A couple of viewers and some people in Meetup have asked me why don't I get anything else besides pho when we go to our Dot Com Lunch.

But we actually try a lot of different places and dishes. Make sure you're part of the meetup if you want to join in our next meetup.

We've been to Happy Dining, and Mai Thai and a few others I haven't reviewed yet. Just join the meetup and we'll keep you posted of new events and locations. But in this day, I tried something besides the pho.

In this Dot Com Lunch video, we also talk a little bit about the minimum wage hike in California and generally just have a good meal.

My Review of the Crispy Noodles with Sea Food (Mì Xào Giòn)

This time around, I tried something besides Pho. This looked attractive and I don't recall having it in recent years. Maybe 4 or 5 years ago.

This dish is too mild for my taste, I had to add a dash of chili and a little bit more cilantro, but once I took care of that, the dish was perfect.

I would get this again if I was looking for a healthy light dish with bok choi and seafood.

And tiny little corns. It had some of those. That's a thing in some Vietnamese dishes, really.

It was nice eating some of the noodles while they were crispy and crunchy, but later on, some had been soaking in the sauce and gave them a nice bite but weren't crunchy anymore. I guess this is what you hope for with this dish.

That was a nice contrast. This dish is different. Good, but different. I'd recommend it to anybody that wants to try something new and wants to go with some seafood.

I think a couple pieces of shrimp would have made this a perfect dish, but I can't complain.

The post Pho Ba Co Review – Crispy Noodles With Seafood (Mì Xào Giòn) appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

This place was a total surprise for me. Marcie, one of my #ocfoodies friend said it was good, but I didn't expect it to be this good, I got caught up in the food so much I forgot to take pictures and b-roll.

I still managed to make a video so that's what is here today, check it out below the review.

My review of Mai Thai.

I was in a bit of a rush so I didn't get to take it all in. With that said, I thought this was the best Thai food I've had in a long time.

In my own personal best of the best restaurant battles, Mai Thai is a contender for the number one spot for Thai food in Orange County.

Someone asked me where the best Thai food is around here, and I had a tough time picking between Mai Thai and Vientiane Lao Thai in Westminster. I haven't reviewed Vientiane on the blog or video yet, but it's really good.

So it's a tough call, but we can also say that they are both #1 in their own style.

Mai Thai is traditionally Thai as far as I can tell, while Vientiane Lao Thai has a lot of Laos influence and may even be considered more Laos than Thai.

But if we start getting into that level of detail, we have to bring in the Malaysian influence and then the Chinese influence in Thai food, so for now, we'll leave it at that.

Plus you'll easily see and find out I have no idea what I'm talking about.  So there, both are number 1.

If you had asked me the same question, where is the best Thai food in Orange County? just a day before I tried Mai Thai, I would have known the answer right away.

Now I would have to really think about it, Mai Thai is up there, waiting for me to try a few more dishes before I declare it a winner.

Now back to Mai Thai's food.

Oh yeah, you'll find Mai Thai in Fountain Valley, two minutes from the Brookhurst exit off the 405 freeway.  (map link).

I ordered beef Panang curry and the Tom Kha Gai soup (coconut soup with chicken). I think that these are considered some of the most popular Thai dishes besides Pad Thai. Photos by @MarcieTaylor.

The curry was just pungent enough and not oversalted. It's easy to oversalt it but they nailed the flavor perfectly. I ordered it medium spicy, or "level 4-5" and it was hot but edible. Left just a tingle of spiciness on my lips.

The soup was outstanding and I'd go back for more in a heartbeat. Tangy and lemony, --I thought I was making up the word lemony, but apparently not. Grammarly says it's a word.-- with enough sweetness from the coconut milk and enough spiciness to keep you in check.

Another item that won my heart over was the little egg rolls. They came in the appetizer sampler dish, and they were just amazing.

I can't believe I'm raving about eggrolls, but they were delicious. The filling wasn't just mushy overcooked "stuff" and it had a perfectly seasoned garlic-infused medley of veggies and bean sprouts. I wanted more!

I will definitely be back for more soon. While I think that Thai Avenue has the best pad thai I've had, Mai Thai has the best overall Thai food I think so I recommend you definitely check it out.

Mai Thai in Fountain Valley

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Every time I go to it, it blows my expectations out of the water. Here's a quick announcement from one of the organizers of the event, Marcie Taylor from Surfcityfamily.com

Taste of HB attracts some of the best foods from Huntington Beach and surrounding areas. You'll find tons of restaurants, craft beer & liquor, as well as some other businesses.

