![]() Hello Fredonia Food Fans! If you’ve been following my journey from the beginning, you know that my mission was to evaluate the food at the dining halls here at SUNY Fredonia. Therefore, the focus of this whole entire blog has been on the food offered at the three main dining halls: Cranston Marche, Willy c’s, and The Blue Devil Grill. Yet, I realized I have been doing you all an injustice.... Not to get all melodramatic here but in my excitement, I seemed to have forgotten we have cafes on campus that offer alternate dining options. I feel that especially due to all the café closures highlighted some of the food they offer is crucial! The cafes offer quick and easy access to more vegan friendly food. But you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy their offerings! Sometimes their location just makes grabbing a bagel, pb & j, a wrap, or some pasta more convenient for scheduling purposes. The lines are almost always shorter than the regular dining halls, making for quick and easy access to food. Now enough about my thoughts on the cafes. Let’s get to what you all came here for: the food. Today I tried the Mason Café’s overnight oats. Let’s talk food! Taste: One of the things I love about food offered at the cafes here is that every product has a printed sticker with its ingredients on it. Not only does this help those that struggle with food allergies, but it helps me in my case too. For these overnight oats I know exactly what is in them and what I should be tasting. The label listed the following ingredients: oats, berries, vanilla soy yogurt, almond milk, almonds, maple syrup, and chia seeds. At first bite the dominating flavor is that of the berries. Their sweetness dominates your tastebuds. Yet, after another bite one also notices the slight earth flavor of the oats. The tartness of the yogurt provides a nice contrast to the very sweet berries. The almonds sprinkled on top add a hint of—well nuttiness I suppose. The maple notes from the syrup also work their way in a tiny bit. The chia seeds didn’t really have a taste, but I think this is more because of the fact that they really don’t have a taste and has nothing to do with their use in the dish. In general, most of the flavors of this dish were detectable and even worked together to make the whole thing delectable. See what I did there? Kind of a rhyme... Ok, anyways..... Overall rate: 9/10 Texture: I really think this was the most texturally interesting item I reviewed so far on this blog. Everyone is aware of the consistency of oatmeal. It’s gloppy and wet and just resembles mush. The berries added on top accentuated the oatmeal by remaining liquid like, but also adding to the heartiness of the bite. You feel like you are getting more of a complete bite since the berry topping still includes some whole berries that require more chewing. I think the addition of milk and yogurt also elevates this from your regular oatmeal. The overnight oat adopt a more creamy texture because of it. Finally, the almonds on top add that much needed crunch factor. Overall rate: 9/10 Doneness: The beauty about this dish is it doesn’t need cooked. You hear me! That’s right folks. In this case oatmeal DOESN’T need cooked. You may be questioning how this could be or you may be questioning why I am acting like none of you have heard about the concept of overnight oats. I will continue anyway... Overnight oats require nothing but a refrigerator. The milk allows the oats to take on a texture identical to that of when they get cooked on the stove or microwave. Since you don’t have to cook this dish, I am going to do something that is a rarity on this page, especially in this category. ****Drum Roll Please**** I am giving these overnight oats a perfect score in the doneness category! Overall rate: 10/10 Photogenic Nature: I think this dish is one of the most photogenic food items I have encountered this semester. I like the fact that you can see all its components. The pale almonds are clearly visible on top, and the vibrant redness of the berries immediately draw your eye. As you move your eyes down you can see the tan oats, while also acknowledging the fact that they have a white hue—no doubt from the milk and vanilla yogurt. You can also see dark flecks in the oat layer that are the chia seeds. Aside from being able to identify all the components, this dish just looks pretty. The vibrant nature of the berry layer just makes me taste sweetness without even having a bite in my mouth. Also, the white inside of the almonds really pop against the dark berries. The whole picture just makes me drool. Overall rate: 10/10 At the end of this post, I must confess something to you all.... Now this is something that I should have said at the beginning, but I decided to wait until now. This way you got through the whole post. I...ate... these overnight oats...for LUNCH. I know who am I? Am I a monster? Maybe. I know these are usually a breakfast food, but I was in a rush and had to do it. You may all boo me accordingly. But, if you agree with me that breakfast food can be eaten at any time in the day for ANY meal, let me know! I need to know that I am not alone!
