Up until recently, eating at either of Connecticut’s massive casinos really, really sucked.  It was not completely impossible to find something edible at either place, but for every passable meal I’ve found at Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods there’s been plenty of the bland, the gross, the overpriced, and the so awful you feel bad for every party involved including the wait staff, the kitchen, and the guests at your table.  I won’t single out the perpetrator for that last one but his name rhymes with Nimmy Buffet and the inside of his Mohegan Sun location is reminiscent of an echo-y, weirdly depressing high school gymnasium painted electric-blue.  Which happens to serves really bad food.

So as you can see, in contrast Bobby’s Burger Palace (Bobby Flay is the Bobby) is a pretty sexy room, considering its location.  A long seating counter graces one side, arching tables are on the other side which open up onto the kitchen, and golden light from the fixtures above permeates.  Bobby’s is not perfect, not by a long shot, but even the room does a good job of still looking like it’s in a casino without being garish or gawdy, which makes for a nice start.

The fries are good if not piping hot.  They were salted well, and came in an attractive paper lined cup, which thankfully was filled to the brim with full-sized fries instead of the nubs some places annoyingly hide in the bottom.  I wasn’t crazy about the generic tasting, orange colored dipping sauce that came with them but they were good enough to not even need ketchup.

For the burger I order the “classic” and immediately on inspection I wish I hadn’t.  The quality of the ingredients was outstanding, the amount of cheese was generous, and it was all put together well but it was a little too constructed and measured and mannered to really do it for me.  To be sure it’s still one of the best things I’ve ever had at Mohegan but next time I’ll try one of the specialty burgers (the Dallas Burger, with coleslaw, Monterey Jack, BBQ sauce and pickles sounded good) in hopes for a little bit more zip, zing, sloppiness, and juice.

Slightly disappointed but still very much satisfied and pleased I came, the mango milkshake was the highlight of the meal.  Not overly sweet, and perfectly tangy with real flecks of vanilla bean and chunks of mango, it was just the right consistency for either the straw or the spoon it came with.  Pricey at $5, but still a much better bet than the closest slot machine.

Bobby’s Burger Palace

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Sad news, Dave’s Cupboard has a good write up with some details.

First, you park at Abbott’s and see this.  It’s a helpful hint that you shouldn’t order the chicken.

Then you walk up and check out the Galley Menu.  Get there early, lines get long otherwise.

Walk up to the window, and order.  Take your blue ticket over to The Long Red Counter.

This is The Long Red Counter.

Grab your chow before any other hungry daytrippers try to nab it.

Sit and have some mussels.  I love mussels and these were pretty good - small, clean, briny and easy to pluck out of the shell using another shell.  Good deal, too, this whole bag could have easily been split between three or four hungry folks.  Oh, the murky broth-style chowder was also excellent.

Contemplate what you’re about to eat.  The “Lobster Roll” requires those quotation marks around it, I feel.  It seems every place has it’s own idea of what a “Lobster Roll” actually is, but here at Abbott’s it’s a hot, buttery, toasted hamburger bun with a gargantuan puck-like formation of lobster meat in between.

Let’s get this straight, there is no way for this to not be delicious.  For many of us though, it must be asked, “Is it…14 dollars delicious?”  And in that case I say, “perhaps.”  If you’ve never been to Abbott’s before I think it’s certainly a sandwich worth buying once, and of course if money is no consideration feel free to order two.  Otherwise, compared to the tightly compacted patty of Abbott’s lobster roll I’d probably prefer to just order a real lobster next time.  As I picked at the last of my mussels I watched plenty of people greedily rip apart bright red lobsters at other tables and none of them looked disappointed in the least.

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For those into roller coasters, theme parks, and all of the Americana flavored cultural minutae obsessing that comes hand in hand with the hobby of coaster enthusiasting, you already know: Kennywood, near Pittsburgh, PA, is a bit of a mindbender.

The park is a wild combination of 1920’s-style trolley park charm, mid-20th century tackiness and kitsch, unique and varied rides that span decades of amusement park tradition all wrapped up a wonderfully traditional, family friendly atmosphere.  Unlike many of the parks built in suburban outskirts of metropolitan areas in the post-Disneyland area, Kennywood is wedged between the streets and houses of the town of West Mifflin, overlooking the Monongahela River and the slowly rusting industrial facilities that scatter the area’s landscape.

It’s way, way cool.

And so are the world-famous french fries at Kennywood’s Potato Patch.  Nestled between the park’s famous Thunderbolt and Phantom’s Revenge roller coasters, Potato Patch serves up fresh-cut fries with toppings that include cheese, vinegar, bacon, and gravy.

And they’re good!  Although the fries + gravy combo is wildly popular in Canada, it still hasn’t penetrated much of this country.  The cheese was your standard neon goopy stuff, but the beefy and salty gravy made perfect sense against the browned potatoes.

They’re a sort of perfect park food; greasy and decadent enough to feel appropriate for the setting, but also regionally famous and not the sort of thing you can get everywhere else.  A few laps on Phantom’s Revenge and you’ll burn off those calories in no time.

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What: Iguana Ranas Taqueria

Where:  574 Main St, Middletown, CT

Highlights:  Tacos, duh.  Middletown has a fantastic dining scene, and Iguana Ranas plays a nice role - you can easily come in a do a full meal of tacos, tortas, taquitos, and mango soda, but it’s just as easy to stop by for a snack and a drink on the cheap.  For tacos they have all the classics, including chorizo, al pastor (with pineapple, nice) and my favorite, tongue.  Doused with lime, onion, and cilantro, the tacos are inexpensive, filling, and packed with flavor.

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