I now declare myself an NFL analyst

Posted on January 16, 2012 by slip60

How often do we hear these terms pertaining to one teams predicted success against another. ” Control the ball with a good run game”, ” pressure the quarterback” and perhaps the best one, “don’t turnover the ball” . Wow!  Armed with that knowledge I could be the next John Madden.

Come on man! There’s really nothing new any of these guys can tell us that we don’t already know and yet week in and week out we hear the same “keys to the game” by every Tom, Dick and Harry analyst.

What a great career! Damn I missed my calling…

Just one man’s opinion

The Regular Guy

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The George Inn, Vernon NJ

Posted on December 13, 2011 by slip60

Finding a place to eat in and around this part of New Jersey is not an easy thing to do. Surprisingly though, what the George Inn lacks in atmospheric dining experience, it made up for with tonight’s special dish.

Two things stand out to me about dining here. One was the decor/feeling of the dining room and the other was the menu choices.

The atmosphere leaves much to be desired albeit clean and well maintained, it seemed vast and cafeteria like. A large open dining area with very bright lighting, adds to the noise level while dining. Customers in brighter places tend to speak louder than those in intimate low lit rooms. The wood work and decorative Tiffany lamps would have provided more charm had there not been the additional overhead fluorescent lights. The well lit room also put on display, the sloppiness of the wait staff. Although our waitress was dressed and presented well, her co workers left much to be desired. Combinations of untucked shirts, large hoop earrings and chewing gum gave an unprofessional and mismanaged appearance. It seems to me that with some attention to details, (ie; remove the paper “diner” style place mats, neater staff etc..) this dining room, would be very warm and inviting.

The menu was both confusing and and yet very predictable. What I mean by this is that the style of dishes were all over the place and yet nothing that we wouldn’t expect to find in most diners. For example, you could order Mexican dishes, Nacho platter or Fajitas or your basic Parmigiana ( Chicken or Veal). At first glance and before looking at the menu, you would expect seafood and steaks to be the backbone of menu entree’s. Perhaps they are trying to cater to all different customers likes due to the lack of diversified restaurants in the area. The funny thing is that we ordered a special that was Grilled Pork chop with a Mushroom Risotto in a Demi Glaze with medley of vegetables, which was exactly the type of dish that I expected to see throughout the menu. And by the way, the dish was delicious and the Pork Chop was prepared perfectly. If not for that dish, I would not have been able to choose an item for dinner. Too many restaurants have “diner” menus where they try to be everything but their dishes tend to be just ordinary. Very rarely do you find a place that serves so many different styles of food that is exceptionally prepared and different. Have we not seen enough of Chicken Parmigiana, Buffalo wings and Potato skins?

Back to the Pork Chop dinner: The chop was grilled perfectly and the Risotto was creamy, cheesy and fantastic. The portion size was more than adequate and I left satisfied and full. After eating this, I couldn’t help wonder why they choose not to explore this style of cooking though out the menu. Do away with the ordinary and make a statement with dishes such as this. Perhaps because I was expecting more of a steak house menu was I disappointed. Maybe the Chef at the George Inn knows more about his clientele than I and thus the wide variety of normal everyday items. I will say this. If everything is prepared like my Pork Chop dinner, than they might be on to something.

Next time your skiing at Mountain Creek, be sure to dine at the George Inn and leave a comment on my site. I would be very interested in your opinion.

The Regular Guy rating  * * *

The George Inn

84 STATE RT94

SOUTH VERNON, NJ 0746

973-827-5758

www.georgeinn1872.com/index.html

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It sucks! Now go away

Posted on November 21, 2011 by slip60

Does every waiter have to ask how everything is less than five minutes after they serve you? Do they not eat out themselves? Can they at least watch you to see if your mouth is full BEFORE they ask you?

Look, all you need to do is walk by me once in awhile and if I need something, or “the food sucks”, I will get your attention. Is the food so bad in these places that waitresses have to ask you how everything is? Shouldn’t it just be fine? After all, it is what we expect when we eat out. I don’t go out thinking “hit or miss, I hope this food’s good”. And one more thing. Tell me your name. That’s not reserved for costly restaurants. That way when you disappear, I can ask the next waiter to find you, just in case “it sucks”.