My favorite non-food vendor from last year was Surf City Flags. I have a video about them coming up soon, by the way so watch for that.

The festival is going on its 19th consecutive year. It is put together for the benefit of the Children's library. The event is held from noon to 4 pm, with an exclusive VIP reception from 11am-12 noon.

You can get tickets on their website, or at the library and they're worth every penny. In full disclosure, I get to cover the event as media so I'm usually invited but the value you get from that single ticket is outstanding.

At the time of this writing, early bird pricing is available and should be until March 1st.

My previous coverage of the event is here, have a look. But I warn you, some of this will make you hungry.

Taste of Huntington Beach 2018

Taste of Huntington Beach 2016

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I was a bit apprehensive about eating a pig's head at first, but after watching a recent video about The Recess Room from Food Insider, I thought it would be a good dish to try so four of us got together for an evening of indulgence.

I'll start the review as simply as I can and tell you that the whole experience was amazing, every dish we tried was fantastic and the star of the show, the pig's head was out of this world.

The Recess Room

The Recess Room self-describes their offerings as modern American tapas with homegrown ingredients from the onsite garden alongside 24 craft beers on tap with a strong emphasis on local breweries, a wine selection highlighting the California Coast, premium whiskeys, and handcrafted cocktails.

That's pretty accurate but, also humble. The Recess Room is located on Brookhurst, in an unlikely location more suitable for a fast food joint, or the neighborhood's dry cleaners.

No amount of description will express the feeling when get when you're in the place. When you first walk into the restaurant, it's similar to any hip spot in the Orange County area, but once you enter the main seating area near the bar, it all changes.

There is an inviting, soft glow pouring from the lighted bar and soft light fixtures alongside high tables. Beyond you'll find tables more suitable for a romantic dinner.

You imagine it should be in a fancy mall like Fashion Island or South Coast Plaza, but it is just in a small strip mall and actually a very underrated area. Close to the freeways and the beach, this location is easy to get to so you better make your way out there soon.

In simple words, it's a cool place. It has the comfort elements that a local neighborhood bar where you can hang out with your friends for a beer after work, but it also offers the sophistication needed to bring a date for dinner.

The food is on par with the decor and ambiance and it didn't disappoint. If I haven't made it clear yet, you have to go try The Recess Room.

Now, let's get into the food.

To start, we ordered Tom yum fries and popcorn shrimp, which I believe are only available during happy hour. The popcorn shrimp was sweet and scrumptious and as good as any that I've tried before.

The fries, on the other hand, were UH-MAzing.

I can't overstate this, these are probably the best non-traditional fries I've ever had, maybe the best fries ever. They're fries, you think, just fries, right? And they may be just fries, but they give the pig's head a run for its money and they were the best dish we tried besides the pig's head.

I hope they keep these on the menu forever. I would go back there just for the fries.

Talking to Victor Nguyen

I happen to know one of the owners so he came by to visit for a bit and brought along a slew of other appetizers that were just as good as the fries and popcorn. He also gave us a short interview, so you can see that in the video.

Victor also talked about the inspiration for the restaurant. It had been a long time dream of his and his childhood friends so they finally got together recently and opened up shop a couple years back.

They wanted the place to be a fun, inviting with a sprinkle of nostalgia back to the "good old days" of recess during school time.

This is reflected in the decor, the ceiling, for example, resembles a basketball court floor because they grew up playing ball, the food has traces of the comfort food they ate growing up and there are tons of board games up front that bring back childhood memories.

But back to the food

The smoked mushroom dish was unique, a medley of maitake, bunashimeji and oyster mushrooms mixed with lardo (a bit like pork salami/bacon) topped with crunchy almonds. A must for mushroom lovers.

We followed that with cheesy corn and a longaniza empanada, both of which were quite the elevated bar food.

And as a bit of a prologue to the pig's head, we also got the fried chicken skins which were out of the ordinary. Crunchy and flavorful, they are served with homemade ranch and powdered with a flavor that seemed so familiar but we couldn't quite put our finger on it.

Turns out when we talked to Victor Nguyen, he said that they basically reversed engineered the flavoring that comes with Maruchan noodles, yeah those cup-o-noodles that are part of every college kid's coming of age. Another little touch to make this a heaven for nostalgic comfort food.