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![]() It's 10:30 AM on a Saturday morning. You roll out of bed and your stomach is growling fiercely. You could eat another cold Pop-Tart like you do during the week, but you’re not in the mood. What do you do? Well, here you have three options: 1)Go to Starbucks 2)Go to Cranston Marche 3)Go off campus This past Saturday I had no intentions of braving the rain and going out to my car. The Starbucks line was also out the door per usual so Cranston it was! Say hello to Breakfast Pizza! Let’s talk FOOD! Taste: Picture the pizza I talked about last week but rewrite it a little. The notion of no red sauce was the same, as was the addition of some cheddar cheese, and even the inclusion of bacon but that’s where the similarities end. This pizza was a full course breakfast with meat and eggs. It had cheddar cheese, bacon, sausage, and eggs all on a crispy crust. In general, the eggs had the usual not quite normal but not quite bad taste. That is: they didn’t taste like fresh cracked but they tasted way above McDonald’s. The cheese also shown through. I could taste the slight tang of the cheddar. The smokiness and slight maple flavor from the sausage also carried out. The bacon however did taste very oily. But, the whole thing was tied together with a sausage gravy sauce that made sure everything was kissed with a slit touch of that sausage flavor. Most of the flavors carried though, but they were all basic. I didn’t have any overarching flavor. I also didn’t have any significant spice like pepper or even hot sauce which I think was drizzled on top, but I definitely couldn’t taste. Overall rate: 8/10. Texture: I bit into this and panicked. I though the egg on the pizza was raw. White goo was dripping off the pizza...... I soon realized it was the gravy-based sauce. I think in general less is more with that. The gravy clearly didn’t thicken and honestly gave me a heart attack. The eggs were actually cooked fine. They were a little rubbery as opposed to being fluffy, but one expects that when the pieces of pizza sit under a warmer. The sausage was very soft and easy to chew. As for the bacon, it was a bit more difficult to chew. It was very stringy and a little greasy. It seemed like a lot of oil was glistening over its surface as I looked at each piece. Changing gears to the cheese: perfection. Who’s surprised? I love cheese. You know this by now. The pizza crust was also cooked well. The crust was crispy enough, but not burnt. All this taken into account: the gravy rubbed me the wrong way and the bacon’s greasiness was a bit too much to handle. Overall rate: 7/10 Doneness: As discussed earlier, the eggs were cooked decently. Despite my previous scare, they were not runny. They were soft and easy to chew as well. The sausage didn’t seem raw either. The pieces I saw were all brown with no pink. As for the bacon, I would argue I personally don’t like the way it was cooked. The amount of grease and oil on it made me a little skeptical. I think it could have been cooked with less oil or even drained of some fat. The cheese was melted perfectly and covered all the contents with no issues. The crust was also cooked in full without being burnt. The gravy base definitely could’ve been a little thicker so I didn’t think I was eating raw egg. Overall rate: 8/10 Photogenic Nature: This photo is definitely one of the ones that shows the whole of its components well. You can see the eggs on top, along with the bacon and sausage, all covered by a blanket of cheese, and resting on a browned crust. You can even see the gravy sauce sticking out of the corner on the bottom. Also: the red (maybe hot sauce) I addressed can be spotted on the top corner right below the crust. In truth this may be one of the best pictures that I used in this blog. This pizza is just very photogenic. Overall rate: 10/10 I may have been a bit hard on Cranston for this one. In truth, Breakfast Pizza is one of my favorite dishes to make when I am in my own kitchen. I don’t use the gravy sauce, so I think it kind of took me back at first. I also am particular about my bacon. I always drain it super well when I am done. What do you guys think: was I too hard on them? Does anyone else have a recipe for breakfast pizza they think I’d like better than Cranston’s or even my own? If you do, please share! I love the idea of breakfast pizza: breakfast for dinner AND on top of that you could work in having pizza for every meal. ![]() Picture it, it’s game day and your buddies have two words for: pizza and Buffalo wings. Now imagine these two legendary staples combined in one epic bite. That’s the idea behind Buffalo chicken pizza. This week I went to Willies to try this seemingly epic combination and with out further ado.... Let’s talk FOOD! Taste: Based on the little informational sign at the dining hall kiosk, I figured out that this dish had a bleu cheese base, Buffalo chicken, a cheddar and mozzarella blend, and bacon. And if wings, pizza, and bacon don’t scream “America” I don’t know what does. In terms of taste, the chicken didn’t register Buffalo. There was little to no sauce on the chicken pieces on the pizza. In fact, the bleu cheese sauce overpowered the chicken a lot. That being said, the robust flavor of the bleu cheese paired well with the