Returns! Yes, after a long absence, my food/restaurant reviews make a triumphant return. We also get a triple whammy with this one. Two reviews of the traveling variety and one of the regular variety.

First, of the regular variety. Ah, Five Guys:

This is their small fries. No, just kidding. This is their large fries. My favorite Five Guys, perhaps the best burger on the planet. Perhaps and now opened right next door to this Japanese soup place I went to with my parents for years. As my regular reading public knows because they memorize this blog and all, I am a fan of the Five Guys from the days of Washington and misery and am ecstatic that they have now opened an outpost in New York. I went to one of their places in Brooklyn and was underwhelmed, but this one was very good. I got my usual:

Cheeseburger, pickles, relish, mayonnaise and raw onion. Well, I kinda liked it:

Ok, the next shot should be of the hamburger gone, but it isn’t there. I am getting hungry for the burger just writing about it now, so it obviously get a 10+ for quality. Oh and the fries were pretty good too. My buddy who had this food fest with introduced me to the vinegar-fries combination I had shunned so much before and it turns out I do really like it. Who knew?

Moving right along. Airline food. I can say I have an advanced knowledge of the world of airline food, after the last year. I’ve seen the good, bad and in between of this world. SAS scored high, Northwest Airlines scored low on my scale. I’m sorry to say, but the European airlines came out well again in my survey. Case in point: Air France. Take a looky-loo at the food:

Close ups of the food:

Overall, I give it an 8. The ravioli was quite good for something you get on a plane, as was the salad, which was a curry couscous with shrimp. I saw seafood and thought it was going to be kind of gross, but it turned out to be pretty good. Sure was better than the Continental Airlines slop I had on the way over. YUK. There was one part of the meal I didn’t understand:

It was listed at “cake-cookie” on the dining card. I took one bite and decided it was enough, but it didn’t ruin generally good food, for a plane.

And finally, I spent 2 1/2 hours in Paris and had something typically French:

I know, half eaten, but that is just a sign I had eaten enough to decide it would be a good thing to add to the blog. Damn that was a good croissant. Delicious and I got it using my non-existent French skills. Weird. I was tired as hell and somehow wasn’t overly shy to use my small amount of French to order this thing. Man, it was good. Oh and Orangina, which I had to get because I was in France. I couldn’t help it. 10+ for the croissant too. Croissant means “to grow” in French. There’s a fun fact. Note of advice to blog readers — the next time you are in Charles De Gaulle airport, get a croissant. Good. Quite good.