Can someone list some good eating challenges for me?

[Chosenone28]

Stuff like huge pizzas, burgers, etc. etc. Man vs. Food esque stuff. I would greatly appreciate it.

[Ali G]

Just curious, did you ever attempt any of the challenges listed here? If so, how did you do?

[Chosenone28]

Hey guys, on Nov. 7th Ive decided I am going to be doing an Emack Attack at Newbury Street, to see if I can finish the entire thing in the fastest amount of time possible. Once again I appreciate all of your suggestions and I might consider doing some of them as well in the future.

[hotoynoodle]

good luck to you, but these things are way beyond my comprehension. i feel physically ill whenever that nathan's hot-dog scarfing contest comes on tv.

[Chosenone28]

Thanks! I might be a small person, but I have a big appetite.

[Chosenone28]

I finished the Emack Attack I did in 33 minutes. 2nd best time, to my friend Greg, who was featured on the Hartford edition of Man v. Food.

[limster]

How about eating at every place in the North End. (You don't have to do it all in one evening.) See http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/448599

[MParente]

I think Ben and Jerry's does something....

[Chosenone28]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the suggestions and keep them coming!

[mtm7654]

The Gypsy pancake at Cafe Polonia near Andrew Square in Southie/Dorchester. Sure, you can probably finish it no problem. Try eating (and enjoying!) anything else afterward.

[Monty]

Pasta from Hell at East Coast Grill. It's only served during Hell Nights. It's the hottest thing I ever tasted and couldn't choke down more than a couple of bites. Next Hell night is in October sometime.

[Blumie]

One needn't wait for Hell Night for a challenge at East Coast Grill: the Thai wings currently on the ECG menu are quite a challenge from a heat perspective -- I haven't had pasta from hell in 20 years, so I can't compare the heat levels -- but they are mighty tasty!

[Ali G]

How do the Thai Wings compare to the jerked Wings of Ass Destruction that use to be on the menu? Those were hot, but I was usually able to work my way through them. I see the Thai wings have ghost chili oil, so I assume they are a bit hotter.

[jgg13]

Seems kind of amusing that "thai" wings are coated in oil of a chile from nagaland

[Alcachofa]

Just had the Thai wings last night. VERY tasty. I don't think they're quite as hot as the Wings of Ass Destruction. They will definitely get your attention though, especially if you pile on the peppers served with them.

I think the Grilled Bone with Inner Beauty Sauce is currently the hottest thing on the menu. I believe the Wings of Ass D utilized the Inner Beauty Sauce.

Finally, they have a hot as hell chili current on the specials list. Hope they keep that there a little while; I was not able to order any last night.

[Blumie]

It's interesting how either (a) some of us react differently to different dishes and/or (b) different batches of the same dishes have varying levels of heat. In my sampling, I found the Thai wings to be among the spiciest thing I've ever had at ECG, spicier than both the hell bone and the wings of ass destruction.

[Tir_na_nOg]

Now we are talking! I think they say no customer has ever finished a plate of Past from Hell. And it's a pretty small plate. We usually measure how much we eat by inches of noodle. It is so hot, I don't think it even qualifies as food.

[jgg13]

They may say that, but I've personally seen it done. This one woman was sitting near me, ate the whole thing w/o breaking a sweat. I like spicy food, but I don't understand how that's possible :)

[MC Slim JB]

I've seen it done a dozen times, including twice by dining companions of mine. I didn't envy their morning-after.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[StriperGuy]

I'm not a "eat hot stuff" show off, but I can handle the heat as much, heck usually way tougher then the next guy, and have NEVER suffered next day tribulations, though I have heard others describe such sufferings.

Probably the worst I ever did was order "lamb extra-vindaloo" at a long gone place on 2nd ave just of 6th st. in NYC. I suffered eating it, but not ex post facto.

Always a bit of a mystery to me.

[phatchris]

Maybe they were "flavor tripping".http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_...

[ScubaSteve]

i've done it, got the t-shirt.

it was pretty painful, but there was great flavor.
the 3am exit was Not Fun.

