This Made My Friend Sick

WTF?! Doesn't anyone visit this site? What are we doing this for? Our health?

So much for thinking it's great to be back after an inexplicable hiatus. No reason...just didn't update the blog for awhile. That's all.

Anyway, the wings pictured above - yes - made my friend sick.

Well, not exactly. This was my plate of wings from the Hilton Garden Inn happy hour in DC, where they were also half-price. They didn't make me sick, but this friend was bitching about his plate of wings way before they came back up this morning - mostly undigested, no less. Nancyboy.

Anyway, the wings were kind of deep fried, but the coating wasn't crunchy at all, really. They weren't hot, spice-wise. The taste wasn't bad. They just kinda made me feel like, well, meh. At least they didn't make me sick.

Will we go back? Most likely not. For all my friend's shortcomings, at least he's a learning creature. Besides, I might not be so lucky next time, I mean, if there was one. A next time, that is.

More Pool Bar Nonsense

So another round of happy hour hilarity and hijinx took place last week at the Pool Bar, part of which featured their new bar-food offering -- miniburgers. While Matchbox supposedly has the best miniburgers in town, that place is too trendy for Choke on This to review and Pool Bar's burgers served the purpose. Nothing really stood out as far as their taste, but the buns were different. It looks like they just took some stale sandwich slices from the back and pressed an upside down water glass on them to cut out the circles. Well, it was a good idea. Some places have too high a bun-to-hamburger ratio, which strikes an imbalance from enjoying, but pool bar got away with it. Think about it -- buns can be the Goldilocks of the miniburger. Too much bun, too soft a bun, stale bun, not enough bun coverage. There are lots of issues when it comes to the miniburger bun, but pool bar made lemonade (bun tops) from lemons (old sandwich slices) and that puts them in the "win" column from we here at COT. The fries were an afterthought. Not bad, but an afterthought.

Do Not Eat This!

I don't know why I didn't heed the bartender's advice when he said I shouldn't get an order of 14K's Tandoori wings. It sounded good on the lounge menu (half-price from 4-7 weeknights): "Roasted Wings Flavored with Garam Masala, served with Cucumber Raita."

What I was actually served seemed very different. And very bad. I'm not 100% positive, but I feel fairly confident that the wings were boiled in water and not roasted in any way. More than anything else, the consistency of the meat was disturbing. The seasoning barely come through at all.

I may have had two wings, and that was it. After I pushed the basket a good distance away from me, I took a nice pull off my Jim Beam rocks (pictured above).

After that, it was all a matter of trying to put this rather unpleasant experience behind me.

It's not my intention to be unduly harsh to 14K. There are at least a few items on the lounge menu that make for an enjoyable appetizer experience. The half-price drink specials during the "Rush Hour Happy Hour" there sit nicely with me, and the bar staff is always good to us.