The Asia Trip: Udon in Kyoto

While in Kyoto we stopped by this udon joint for some cheap eats. Udon is a fairly thick wheat-flour noodle that is typically served hot in a soupy soy sauce broth. This particular place was found on the main thoroughfare in Kyoto.

News: McDonald's Angus Snack Wraps Roll Out Nationally

Today, Angus Snack Wraps are officially a menu item at McDonald's restaurants across the nation.  The national roll out features Angus Snack Wraps in three varieties, mirroring the Angus Third Pounders: Deluxe, Mushroom & Swiss, and Bacon & Cheese. The price per Wrap is $1.99.

Each of the three Angus Snack Wraps share the same base: half an Angus third-pound patty wrapped in a soft flour tortilla. From there, the three choices differ:

Deluxe contains red tomato, green leaf lettuce, red onions, crinkle cut pickles, American cheese, mayonnaise, and yellow mustard.

Bacon & Cheese brings red ring onions, crinkle cut pickles, a strip of bacon, American cheese, ketchup, and yellow mustard

Finally, Mushroom & Swiss goes simple with sauteed mushrooms, Swiss cheese and mayonnaise.

Nutritional info after the jump.

Review: Sonic - Onion Rings

Sonic's Onion Rings are hand-breaded and deep-fried which means they're made completely in house and are advertised as "made fresh daily." A medium will run you $2.19 while a large goes for $2.99.

Review: El Pollo Loco - Guacamole Grilled Chicken Sandwich

The other sandwich to El Pollo Loco's Grilled Chicken Sandwich duo, the Guacamole Grilled Chicken Sandwich differs from the Jalapeno version in that it substitutes a glop of guacamole instead of jalapenos, Southwest sauce, and a slice of cheese. The price remains the same at $4.29 per.

Brand Eating Giveaway Drawing: Sonic Ice Cream Social and Lunch Boxes!

Happy August! In order to help you (well, three of you anyway) beat the heat, Sonic Drive-In was once again kind enough to sponsor Brand Eating's latest giveaway drawing. The prizes this time around are:

- One Grand Prize: an ice cream social at Sonic for you and your friends and family (up to 10 people) - basically they'll send you a $50 MySonic card to fund the social.

- Two Second Prizes: A Sonic Lunch Box(!) filled with a "Keep it Real" ice cream t-shirt, a $5 MySonic card, and some other goodies. That's right! You can be the envy of all your friends with a nifty Sonic Lunch Box!

Sunday Funny: Nando's - "Last Minutes of Ramadan"

Nando's is a Portuguese-style chicken chain originating from South Africa, but with locations in 34 countries, including a couple in the U.S. Ramandan is the Islamic month of fasting.

Review: Burger King - Tacos

Burger King's Tacos seem to be an "at-participating-locations-only" item and doesn't appear on the Burger King website.  At two for $1.49, they're 50 cents more than Jack in the Box's Taco for basically the same item.

News: McDonald's Testing Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

McDonald's is testing Frozen Strawberry Lemonade as a possible McCafe offering. According to Advertising Age, the frozen drink is being tested in a few markets here and there, including Michigan and Austin, TX.

Seemingly most similar to Taco Bell's Frutista Freeze, the drink appears to be an icy slush of lemonade with a swirl of strawberry sauce or syrup. Frozen Strawberry Lemonade are made with the same machines as Smoothies and Frappes and, my guess is they might be priced the same as well. That would be $2.29 for a 12-ounce small, $2.79 for a 16-ounce medium, and $3.29 for a 22-ounce large.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Chick-n-Strips

Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips feature tender chicken breast strips marinated and lightly hand breaded before deep-fried in peanut oil. They typically come in 3- or 4-piece boxes, but are also available in 1- or 2-piece sizes in Kid's Meals. A three-piece box like the one I bought runs for $3.55 in these parts.

Review: McDonald's - Chipotle BBQ Bacon Angus Snack Wrap

Since they've already wrapped their trademark sandwich in a tortilla, McDonald's has now moved on to wrapping their premium line of burgers in the same fashion. While they're not slated to roll out nationally until August 10th, McDonald's Angus Snack Wraps are already available at some McDonald's restaurants, including, as I found out when I stopped for fries, mine.

The foil wrapper might say "Bacon & Cheese" but that's only because the Chipotle BBQ isn't a regular menu item.

