Mr. TastyChomps and I became friends a few years ago when he was the current SGA senator representing my club, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, at UCF.  As you all know, he is currently in Hong Kong on vacation.  As he wouldn’t be able to cover the Dunkin’ Donuts/KSC event (searchable on Twitter via #DDSpace), he instantly thought to ask me to cover for him because of my love and interest in the space community.  Naturally I leaped at the chance and that is what I am here to share to you all about.

Hosted by Dunkin’ Donuts of Central Florida @DDCentFla and Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex @ExploreSpaceKSC, on Thursday July 15th other food bloggers/fellow space tweeps @familyfoodie, @thelittlekitchn, and @jenvargas, myself @my_linh under the @TastyChomps account, and our friends kicked off the day by first heading to the Orlando Dunkin’ Donuts located at 10395 Narcoossee Road for a complimentary breakfast thanks to owners Larry and Sonia Lemos.

Inside, the location is quite roomy and takes a leaf out of Starbucks’ and Panera’s books by having a cozy nook with comfy chairs, where patrons can relax and lounge.  They are also equipped with free Wi-Fi so both students and entrepreneurs can get some work done in a refreshing environment.

Having only ever ordering a donut, a toasted bagel with cream cheese, and/or coffee, I decided to expand my Dunkin’ Donuts gastronomic experience by going with the Turkey, Cheddar, and Bacon Oven-Toasted Flatbread sandwich and a Coffee & Vanilla Bean mixed Coolatta.  Their website describes the sandwich as “a wonderful blend of tasty sliced turkey, crisp bacon and melted cheddar cheese.” and I would have to mostly agree.  Though the sandwich was quite tasty, I disagree that the bacon is “crisp” and more on the chewier side, most likely due to the heat and steam of the hot sandwich.  The Coolatta has been around since 1997 but I am sad to say that I have never had one up until now.  After trying one however, I have to say that I am now a huge fan as they are delicious, refreshing and just the thing in the hot Florida weather.  They come in a variety of flavors and you can even mix two flavors together for a more unique experience.  Coolattas come in Coffee, Vanilla Bean, Strawberry, Tropicana (orange), Watermelon and the brand new Blue Raspberry.  Recently Dunkin’ Donuts has embraced this mixology by officially adding the more popular combinations to their menu.  I cannot wait to try the other flavors and combinations!  I did notice that they had a very festive munchkin called the Beach Ball Munchkin — basically a yellow cake donut hole coated in chocolate and rolled in bright pink and orange sprinkles.

A lunch buffet of salad, rolls, wild rice, grilled chicken with a mushroom cream sauce, vegetables, macaroni and cheese, and to everyone’s delight – corn dog nuggets was served.  For dessert, there was carrot cake, black forest cake and an assortment of cookies.  The rice and chicken were both excellent, tender and flavorful.  The macaroni and cheese was sub-par, equating to something found in the frozen food aisle.  The vegetables were decent enough and were seasoned rather than just steamed.  The corn dog nuggets were a hit with all the kids, as well as those young at heart.  The black forest cake was moist and delicious.

This event was sparked by the fact that Dunkin’ Donuts is celebrating it’s 60th birthday this year as well as that July 24th, 1950 marks the 60th anniversary of the first successful rocket launch from Cape Canaveral!  As such, all of July has been a birthday celebration for both Dunkin’ Donuts and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Center.  How so?  On Saturday July 24th at each participating non-Hess Dunkin’ Donuts location in Brevard County, one lucky person who enters DD between 10 AM – 1 PM will win a pack of four tickets to Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex and have lunch with an astronaut!

What’s more is that from now through Saturday July 31st, all Hess and non-Hess Dunkin’ Donuts locations in Brevard County will be distributing $5 off coupons (valid up to six guests per coupon) for Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor’s Complex.  On top of this, if a KSC Visitor’s Complex visitor brings their admission receipt to any Hess or non-Hess Dunkin’ Donuts in Brevard County and buys any beverage, they receive one FREE donut!  What’s not to love?

Go enjoy a space filled day with delicious donuts and snacks, refreshing beverages, and a happy family!

Check back for a post from the Kennedy Space Center this weekend from our guest blogger My Linh sponsored by Dunkin Donuts! It should be a blast! (har har)

until then, happy tasty chompin adventures!

Its that time again! Restaurant Week 2010 in NYC – New York City
If you are in NYC July 12-25

check out the list here:
http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek/

from about.com:
Twice a year, in January/February and June/July, there is a unique opportunity to experience some of New York City’s finest restaurants for a fraction of the usual price. Throughout the city, restaurants participate in “Restaurant Week” where they offer a three-course lunch for $24.07 (& some even offer dinner for $35). Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to try out a restaurant that may usually be out of your budget, or test some new restaurants with a little less financial risk. Check out my tips for enjoying Restaurant Week.