The Kurobuta Pig's Head

After a number of beers and a round of whiskey shots with Victor, the start of the show arrived. The Pig's Head. By the way, the videos show you our whole adventure so if this the review is TL;DR for you, hit play in the next video.

Priced at $58, The pig's head is not the most extravagant item on the menu, they also serve a $110 Tomahawk steak, but the pig's head is huge.

I know it seems obvious but the pictures and videos available don't really convey how large the butcher block and the half head really are.

As soon as it arrived, the whole surrounding area became filled with a rich and delicious aroma reminiscent of freshly cooked bacon, carnitas, and chicharron. I was lucky to have the first bite and it was for lack of a better word, amazing.

The head is prepared much like carnitas, confit style. I didn't really know what that meant until I started writing this review.

I just thought that was a fancy way of saying "deep-fried," but confit, in fact, means "cooked in its own fat" so basically the pig's head is cooked slow, deep-fried in pig's fat.

The cooking method yields a super crispy skin, while the inside is soft and tender. Once it's a little bit cool to the touch, you can just cut a piece off, or rather just kind of tear a piece off, then you can eat it by making a lettuce wrap of sorts, topped with pickled daikon and carrots and cilantro, then drizzle some of the tofu-kimchi aioli or sweet-and-spicy sauce served alongside.

I think that's technically ssam style, or at least inspired from bossam. The other way you can eat it is by using wrapping the pork in the roti bread that is served with it.

Of course, you can also just take a chunk and eat it straight up. No matter which way you decide to dig in, you'll love it. We all did.

If you want to have a try at this dish, make sure you call ahead. They suggest 48-hour notice so they don't run out. You'll see a few reviews on Yelp mentioning how they ran out of it during busy nights.

When you order the dish, after it's presented you have the option of diving in hands first like we did, or they can take it to the back and separate all the meat for you and bring it back ready to eat. You decide. Obviously, the first option is the most fun, but it can be messy.

We wrapped up the night with the Fluffernutter, another decadent dish that just buttoned up the night in perfect harmony. Needless to say, this is no a place where you come concerned about your caloric intake. You come here to enjoy great drinks and amazing food inspired from what can only be described as Southern California culture.

In Conclusion

I do have to say that this wouldn't be for the squeamish. If you aren't used to seeing the less used parts of the animal served or prepared, this is probably not for you. But if you have had lechon, whether Spanish, Hawaiian, Philipino or another style, and you liked it... then this will be right up your alley.

The whole experience was unique and even though you haven't seen The Recess Room written about too much in foodie blogs, or magazines, you will soon. I'm sure of it. It's only about two years old and it is most likely only going to grow in popularity over the next few years.

If the Pig's Head doesn't attract you, the large selection of whiskeys might, along with some really creative cocktails and craft beers on tap.

All in all, I give this place a five out of five.

I only had my phone with me and like I mentioned, the place is lit softly so it was dark. My photos aren't that great, so I borrowed some of the photos from my friend John, and you can see some of the dishes they serve after our photos, directly from their Instagram.

The Recess Room Photos

[envira-gallery id="51688"]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc86xVXlpM5/?taken-by=therecessroom

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcDNZDalVES/?taken-by=therecessroom

The post Foodie Review: The Pig’s Head at The Recess Room appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I think this is an interesting topic to discuss because many people look down on the consumption of animals.

So what does this have to do with Online marketing? Well, the pig's head is a brilliant piece of marketing. I'll explain in a minute.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm going back to the roots of this blog a little bit by sharing more personal updates and food updates like I used to. This is also part of me, and this is my blog, about me, about my life but also, I can easily connect it to the Internet marketing experience.

The pig's head attracted the attention of Food Insider and they recently did a feature on location. You can see it in my other blog post, linked below.

If you look at their Instagram, everything looks appetizing and inviting and when you come across a picture of the pig's head, whether you love it or hate it, you stop to look at it.

The Pig's Head Viral Marketing

It is worth mentioning that the pig's head at The Recess Room is a brilliant dish for viral marketing. It's not the only restaurant that offers such a unique item, but it's one of the few in the area.

I found another place in Manhattan beach that may offer it, although it's not on the menu on their website, and I think there's another place in San Diego that offers their own version.

But back to the Recess Room.

