The Asia Trip: Seasonal Curry Soup at Studio Ghibli

Since I'm out of fast food posts from the Asia Trip, I hope you guys won't mind making due with "regular" food, as some readers exhibited some interest and it would be a shame to let all the pictures I took go to waste. First up, a warm, curry soup with autumn vegetables that I ate at the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.

News: Jack in the Box - New Really Big Chicken Sandwich

Jack in the Box's newest menu promotional item is the descriptively-named, Really Big Chicken Sandwich, which features two crispy chicken patties topped with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo onion sauce on a toasted bun.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Fire Red Chicken Sandwich

A variant to Chick-fil-A's regular Spicy Chicken Sandwich made by yours truly, the Chick-fil-A Fire Red Chicken Sandwich is simple awesomeness, but just a wee bit on the messy side.

Review: KFC - Extra Crispy Strips

KFC's new Extra Crispy Strips are, as far as I can remember, mostly the same as the old Crispy Chicken Strips before they discontinued them in lieu of the Original Recipe Strips (which, in turn, have been discontinued in favor of the new Extra Crispy Chicken Strips. What's old is new again, huh?). I purchased them in a $5 Big Crunch Box which includes three Extra Crispy Strips, Potato Wedges (substitutable for whatever side you like), a KFC Biscuit, and a medium drink.

Sunday Funny: Wendy's - 4-Alarm Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Apparently, this is a proposed Wendy's commercial back in '07 that never made the cut for one reason or another. I think it's pretty funny though it seems more like something BK or Carl's Jr. would run.

You can check out the ad they ended up going with after the jump.

News: The Coffee Bean - Free Iced Drink on June 29th

The Coffee Bean is giving away complimentary 12-ounce Iced Americanos, Iced Coffees, or Iced Teas to visitors on June 29th.

When: Tuesday, June 29th, 4-7pm
Where: Participating Coffee Bean locations
Why: Your choice of a free 12-ounce Iced Americano, Iced Coffee, or Iced Tea.

Details: "Only valid at participating The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® store locations in CA, AZ & NV. Excludes San Diego county, Texas, Hawaii, Ralphs stores, casinos, campus or airport locations. Valid only on June 29th, 2010, from 4pm to 7pm. Offer applies to 12oz. Iced Americano, Iced Coffee or Iced Tea beverage only. No substitutions. Limit one complimentary drink per customer. Check your local store for details."

Review: Capriotti's - Capastrami Sandwich

I tried Capriotti's (a chain with locations in 11 states) upon a recommendation by a friend who said it was really good and she liked it better than Langer's. Gasping at her heresy and questioning her mental sanity, I nonetheless tried Capriotti's Capastrami Sandwich which uses roughly the same formula as Langer's and features hot pastrami, melted Swiss cheese, russian dressing, and cole slaw on a submarine roll.

News: Taco Bell - The Return of the Bacon Club Chalupa!

After a late night run to Taco Bell for a $2 Meal Deal, I saw in the window that the Bacon Club Chalupa was back on the menu. It is now available at Taco Bell for $2.49 by itself or in a $5 Buck Box (which also includes a Crunchy Taco, a Bean Burrito, Cinnamon Twists, and a medium drink). The Bacon Club Chalupa contains southwest marinated white meat chicken, bacon, lettuce, their 3-cheese blend, diced tomatoes, and club sauce in a Chalupa shell.

The Bacon Club Chalupa $5 Buck Box is exactly the same as the Big Bell Box they had a couple years ago (and which I reviewed). Well, almost. It costs a penny more now and you get a slightly smaller drink.

A Cheesy Gordita Crunch $5 Buck Box is also being promoted and contains a Cheesy Gordita Crunch, a Supreme Burrito, a Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists, and a medium drink.

I also noticed that they added the snack size bag of Doritos from the $2 Meal Deal to their value menu.  It's priced at 79 cents.

Nutritional information on the Bacon Club Chalupa after the jump.

News: Burger King - Tendergrill Chicken Now on Whole Wheat Ciabatta

In a move toward making their healthier fare healthier, Burger King recently announced a new whole wheat ciabatta bun for their Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich. The touted benefits of the new bun are 9 grams of whole grains, fewer calories, less sodium, and less fat (but interestingly, more saturated fat). The sandwich sells for a retail price of $3.99

Inexplicably, according to the Burger King website, the new bun contains 15 grams of protein. Check out the full nutritional comparison after the jump.