bacon pieces. I figured it would, as many burgers have the bacon and bleu cheese combination. As for the cheese—you all will not be shocked to know—I loved it. I love cheese. You all definitely know this by now. I also noticed there was some sort of celery or green onion. I did not taste this, but it was there. In the end I think the ultimate flavor profile was cheese. The only two prominent flavors were bleu cheese and cheddar, with maybe a hint of bacon. That being said, the pizza was advertised as Buffalo chicken, so you expect that to be the star of the dish. For this reason, the rate had to be knocked down. Overall rate: 6/10. Texture: Call me a hater, but I don’t like the texture of many red pizza sauces. It gets too thick and for lack of a better term: too chunky. So, for me, I preferred the bleu cheese base. The sauce was thinner, and I didn’t find myself overwhelmed by gobs of sauce that appear and take over the bite. The bacon also added a nice crunch to the dish, as did the green onion or celery or whatever green flecks were on the pizza. Unfortunately, the downfall again was the chicken. This definitely could’ve been because the pizza was already cooked and just sits in a warmer, but the chicken seemed a tad rubbery. Overall rate: 5/10 Doneness: Honestly, I feel bad because I’ve been tearing into this pizza and not in a “I’m enjoying it and stuffing my face way”. I think this category is a bit less dramatic in terms of rate. The pizza crust was crispy. The bacon wasn’t raw or rubbery. The cheese was melted nicely. The chicken on the pizza wasn’t pink when you bit into it, and bleu cheese wasn’t and can’t be undercooked. But this pizza wasn’t good enough in other categories to give it a ten, or even a nine. Overall rate: 8/10 Photogenic Nature: I would first like to point out that the tip of the pizza is missing. That is my own fault. I took a bite before remembering the picture. Nevertheless, I feel it detracts from the photo quality. In addition, the cheese appears cold and reheated/hardened. It didn’t taste too bad, but the picture definitely doesn’t scream hot and fresh. Also, I feel the color scheme is kind of unsatisfying. The whole thing looks brown. The bacon and chicken blend in with the baked cheese and at first glance you really can’t tell this isn’t regular cheese pizza. The only color comes from one random sticking up onion or celery—it’s yet to be determined—piece. The only consolation is that because I took a bite, you can see some of the bleu cheese sauce peeking out of the bottom. Overall rate: 5/10 Do you think I was too harsh with my rating? Do you guys agree that the idea of combing two legendary game day foods like pizza and wings sounds better than its execution? More importantly: does anyone have any idea if the green things are onions or celery or what? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. But, seriously if you know what the green things are tell me....I need to know! ![]() ¡Hola mis amigos y bienvenidos! Don’t worry, you didn’t stumble on the wrong blog page. Last week was Mexican week at the Blue Devil Grill and I’m welcoming all you back with the latest food review. One of my favorites from Mexican week has to be the basic quesadilla. I like that you can add meat or keep it simple with some cheese and other fixings. And so, without further ado.... Let’s talk FOOD! Taste: As one can tell by reading my previous posts, I like cheese. Correction: I LOVE cheese. Often my reviews identify the beautiful, melted cheese as the highlight of any dish. This quesadilla is no different. In fact, quesadillas are supposed to be judged by their cheese. Its basic definition is “a tortilla filled with cheese”. All the meat and fixings are extra. I kept things basic and opted for cheese on a white tortilla with rice and sour cream. At first bite you get a nice cheddar flavor from the cheese. It’s followed by a tangy sour cream note. The rice itself was a little plain, but gives the dish a little more body for a more filling bite. In addition, the rice had a few herbs that I could see, and I could even taste a little bit. The herbs gave an almost peppery sort of taste to make sure the rice wasn’t totally bland. The tortilla itself had no taste like last week’s tortilla on the buffalo chicken wrap. All in all, this definitely gets a higher score than the buffalo chicken wrap. I could taste every piece but the tortilla itself, which in my experience never has much of a taste anyway. Overall rate: 9/10. Texture: In terms of texture, I’m not going to lie I was a little let down. When I make a quesadilla at home, I use a pan and crisp up both sides. This tortilla had no crisp. It was like biting into a raw, uncooked tortilla. This then made it seem a bit rubbery. As for the cheese, it was perfectly melted. The Grill begins each quesadilla with a bottom layer of pre-melted cheese, but the extra cheese I added was also melted due to the heat from the rice. The rice itself was also cooked well. In the past I have gotten rice in a quesadilla and had hard, probably uncooked granules that basically break your tooth if you try to chew them. This quesadilla had nothing of the sort. All the rice was soft and easy to chew. As for the sour cream, it was