ARTHUR:
We've reached the final installment of our Ponda Center Food Review series. If you missed the entries from Brett, Daniel, or Robby, click on their names or check tomorrow's gameday where I will recap their critiques.
Your final reviewer, Jen, arrived late to the home opener after openly defying the 'dibs' system and proclaiming she was going to eat wherever she wanted, redundant review or not. Luckily, being late and being Jen (who hates lines) she ended up grabbing a quick bite at the Miller Lite stall rather than wait to sample the new Aramark eateries. So, assuming you hate lines and arrive late to a Ducks game this season, should you go check out the Miller Lite offerings?
JEN:
I went to the opening game with half the reason I'm on this earth - my dad. All the new concessions had long lines and we-- ok, I wanted to get to our seats. After picking up two Guinesses (even with my dad buying the beer, I still got carded), we stopped at the Miller Lite place. I consider myself a pastrami sandwich connoisseur and figured that if the arena's food was being updated, this has to be better than the usual concession food.
Nah, it really wasn't. Actually, I don't remember much about it except that it made me burp throughout the game. The beer was good. OH! I was dismayed to learn that there was ZERO kettle corn to be found throughout Ponda when I went for my usual second beer and kettle corn run. A concession stand worker explained that they are changing vendors, and there is NO kettle corn. At all. Lame.
I am not a food writer. Frankly, I don't care enough to give a qualified opinion. So, making his Anaheim Calling debut is my DAD...
JEN'S DAD:
We each had a pastrami sandwich from the Miller Lite stand. We had to wait for the sandwiches, so they came out as fresh as possible. The pastrami was hot and moist on a six inch roll [JEN: That's what she said]. They were served with a small plastic container of yellow liquid, which we did not sample as it had the appearance of a fatty urine sample. We simply adorned the sandwich with an ample supply of mustard. Accompanied with a light beer and a Guiness stout, we consumed them quickly at our seats, though in hindsight, eating such fare is better enjoyed before going to one's seat.
The Guiness was delicious, but the sandwich, in my opinion, was average at best. If you've ever had a pastrami sandwich from the Carnegie Deli, you know what really good pastrami is supposed to taste like. For $9.50, I cannot recommend the pastrami, which produced burping reminders of its mediocrity throughout the game. It is hard to recommend even the Guiness, though tasty, at $11.50 per flagon (or whatever that word is that they are now using to describe a large beer).