If you go to eat there, you'll want to eat the pig's head. Because it's such a big item, you'll need a couple of friends to go with you. And you'll probably end up ordering a lot more than just the pig's head.

Then you'll be taking pictures and posting them on Instagram and Facebook. We all did. I even wrote a full review, and my friend John made a great video about the experience.

You can see everything we ordered in this other blog post, a review of the pig's head at The Recess Room.

Driving With Oscar Vlog

No Such Thing as Bad Publicity

We also had people come by just to look at the dish and ask us how it was. You can't pay for that kind of marketing. Not even with "influencer marketing."

Apparently, there were also some protestors outside the restaurant just a few weeks before we went there.

They have the right to protest, and their cause is noble, but their anger is misdirected. But as far as marketing goes, and as the adage goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

The post Vegetarians Vegans & Meat Eaters: Vlog appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The Hat has been around for 65 years and there's a reason for it. Their food is fresh, it's delicious and it will not break the bank.

On my way back from Affiliate Summit, I decided to stop with my friend just before heading home. I hadn't been there for a while but I'm glad I went.

My friend ordered the pastrami dip, and I ordered the pastrami cheeseburger and we got a small order of fries. One order of fries, even small is good enough for two people, so order with caution!

They have other stuff, like onion rings, chili burgers, hot dogs and other grilled goodness but I came for the pastrami burger.

The Pastrami dip is a whole bunch of their amazing beef pastrami stuffed into a french roll and before they serve it to you, they dip the top half in au jus.

Normally when you hear French dip or roast beef dip, you get the sandwich and you dip it yourself as you eat it. But not with the pastrami dip, by far the most popular item on the menu. You can, of course, get au jus on the side and do the traditional dip and bite routine. But just know that the pastrami dip comes pre-dipped.

Now, the burger is something else. Other places have pastrami burgers, I think even one of the big fast food chains introduced their own pastrami burger a few years ago. That one isn't bad, but it certainly can't compare to the one that The Hat makes.

All the food is made to order so it will take a few minutes to cook a burger, don't expect fast food speed, but it's still made fast enough to serve it quickly and satisfy your cravings.

I went to the Lake Forest location, but there are 11 locations total. You can check out their website for all the details.

The pastrami cheeseburger comes with one all-beef patty, cheese and a motherload of pastrami all sitting on lettuce and tomato and dressed in thousand island dressing wrapped up in a classic sesame seed burger bun. It's truly a mouthwatering combination.

I was too busy salivating for my food as I waited and then I basically devoured my burger and totally forgot to record a video, and I was tired. My buddy John did make a vlog, you can watch it below.

Hopefully, the vlog and images inspire you to try this fantastic burger joint, an iconic restaurant in Orange County. Hands down, this is the best pastrami burger in Orange County.

The post The Burger Review: The Hat, World Famous Pastrami Burger appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

At the last minute, the kids ended up coming with me so we made the best of it and went to check out the place.

We went with the new OC Bloggers & Influencers Group, hosted by Sondra from Pretty fit foodie. If you have a social media presence or a blog in OC, you should check out the meetup. She also organized my visit to Chill at Long Beach, and the upcoming year seems like it will be fun.

The kids and I arrived earlier than we needed to, I thought it started at noon, so we had an hour to kill and we checked out other places around the small strip mall. This place, known as The Crossroads has grown up a lot in recent years, adding a lot of other great restaurants, like Stonefire Grill, Urban Plates, and Capital Noodles so I expected Cava Grill to be a good match to this new wave of awesome food.

Turns out the food at Cava is probably my new favorite out of the places I just mentioned. I loved it because it's BYO (build your own) style, in a fast casual setting, so it's really up to you to make what you like.

Unlike other BYO places I've tried, the ingredients are so fresh and well planned, that even if you don't know what you're doing, your plate will come out great.

If you're feeling like loading up on carbs, go with the grains, but if you want to stay in the lighter side then go with the greens. Or you can do a mix of both and go with the most popular choice of "grains and greens." Check out the video to see how the ordering works.

[envira-gallery id="48538"]

The food is Greek & Mediterranean inspired and there's a cool history about how the restaurant came to be on their website. So if you like things like hummus, lamb, tzatziki, then you should check it out.

But going to Cava is not just going out to eat, it's an experience. Cava Grill is not only a story of food, but of culture and friendship as well as a story of entrepreneurship and the pursuit American dream.

