NFL Week 10: American Food

The Browns are on a bye - so I can take a break as well from reviewing Asian food! Let's talk a short bit about the American food options that are present over here.

Fast food:
McDonalds - It's true! A Big Mac here is about the same as a Big Mac in the US. The basics are identical - Big Mac, Hamburger, Quarter Pounder, Egg McMuffin, Hash Browns....it's the peripheral items that are different. They serve a Spicy Chicken Filet sandwich here that is good. There is a lot of boiled/steamed pork on buns that I haven't had the courage to try yet. There's no milkshakes, but there is a mango juice, ice, and ice cream float....

Burger King - Whoppers are the same - they have Spicy Whoppers here. DO they have this in the US? It's the same as a Whopper with a cayenne sauce spinkled on the burger. It's very good. Onion rings are hard to find. No Chicken sandwich, however....(that's the official Hangover sandwich of F&J).

KFC - the biggest American food presence in China - No one gets a bucket of chicken here. It's all chicken sandwiches and "rice" dishes. These dishes are rice with meat gravy poured on them, served in a bowl. Completely for the local appetite.

Subway - Growing day by day here in Guangzhou! The taste of the steak sub is a little "off", and there are no meatball subs. (This makes Freddie very mad). The turkey doesn't seem to be exactly right - but it's close enough. Toppings all the same as in the US. About 97% of the customers order a 6 inch for their meal. I, of course, am one of the 3%.

Pizza Hut and Papa John's  - Not bad; pepperoni topping is really salami. Other popular toppings include corn, popcorn chicken bites, green onions, shrimp, and actual chili peppers.

Sit down restaurants
There are two in the city that can truly be called "American"-style restaurants. One is Gail's, which used to be only go-to place in town. The burgers are ok; they serve pierogis that are straight out of the freezer (but are delicious) - but the salsa is horrible for their fajitas/burritos.

A new pub opened up which is an "Irish" pub but really seems like an Irish pub that would be in suburban Cincinnati. Their burgers are HUGE - until you realize that 90% of the volume of the burger is the huge bun. But the beer is good, and the kids menu is decent - so it's our favorite place to go when we need Western food.

The best burger is by far at the Ritz Carlton hotel - but that's priced at $25 each so it's a special treat.

Next week will be an interesting review as we are heading out of town.....to a location to be named later......

On to the games:

NE 30, Buf 20. Have the Patriots fixed their problems in their secondary? We will see.

NYG 27, Cin 16. Has to be a bounce back game for the Giants, right?

TB 27, SD 17. Chargers victories have come against SD (twice), Ten and Oak (week 1).

Bal 27, Oak 24. The Ravens will win, but their offense does not seem to be in sync.

Atl 30, NO 23.  Went back and forth on this one - until I realized that NO hasn't beaten anyone good.

Min 27, Det 20.  The Lions are not good enough to be a road favorite in a divisional game.

Mia 24, Ten 10. The Titans are awful on the road - and the are playing a good defense in Miami.

Den 23, Car 17. Maybe the Panthers are better than I thought.

Sea 20, NYJ 17. Rex will have something cooked up (Tebow?) after their bye.

Dal 27, Phi 23. How many more things can go wrong for Andy Reid? And - in one of these games - things have to go right for the Cowboys. (of course, it will probably be next week.....)

SF 17, StL 10. I like Jeff Fisher after the bye.

Hou 20, Chi 16. All the focus is on the Bears and their turnover machine defense. Um - who has that been against? Carolina, Jacksonville, St Louis, Dallas (cough).....anyone good in there?

Pit 19, KC 13. With the Ravens looming next week, isn't this a classic look ahead for the Steelers?

Best bets: 18 of them. Last week: 11-4; overall: 75-58-4.

Buf +13
NYG -4
NYG/Cin under 49
TB -3
Oak +7 1/2
Atl -2 1/2
Min +2 1/2
Mia -6
Ten/Mia under 45
Den/Car under 47
NYJ +6
Dal -2 1/2
Dal/Phi over 44
StL +12 1/2
Stl/SF under 38 1/2
Hou +1 1/2
KC +11 1/2
KC/Pit under 42

Supercontest: Last week: 3-2; overall: 25-19-1.
TB -3
Atl -2 1/2
Oak +7 1/2
NYJ +6 1/2
Dal +1 1/2