The Battleground
ReViVer, Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
The Contenders
Loco Moco vs. Mahi Curry
Loco Moco = an over easy egg sitting on a “chicken burger” served on a bed of brown rice and sauteed veggies, all topped off with a tomatillo sauce. Sounds too good to be true?
Legs:
While visiting ReViVer, which specializes in healthy fast food, I just couldn’t say no to something named Loco Moco. ReViVer offers nutritionally balanced food with quick service at fast food prices – and who doesn’t love a fried egg?
If only reality lived up to expectation. This was not a bad meal by any means. It was fine. Just fine. The chicken burger truly was a burger. The ground and then reformed patty just felt far too mushy, ruining its lovely balance of smoky seasonings. This came as somewhat of a nasty shock as I had been expecting a chicken breast, but I guess the fault there lies with me.
What I was hoping would be the epic climax to a roller coaster of a meal also left me wanting more. My over easy egg just wasn’t runny enough for my taste. It was more of a solid than a beautiful, creamy yolk. Combine that with the under-seasoned tomatillo sauce smothering everything and choking the meal’s life away, and the nail is in the coffin.
My rice and veg were great. Simply delicious. Perhaps because they weren’t trying as hard as their fancy neighbors. Brown rice, black beans, spinach and roasted tomatoes. Honest, hearty, down to earth.
Tofu, fennel, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, cannellini beans, radish, and red quinoa, tossed with orange miso dressing. Topped with toasted almonds and just the right amount of “oh my God.”
Good thing we got the most delicious salad on the planet for a starter.
A huge slab of mahi-mahi served as a vessel for the coconut curry sauce I’ve been waiting for my whole life. Served with some pretty stellar vegetables to cheer the stoniest of hearts.
Snax:
When I went out on a limb and ordered fish at a fast food joint, I was numb with anticipation. Would I be rewarded for my risk and pull in higher earnings? Or would it explode in my face and further my losing streak?
Both. The answer is both.
On one hand, my meal was a Southeast Asian delight. My coconut red curry sauce is hard to play down. It tasted like a coconut got married to curry and served party-in-my-mouth for the reception. All of the guests were satisfied, most of all me.
On the other hand, the fish was “meh.” Any flavor the mahi-mahi originally had was completely overwhelmed by that beautiful, albeit powerful, curry sauce. The fish was basically just a hunk of protein sitting on veggies.
But oh, what veggies they were. Roasted zucchini, butternut squash and carrots provided the perfect amount of sweetness to the coconut curry marriage sauce. They complimented each other and were cooked very nicely. Spinach and broccoli came back in from the savory side of life to balance out all the flavors and make sure my taste buds got the full one-two. Brown basmati rice on the bottom of everything acted as a sponge to ensure that not a single drop of sauce got wasted.
This dish also came with a completely superfluous avocado salsa verde. I’m not sure why it was there and I barely remember eating it. Completely overwhelmed by the other great flavors going on.
Turns out you can have great fast food that’s healthy, but you still shouldn’t order the fish.
And the winner is… Snax!
✓Protein ✓Sauce ✓Sides/Veggies ✓Presentation
This one was kind of a no-brainer. Legs’ sauce had no flavor and mine was packed full of it. Legs’ veggies were good too, but my zucchini and butternut squash really brought this win home. She gets protein because I ate a flavorless slab of fish while her chicken mush actually had seasoning. But overall, I’m definitely the champion this time around.
November wins:
Legs: 0 – Snax: 1
Dinner Royale 