Just one man’s opinion

The Regular Guy

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Tuc-a-tee

Posted on October 31, 2011 by slip60

Things that change with age..part one

Stop tucking in that tee shirt! Why in Gods name do men begin tucking in their tee shirts when they get older. Did you ever see any man between teenager and thirty nine years old tuck his tee? Man, tucking that tee makes your pants look like they are up to your neck. And besides that, do we really need to see your beer belly hang over your belt buckle? Check out those pics of you when you were younger. I bet you let that tee hang back then, so why the change now? Tucking that tee doesn’t make it a dress shirt either. It is what it is. Tee shirt and jeans with the tee out. Lets keep it that way….

Just one mans opinion!

The Regular Guy

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Ian’s Tropical Grill, Jensen Beach Fl

Posted on October 25, 2011 by slip60

More often than not, I find myself in a cookie cutter   style restaurant. So many of them seem to be copied examples of Fridays, Applebees or some kind of pseudo sports bar/restaurant. As hard as it can be to find them, I try to locate restaurants that have the owners imprint on it. Style of decor, interesting  menu choices,  great spices and flavors in the dishes and just plain god given creativity.

Ian’s hits the nail on the head!

From the moment you arrive you know that you will be experiencing something different. When you walk up to the entrance, you immediately notice that this is a house turned restaurant, and its outside patio area was probably some child’s playground at one time. A backyard that once possibly housed a sand box has been replaced with a wonderful outside dining area, with lush palms and soft light. Inside, dining room booths are draped in sheer fabric which gives a sense of privacy over alternative table seating.

Our waitress immediately brought us menus, ice cold water( filtered and served in a glass carafe and placed on our table) and bread. As much as I hate having to decide on what to order because there are too many things I would like to try, I hate it even more when I can’t find anything on the menu that captures my attention. The former being the case here as Ian’s provides you with so many choices of seafood dishes that you find your self bargaining with your table mate to try to convince her to order the other dish you wanted. That being said, we ordered the baby greens salad and sesame seared edamame to start and Day Boat Scallops and Pan Seared Grouper for entrees.

When the Edamame arrived we were surprised to see the beans out of the casing. The presentation of the seared beans in a miso butter with pistachio’s lent itself more to a side dish of vegetables than an appetizer. We decided to add them to our dinner dish later rather that scoop them onto a side dish to eat as an appetizer. Although what we felt was an awkward way to eat an app they are very delicious and did add significantly to our dinner another great flavor. The salad portion although fresh and tasty wasn’t enough to satisfy and could have used more of the advertised cranberries and walnuts.

Dinner on the other hand was incredible. Flavor wise, it was second to none. The blending of spices, fruits, and textures of each dish was superbly done and masterful. Quite to my surprise, did I ever expect such creative cooking in Jensen Beach. The Day Scallops were crunchy and when combined with the Raspberry Coulis and Mashed Vanilla Sweet Potatoes, it was a flavor explosion. My dish, the Grouper was even better. Served over sauteed Spinach and a Marscapone and fresh Mozzarella Cheese Polenta, that was so creamy and delicious and topped with a Mango salsa.  As great as the Polenta was, I would have preferred less of it and more of the Grouper, as it is one of my favorite fish. All in all, the meal was outstanding and I look forward to my next trip to Florida and a second visit to Ian’s.

One last note. We were coerced into trying the Chocolate Pate with Raspberry Sauce for dessert and if you do you won’t be disappointed. This extremely dense, rich dark chocolate served with fresh Strawberries and whipped Cream, will satisfy you and put the exclamation point on your evenings meal. The coffee wasn’t bad either!

So check out Ian’s Tropical Grill when in the Jensen Beach or Stuart area.

The Regular Guy Rating * * * *

Update as of February 14th 2012

Ian’s has moved to a new location. My wife and I will be dining there this evening, for our Valentines dinner. See the contact information listed below.

Ian’s Tropical Grill
2875 SE Ocean Blvd.
Stuart, FL 34996 

772-334-4563
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Cheap accomplishment for Met fans

Posted on September 29, 2011 by slip60

Jose Reyes watches from the dugout after pulling himself from the Reds game.

Jose Reyes blew it. He should have followed in the great Ted Williams footsteps .

Met fans don’t really get much to cheer about unless its every 15-20 years. The last big thing we had was 1986. Yesterday could have been a shiny moment, although not grand, but still something to cheer about after another horrible season.

Jose Reyes won the National league batting crown which for those of you not in the know, means he hit for a higher batting average than anyone else in his league. Not an easy thing to do and especially if you are a NY Met. There has never been a NY Met to win the National league crown. I believe the last Met to get close was Cleon Jones in 1969. Sounds like a pretty good accomplishment for a Met but indeed it did not come without controversy.