perfectly placed, coating all the contents of the quesadilla. The tortilla itself is the only thing that brought down the dish. Overall rate: 8/10 Doneness: I think in this instance, doneness is going to closely relate to the texture category. As I already said the rice was cooked enough so that each piece was soft and easily chewed. In my mind this means it was fully cooked. The sour cream doesn’t need cooked, and the cheese was fully melted as described above. So that leaves our tortilla. Now I’ll spare you a reiteration of the letdown I experienced with the tortilla and its lack of crunch, but just know that this constitutes as doneness or lack of in this case. Therefore, again the tortilla is the main reason for the score in this section. The rate may seem a little harsh but, the tortilla makes up half of the quesadilla. Overall rate: 5/10 Photogenic Nature: I love quesadillas because as you all know I love cheese. This is why the picture I took pains me. Looking at this picture I am not enticed to eat this. I am not dreaming about the ooey-gooey cheese in the middle. I am looking at the picture and thinking it looks pretty bleak and arguably a little grey even. Cutting out the melodrama, this quesadilla doesn’t even look like a quesadilla. Really all that’s super obvious in the photo is that the dish contains a white tortilla. If you squint your eyes and look super close you can see some cheese poking out and there’s a dot of white in the middle, but that’s it. Honestly in the photo the dot of white could be mayo, sour cream, or even liquid cheese. It’s very unclear. In addition, the lack of brown edges on the tortilla makes the whole thing look more underdone than it actually was (the contents inside were fully cooked). Also, if I hadn’t told you that rice was in it, you wouldn’t know. The rice is lost in the photo. Again, my rate might seem extreme, but the reality is this: out of four ingredients one is highlighted in the photo. The cheese is barely seen, the sour cream has a dot, and the rice is MIA. Overall rate: 5/10 I’m kind of sad that I had to give this quesadilla such low scores in some areas. The scores truly don’t reflect my love for them. Every time its Mexican week at the grill I get one without fail. In fact, I would say that Mexican week is my favorite food week at the Blue Devil Grill. What do you guys think? DO you prefer Mexican week over Italian and Mediterranean at the grill? Let me know what you prefer and maybe I’ll have a new dish to try and review next week. ![]() Hello and welcome back Fredonia Food Fans. Before we dive into the usual food frenzy, I’d like to make a little public service announcement. I have never been one who was into spicy foods. Usually, I can’t go above a mild taco sauce, wing sauce etc. and even then, my lips burn. I mean I’m someone who was almost brought to tears eating a flaming hot Cheeto and quite literally started coughing due to its spice level. I feel as though in reading this review all of this should be kept in mind. And without further ado here it goes: my thoughts on Willy C’s Buffalo Chicken wrap. Let’s talk FOOD! Taste: This buffalo chicken wrap is customizable, meaning that everything but the buffalo chicken is negotiable. I decided to get a white wrap, then add mayo and some mozzarella cheese. If you’ve ever had a tortilla, you know they are pretty bland and honestly don’t taste like much. Essentially it was up to the mayo and cheese to carry the team and accentuate the buffalo chicken. In my opinion the two did not do this. I honestly couldn’t tell there was any cheese on there. I didn’t taste anything but HOT buffalo sauce. In fact, everything else in the wrap became a textural element because the buffalo sauce gave so much of a kick. As I disclosed earlier, I am WEAK when it comes to spice tolerance in food, so I was left with what felt like a fire in my belly, a raw esophagus, and burning lips. Truthfully though, I can’t fault the dish for being too spicy. I knew what I signed up for when I ordered it. My only problem is that I couldn’t taste the cheese or the mayo or anything besides the sauce. Overall rate: 7/10. Texture: I was super confused about the texture of this dish. I ordered this wrap EXTRA toasted, but the result was a soggy tortilla. I really think this had something to do with the excess amount of buffalo sauce you can see spilling out all over the paper. It had the same effect on the tortilla as spilling water on your printed out homework worksheet: both are undesirable. But I did like that the buffalo sauce seemed to mix with the mayo for a thicker sauce in the interior of the wrap. Also, the chicken was easy to chew and soft enough to bite into without a problem. Overall rate: 5/10 Doneness: The outside of the wrap was the only thing about this that wasn’t cooked in the best possible way. When I order extra toasted, I expect some golden-brown action with a nice crunch. I didn’t get either of those things. The chicken itself was cooked well as it wasn’t tough or chewy or raw (to my knowledge). I’d even venture to say the cheese was cooked well, since it was so melted, I didn’t even know it was there. Overall rate: 8/10. Photogenic Nature: I think this dish could’ve photographed better. The