The Burger and Banana Pie Battle: Pie N Burger or Apple Pan?

A neighborhood landmark. Countertop service. Ageless menu. Aging servers. Both Pasadena's Pie 'n Burger and Westwood's Apple Pan have their own supporters, but which side do I fall under? Between Apple Pan's old waiters (I've had the same waiters for the last 5 years, I swear) and Pie 'n Burger's waitresses, between a big daily pie menu or a small but lauded pie selection ... it's time for me to make that comparison.

Being a former Bruin, I've naturally blogged about my love for Apple Pan, their hickory-smoked burger, and of course, their banana cream pie!

But I'm a beaver now. And beavers sometimes go to lunch at Pie 'n Burger around the corner. Most patrons sit on a long counter, but a couple of tabletops are also available. The place is bigger than Apple Pan with a bigger burger/sandwich and pie menu. There's always a wait here during lunch time.
A burger runs you $6.50 here (add $0.25 for cheese).
Nicely grilled meat and buns (although the buns could be better quality, it was at least nicely grilled), topped with lots of crisp lettuce and their thousand island dressing. A good and satisfying burger over all, although it's priced rather highly. In comparison, Apple Pan's Hickory sauce seems more unique and special.

Pie 'n Burger offers dozens of pies, but I love my banana cream pies, so I opted for the banana meringue pie here (they don't have the cream option). Shown here is half of an order - I was splitting with Kung Food Panda.
Good cream, good meringue, good crust. But. I wished there were more bananas in the pie - chock full of them like Apple Pan's banana cream pie.

So don't get me wrong. I'm very happy with having Pie 'n Burger around the corner of my school. I like their burger, and I like how many pie varieties they offer. But at the end of it my heart belongs to Apple Pan.

Pie 'n Burger
913 E California Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91106
www.pienburger.com

Balinese Dirty Duck Diner: Crispy Duck with a View

One last meal in Bali took us back to Ubud, home of Babi Guling Ibu Oka and Nuris bbq ribs. This time we visit the famous Bebek Bengil restaurant, a.k.a Dirty Duck Diner.
We were greeted by a decidedly Balinese entrance and valet parking, already suggesting that this place probably has quite the ambiance and won't be cheap (relatively speaking).

Indeed, Bebek Bengil offers the option to dine on the balai-balai, the wooden sitting platforms available around the restaurant. You can, and probably should, reserve these platforms beforehand. We didn't, but after waiting a few minutes managed to score the best seats in the house, a small balai right next to the rice paddies.
We all got the famous crispy duck, Bebek Bengil, which was rather heftily priced by Indonesian standards at Rp.67,000 (about $6.70) a plate. Then again it is Bali and one always pays for great ambiance.

Shoes off, sitting on the platform lesehan style with pillows, just shooting the breeze while staring at the verdant rice paddies, this ambiance is certainly hard to beat.

Our plate of crispy fried duck and rice finally came, to be eaten with our fingers.
The duck was fried to a crisp in palm oil, after being seasoned with bay leaves, lime, ginger, galangal, coriander, and other herbs and spices.
Under that deliciously crispy skin was lean, but tender and full of flavor duck meat.
This was served with some urap made with green beans and bean sprouts cooked in coconut milk, galangal, and chili.
The urap had a nice flavor that accompanied the duck perfectly. We were also served some amazing house-made chili sauce made with chili, shrimp paste, onions, and other good stuff. Even I could not avoid dipping everything in that sauce.

Needless to say, I cleaned all possible skin and meat off the bones. The portions here aren't big and the price is rather high, but chilling in the breeze after licking the duck bones clean was heavenly. Oh yes, we could definitely eat like this everyday - if only Bali was just a drive away.

Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner)
Padang Tegal, Ubud.
Bali, Indonesia
Phone: (62-361) 975.489
Fax: (62-361) 975.546

Bali, Indonesia - Restaurant Reviews

Ubud:
Babi Guling Ibu Oka (Suckling Pig)
Naughty Nuri's Warung
Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner)

Seminyak:
KuDeTa
Mykonos

Kuta:
Warung Made

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Not Really Food:
Trisna Bali Agrotourism