The Asia Trip: Kyoto Mochi Shop

Quite the morning crowd, no? They're all waiting to buy different types of mochi, a Japanese dessert made with glutenous rice pounded into paste and formed into a shape, usually a ball with different sweet fillings, usually some type of bean, especially red bean.

Review: El Pollo Loco - Jalapeno Grilled Chicken Sandwich

El Pollo Loco's Jalapeño Grilled Chicken Sandwich features a marinated boneless chicken breast, pepper jack cheese, sliced jalapeño peppers, a shredded blend of Romaine and iceberg lettuce, pico de gallo salsa, and a spicy Southwest sauce served on a soft, dense, grilled Telera roll. The Jalapeño Grilled Chicken Sandwich carries a premium price tag of $4.29.

News: Whataburger - Free Burger for Wearing Orange - August 3rd

Whataburger is celebrating its 60th birthday tomorrow, and is offering its fans a free Whataburger between the hours of 5pm and 8pm if they show up wearing orange. Dubbed an "Orange Night Out," the offer is available to dine-in customers only and only at participating restaurants.

When: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010, 5pm - 8pm

Where: Participating Whataburger restaurant locations.

Why: Free Whataburger if you wear orange.

News: Jack in the Box - New Breakfast Pita

Making sure to serve eggs, bacon, ham, and cheese stuffed in all possible forms of starch, Jack in the Box now serves a Breakfast Pita. A whole grain pita stuffed with the aforementioned ingredients is yours for the eating for a suggested price of $2.69 and is served with fire-roasted salsa on the side.

As always, breakfast is available all day and all night at Jack in the Box. And, like anything with both ham and bacon in it, there's a lot of salt involved.

You can see how much after the jump.

Review: Taco Bell - Cantina Tacos

Taco Bell's new Cantina Tacos are Taco Bell's take on the street taco and are available priced at $1.49 for one, $2.79 for two, or $4.99 for three and a large drink. Like the basic street taco, corn tortillas are folded around a simple filling of your choice of meat, onions, and cilantro.

News: New "Cantina Tacos" at Taco Bell

You probably know them as street tacos or just plain tacos at any Mexican taqueria ("taco shop"), but Taco Bell has dubbed them "Cantina Tacos" and they're the newest addition to the Taco Bell menu.

Billed as their "finest taco ever," Taco Bell's Cantina Tacos pretty much come in the standard street taco with two grilled, warm corn tortillas filled with your choice of meat (marinated steak, marinated white meat chicken, or shredded carnitas), diced onions, and chopped cilantro paired with a wedge of lime on the side.

The new tacos are available individually, in a two-taco bundle, or a three-taco combo.

News: Pizza Hut Simplifies Pizza Pricing

Starting this month, Pizza Hut restaurants nationwide feature a new simplified and lower pricing scheme. The announced prices are $8 for a medium with up to three toppings, $10 for a large with up to three toppings and $2 more for any specialty pizza. There's an additional charge for Stuffed Crust that varies with location.

I guess it makes a lot of sense to just have the regular menu prices reflect promotional pricing for Pizza Hut. In my experience, there are always coupons (especially with online ordering where the coupons are part of the ordering interface) or promos for pizza to take advantage and few people I know ever buy pizza at menu price.

This new pricing structure saves people from leafing through their coupons, and makes it easier to order pizza from Pizza Hut. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Sunday Funny: Jack in the Box - "Sampler Trio"

I remember this commercial from a while back. While the concept is preposterous, it's still entertaining and pretty memorable.

Review: Del Taco - Regular Taco

Del Taco's Regular Taco is similar to Taco Bell's Crunchy Taco except not as liberally seasoned, and it's 30 cents cheaper! The Regular Taco features a hard taco shell with seasoned ground beef, shredded lettuce, and grated Cheddar cheese inside. It's only 59 cents a taco and on Tuesday nights (i.e. Taco Tuesdays), you can get three Regular Tacos for $1.09 (it used to be only 99 cents but, you know, inflation and all).

Review: Baskin-Robbins - Cappuccino Blast

To me, Baskin-Robbins' Cappuccino Blast is the original ice-blended coffee drink, dating back to summers spent at my cousin's in Oregon. I would walk over to the local Baskin-Robbins and enjoy one many-a-time on a hot day. Currently (at least in the Los Angeles area), Baskin-Robbins is running a summer promotion where you can get a "small" Cappuccino Blast for $2.99 (16 oz), a "medium" for $3.99 (24 oz), or a "large" for $4.99 (32 oz!).