All food is sourced locally which is a big plus in my book, and the restaurant contributes to charitable organizations on a regular basis, isn't that nice? But at the end of the day, how does the food stack up? I thought it was amazing and I will definitely go back, with so many ingredients, the combinations you can try are literally, endless.

The full video is here, as well as photos. And tell me, doesn't it make you want to try it?

The post Healthy and Fun Lunch at Cava Grill in Irvine, Review & Experience appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you've visited my blog regularly, you know that I'm a pretty upbeat guy. I'm a glass half full kind of guy but I also owe it to you to warn you when necessary.

We should have listened to the reviews in Yelp, but sometimes those can be deceiving too! We've been to places with less than 3 stars that are amazing and inversely, we've been to places with 4.5 stars that really suck.

Well this is one where the ratings were low and even then were too high. This place I'm talking about is Super Antojitos in Tustin. 341 E 1st St, Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 832-2252.

TL;DR - Service sucks, food is subpar, prices do not match quality or service, and it is dirty. Avoid.

You may think that this place is worth trying because of the pictures below. But that's all that they're good for, eye candy. There is no substance, no value, no quality.

The only reason we were served is because we made it impossible for the waiter to ignore us any longer. Somebody from our table had to put his hand on the waiters face and almost force him to come help us. After we ordered, the food took over one hour to get to us, we ordered only tacos and guacamole.

I also ordered a michelada, a prepared beer drink and was later shocked at the price we paid for it. In the menu it shows as $6.95. Sounds reasonable right?

Here's the kicker, they charge almost $7.00 for a serving of Clamato juice, salt, spices and a chili rimmed glass. Then you pay an additional $3.00 to $5.00 for the beer! I know, buyer beware but this just felt deceptive. A michelada price should include the beer, that's like ordering a Jack and coke and paying $7 for the ice and coke, then paying another $5 for your choice of whiskey.

I am still baffled that this place is in business and remains in business. As we were finished with our dinner, we overheard one of the tables complaining about something in their food; their entire bill was comped but they were not happy. Here's their review of the place. Here's my review about Super Antojitos in Tustin.

After we paid and left, on our way out two other parties were leaving and I asked them if they had been waiting. They also left without having been greeted at all. Amazing.

Gordon Ramsey would tear them a new one if he came here. Check out the tacos:

Down to the real thing, let's talk about the food!

The tacos for taco tuesday seemed like a great value but weren't. They were very light on the ingredients. I tried all four that they offer for Taco Tuesday. I ordered two of each. Al pastor wasn't al pastor, just a burned mess of tough pork, no pineapple, no real al pastor seasoning. The steak tacos had a lot of cartilage and were unseasoned. The chicken ones were also unseasoned and it felt like the chicken was boiled and not grilled, it was probably just overcooked. The only one that were close to saving them were the carnitas tacos. The carnitas were flavorful enough, but this too sucked because like all the other tacos I got, they were cold and the tortillas were stiff.

On top of the lackluster food, later after we ate our food we noticed a high degree of uncleanliness. The servers take the chips with their bare hands, the same hands that handle cash, the menus and their dirty forehead sweat. According to somebody in our party, the bathroom was pretty nasty as well.

This was a total disappointment. I thought maybe the lack of service was because of the cinco de mayo rush but after we left I read other reviews in more detail and it seems that bad service and bad food is in fact the standard for this place.

This was one of those times where Yelp has a much higher rating than the restaurant deserves, it has 3.5 but it really should have 1.2 or 2 max. Literally, go anywhere else!

The post Super Antojitos One Place to Avoid on Taco Tuesday appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Fast forward to today and you'll see gourmet burger joints popping up all over the place. McDonalds, Burger King and other icons of burgerdom are vanishing in exhange for higher quality and even hipster spots. Unfortunately, like most fads and trends, most of these new places are just fancy names dressed with fancy ideas but poor execution.

But when you find a good burger joint, it's like finding gold.

Such is the case with Peter's Gourmade in Tustin. I went to it a couple years back for the first time because someone told me I should try their greek fries and burgers. They were good and the burger was good too but for whatever reason I never reviewed them. So this is my turn to review this up and coming spot.

I went back recently before my trip to Hawaii to have lunch with my buddy Loren from Diesel Brew, Loren's a local guy but when he told me he had never tried this place, we stopped debating where we should eat,  this was it. I asked him after lunch if he had liked it and he said it was a great burger.