Review: Jack in the Box - Egg Roll

Out of all the major food chains, Jack in the Box probably offers the most variety. They can dish up a reasonable facsimile of whatever it is you're craving, from their mainstay of burgers and fries to tacos to egg rolls?! Yup. Egg Rolls. Jack in the Box serves Chinese-style Egg Rolls fried crispy and filled with diced pork, cabbage, celery, carrots, and onions with sweet and sour sauce to dip it in.

Review: Wienerschnitzel - Jalapeno Poppers

I love Jalapeno Poppers.  Especially, when they're cheap.  Wienerschnitzel's Jalapeno Poppers are priced three for 99 cents as part of their "UnDer $1 Menu."  For those of you not in the know, Jalapeno Poppers are jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheese and then breaded and deep-fried. They usually make for a crispy, spicy, cheesy snack.

The Asia Trip: Delifrance Hong Kong - Jumbo Sausage Croissant

Delifrance is an international French bakery/cafe chain that I came across while in Hong Kong.  It's actually in over 50 countries, just not the U.S.  It looked pretty interesting so we ate there for breakfast.

Since it is located in Hong Kong, the menu had several popular local favorites along with more French-style items like pastries, sandwiches, and something called a "croque-madame," which is a hot ham and cheese sandwich with a fried or poached egg on top.  Pasta also seems to figure in the menu somewhere.

Review: Wendy's - Homestyle Chicken Fillet Sandwich

Wendy's Homestyle Chicken Fillet is a premium step up from the value menu chicken sandwiches that a lot of fast food restaurants carry on their menus. It features a boneless chicken breast fillet, seasoned and breaded, iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato or two, and mayo for $3.99 (price varies with location, I usually use a two chicken sandwiches for $5 coupon though).

Review: Popeyes - Wicked Chicken

Popeyes' Wicked Chicken is a limited-time, slightly different, thinner take on their Louisiana Tenders. Basically, they are long, thin strips of battered chicken breast meat. You'll notice that my particular order is a bit smaller than the advertised box and comes with Mashed Potatoes instead of Cajun Fries.

News: Panda Express - Free Orange Chicken after 9pm with Any Purchase

Panda Express is doing a late night special (I didn't even know Panda Express was open after 9pm!) where with this coupon, you can get a free single serving of Orange Chicken with any purchase (say a drink or an egg roll if you're really hard up on cash) after 9pm.

Mmm... Orange Chicken... just an FYI, if you think regular Orange Chicken is good, fresh Orange Chicken is SO much better, so find a Panda Express with a lot of traffic.

Details: One coupon per person. Valid at participation locations. Not valid at airport, theme park, or stadium locations. Cannot be combined with any other coupons, discounts, or promotions. Expires July 11, 2010.

Sunday Funny: Burger King - "I am Man"

I loves me some jingles and Burger King loves hitting the "Young Hungry Guys" demo. This ad for the BK's Texas Double Whopper a couple of years back shows you such manly acts as punching each other in the stomach (i.e. the gut punch) and throwing vans off of bridges.

Local Review: Tokyo Grill - Chicken Bowl - Montebello Mall

There seems to be quite a few Tokyo Grills around the U.S. but they don't seem to be related. The Tokyo Grill I went to was located in a mall and featured meat grilled in front of you as you ordered.  A Teriyaki Chicken Bowl will run you $4.99.

Review: McDonald's - Snack Size Reese's McFlurry

I tried McDonald's new Snack Size Reese's McFlurry on a recent trip to San Francisco. A McFlurry is McDonald's answer to DQ's popular Blizzard, which is to say it is vanilla soft serve blended with a topping (in this case, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups). I paid $1.69 for my Snack Size McFlurry (a full ten cents cheaper than the $1.79 charged at my local McDonald's).

News: Church's Chicken - New Wild Wings

Church's Chicken is now serving up traditional (read: actual wings) or boneless wings (read: boneless chicken breast pieces) with a money-back guarantee if customers are dissatisfied with the product.

Dubbed "Wild Wings," the wings are hand tossed in a choice of five different sauces: Buffalo Hot, Buffalo Medium, Honey BBQ, Chili Lime, and Sweet & Spicy.  They can be ordered in a set of six for $2.99, two for $1, or five for $2 with the purchase of a Family Box meal at regular price.  A pretty good bargain matching Pizza Hut's Wing Wednesdays.

Nutritional info after the jump

Review: Taco Bell - Taco Party Pack

So Taco Bell has replaced its Grande Meal with the Taco Bell Party Pack which features 12 tacos for $10 in a sturdy cardboard box.