In January 2005, I had a great restaurant week experience at Gramercy Tavern. Service, food, and the atmosphere were outstanding. Similarly, we enjoyed a lovely time at Eleven Madison Park for restaurant week the next week — everything was delicious and served with a smile. We even left Eleven Madison Park with (free) gift certificates good for $20.00 off a future meal.

Reservations for Restaurant Week
You can make reservations for restaurant week (the earlier the better — many of the Best Choices for Restaurant Week sell out quickly) by calling the restaurants directly or on OpenTable.com. OpenTable has a list of participating restaurants that take reservations through OpenTable, as well as search functions to show you which participating restaurants have availabilities during on your requested date/time. About 1/2 of the restaurants participating in Restaurant Week allow you to make reservations through OpenTable, but if you’re making a reservation for dinner, be sure that your restaurant is participating, as their search tools show availabilities for dinner for restaurants that are only offering a Restaurant Week menu at lunch. That said, registration on OpenTable is easy, and you can collect points toward dining gift certificates by booking online.

Dear readers and friends,

I will be heading to Hong Kong soon for a brief vacation. Before I do however, I would like to ask you all to please invite as many of your friends on facebook especially in the Orlando area as possible to “Like” Tasty Chomps. If we reach 1000 Facebook Fans by Wednesday, I, Tasty Chomps, promise to eat stinky tofu in Hong Kong.

Like Tasty Chomps on Facebook now:
http://facebook.com/tastychomps

What is Stinky Tofu?

According to Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu), the traditional method for producing stinky tofu is to prepare a brine made from fermented milk, vegetables, and meat; the brine can also include dried shrimp, amaranth greens, mustard greens, bamboo shoots, and Chinese herbs. The brine fermentation can take as long as several months. Although stinky tofu is very popular in East and Southeast Asia, not many households prepare stinky tofu brine at home due to its strong odor, especially in metro-residential areas.

Additionally, Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel appears to hate the stuff:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILexn0r6STg]

Like Tasty Chomps on Facebook now and invite your friends:
http://facebook.com/tastychomps

Papa Murphy’s Take N Bake Pizza is celebrating their GRAND OPENING!

July 15 – 18, 2010

450 S Hunt Club Blvd, The Shoppers at Hunt Club, Apopka

in the ROSS Center, next to Tijuana Flats

Papa Murphy’s is opening a store near you! Taste the great pizza that everyone has been talking about. John Morris is celebrating his grand opening at 450 S. Hunt Club Blvd, The Shoppers at Hunt Club. Thanks to Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza, a delicious, hot meal doesn’t take hours spent in the kitchen.

“Our pizzas are made fresh right in front of you so you know exactly what you’re getting; a very fresh, tasty pizza made just how you want,” said John. “It’s always hot when you’re ready to eat it because you bake it!”

John says that once customers try this fresh way of eating pizza they never go back to frozen or delivery. Could this be why Papa Murphy’s has been voted the “Best Pizza Chain in America” for the past seven years by consumers in a national survey?

“Success in the food business comes down to a simple equation: provide good food of high quality at a good price and your customers will see it as a good value,” adds John.

Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza is the perfect marriage of convenience and quality. Most people want a pizza that is as easy as a frozen or delivered pizza, but tastes as good as one ordered in a restaurant. That’s one of the big advantages of a Papa Murphy’s pizza – they make a product with the best ingredients; a product that customers can bake at their convenience.

“Many call and place their order early in the day and swing by after work. Some just swing in and pick it up when they’re running errands,” said John. “Because there’s no loss of quality, they can bake it when the time is right. There’s no rush.”

Consumer surveys have repeatedly shown that adults, by a significant margin, prefer the taste of fresh pizza to frozen. In addition, any pizza will begin to deteriorate five minutes after it’s taken out of the oven. Many times, a delivered pizza has been out of the oven for 30 minutes or more.

There are plenty of other advantages to Papa Murphy’s. Bake-at-home pizzas cost about 1/3 less than restaurant or delivered pizza. Because Papa Murphy’s doesn’t equip its stores with customer seating and all kinds of additional equipment, the company can pass the savings on to its customers. Also, Papa Murphy’s pizzas don’t take long to cook – only about 15 minutes.

Finally, Papa Murphy’s pizza is designed to compete with the finest pizzas available from any source. Fresh dough and fresh high-quality ingredients are deliciously combined to give customers 100% satisfaction.

