Bodega Fast Food Favourites - June 2012

Last week the crew at Bodega held a one off event showcasing their takes on some favourite fast foods. Everything was made from scratch of course but the boys had gone to a lot of trouble with flavour and visuals to make sure we knew exactly which Fast Food Joint the inspiration came from. Items were individually wrapped or packaged and the entire team donned 50's inspired paper diner caps which added to such a small but impactful touch to the evening. 

The food and drinks were completely addictive. As you would expect.

It was so much fun but man I must be getting old as I was full by the 3rd item and completely hammered by the 7th!! When I walked out I showed the boys my overly rounded tummy and pointed to my food baby. They both nodded, knowingly and Ben leaned back slightly and gave me the Fonzie thumbs up, still nodding and smiling.. Not a word was spoken.  Their job was done. 

Bodega and Porteno are hosting a number of one off events  - so check out their website for more details.  Just a warning that they sell out faster than you can say "would you like fries with that" so get on it!

*please excuse the poor quality of the pics - taken with my iphone in very low light!

Naturally we started the night off with a Vanilla Pepsi float with Cherry Pie ice cream and popcorn infused rum.... as you do. Bloody great.

Our first nibble of the night was the Spam and Pineapple doughnut - a stupendously textured doughnut with tasty, salty, meaty chunks and the most subtle of pineapple glazes. Surprisingly good - plus it made me laugh. Food that makes me laugh and still tastes great is a winner on so many levels.

Second course was this fabulous cheeseburger with a hash brown inside and plenty of sweet mustard. What a cracker of a mini burger. 

Third - a baby "Fish o Fillet" burger with steamed bun and to-die-for onion rings. 

Fourth -  Chiko roll with morcilla and sweetbreads (totally lush) and a stupendous BBQ sauce. 

Fifth - Grilled "Dog" with onions, relish and very fine fries

Sixth - Chicago style deep dish pizza. The crust was stuffed with cheese. And we always need a bit more cheese on a pizza ... oh my god this was a very freakin' tasty -  but at this point in proceedings I was really struggling... 

Seventh. Apple pie and ice cream.  My dessert stomach allowed me to  have a few bites of this excellent apple pie. God it was good... I just. couldn't. finish.  Waddled home.

Shake Shack and Madison Square Eats!

Does it live up to the hype? I guess it does. Although I am not sure I would queue for 45 minutes again for a dog, fries and a shake...  It was a decent hotdog (apparently the burger is the thing to order but I was in a sausage kinda mood), the fries were good. If I was being really fair I'd have to say they were pretty damn good but truth is I had been ruined by the beef fat fries at David Burke Kitchen Soho - they are seriously addictive- some of the best fries EVER! my mouth is watering just thinking about them. And I don't really like fries. These were magical....I digress..

The shake was thick, creamy and sweet - just the way you want it to be - it was really very good. 

Here's the menu:

And the specials:

This was the queue when I arrived...

Within minutes these people were behind me.

Seriously guys - how the hell do you get back to work in time??  I have never seen people line up like this for takeaway in their lunch hour. Proof of Shake Shack's pull I guess. They are certainly onto a good thing.

Yeah... I'd do it again. 

This little fella's just realised the time - he's off!!...

Dog/shake/fries

Had I known that just across the park was this seriously fab pop up restaurant fest I would have saved some room.... loving a NYC weekday lunch hour...