Corned Beef Trash?

Have you ever had a really awful meal? Like a "I could literally puke right now" kind of meal? As most of you know, Jeff and I moved to Dubuque just a few months ago and have been having a great time trying out new restaurants. We happen to love big weekend breakfasts and were hoping to find a great diner-type restaurant where we could fill our bellies after a long Saturday night. We'd driven past an old-timey looking place downtown that had some definite greasy spoon potential, and they advertised a breakfast buffet--with corned beef hash--for just $5.99! We were sold.
As we entered "The Bridge," we were somewhat alarmed by the lack of light in the dining room. There didn't seem to be any windows and the lights were quite dim. A distinct smell of old cigarettes and drunk rednecks hit my nose. Still, we were intrigued. The decor was certainly straight out of the 70s, right down to the floral carpet and boxy brown furniture. And, of course, THERE WAS CORNED BEEF HASH.
I had become corned beef hash's greatest fan some weeks before. Those of you who live in Milwaukee will likely know about Miss Katie's Diner. It's been one of my favorite breakfast spots since I was a little girl. I have many fond memories of lunches there with my dad--countless malted milks, burgers, and BBQ sandwiches. Now I'm not exactly sure how I made it 29 years without trying corned beef hash, or what it was about it that appealed to me on that hungover day in May. But my first experience with corned beef has at Miss Katie's was an enlightening one. I may have heard angels trumpeting with my first bite--the huge bits of juicy, briny corned beef and buttery fried potatoes made for a magical meal that I'll never forget. It was this experience that I was expecting at the Bridge. But I was about to be disappointed.


As Jeff and I made our way through the strange odors to the buffet, I made a beeline for the hash. Only problem was, I couldn't find it on the buffet. There was a meatlike substance much like canned dog food that I didn't recognize, but certainly no corned beef hash anywhere. And then it hit me: the dog food WAS the corned beef hash. I slopped a bit on a dirty plate and sat down at our table. Let me just say that this was not an angelic experience. This was literally the worst meal I'd ever had. Not only did the hash look like dog food, it smelled and tasted like it too.

So...after this hash experience, I've decided that a good corned beef hash is something I really need to learn to make at home. What is your favorite breakfast food?

Comments

  1. JeffOctober 17, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    You know what dog food tastes like? It tastes just like it smells.........................delicious.

    ReplyDelete

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