Verna’s drive in

In Australia we think we know what American food is – we’ve all had hamburgers at McDonalds or Burger King. But these standardised fast food chains offer only a toned down version of American food suitable for an international eatership. They spare us the full sweet and fatty glory of American food. As with any national cuisine, the truly authentic taste can only be found in the land itself. A lovely example from the US is Verna’s Drive In in Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawai’i.

Hawai’i is a very distinct part of the United States. The traditional Polynesian culture of the islands still lives on in many ways, especially in more rural areas. This is probably because Hawai’i is so far away from the American mainland and because it has only relatively recently been incorporated into the US. Direct US government influence was first felt only in 1893, when the Hawai’ian monarchy was overthrown with the support of US government agents (Bill Clinton officially apologised for this in 1993). Over the next fifty years or so Hawai’i was gradually integrated into the US until it ultimately became a US state in 1959.

Despite being a geographical and cultural outlier in the US, Hawai’i has taken on the essentials of mainland American culinary culture. Drive ins, which can be found all over Hawai’i, typify this culture. They are generally operated out of free-standing buildings that stand on or near major roads. They are surrounded by plenty of marked-up asphalt so that the customers have somewhere to park their pick-up trucks. The focus of the menu is hamburgers – listed in order of size from 4 oz. to 16 oz. – in ‘regular’ or ‘cheeseburger’ form. The menu is completed by a variety of other meaty and/or deep-fried delights. In Hawai’i spam also features prominently, although I think there’s a certain element of tongue-in-cheek here.

At Verna’s I had the ‘meatloaf with mash’, with extra gravy on the mash. I ordered and paid at the window on the left and then a few minutes later my meatloaf came at me from the right window like a bat outta hell.

A lady waiting for her own order to appear commented, ‘That’s a lot of meatloaf.’ It came with super smooth mashed potato (Deb consistency) and pasta salad and was smothered in lovely gravy. I sat down at the seating area and dug in. I was finished some time later. I threw out my styrofoam plate and plastic knife and fork and the meal was complete.

I have tried several of these drive ins in the time I have been here. All of them exhibit the same salient characteristics as Verna’s, but Verna’s does it best. It is the ideal American fast food store. It is this ideal that has been tamed to give us the international hamburger chains.

Verna’s Drive In
1765 Kamehameha Ave
Hilo, HI 96720, United States

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	3 snorts
Taste	4 snorts
Service	4 snorts
Atmosphere	5 snorts

Woodfired Pizza and Kebab

I’ve been becoming increasingly concerned that this blog is getting a little vegetarian. I thought I should try to restore the balance a bit…

That’s an iskender kebab from Woodfired Pizza and Kebab in Chatswood. It’s made up of cut up Lebanese bread, sliced tomatoes, yoghurt, tomato sauce, a bit of parsley, lots and lots of döner meat and the grease that flows out of it. The incurable carnivores out there can be reassured that the tomatoes and parsley really are the sum total of the vegetable matter contained in this meal.

Woodfired Pizza and Kebab does all the staples of Turkish fast food, with an accent on the explicitly mentioned pizzas and kebabs. Piglet – who is sadly restricted to the gluten-free – always chooses an option from their range of baked potatoes. Even though the potatoes are chosen for their guten-free properties, they are no poor relations to the rest of the menu. There’s a large selection of delicious (and optionally meaty) fillings and all the potatoes are topped off with melted cheese and cream – and served with salad, for those with any remaining vego sensibilities.

They have very delicious ayran, a sort of yoghurt drink. It’s definitely worth having ayran whenever the opportunity arises.

There’s a nice little sit-in eating area with tables and chairs decked out with Persian-patterned covers. In winter Piglet puts herself in the best spot, next to the outside wall of the woodfired pizza oven. She’ll often lean right up against the wall to soak in the warmth.

Since Woodfired Pizza and Kebab is essentially a take-away place with a sit-in area, the prices are quite reasonable.

Woodfired Pizza and Kebab
325 Penshurt St
North Willoughby

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	5 snorts
Taste	4 snorts
Service	3 snorts
Atmosphere	4 snorts

Jasmin

Piglet wondered the other day whether we should have Lebanese for dinner. Lakemba might be a good place to find a Lebanese restaurant, she suggested. So we made our way out to Lakemba and walked up and down the main street looking for something suitable. We settled on the Jasmin restaurant – ‘Best kebabs in Sydney’ – just down the road from the station.

As we went in and found a table Piglet was able to tell me all sorts of information about the restaurant. She seemed suspiciously knowledgeable about this restaurant that we had just stumbled upon. I suspect that she had already read a review (or several) and wanted to sample the deliciousness herself.

Jasmin certainly lived up to Piglet’s expectations and I found it pretty good too. The menu, in English and Arabic, had a huge variety dishes. For those who can’t be satisfied with just one flavour there are mixed plates, which have a bit of everything. They come in vegetarian and carnivorous versions. The waiter could see that we were the sort of people for whom just one dish would not be enough and suggested that we have a carnivorous mixed plate between us. Piglet licked her lips and piped up with the idea that maybe we should have a vegetarian mixed plate and a meat mixed plate. The waiter hesitated but noted it down anyway.

Soon a huge plate with foule, hummus, baba-ganouj, tabouli and falafels came out.

It was accompanied by a basket full of Lebanese bread, garlic dip, tahini and a plate of salad, including lettuce, olives, pickled chillis, tomatoes, mint and the pinkest pickled cabbage I’ve ever seen.

We started. But then a second plate came out with hummus, baba-ganouj, tabouli, more falafels and lamb shish, köfte shish (although presumably under its Lebanese name), a piece of chicken and a kebbe.

It was delicious and very filling. As we waddled out, Piglet lamented the fact that we had eaten so well because it meant she couldn’t top off her meal with ice cream. Ice cream was out of the question not because of any moral issues about gluttony but because of the physical impossibility of squeezing any more food in.

Jasmin Lebanese Restaurant
30B Haldon St
Lakemba, NSW 2195
(02) 9740 3589‎

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	5 snorts
Taste	5 snorts
Service	4 snorts
Atmosphere	4 snorts