Earlier today, I mentioned a recent trip to Los Angeles. There I reviewed Gordon Ramsay at the London and Noe Restaurant. I thought I’d follow that up with a couple of Atkins friendly dining experiences that we had from the same trip.

Mastro’s Steakhouse Reviewed

Like any good steakhouse, they make sure the steak is great. My wife had the Filet Mignon and said it was one of the best steaks she’s ever had. I had the prime rib (I know it’s horrible for you with tons of saturated fat). It was up there, but I can’t say it was the best I’ve had. If you aren’t on an Atkin’s diet, I highly recommend the macaroni and cheese. It was the best I’ve had in some time. The food was plentiful – we had enough for two meals. The service was incredible, just very nice, friendly people. We walked out of the restaurant thinking that it was one of the best meals we had it long time. From a price perspective, we paid around $160 and thought it was a very good value compared to Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant.

Fogo de Chao Reviewed

Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian churrascaria. I’ve been to several Brazilian churrascarias and they always seem to have a couple of things in common. It’s all-you-can-eat (dangerous for any diet), and the waitstaff brings big cuts of meat to the table. You get several types of steak, chicken, lamb, pork, almost anything that was living and part of a standard American diet. In the past I’ve been Texas de Brazil (Aruba), Churrascaria Plataforma (New York City) and a couple of smaller ones in Massachusetts.

I first heard about Fogo de Chao from Jim’s review. Since I’m a huge fan of Texas de Brazil, I knew that I’d have to give it a try if I had the chance. I have to say that it was good, but probably a little shade behind Texas de Brazil. I think the cuts of meat were just better there. However Fogo de Chao did have some outstanding bread with cheese baked in. (Perhaps they could have provided some gravy to complete the clogging of my arteries.) We ended up spending close to $150 again for dinner, blowing our dining out budget for some time.

Here are some links from the Fitness Health Network that I liked this week:

• J.D. went to physical therapy this week. When he talked about being out of balance, I instantly thought of my Wii Fit. It talks about how important balance really is. Perhaps J.D. can add a little more Wii Fit into his stretching routine.
• Perhaps J.D. can also use some tips on preventing runner’s knee from WeightLadder. I don’t think that’s really his problem, but it can’t help to be proactive.
• No Calories Needed is looking for the best way to cook chicken. If health is your only concern, I’d say boiling it. However, the result is often dry, flavorless chicken. Instead I just go with the George Foreman grill. I will marinate it in lemon juice and use some garlic powder when cooking it. Yum!
• Journal of Healthy Living talks about avocados as a superfood. It wasn’t until I moved to California that I found that avocado is fantastic food.
• Fat Man Unleashed writes about the ultimate bicep. If it’s anything like the photo, I’ll stick with my own biceps, thanks.

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