[mwk]

I believe that was also featured on the same "Man vs. Food" episode...

[jgg13]

It was indeed. To the extent that one can believe his reactions to be sincere, not edited, etc - I've been using that as a metric to compare his other spicy challenges to. There've only been a few that look to be in the same order of magnitude/worse than the pasta from hell.

[MC Slim JB]

Wait in line two hours for a crappy fast-food burger? Lot of that going on in Peabody lately.

I think the Phantom Gourmet did an episode not too long ago where they focused on the "biggest, hugest, most likely to launch you into the ranks of the morbidly obese." kind of dishes around, like that Eagle burger. The whole thing was pretty revolting, but celebrating the wretched-excess consumption of cheap, bad food is a leitmotif of the show. You might want to set your DVR for that; they'll give you plenty of ideas.

In general, I think finishing an entree at any national casual-dining outlet represents an act of inhuman gorging. The last time I was at an outlet of The Cheesecake Factory, I ordered a sandwich. It was essentially two huge sandwiches on the plate, covered, I mean mounded, with about 4 lbs. of steak fries, easily enough to stuff two hungry people. I have not been back to one since.

I actually finished an entire Speed's hot dog the other day, for the first time in a long time; I usually have to stop within a couple bites of the end. I think eating two of them would be an impressive feat. Finishing three would qualify you as a Human Wood Chipper.

Eating a large Cherry Bomb (steak sub with provolone, pepperoni and hot peppers) from Carl's Subs & Burritos in Waltham would be a death-defying act in my book. I can get through about half of one in a single sitting, then need a nap.

Certain North End restaurants are all about obscene portions of low-grade Italian-American food. I think if you could polish off a pasta or a parmigiana (which comes with a plate of pasta) at La Famiglia Giorgio, for instance, that would be some kind of, um, achievement. It might get you on a mailing list from one of those electric scooter/wheelchair companies, at least. I think they're meant to be shared family-style, but when I went to their now-closed Brookline outlet years ago, a server assured me that patrons regularly consumed them as individual servings. Judging from the way the 400-lb dude at the next table was shoveling it in, I believed her.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[Chris VR]

The Coffee Roll at Kanes is another piece of monster food that I always thought was meant to be shared (and it's pretty good!) but one day I was shocked to see a person sitting there with one on a plate, eating it all by himself. I mean really, this thing is about the size of a hubcap.

[hotoynoodle]

i forgot about la famiglia. each entree comes with an entire pound of pasta. a date took me there once. (only date, lol) and tourists were standing on their chairs to take aerial camera shots of the plates.

this was about 15-20 years ago, so pre-cheesecake factory portion days. i'm guessing gargantuan portions here are not so unusual anymore. (btw, i've never been to a cheesecake factory.)

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

Yes, La Famiglia is all about quantity. So is (was? are there any locations left?) Vinny Testa's. I once read a review where the author claimed each entree contained not one but two pounds of pasta.

[hotoynoodle]

lmao, just "ew".

i know i read that testa's was rebranding and renaming, but i think there is still a vinny t's on boylston near fairfield(?).

[barleywino]

you can actually ask for "lunch" portions of the pasta dishes at Cheesecake Factory, which translates into normal-to-large size portions at any other restaurant (the Bistro shrimp pasta is not bad, and rather unusual)

[jgg13]

There was a thread talking about Speeds a while back where there were folks talking about eating 2-3 dogs in a sitting. One speeds dog is about right for me. There are times when I'm not super hungry and it's a bit much, and there are times where I'm really hungry and wish I could have a bit more (but not a whole dog!), so it evens out.

Speaking of the phantom, I've noticed lately how almost every single interview w/ an eatery has the person saying, "our portions are large/generous/something". I've not really noticed it before, but I don't know if it is relatively new (at least to that level of ubiquity) or just didn't notice it for some reason until now. Don't get me wrong, I like getting a lot of food, but something about how every, single, place says "we have large portions" annoys me.

[hotoynoodle]

except for very fine dining places, what american restaurants don't serve enormous plates of food? but i'm guessing the demographic that digs the phantom finds that assurance important.