contents of the wrap are very hard to make out and if I hadn’t known the name of the dish, I don’t think I would’ve known what was in it based on the photo. You can kind of make out a cheese or mayo mixture on the top underneath the first layer of the wrap, but after that it becomes an orange mass of confusion. Overall rate: 6/10. I would once again like to repeat that my tongue and stomach are about as tolerant of spicy food as a kid told to wait in line at a candy store. Consensus: neither my stomach and tongue nor the child have patience. So, I would recommend considering this post with that unintentional bias in mind. I’m curious: Can you all take the heat? Can you eat a hot Cheeto without losing the feeling in your tongue? Feel free to comment below! ![]() Hello Fredonia Food Fans. After changing it up last week with the “Which is Which” segment I decided to head back to my roots and do a classic food rate again. For this post I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something I normally wouldn’t. Last week Cranston Marche held an event called “Double Burger Day”. With all the hype surrounding the burgers I wanted to get something different. Instead of a burger I went with one of Cranston Marche’s special menu items: Cheeseburger Pasta. Now, let’s talk FOOD! Taste: One of the things I love about this dish is that at first glance I had absolutely no clue what the flavor profile would be. As you can tell by the picture, there was a lot going on with this dish. First, the noodles are covered in a cheddar cheese sauce, so you get the creamy robust flavor of that. Then you get the hamburger meat which combines with the noodles for a nice hamburger helper childhood meals vibe. But this old school flavor is elevated by the inclusion of chopped onions mixed throughout as well as scallions (the green cylinders) sprinkled on top. Both of these work together to add a note of tang to the dish. The final component in this dish was the cooked tomatoes. I liked these because they added a touch of sweetness to contrast a potent onion flavor. Personally, that potent onion flavor took the dish down a notch for me. I know some people love onions and if you want to eat it like an apple be my guest. I will stand over here not really enjoying the way they taste. Overall rate: 7/10 Texture: I really appreciated the variety of texture in this dish. The noodles were cooked well and were easy to chew. The hamburger meat crumbled pleasantly when you put it on the fork. The crunch of the onions and the scallions offset the softness of both the meat and the noodles as well as the tomatoes which were softened from being cooked. I didn’t love biting into raw scallions. Again, this could have something to do with my vendetta against onions, but I did end up picking a lot of them off the pasta. Overall rate: 8/10 Doneness: I really have no complaints about the doneness of this dish. Like I said earlier, the noodles were well done. Also, you can see by looking at the picture the meat is brown in color which means it was cooked thoroughly. In addition, the tomatoes and onions mixed throughout the noodles weren’t too tough to chew. The onions held some of their crunch but were softened enough so you didn’t feel like you were biting into a raw carrot. The tomatoes were cooked to the point of being soft, like a pasta noodle consistency. They were also a good balance of being overcooked and tough and being underdone and rubbery. Overall rate: 10/10. Photogenic Nature: Honestly, I was kind of shocked at how well this photo captured the components of the dish. I liked the fact that you could see every ingredient I talked about. The meat is poking out the sides, a tomato and onion made their way out to the forefront and the scallions are cascading over all the noodles that are coated in cheese sauce. I also liked how the angle of the shot allows you to see inside all the nooks and crannies of the pile of pasta. Overall rate: 10/10. All in all, I think it was good that I tried something I never have before. This blog is all about giving your palate experiences with new flavors. After trying this I am curious about your opinions too. Did you try the cheeseburger pasta and if you did: what did you think? Does anybody else struggle with the taste of onions? I have a love-hate relationship with them. Am I the only one? ![]() Welcome back Fredonia Food Fans! Today we are going to do something a little different. Now I know what some of you are probably thinking: *GASP* “No rating food items today???”