel/local food special video. I won’t tell you what I had just yet, but Twitterless Andrew enjoyed a chocolate & peanut butter pop and The Highway Man killed a Blood Orange pop!

Stay tuned for this episode’s release, soon!

The BevNerd crew and I wound down for the night with hot & fresh Krispie Kreme donuts and watched Office Space.

SUNDAY. Breakfast. We ate at Over Easy. I had a SUPER FANTASTIC BREAKFASSSSSST! It was called Hash Basket: Two hash brown baskets, each filled with one egg over easy, and bacon, topped with goat cheese, herbs, diced tomatoes, and crème fraiche, with a biscuit. Loved every single bite. I also really liked Matt’s organic blue grits from Wilsonville, AL.

Today was THE day. The BevNerd LIVE! Panel was at 11:30 am and we needed to get the ball rolling. We got into our conference room early because we had a lot of AV equipment to set up. The APF staff was nothing but helpful and nice to all of us and got us set up in record time.

The panel did break my expectations of 15 people! So that’s a win, we had about 35-40 folks there and they sat through my ramblings! I’ll be posting most of the panel in video form ASAP. It’s rendering now. I did record 2 reviews during the panel with a future release soon.

Sunday flew by, there was a Doctor Who themed wedding! Instead of an altar, the couple was married in front of the TARDIS! NICE! I passed out every single remaining piece of beef jerky and pickled meat. This took a LOT of walking around with sample trays, but we were well received of course!

With no more product left and all flyers passed out, it was time to pack up and head home. :(

Twitterless Andrew was hungry, so we stopped for lunch at Izzo’s Illegal Burrito. I got the modest Misdemeanor sized burrito. However, Andrew ordered the ILLEGAL BURRITO! Food challenge is ON! The goal? Eat the entire 3+ pound burrito in 15 minutes or less.

I’ll be darned. He did it! Free meal and a shirt! KUDOS to you. I think force feeding yourself couldn’t have been more delicious!

Back in Gadsden. Alabama Phoenix Festival was a great time had by all. It’s for the young and old! There’s something for every type of geek or nerd there. GO NEXT YEAR. It’s only gotten bigger, better, and more fun.

I have two days’ worth of photos from the event. I’m lazy and threw them all on two BevNerd Facebook albums see them at

http://on.fb.me/Zf8ljK SATURDAY

http://on.fb.me/10AMnZI SUNDAY

LINKS:

http://www.alabamaphoenixfestival.com

http://www.wildbillsfoods.com

http://www.facebook.com/HannahsPickledSnacks

http://www.urbancookhouse.com

http://www.steelcitypops.com

http://www.eatovereasy.com

http://www.zombiesinmyblog.com

Energy Review: Xyience Xenergy Drink BevNerd #145

Mon, 27 May 2013 11:01:19 -0500

On this episode of BevNerd, I provide a comprehensive review of Xyience brand of Xenergy noncarbonated energy drinks. These are brand new and come in a LOT of flavors and combinations.

They have fruit flavors, flavors with black tea, flavors with green tea, and flavors with lemonade. Tons of vitamins are packed in these cans!

Links: http://www.xyience.com/index.cfm?fa=products.beverages

Alabama Phoenix Festival Saturday - BevNerd Booth! | Facebook

Mon, 27 May 2013 08:16:07 -0500

Alabama Phoenix Festival Saturday - BevNerd Booth! | Facebook:

Here is the photo album from Saturday’s adventure into the 2nd annual Alabama Phoenix Festival!

Yeah, this picture of me drinking Cocaine during my MomoCon 2012...

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:18:33 -0500

Yeah, this picture of me drinking Cocaine during my MomoCon 2012 panel was epic. I was so freaking TIRED. I think I started like stumbling through what I was talking about, apologized to the crowd and proceeded to chug a Cocaine Energy drink. It burns so gooooood! Thanks for sharing this guys.

I’ve been holding on to this ugly purple display stand for...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:05:56 -0500

I’ve been holding on to this ugly purple display stand for 2 years. Broke it out for MomoCon 2013 in it’s purple-ness. However, I went Xzibit on it and now it’s BevNerd-tastic! What do you think Bevengers?

Soda Review: Loca (All Natural Diet Soda) by Oogave!

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:01:20 -0500

Has the Holy Grail of low calorie sodas been discovered?

The brand new line of diet drinks from the great folks at Oogave are arriving soon and I got early samples! Meet Loca, an all natural, 10 calorie sodas that come in Cola, Ginger Ale, and Root Beer. Sweetened with Stevia and organic agave nectar. Find out 3 tips to burn the 10 measly calories from these drinks, too.

Links: http://www.oogave.com http://www.bevnerd.com

Snack Review: Ruffles Ultimate Sweet & Smokin' BBQ Chips

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:44:24 -0500

Time to get ULTIMATE SNACK ONNNNNNN! Or at least taste Ruffles Ultimate Sweet & Smokin’ BBQ potato chips.

More ridges, more flavor, ultimate nomming? Find out on this video! I even drop some vending sales info on these thangs.

Links: http://www.fritolay.com

http://www.facebook.com/ruffles

http://www.bevnerd.com

Upcoming Events in Birmingham, AL I'm attending

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:30:19 -0500

Hey Bevengers, I’ve got a couple weekends chock full of events that may tickle your fancy! If you’re around, check them out.

Alabama Phoenix Festival - Cahaba Grand Conference Center - May 24 - 26

A weekend dedicated to geek culture, fantasy, sci-fi, comic books and art! I’ll be there behind a BevNerd.com booth passing out samples from sponsors like Wild Bill’s Beef Jerky & Hannah’s Pickled Snacks. I’ll also be hosting a LIVE BevNerd taping on Sunday at 11:30 am. Had a great time last year and I’d love to see this event grow!

SliceFest - Slice Birmingham - June 1st

A festival dedicated to great pizza, great music, and great beer! Attended this last year and had a jolly time. This one will not be anything but more jollies!

Magic City Brewfest - Sloss Furnace - May 31 & June 1

My first craft beer festival and I AM STOKED. We had great interviews and content from last year’s event. Anxious to try the great craft beers from Alabama and all around the country. I just heard that Sprecher will have HARD Root Beer.

Soda Review: SURGE! BevNerd #142

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:47:00 -0500

SURRRRRGGGEE! I’m not kidding. I review Surge, the discontinued drink from 1997 - 2003. My friends at Surge Movement have tapped an untouched box of Surge soda concentrate and were selling them on eBay for a fundraiser. Bought some. Combining it with club soda, I get fresh Surge to try for you! The 90’s called and they want their soda back.

Links:

http://www.bevnerd.com

http://www.facebook.com/surgemovement

Vine Video: Surge Soda Unboxing

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:24:00 -0500