Jose Reyes chose to take himself out of the game after getting a bunt single in the first inning, so as to preserve his lead in the standings and make it very difficult for the next closest hitter to catch him. Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers was that hitter. He needed to go 3-4 in his final game to overtake Reyes. Knowing that , Reyes chose not to chance taking extra at bats. Bush league as some might say.

Ted Williams, when faced with the possibility of hitting .400 chose to play in both games of a double header instead of sitting out and letting his average remain at .400. That is what Reyes should have done. Earn it. Make it right and don’t cop out. Real accomplishments should be earned if they are to mean anything. Too bad for Braun, that he really never had a fair chance to go up against Reyes for at least four at bats.

Being a Met fan it only makes me feel worse. It seems that even our best players rarely do the right thing. I guess it really isn’t so bad after if I compare it to the self destruction of two of our best ballplayers, Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, back in the 80’s. Those two guys really killed Met fans.

Sometimes its not what you accomplish in life, but it’s the character you show in trying, that really makes people admire you…..

Just one man’s opinion…

The Regular Guy

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Dock of the Bay, Alexandria Bay NY

Posted on September 22, 2011 by slip60

Sitting on the dock of the bay…(I couldn’t resist doing that).

Trips to places that are quite a distance away by car, can sometimes take between 25%-50% longer by motorcycle. Taking a ride from the New Jersey shore to the most beautiful place on earth( as my friend swears), the 1000 Islands in NY, took close to 10 hours.

After a ride like that, we tend to be tired and hungry. Most often we leave the bikes and walk or taxi to a restaurant that serves alcohol and hopefully good food.  On this trip we found the Dock of the Bay.

You can’t help but find this place. Smoke pours out of the outdoor slow cooker, and draws your attention as you walk past. Southern BBQ (as advertised on their signage), goes hand in hand with motorcycling and beer, so its our duty to eat in such a place.

I really love slow cooked anything. Pork, brisket, chicken, ribs and steak are all favorites and some times hard to decide between. So tonight I asked if I could have a sampler plate of my own as opposed to the one offered on the menu. I wanted BBQ Chicken, Pulled Pork AND Ribs. Along with that I asked for cornbread, cole slaw and baked beans, and when the plate arrived I was not disappointed.

One half chicken, one half rack of ribs and what looked like 12 ozs of pulled pork, a big honkin piece of corn bread , cole slaw and a side of homemade baked beans later I was ready for bed. Food coma from an overdose of BBQ. Good thing we walked into town because I needed the exercise just to move all that food down.  But seriously, the food was delicious and far exceeded my expectations.

By chance, the next evening we met up with the owner of the Dock outside of another restaurant. Barb, as she called herself, recognized us from her place and came over to say hello. Not a shy girl is Barb. She had us laughing and joking around and left us with quite an impression. I promised I would review her place, so if you find yourself in the “most beautiful place in the world”, stop by the Dock, ask for Barb, and tell her the Regular Guy she met outside Cavallario’s, sent you.

The Regular Guy rating * * * 1/2

Dock of the Bay

2 James Street

Alexandria Bay, NY 13607-1310

315-482-7630

 

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Can you please pick that up?

Posted on September 2, 2011 by slip60

When I was a kid, I once heard my mom say to her friend that she shouldn’t lift a heavy item. Your thinking “that doesn’t sound so bad “, but, aha, there’s more. She followed that with a scary suggestion that this woman’s “uterus will fall out!”

Wow! What the hell is that? I don’t think I was more than 10 yrs old but that sure sounded bad to me. What the hell is a uterus? Did I have one of those? I lifted some heavy things. Was I going to lose something through my ass? Next time I saw my friends, I had to ask if any of them knew what the heck a uterus is. Well as it turned out we weren’t so up on the female anatomy as we thought we were. Sure we knew the important parts breast, butt, the female flower….you know all the stuff that mattered to us, but a uterus? And the fact that it might just “fall out”. I remember thinking that I was glad I was a guy cause it didn’t seem like much more than a good bowel movement was coming out of me.

So fast forward to the present. I find myself laughing today when I tell women at work not to lift heavy things because their uterus might fall out. They laugh and say that won’t happen, but I tell them I don’t want to be the one present to witness the event if it does! After all, am I the one that s going to have to have to pick it up, bag it and carry it to the hospital so they can put it back in? Hell I don’t think I have it in me toss it in my car and bring it with us. Its not like a finger that you can throw in a bag of ice and put it on the dashboard. If you witnessed your child’s birth than you know just how messy those things can be! Seriously, does it really “fall out”? I recently heard a story about a guy who pushed so hard during a visit to the john, that his intestine fell out. Really, a friend of mine drove him to the hospital and watched the doctor push it back in. Holy crap man!