Peter's Gourmade has expanded, but something that remains true is their menu and quality. I was pleasantly reminded of how good their burgers are. I have to admit that I prefer my burger a little more seasoned but I'm picky to a fault. In a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate their burger at a high 7.

I ordered The Hermanator ($7.50)which is described in their menu as follows: All-Beef angus patty served on a toasted potato bun with bacon, pepper jack cheese, chipotle mayo, jalapeños, and lettuce. I went with this because I wanted their spiciest option. Unfortunately, this is not spicy enough for me. It was well made, and had a bit of a kick, and the flavor is great but if you're expecting something that will kick you hard, they will have to kick it up a notch.

I added a fried egg on top ($1.00) and it ended up looking like the picture below. Forgive the lackluster picture but I got so carried away chatting with my buddy that I started eating this before I took a picture so I had to re-wrap it and put it back for a shot that didn't show a big piece of the burger missing.

And it looks like this:

The hermanator name comes from the head chef and as I've been told, his name is Herman so it makes perfect sense. The price tip toes on the high end for a burger like this, but the quality of the meat and the made-to-order service would fetch closer to $10 at most other locations in Orange County so it's perfectly reasonable. Adding fries, the egg and a drink put our lunch at a little over $24 for two people. Not bad!

I'm not a huge fan of the shredded lettuce approach, but it works fine in this case, I also wish the yolk on the egg hadn't been throughly cooked; you always want a little runny yolk if you get an egg on your burger. I must admit that Red Robbin's Royal Burger turned me onto the whole egg on top thing and they always do it perfectly, but I can't judge this burger based on this minor flaw because it doesn't normally come with the egg.

I love their new redecorated and expanded location. It feels fresh and well kept and comfortable. The location isn't new, they just took over the shop next door but now they almost doubled their seating capacity so even when you come for lunch at rush hour, you'll have a good chance of getting a seat. We arrived just before the lunch rush and by the time we were finished with our food, the line was out the door and around the corner. All these people can't be wrong so if you want a good burger for a great value then go check them out.

You'll find Peter's Gourmade easily off the 55 freeway at the McFadden exit. Don't let the surrounding area discourage you, this is a gem you find in a rough spot.  I am almost sarcastic when I say rough spot; I mean, it is south Tustin which is not bad at all if you compare it to a rough spot in South LA. I recommend you beat the rush so you can find a parking spot. When it comes to the location, this is their weakness, there is only a small parking lot that is shared with another half-dozen businesses so it can be tough to find a spot.

Rumor has it that they are looking to expand and if my wishes came true they'd open up a location in Irvine or Irvine/Costa Mesa border because that's where I want to go when I eat so I can meet up with my friends and colleagues. And we all love a good burger.

The post Checking out the Hermanator Burger at Peter’s Gourmade appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Ha! but we made it, and that's what matters.

We unloaded our stuff and headed down to Tropics. One of the beach front restaurants at our hotel. I don't usually expect much from hotel resaurants, even at the Hilton. But this was pretty good.

I started with a Mai Tai. I should tell you that this is my first Mai Tai ever. As far as I can recall, I have never ordered one before. I'm more of a gin & tonic kind of guy, But I'm in Hawaii so I figured, why not!

The Mai Tai was awesome. This is my new favorite beach cocktail. Gotta find out how to make one...

The food was good but it all depends on the price. For $19.00... the burger  I ordered was just okay. If It were $14.00, it would have been amazing. If I judged it only on price and taste, it was okay. But this burger comes as a whole experience. The flavor was good and although the patty was overpressed and slightly overcooked beyond the medium level that I requested.

It is a 1/3 lb beef patty served on a super soft and sweet bun topped with sweet pulled pork. They finish off the burger with tomato, pickle and some lettuce

For Claire we ordered the fish and chips which came with a small bowl of cut fruit. The fish and chips was neither here nor there. It was just fish and chips. Helen in the other hand ordered the spicy kalua chicken sandwich which was good too. Served on a ciabatta type of bread, it also could have been much better but it came up short with a thin piece of chicken that was overcooked. I liked it enough, but probably wouldn't order it for myself.

But you don't come to Tropics to eat amazing inexpensive food, you eat there to enjoy an amazing view of the beach and the ocean while enjoying your vacation with a Mai Tai, and your loved ones. So if you're thinking about it, go check it out, just make sure you get a beach front seat. The experience is worth the $60.00 lunch.