Dear loyal readers,

I have some exciting news to post today: I am heading to Hong Kong in less than three days! I will be gone with my loved ones for a few weeks for a vacation. Very excited! Anyone have any tips of where to go, what to do, and especially, what to eat?? 🙂 I’ll give a report when I return!

Also, I was invited to a foodie-space-blogger extravaganza hosted by Dunkin Donuts of Central Florida (@ddcentfla on twitter) and Kennedy Space Center (@explorespaceksc) on this Thursday but seeing how I am going to be on the other side of the world that day, I have asked my good friend (@my_linh), space enthusiast and UCF engineering grad, to help me out by updating our twitter (@tastychomps) for a live tweeting of the festivities. It should be an awesome day of donuts, space rocket gardens, and meeting real live astronauts! Follow us on twitter this Thursday starting at 8:30am!

Keep it tasty,

Tasty Chomps
tastychomps.com

hellooo all, I made some updates to the page recently. hope you like it! new design courtesy of blogspot, new “about me” page and other things added including sponsorships and also a brand new translation tool that allows tastychomps.com to be viewed in over 20 languages! spanish, portuguese (brazilian), chinese, Vietnamese, whatever floats your boat! (just dont be too shocked that its not all together accurate though as it is a computer doing it) the option is on the left. enjoy ! CHOMP

Hello lovely fans! Please support us in the contest for “Best Food Blog” in the Blogger’s Choice Awards!


Vote by clicking here:


http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/75983?load=comments


Thank you!

ps ever want to get sponsored for your tweets on twitter.com? Well, I just found out about sponsored tweets, Check them out at the link below!

China Yuan. Tampa Bay Florida.

It was a cloudy afternoon in Tampa Bay. My brother Johnny and I were in the mood for Yummy House as I had been hearing raves about it for a while now, (they say its better than Tasty Wok!) But to our disappointment, Yummy House was closed that afternoon (I think the family went on a vacation to China for a few weeks?)

So off we went down the street to China Yuan, the next best Chinese place on the list.

Located in a small strip mall typical in these parts of Tampa, China Yuan belies its gritty exterior where inside is a rather large, clean, and most importantly, authentic Chinese restaurant deriving from the Cantonese traditions.

We ordered three dishes, all reasonably priced and all in very large portions. The first dish to arrive was the seafood tofu hot pot, a rather fresh seafood tofu pot with steaming tofu, squid, vegetables, and succulent shrimp. The dish was delicious and ranks up there among the better seafood tofu hot pots, though not “the” best. The second dish was the salt and pepper squid, a plate with large pieces of savory squid spiced with salt and pepper, fried to a crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Also a commendable dish. The last to come was another huge plate: the orange beef, double fried in a tangy sweet and sour sauce and all in all a great dish.

Although we didn’t get to visit Yummy House and try them out, China Yuan wasn’t too bad for a replacement. If this place was in Orlando, it would probably be among the top five Chinese places (though that’s not saying much due to the lack of abundantly good Chinese places around Orlando)

Tasty Chomps Rating:
Score: B+
Price: $$

Question 3:

Question 2:

Question 1:

HELLOOOO Readers!

Simply Frozen Yogurt – Dessert

Simply Frozen Yogurt is a new establishment with a simple name referring to its goods: frozen yogurt, or the newest craze to hit Orlando. I don’t mind that these places have been popping up lately as they are mostly quite delicious and a great place for affordable dessert after a meal. Although they often pride themselves of being low in cholesterol and overall much healthier than traditional ice cream, I think time will tell if they are really “good” for you or if that dose of sugar will kick you in the liver down the road.

Simply Frozen Yogurt sits just a few doors down from Rice and Beans and Buffalo Wild Wings in the plaza across from Waterford Lakes off of Alafaya Trail. The place is designed with modern decor, hip, stylish and aesthetically pleasing for a dessert place, with nods to the economically affordable and european IKEA furniture wares.

The selection at Simply Frozen Yogurt here in Orlando boasts over 50 toppings and 12 flavors of frozen yogurt to choose from. The way it works, much like the other newer places open, is you take a cup, fill it up with your chosen flavors and toppings, and then you pay by its weight, usually around 39 cents an ounce and quite a deal.

Toppings range from fruit such as strawberries, mango, pineapple, lychee, grapes, banana, and more and dry toppings like chocolate chips, granola, peanuts, almonds, candy, etc.

Overall, I thought the frozen yogurt was superb, and the toppings were exceedingly fresh. I hope they have much success in the future.

Bahamas

Jerk Chicken