So for future reference, don’t let your woman pick up heavy items.  Unless you have a pooper scooper or something else handy to pick up that uterus when it falls out you better carry those grocery bags from now on!

Just one man’s opinion!

The Regular Guy

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Sum, Sum, Summer time Music

Posted on August 28, 2011 by slip60

The Jersey shore is a great place to listen to outdoor concerts during our beautiful summer nights.

Listening to music when combined with the cool breeze off the bay water and the warm summer night, makes for a great way to spend an evening. Grab a cooler, some beach chairs and a couple of sandwiches and head out to boogie to some of the local talent while enjoying the outdoors.

I can’t get enough of these concerts but sadly we only get to experience them for a couple of short months here at the shore. It is hard to imagine why we don’t have these from May through October, because the weather here is great during this time of year. I figure that local politicians cant find the money to fund this series longer  or they haven’t got a clue as to how enjoyable it is for the community. Either way, our town should be able to take advantage of this for at least two seasons a year.

Recently we listened to  Jimmy and the Parrots, who are a local cover band that plays a lot of Jimmy Buffet and easy listening classics. Although I have seen them in years past and thought they were pretty entertaining, this evenings vocal performance was terrible. I cant remember their singing being so off key. Not surprisingly and even with the bad vocals coming from the stage, the audience cheered and sang along with the band until the very end.

Summer has now moved into its last leg with autumn being a few cool nights away. That’s too bad, because it’s a sign that the best of the summer music will be fading away even sooner. For those who are lucky enough, it’s almost time to head to warmer weather down south, grab a chair or two, get outside and pick up on where the music has left off.

The Regular Guy

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Spiaggia e Luna, Barnegat NJ (Part II)

Posted on August 15, 2011 by slip60

Back in April of 2010 I reviewed this restaurant and as I have come to understand, Spiaggia is now celebrating their 2nd Anniversary, which seems to be a good reason to revisit one of my favorite places.

Consistency of food  is perhaps the hardest thing to achieve and maintain in a restaurant. More times than not I have dined out and had a great experience on my first visit only to return another time to be disappointed. Over the last two years, I have eaten here at least a dozen times between both the pizza side and the restaurant side.  My first three visits to Spiaggia and the restaurant side, were consistently great but it seems that since that first year, portion sizes have gotten smaller, prices have risen and the once flavorful dishes have now become just so-so.

My favorite dish has always been Fra Diavolo Festa because I love the combination of seafood in a hot and spicy tomato sauce. Originally this was the reason that I returned time and time again and on this visit it would be my test dish to see if things are still great here at Spiaggia. What I found was that the portion of pasta below the medley of seafood is no longer too much to finish and the spicy sauce is just slightly above marinara on the tomato scale. What once was a wonderful  experience is now just an average dish, one that you might find in a pizzeria restaurant. I will say that I asked to sub shrimp for the scallops and I did have enough shrimp to satisfy. What is lacking is the spicy zip that you should taste in every bite from the Fra Diavolo sauce. It seems to me that the sauce is nothing more than Marinara with some crushed red pepper.  Not the dish that kept me coming back for more.

My wife ordered the Spiaggia Land and Sea( Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail) and for $30 you should be wowed in a every bite. Served with white rice, she asked if they would sub the vegetable risotto that came with another dish in its place. This was a good move because the risotto was creamy and cheesy and helped to make the meal better than its white rice counter part might have. The filet was just like you would make on your outdoor grill and the lobster tail was just broiled and served.

The thing that seems to be missing here is the little something extra that puts some restaurants over the top while others are just okay.  A case in point could be made for the house salad. The greens are served chilled and the house dressing used to be one that made you want seconds. The homemade Lemon vinaigrette wasn’t as tangy, lemony and tasty as it used to be. Something has changed here, whether it is the chef or the recipes due to higher costs and/or different quality of ingredients.  Okay dinners are fine if you are in a pizzeria and the pricing reflects that. But with the prices of appetizers averaging around $12 each and entree prices average or higher than neighboring establishments, you expect the WOW factor every time. Someone at Spiaggia isn’t paying attention to details like they used to when they first opened. The portion size, seasoning and finishing touches that make the difference and were once noticeable, are now missing.

Two years in, one great year and now one good year. Not the way to be heading especially when people are in a struggling economy and they are cautious where they will be spending their hard earned dollars.

Regular Guy rating * * *

Spiaggia e Luna

696 E Bay Ave

Barnegat NJ

609-660-2000

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