carnivorous

With my birthday this week, this past weekend was a never-ending blur of carnivorous consumption. Some good eatin' fo' shizzle.

On Friday, we went to the newly opened Claimjumper at the Pacific Commons shopping center in Fremont. We had reservations for 8:15pm but they are almost a formality. You're in for a wait no matter what. We arrived early at 8:00pm to check in and didn't get seated until 8:30pm. But consider this -- if you show up at dinnertime without a reservation, expect to wait at least 1hr 45min. That's just crazy.

But all that aside, once we were seated at CJ's things were very impressive. We had a massive booth for the 7 of us, and the tables were so spaced apart that it almost felt like we had a private dining area -- noise level was high but I could hardly see any of the other patrons from where I was sitting. The menu is pretty varied and offered something for everyone, from vegetarian to full-blown carnivore (that would be me). I ultimately selected the 24 oz. Prime Rib with garlic cheese toast and cheese potatocakes. Ohhh baby. I couldn't finish it, not without suffering irreparable harm at least. It was good, but not great -- some quality seemed to be compromised to deliver such a large cut of prime rib, it was a little tough.
Fellow carnivore Ryan ordered a hamburger dubbed the Widow Maker with double-thick cheese, bacon and onion rings. Everything was ridiculously huge, and you see people walking out in droves with take-out bags and boxes after their meals, or should I say feasts.

On Saturday, I finished off my prime rib for lunch -- not too shabby. Then for dinner we went out with my dad to Dynasty Chinese Seafood at the Grand Century mall in San Jose. I've been to both the one in SJ and the one in Valco Mall at Cupertino, and the SJ one is much better. The food and service is great at the SJ location, whereas both suffer in Cupertino. Seafood is a specialty of theirs, so we ordered a Boston Lobster with noodles. They also have a $49 dinner special where you can order 4 plates -- this is actually a good deal plus it comes with soup. We had the crab meat and fish maw soup, followed by Seafood in a Bird's Nest, Beef and Scallops in XO sauce, Broiled Sea Bass, and Garlic Fried Chicken. It was all pretty good, but the Sea Bass is the real standout dish -- very nice. It's cooked to perfection and has a slightly crispy and sweet glaze on the outer edges... mmmm good. The lobster was decent but not outstanding for the price they charge... I think it was around $33 for the 2-lb critter.

On Sunday I was left to my own devices for lunch and being a little lazy, snuck down to the local 1/3 lb. burger joint called Bob's Giant Burgers. And they aren't kidding, the burgers are pretty big. The burgers there are good, not spectacular, but hey you gotta support the local joints sometimes, I'd much rather go here than McDonalds for sure.

For dinner, it was off to Santa Clara to meet up with my mom and wait for a table at the Cheesecake Factory inside Valley Fair Mall. They don't take reservations on weekends, but it wasn't too bad -- just about 30 minutes to get a table. We got a massive booth for 3 of us which was pretty funny. The booth had mirrors like the nightclub that Tony Montana liked to hang out at in Scarface -- good for evading the sniper fire, you know? This place is also known for their humungous portions, and I ended up choosing the BBQ Beef Ribs with Onion Rings and French Fries. Wow. You gain weight just looking at it. V. asked me, "is the meat tender"? And as if on cue to respond, the meat fell right off the bone I was holding and rolled off the plate onto my shirt, leaving a nice big BBQ trail. Boy did I look stupid walking around Blockbuster later that night with a big brown stain on my shirt. I compensated by drooling and slapping myself to embarrass V. even more.

Good times, I tell you. And then Monday morning, the day of reckoning at the doctor's office for my annual physical exam. The verdict: -3 lbs. The doctor said "good job, now try working on losing the other 20 lbs". It's gonna be a tough holiday season for sure.

Tuesday night, V. and I revisited Broadway Prime in Burlingame, and I ordered ... what else, prime rib. Yes, more prime rib. The 24 oz cut at CJ's wasn't nearly as satisfying as the 16 oz Broadway cut I had tonight. Fantastic. It's really about quality, not quantity here. But don't get me wrong, I was plenty stuffed when I wobbled out the door.

Ok, tomorrow I think I better have a salad for lunch. The guilt is killing me.