Yelp’s Sizzlin’ Bacon Bash

Bacon Today correspondents Cynthia (food writer of Taste of Orange County and Furey & the Feast) and Scott (competitive eater-in-training) attended the Yelp Sizzlin’ Bacon Bash at OC Fair in Costa Mesa, Calif. to check out what the O.C. has to offer in terms of bacon-y goodness. Here’s are some of their favorites, along with other

The day M’Oink meatballs and Scott met:  “Imagine your favorite spaghetti and meatball recipe,” Scott says of the bacon-wrapped meatballs with blueberry sauce from BigMista’s BBQ. “Then wrap some freshly roasted bacon around it. You’ll then have a recipe for the ultimate adventure. The bacon was large and impressive, fully conquering the meatball and violating it with a bacon twist.”

Scott’s excitement for the dish resulted in accidentally spilling some of his topped-off beer into the bacon and meatball platter. The woman representing BigMista’s was not pleased at all. “She gave me the look of the devil,” Scott says. “I apologized, knowing that she perhaps didn’t appreciate my beer in her masterpiece.” The two would soon meet again, however, as Scott jumped right back in line for more bacon-flavored meatballs.

“Words of pure bliss and joy do not do justice to these bacon balls; they are good – damn good,” Scott says. “These could perhaps be the best bacon meatballs one would ever experience in a lifetime.”

Cynthia on bacon mac and cheese: “I hold Beachwood BBQ fully responsible for my bacon-induced coma,” Cynthia says. “Its mac and cheese was creamy, rich, and topped with a light sprinkling of breadcrumbs that really added a depth of texture to the dish.” She soon started noticing something very peculiar about the huddled crowd that was digging into their little cups of mac and cheese.

“While I watched fellow Yelpers inhale their food, I couldn’t help but notice their eyes were getting glassy, their movements were slower and they were all moaning ‘baaaacoooon’ in kind of a creepy way – like they were becoming bacon zombies or something. It seems that I wasn’t the only one in a bacon coma.”  Beachwood BBQ actually had to turn one Yelper away, because he kept coming back for more.

Other highlights:

Chocolate covered bacon: This delectable frozen dessert is making its OC Fair debut this year. Scott found the chocolate a bit too overwhelming, while Cynthia had nothing but praise. “One strip of crunchy bacon is just enough,” she says. “Try it with the salt packet it comes with. It really makes a huge difference.”

Scott and Cynthia caught Yelper and Garden Grove, Calif.-resident Jose Encino wearing a “Bacon Makes Everything Better” shirt, carrying a bacon wallet (did we mention his lovely lady friend was a vegetarian?) and enjoying his chocolate covered bacon. Bacon overload? We think not.

All in all, a very good time.

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