. And to that I say: “Friends it’s time to introduce a new segment on this blog for today called Which is Which”. Here’s the idea: I am going to post two pictures of the exact same food item from two different dining halls without telling you which is which. I will describe each of them of course, but I won’t go into too much detail, so your guesses remain uninfluenced by my words. In the comment section let me know which is which so we can see who the true Fredonia Food Fans are! The subject today is burgers. That’s right, our focus will be on mouthwatering grilled beef tucked snugly between two halves of a gorgeously fluffy bun, or at least the college equivalent to everything I just described. The burger on the right is technically a cheeseburger with American cheese, lettuce, and pickles. Though the picture doesn’t make it clear, I promise you there is a hamburger patty somewhere in there; it’s just hidden. Our second burger is a regular hamburger with mayo and ketchup hidden under the bun. Before you place your guesses here’s some things to consider when making your choice. First off, look at the bun. Can you tell the difference between the two based on its color? Second, it might be wise to look at the patty itself. Obviously one of them is a bit harder to see, but both are there. Maybe the toppings give you a clue. Both places did have the option to put your own toppings on when these photos were taken. Do you think you know which dining hall each burger is from based on their appearance? Submit your guesses in the comment section below! ![]() Hey there Fredonia Food Fans we are back with another installment of Fredonia Food Fest! So far there’s been a lot of focus on the Williams Center and the two dining halls in there, but today we are going to shift gears and head to Cranston Marche for my absolute favorite Cranston dish which is.... well, I’m not going to come right out and say it. I’ll give you all some hints first. First off, this dish is my favorite because it reminds me of my childhood. Second, the dish is made better by the fact that it isn’t always at Cranston; it’s only there when the menu lists it for the day. Third, the dish is an upgraded version of a fast-food staple. Any guesses? If you guessed chicken nuggets you were correct; however, if you want to get specific, I was referring to Cranston’s popcorn chicken! Now, let’s talk FOOD! Taste: One of the reasons why I love this popcorn chicken so much is because they aren’t just your average breaded chicken nugget. These little nuggets are packed with a flavorful punch that goes beyond Mickey D’s or Burger King. The taste is spicy: almost peppery. Combine this spicy breading with average tasting chicken on the inside and you have immediately elevated something that could’ve been bland. Overall rate: 10/10 Texture: Not only was the taste of the coating good: the texture was also perfect on these bite sized beauties. Each nugget had a very satisfying crunch. When you bit into it the breading would flake off on the plate below if you weren’t careful. Also, the chicken on the inside of each nugget was soft and not chewy which made the whole bite successful. Now I did get like one hard piece of coating that was most likely the result of over cooking, but I can’t dwell on it. Overall rate: 9.5/10. Doneness: The chicken in the interior of each nugget had no trace of pink and was still warmed all the way through. The breading was also crispy without being overdone, except that ONE piece. I’m telling you there always has to be one to ruin it.... Anyways my heart clearly lies with this chicken if you couldn’t tell so I’m still giving it a 9/10. Photogenic Nature: Honestly my mouth waters just looking at this picture, but that could very well be because I’m blinded by my already existing love for popcorn chicken. Ignoring my potential bias if I look at the facts the dish photographed well. I mean the picture highlights the perfectly crispy coating in all its golden-brown glory. You can even see some of the flecks of black pepper from this angle. I will acknowledge that the interior of the nuggets are not visible so that takes us down to a 7/10 since judging chicken follows the same standards as getting to know people: it’s what’s on the inside that counts. I know I wasn’t the most secretive about my love for popcorn chicken in this post, so if any of you love these bite sized pieces of beauty feel free to comment! Even if you don’t like them, comment and tell me why! The beauty of loving food is that everyone has a different palate, so join the conversation! I’m looking forward to hearing from you all. Until next time my Fredonia Food Friends! ![]() Hello again Fredonia Food Fans! So far, you’ve seen a photogenic chicken sandwich and a sub that may or may not have been a Philly cheesesteak, both of which were from Willy C’s. It’s time to change up the dining hall. Today we are back with another menu item from our beautiful campus: pasta. More specifically the dish in question today is the baked ziti from our Blue Devil Grill. That being said, let’s talk FOOD! Taste: As any pasta-aficionado knows this dish is all about the sauce: without it we get bland noodles with no taste. The sauce on this ziti was average. It had a good robust tomato flavor that was acidic while still being sweet, but there wasn’t anything that caught my attention be it good or bad. This flavor profile was also enhanced by the inclusion of meatballs which had a slight garlic flavor that complimented the acidic nature of the sauce. All in all, this reminded me of the classic spaghetti and meatballs: a basic straightforward dish through and through. So, rate: 6/10. Texture: The noodles themselves were perfectly al dente, which is a food network word that means I could stick my fork in the things and chew them without any problems. The meatballs were also soft, but a few did seem to have some inexplainable hard chunks in them. This could be