[Tir_na_nOg]

LOL, come on, 2 Speed's impressive? Any red-blooded guy should be able to do that with a little effort, not that I recommend it (having done it). Now 3 would be at least somewhat impressive, not to mention, somewhat disgusting.

[Tir_na_nOg]

According to the owner Greg, the most Speed dogs he has seen anyone eat in one sitting is 3. I've had two twice (hey, I'm not proud of it, but sometimes the temptation is too great!), once with pasta salad, corn-on-the-cob and watermelon on the side (catered) and still had enough mobility to compete in an egg toss afterwards (admittedly, that doesn't require much mobility). The Guinness probably helped. I think I could do 3 if sufficiently motivated. But 4 would be entering the realm of an eating challenge. Loaded of course.

Any takers?

[Prav]

I will gladly photograph this event. (I'm a pro). Completely serious. Someone schedule it. :)

[jgg13]

Yeesh, I eat a lot, and 2 would really put me down. Sometimes one stuffs me, and sometimes I'm not-quite-sated, depending on how hungry I am. I could probably do 3, as you put it ... "if sufficiently motivated". No way on 4.

[mwk]

That's why I never understood the attraction of Vinny T's. When it was called Vinny Testa's, and there was only one in Brookline, my friends used to drag me there ALL the time. Maybe it was a bit better then, but all I remember are mounds of tasteless, soggy pasta with the occasional piece of tough, overcooked chicken breast and the stray frozen broccoli florette. I actually took home a doggie bag for my roommate one time, and weighed it. The leftovers weighed almost 2 pounds...

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

LOL I used to get dragged to that exact Vinny Testa's. I remember seeing many cloves of garlic among the metrtic tons of pasta and thinking "How can a dish with this much garlic STILL have no flavor?"

[hotoynoodle]

they spent all the money on garlic and forgot to buy salt?

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

Maybe....wasn't their salt in a wine bottle or something? Or, the server came out at the end with a bottle filled with little numbers and you got to play a little lottery game of some sort, with the prize being free food at vinny testa's.

I don't remember, I must have blocked it out.

[eatanddestroy]

I second the Cherry Bomb from Carl's... I tried once, but couldn't make it further than several bites into the second half.

[Carty]

two part challenge:

1. Consume the roast pork sub from J. Pace. (Tues and Thurs only)
2. Return to work and achieve anything whatsoever. No napping.

[mwk]

Oh, THAT one is easy...I just did that last Thursday. The walk back to my office in Fort Point, helped, though :)

[jgg13]

If one frequents the Blossom Ct outlet, there's a step 0:

0: Hope that they actually have it on Tues and Thurs (I have been in at least one T/Th a week for a few months now and have only seen the roast pork there once)

[SuperFineSugar]

Estragon has a pig head. You need to order it in advance.

[Parsnipity]

Spike's has a hot dog (or veggie dog if you prefer) eating wall of fame. You have to eat like 7 or something for them to take a polaroid of you and stick it on the wall. They're in Davis Square and a few other places.

[hotoynoodle]

eagle deli in cleveland circle has gotten national press for the challenge burger, 5 pounds of beef, 20 slices of cheese, 20 slices of bacon and 5 pounds of fries.

i believe it was featured on man vs. food in fact.

[cubbie]

Someone finished this, I think.

[hotoynoodle]

are they dead now?

[lergnom]

No, that was the prior challenge. They double the amount each time someone gets through it, but the thing now is lifethreateningly too huge. You might make it through the burger but no way on the fries.

[cubbie]

I called and they said someone finished the 5lb burger, 5lb fries. But apparently it will get bigger.

[lergnom]

That is positively revolting.

[amidli]

don't forget the half-sour pickle, too. i was there once when this kid, 16 or 17 and maybe 120 lbs soaking wet, was working through the eagles' challenge. they don't give you the pickle until about halfway through, and on it's own plate. they put your name on a plaque if you finish, and take a polaroid for the 'wall of shame' if you don't.