Matt's American Adventure: Food and Drink

After a week at Kate's parents house Kate and I have now changed accommodation and will now be based at Rob and Bev's house in Pittsburgh for the rest of our 'vacation'. This has meant I have got to spend some proper time in the city (rather than running through it). One morning was spent walking along the North Shore area which runs along the river providing a great view of the city and holds several memorials. We were also tasked that day to pick up a a prize that Bev had won from a Pittsburgh lifestyle magazine called 'Whirl', upon collecting it we found ourselves posing for a photo for the 'winners' section of the next edition. So be sure to pick up your Whirl next month to see Kate in a stupid hat and me posing with various types tubs of face scrub.

I think it is common knowledge that you will not be short on options on where to eat in the USA, I have been amazed at just how many restaurants and fast food joints they are on every street; ensuring whatever you have a craving for you can find it......and I love it!  The day of our Whirl photo shoot we had lunch at Jerome Bettis' Grill 36, Jerome Bettis is a former Pittsburgh Steelers Football player, (apparently the sport is quite popular in this City). I ordered some Nachos, this is what I was handed:

I tried my best but despite the nachos being delicious even I could not complete the task of eating all of it. Purely out of respect for defeating me in such a way I award Two Thumbs Up!

The next day we went to the Carnegie Science Center which was a lot of fun especially the robot floor and going aboard a WW2 submarine.

The highlight however was at lunch time when I discovered a taste sensation.....the corn dog! This was on my 'to eat' list but I have to say I was not overly excited about it. Seeing them be eaten on TV and in the movies they didn't look overly exciting...but wow, delicious! The biggest surprise of my American cuisine odyssey so far, a big Two Thumbs Up!

Speaking of food, I'll rewind to my last day in Ohio when Jim and Phyillis took us to a Bob Evans Restaurant, where Jim insisted I try Biscuits and Gravy. Now what Americans call a biscuit is very different to what us Brits call a biscuit, the American biscuit is a soft muffin/cake type thing and is most commonly a breakfast food served with honey or gravy.  I was a little skeptical,  but from the moment I arrived Jim has insisted this was a must try and I'm glad he did insist because the biscuits and gravy gets a Thumbs Up.....it doesn't compare to the joyous surprise of the corn dog so I just can't give it Two Thumbs.........sorry Jim!

You may have noticed that most of my verdicts have been fairly positive but its time for that to change....My first negative review is going to disappoint the Echement family and most people of the city of Pittsburgh. According to Kate and her family the best Pizza in the City if not the world can be found at Vincents Pizza Park, it was also made clear to me that not liking 'Vinnie's' pizza could jeopardize my chances of being accepted into the Echement fold.

But fear not reader I know you look to the American Adventure as a beacon of honesty and truth on this subject and I will not bow to peer pressure!  So sorry Pittsburgh, here it is....

What arrived on our table I almost failed to recognise as a pizza, instead all I could see was a small lake of grease upon which was floating a wafer thin base of dough with a ridiculous amount of mushrooms and pepperoni heaped on top as if the person making it was having an epileptic fit. Before eating Phyllis offered me some advice and informed me that I would have to use a knife and fork to eat it or break of the crust and use it to scoop it up...... I slithered a slice onto my plate and tucked in hoping it would taste a lot better than it looked........sadly not.  Kate was horrified and I think she would genuinely have found it less shameful if I had stripped naked and streaked around the restaurant singing god save the queen. Two Thumb Down!

This one may just offend the entire USA....Root Beer; it tastes like the mouthwash my dentist gives me to rinse my mouth out.... Thumbs Down! Sorry America. 

On a less controversial note, Kate and I had a great day with two of her best friends Yulian and Kyle and their daughters Bella and Katherine, who I have to admit may be contenders for being the cutest kids I have ever met. We went to the Pittsburgh Zoo where Kate used to work; and her old friends who still work there allowed us to go behind the scenes and get up close to some of the animals including Monty the Python.

After the Zoo we got a Starbucks and chilled out at Yulian and Kyle's hotel where I managed to catch the final stages of the Champions League final and watched as Chelsea continued to be recipients of Lady Luck's never ending supply of Lucky Charms and won, which thoroughly depressed me. We headed out to dinner at the Church Brew Works and I was very much looking forward to getting a drink from this famous micro-brewery and Restaurant. The Church Brew Works gets its name for being in an old Catholic Church and I was amazed when we walked inside.

Kyle and I then went over to the bar to try one of the micro-brews on offer; we were both asked to provide ID which I was expecting and so I handed over my UK Drivers License which had been accepted several times at other restaurants and got me into a nightclub the night before, but here it was not to be accepted! The only document they would accept from me was my passport, which I didn't want to carry around with me the whole time and was of course back at Rob and Bev's house. Kyle also found out that his drivers license had expired and was also refused.We were not happy. But we got our table and Kate and Yulian bought us our beers and we made our order.

We were sat quite contently for about 10 minutes until the manager approached our table and asked for our ID's again as he had been informed that we had been carded and were now drinking. The place was packed so quite clearly the bartender who had apolagised profusely for not being able to serve us had ratted us out.......whaaaaaaaaaaat a Dick! The manager wanted to take our drinks but we instead pushed them over to Kate and Yulian's side of the table. From then on every server kept glancing in our direction to see if we would take another illegal sip of beer, which was extremely uncomfortable. Then my only consolation of not being the only one suffering was taken away as Kyle was able to renew his license online and be served. To add insult to injury they forgot to bring out our starters, for which there was no apology or any attempt to remedy the situation with a free drink and/or dessert; so for shoddy customer service TWO THUMBS DOWN. However, it must be said that my steak was unbelievably good and the few sips of beer I was able to have was delicious.....Two Thumbs Up. This was really disappointing as the Church Brew Works is a truly unique place to eat and one of Kate's favorites and she has never had such problems there before.

America's illogical strictness on serving alcohol....... FOUR Thumbs Down!

Unfortunately Kyle and Yulian could only spend one day with us as they had to leave early the next morning and begin a 10 hour drive home, so we hung out with them and the girls back at the hotel room and watched Harry Potter before finally having to say goodbye. As well as meeting Kate's friends I have of course been meeting the family members, the pressure has been on but my English charm offensive has got through ......... I think!

That's it for this chapter, the next entry will about our visit to Washington DC!