Today we are off to go snorkeling and exploring some of the other wonders of Waikiki. We can't wait and I can't wait to show you more pictures and tell you some more stories. Wifi is outrageously expensive at $20/day so I will be showing you what I can as I sneak away late at night or early morning to do some blogging from the lobby. Aloha!

The post I’m in Hawaii Eating 10 Dollar Burgers for Double the Price appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Tinga is a really good dish when done right; it's also hard to find around here. So I ordered it and it was pretty good, but not the traditional flavor. It was missing the classic pickled onions. Can't have Tinga without the pickled onions. The salad burying all the tacos you see there was also over the top. All in all, the dish was well done and seasoned right and all that stuff, but just by the title, it was a bit deceptive. #justsayin

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December, of course could be the worst month to try to do this if you live in the Western world. There are all the holiday parties and dinners, lunches or brunches and constant temptation to eat your favorite treats everywhere you go. Needless to say, the 30 day challenge didn't quite work out as I planned it.

I definitely ate a lot more greens and cut back on sugars and salt and fat, but I wasn't consistent. I ate a salad almost every day, but the process of photographing it or blogging about it was the part that didn't work out so much. It's not really what I like to talk about or blog about; I love talking about business, blogging and making money. Maybe I'll try it again.

This time around I have just made a commitment to myself to have a healthier lifestyle. Coincidentally, my friend introduced me to Myfitnesspal. It's an app (Android or iOS) and a website that help you keep your goals by reminding you of them, and helping you keep track of the food you eat and the exercise you do... or don't.

They also have a handy little widget like this one that helps you keep track and just serves as a reminder. I think I'll put it on my fitness related blogposts so you can see my progress and kick me in the ass when you see that I'm slacking --hopefully I won't!

My goal is simply to eat healthier and lose 40lbs. This time next year, I should weigh 180lbs. No excuses, no bull. I find that my ideal weight is 180 lbs, when I am at that weight, I'm very happy, all my clothes fit, I feel great and I know that my body has to work less. That is a good thing.

I haven't quite figured out a whole plan, like exercise or any specific diet. I'm not going to try to do that. I'm keeping it simple. Calories in, calories out, then try to exercise as much as possible.

Perhaps you want to join me? Just find me on Myfitnesspal and jump on, the more people you have watching your journey the more chances of success so why don't you help me and I'll help you.

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My Wife has been telling me that I need to eat healthier, and she's right. As I've been working a lot to develop my business online. And sometimes with that kind of work and effort we forget to take care of ourselves so I thought, how can I integrate better healthier living into my daily work?

Why, a 30 day blogging challenge of course. So I picked up a copy of Wild About Greens and will be trying to have a salad once a day for 30 days. I'll be using the book as a guide to make different salads so that the challenge doesn't get boring.

The real challenge will be doing this during the upcoming holiday parties, events and celebrations. I'll have even less free time during the next 30 days than I've had in the past few months. But as I mentioned before, sometimes we need a little pressure to get things done right?

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Here's the video from that day.

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I've identified a few issues with the way we did the garden and unfortunately some of the plants are dying. No matter what I do, they continue to wither. The green beans yielded quite a bit of pods, but only once, after that the plants started dying.

One of the things I think that went wrong was the timing. We started planting way too late into the season and so I think we missed valuable growing and developing time. That wouldn't be so bad if we had nurtured the ground more thoroughly.

The ground when I started working on it was tough, dry and mostly clay. I broke it down with a pick-axe and flipped the top layer (about 14 inches). Then I added one bag of organic gardening soil and one bag of organic compost. Looking back, I probably should have added about five or six bags of new soil and a couple more of compost.

That will be good for next time around. But until then, and in the meantime we're also raising worms. That sounds a bit strange if you have never heard of this. We're doing this to get compost of course.

The way we are using the worms is as compost makers. We feed them table scraps and they in turn give us really potent compost. It's called vermicomposting. We feed them vegetable scraps, vegetable and fruit skins, grains, breads and other non-dairy and non-animal products. Over a few days they'll eat that, process it and basically poop it out. The nice name for this is worm castings, and this is what you use as fertilizer.

I know it can be kinda gross sounding, but it isn't bad at all. It doesn't  smell, and it is very low maintenance. All you have to do is feed the worms every few days, keep them out of direct sun and cold temperatures and that's it. This is a quick video I made about 2 months ago.

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