from tough meat or something else entirely... The world may never know... In general, the thing that was lacking for me was the fact that there was no cheese melted over the top! That would have tied both the meatballs and noodles together by wrapping them both in a warm blanket of cheesy goodness. There was even some cheese over the rest of it in the serving tray! I just didn’t get the pleasure of having a portion with the melted masterpiece. Overall rate: 7/10. Doneness: The noodles were neither chewy nor tough, meaning they were cooked well. As for the meatballs, they were brown so that means they were cooked, but there was something about the chewy pieces in some that caused me to question if they could have been cooked better. But the whole dish was piping hot so that in itself was a win. Overall rate: 8/10. Photogenic Nature: I feel like this is far from the prettiest dish I have ever seen captured through a lens. The sauce has a clumpy look rather than covering the noodles and the meatballs look hacked to pieces. Also, the sauce stains on the side would have any normal food blogger crying. But this is not just any food blog: it’s a college food blog. The goal is to show food as it is served not try to make it look like something it isn’t. Overall rate: 6/10. Have you tried this dish before? If so, make sure to tell me if you actually got a portion with the melted cheese on top because in all honesty seeing the rest covered in cheese and not getting any was pure torture. Until next time my Fredonia Food Friends! ![]() Welcome back Fredonia Food Fans! We are back with another edition of Fredonia Food Fest. Today I am going to review this sub from Willy C’s, but before I tell you what kind of sub it is I want you to guess. That’s right GUESS. Stop reading right now and head to the comment section to see if you can identify this beauty on the left or continue reading and let me know what you thought it was before you read it! That being said, let’s talk FOOD! Today I decided to try the Philly cheese steak sub. Taste: The first thing you probably saw when you looked at the picture was the browned exterior of my sub roll. Though it looked slightly dark the flavor didn’t taste burned so I called it a win. This win then manifested into a double win when I soon found out there was a garlic butter slathered over the interior of the roll and melted to perfection. Pair this flavor with the shredded steak and I ended up with the feeling of a simplified steak dinner in a bun. However, the best part of the entire flavor profile was the ooey gooey cheese covering the steak and dripping down the sides. It tasted like a blend of mozzarella and cheddar, but I can’t be 100% sure. All I know is that the blanket of warm melty goodness tied the whole thing together. Overall rate 9/10 simply because I cannot give such an early post the title of THE BEST with a 10. Texture: The roll itself provided a nice crunch that was as satisfying as any ASMR video I’ve heard and refrained from tasting charred or dry because of the garlic butter that seeped into both the top and bottom. As for the steak, it was tender with no danger of chewy fatty pieces a real steak could contain. And of course, let’s not forget that beautiful cheese blend with a texture that can only be described as smooth, running perfectly over the sub’s interior. Overall rate: 10/10. Doneness: As you can see from the picture the roll looks a little more than golden brown so it might be borderline TOO done. The steak seemed to be cooked well as there was no pink and the whole of it was heated all the way through. The cheese was also melted perfectly with no places where it was clumped and not fully melted. Taking all that into account, I must rate the sub an 8/10 because the roll took it down a bit. Photogenic Nature: I like that in the photo you can see the contents spilling out of the roll however I feel like it doesn’t fully read as a steak sub. You can obviously tell there is some sort of browned meat in the interior with mounds of cheese cascading over them, but the type of meat is questionable. I feel like it could also be interpreted as a loose meat cheeseburger sub rather than steak. My other regret is that the garlic butter spread that wove its way through all the nooks and crannies of the roll remained hidden in the photo. For these reasons this sub has received a 6/10. Did I overreact about it looking like a cheeseburger sub? How many of you knew it was a Philly cheesesteak sub in the beginning of the post? Let me know how you guys feel and if any of you have tried the steak sub don’t hesitate to give me your review. Until next time my Fredonia Food Friends! ****EDIT to this Post: I would like to point out that I liked this sub enough to go back and have it again for dinner BUT tragedy stuck. The one I got for dinner had NO garlic butter had an added cheese sauce and perhaps the most confusing: PIZZA SAUCE. I understand the liquid cheese as that is common on these kinds of subs but pizza sauce? Someone help me out here and explain what a Philly cheesesteak is supposed to be because now I’m confused. |
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November 2021
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