Arbys : Los Angeles - United States

Arby's was always a must-do for this Australian, after seeing the Apprentice jingle challenge for their chicken tenders, which is forever etched into my mind.

Located near our hotel, we stopped there for a roast beef injection. Ordering the classic, 'regular' roast beef combo, we waited for its delivery, accompanied by curly fries and some doctor pepper.

The roast beef sandwich exceeded expectations of Los Angeles fast food, being packed with thinly sliced roast beef, when stacked upon one-another, must have totaled around 20 slices, topped with cheddar cheese.

A simple concoction, which actually worked really well. The beef was decent, but could have had more flavour like a tasty doner kebab from home. The cheese really overpowered this beef, and i won't even go into the soggy bread roll which made the burger far less downable.

This experience makes me wonder whether something so simple, could be a successful franchise at home in Australia, where who knows whether there's room for another large fast food joint.

Is beef & cheese too simple for 2010? I personally think not, just look at the Philly cheese steak!

Hooters : Los Angeles - United States

I had long resisted the temptation to visit hooters. The only one back in Sydney, being located in the western suburbs, Paramatta to be precise, was not particularly alluring, nor did i think it would do justice to the franchise.

So when we stumbled across one on of these 'tacky yet refined' establishments on Hollywood Boulevard, we had to visit.

There were not many patrons, and those there represented a cross section of society, from young ladies, to old grumpy men. Presumably everyone wanted to see the waitresses in short, orange, lycra pants. And hey, so did i. Here is a sneakily taken picture, for everyones benefit.

We ordered some Cajun styled chicken wings, and beer, for a healthy & tasty late night snack. The wings arrived and looked great! I ripped into them, and discovered the tasted almost as good as they looked. However, this was for my preference for salty snacks seemed to cloud my judgement as Alisha was not so impressed.

The chicken seemed like it originated from a clean bird, and was moistly enjoyable.

We discovered the wings were served with carrot, celery & blue cheese sauce, a style which was to be reiterated through our USA travels. Why blue cheese and vegetables to be paired with this salty delight you ask? My guess is that it cuts the heat of the wings, making it easier for you to eat more. This technique proved effective as we chowed down the 'chosen wings'.