From Hunger to Remorse: Eating (or Pigging) in LA

*Welcome to the land of fame and excess” – Party in the USA, Miley Cyrus. 

EXCESS.

I’ve been trying my best to avoid eating animals ever since my detox adventure in Cebu last January. Two documentaries changed by view about eating meat, eating fast food and portion sizes. Both documentaries focused on the diet behaviors in the US.

Now, I completely understand why.

I did not research about the restaurants to try in LA. I figured I’ll just try the usual chains and compare them to the Philippines: KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway and other normal chains.

 

Warning: taxes in the menu excludes state tax. State tax in CA in 9%.

So much for my American Foodchain Dream. My first American lunch I had a very late lunch in this sushi place near my dorm. I wanted to try Subway but I was with a dormmate and she wanted to try the sushi place. I wanted to sit down and eat too, so I let myself be dragged into the Japanese restaurant. I ordered a bento box for $12.50 and the amount became $13.61 when the guy punched my order in. “That’s $13.61 for all including taxes”, he said. Ah, ganun pala. I knew I had to stop converting the amounts in PHP at this point.

Delicious Bento Box, made in USA!

Very delicious. I had to beg my dorm-mate to eat the others as I cannot finish everything.

Lunch at *something* Central Market. Lots of cheap and not-so-cheap good finds here.

Lot of choices in this place. Too many options causes decision paralysis. Don't come here if you are so hungry because you will be spending time going around and checking everything. From the very common hamburger to the artisanal and healthy stuff. "Artisanal" and "Organic" are two words that make food more expensive. We took a chance with DTLA cheese. Some Quinoa Salad, mac & cheese and potatoes & cheese.  Total bill for two is $28. Lotsa cheese in there!

 

Sab's taco (up there) there just costs $3.

We cleaned up our plates and threw them after eating. Wag maging senyorita!

That was a lot for lunch. But when I saw the food trucks late that afternoon, I forgot about all that when I saw the food trucks inExposition Park. I can’t possibly try stuff from all of them right? I need another tummy or two for that.

Food trucks in real life! I used to see this in Lifestyle Network only

This "medium"-sized lemonade costs $4.00 and a trip to the bathroom during the movie.

 Garlicky fries for $4.00. Ah, fries yes. This was yummy but not spectacular.

FRIES. FRIES. FRIES.

Getty Museum lunch: Iced tea, hummus and pita bread for $11.00. Repeat after me: Do not convert to PHP. Do not convert to PHP.

Hummus, Pita and iced tea. I like the iced tea the most.

In & Out is another popular burger fastfood chain. This is a packed branch in LAX airport. The lines in both dine-in and take-out are long. 

People must really love this place, it shows how much time they are willing to spend here. I like that the menu is pretty simple. Less choices, less mistakes.

I chose the normal single-patty burger while Sab had the double burger. They also had a triple burger! That’s amazing… and disgusting too. All that meat in your body?

The fries were yummy but I couldn't eat everything

Chipotle. This is one franchise that I’d like to see in the Philippines. This veggie salad with guacamole is healthy-tasty-awesome! Costs under $7.00 too. Their meat, and all the other ingredients are “responsibly grown” by the farmers.

Their salad are delish and affordable

And here’s my sampling of McDonald’s breakfast. I think this costs $2-3 and they deliver, of course.

Another burger chain. I guess Americas love burgers eh? We found Five Guys empty during the Fourth of July. I guess everyone was headed to the outlet malls because of the SALE. We were headed there too!

They have better fries vs. In & Out

Their grilled cheese was delicious (I need other adjectives to describe food)

Do not use this app in Applebee. They will charge you $1.49 for the use of this. DO NOT. Entertain yourselves with something else.

Appetizer at Applebee

I didn't eat any Subway, KFC, Ihop. I was able to try Starbucks  at the airport though. Prepare to struggle zipping your pants after this much food. 

When I flew home, I researched about more healthy diet video documentaries. I had to remind myself that all these delicious things can slowly kill me. As Miley Cyrus sang, this is the land of the EXCESS. I believe that now.