Podcast: The Ride - The CityWalk Orlando Saga: Malltiverse of Madness 6 - 2 with Carlye Wisel

Episode Date: March 23, 2024

Some listeners may assume that a hybrid burger/sushi dish is a direct result of Malltiversal disruption… BUT NO, this restaurant existed well before the rift was created. Carlye Wisel tries to help us untangle the baffling conundrum that is … COWFISH.    Phase 6, Sector 2 contains:   The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forever Dog Can you Jason can you check your mic Test 1-2 I think I sound fine I guess we can give him a couple more minutes I don't know

It feels like we've given him enough time It feels like Scott's not coming back I think he's serious I guess Alright time to get down to it Let's do our Rank the x-men episode well yeah we could do that i was also thinking should we call nate should we call mr morrow like as far as oh do you want to get him on facetime see who his favorite x-men are well yeah i think he would have a lot of good opinions about x-men i'm just saying like permanent hosts though oh um that

feels like a larger discussion well we can test can test them out. Guys, wait. Don't, please. Don't do any of that. I heard you. Okay. I got a lot of perspective last night. Thanks to someone very special. Whoa, whoa.

What the fuck is that? What the hell? What the hell is that thing? Watch out. Punch it. Punch it or something. Guys, guys. No, no, no, no, no! He's my friend.

His name is... Cowfish. And I know he looks a little weird, but when you get to know him, you'll understand him, and you won't treat him like an outcast anymore. Okay. He reminded me how important friends can be,

and how you're never really an outcast if you have friends. Yeah. Like you and me, Mike. and you and me, Jason. That's true. Is he doing one of those long fish-like shits right now? Like red? You know what I'm talking about?

That red kind of string that comes out of fishes? Oh, yeah. I think he's shitting. Cowfish, what is that? I hope whatever he just pooped out isn't something that they serve at his restaurant. Something else you should know, there is a experimental fusion restaurant

named after Cowfish. And something tells me if we all talk about it, explore everything about it, then we'll have a great time and get this saga back on track. What do you guys say? I say, hell yeah. Jason? Yeah, sure. Do you say a little more amb get this saga back on track. What do you guys say? I say, hell yeah. Jason?

Yeah, sure. Do you say, a little more ambivalent. Say hell yes. Hell yes. Okay, great. Let's all braid our hair. He's going to open his mouth and we just need to swim in there and connect our hair braids to his uvula and then that'll teach us everything we need to know about him and all his experiences

and his restaurant. You guys good with that? We have to go in his mouth? Yeah, we got to know about him and all his experiences and his restaurant. You guys good with that? You have to go in his mouth? Yeah, we got to go in his mouth. Don't worry. Look, he took a poop, so whatever that was isn't in there. Do we have to come out the other end?

He didn't tell me that part. Only one way to find out. Come on, guys. All right. Let's go. Where would I be pooping? When your town has made you frown. When your square has made you frown When your square has made you swear When life gives you one more punch

You need a donut soaked in Captain Crunch You need a place, a place to stroll With alcohol A place that features part of the Berlin Wall You need a place, a place to stroll with alcohol. A place that features part of the Berlin Wall. Where steampunk robots sell chocolate snacks. A place where you can tattoo your lower back. So let's go take a walk. Let's all go to CityWalk Orlando.

Tonight, tonight. Podcast The Ride presents the CityWalk Orlando Saga. Multiverse of madness. A daily, extremely necessary series exploring the shops, restaurants, and cosmic wonder that make up Universal CityWalk Orlando. Welcome to Podcast The Ride, the CityWalk Orlando saga, multiverse of madness. Today there is a mood of healing, a reunion, and I feel refreshed. I feel lively in a way that I haven't before because I'm so happy to be back here with you, my friends. I was guided back. I'm Scott Gerdner. Mike Carlson, it's so good to see you. I'm so good to see you.

And I'm sorry about everything. No, everything's fine. And I understand sometimes it takes a special friend to make everything okay. Yeah, that's right. And I just can't wait. I'm so excited that today will be reverberating with love like that. Jason Sheridan. Hi, buddy. Welcome back, brother. Yeah, yeah. It feels good. It's a new chapter. We're also joined by one of our favorites from her podcast, Very Amusing. It's Carly Weisel.

Hey. Hello. I'm thrilled to be back. Yay. Thank you for returning, a survivor of the downtown Disney ordeal. I keep finding myself in these themed mall entertainment districts somehow.

We keep bumping into you here. It's either it's slow moving boats or it's oddly mundane retail establishments. But let's make sure that we know where we're going today. Let's get our assignment from the sector keeper. Oh, great one. Boys, boys and carly phase six sector two is the cowfish sushi burger bar eat up boys and carly okay there we have it so

the focus today is about the the brilliant the misunderstood my friend the cowfish and uh carly i understand that you have you've encountered this cowfish before have you not i have i've survived and lived to tell the tale this is so exciting and i you know when we were poking around putting this together and i just asked you is there anything that you were mildly interested in in cityWalk Orlando, you had this locked and loaded, ready to go, shouting the cowfish's name. Yes. In terms of personal dining, I'm going to Antojitos. But if we're gabbing on a podcast,

we're doing cowfish. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Antojitos, yeah, possibly the most, more like legit establishment in some way. But yes, cowfish. How could you not engage with the cow but yes how could you not engage how could you not how does this place exist how is it still open it will be open forever i think so fish will live longer than i do i hope so i think and that's and has lived long and that's and we can i think

uh look to cowfish for the cowfish's wisdom and hopefully all of that can get imparted to us here when we need it in the deep end of this long journey. It really is the best of humanity, isn't it? Yeah. A universal original, I believe. Well, is it? Because there are other establishments.

Are there? I think they might have, yeah, this is, it's the weirdest arc of a restaurant. Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina and then this. Oh, it's not. It carolina and then this yeah it's one of those the casino is one of those the casino there's a casino cowfish i don't know you tell me that's what i'm confused still learning the cowfish's ways i'm confused because there's some some

restaurant in a casino called cowfish as well so the mystery here is like okay figure that out yeah let me know if you and also, but it clearly is a brand that is working for Universal that they're excited about because it made it to CityWalk Beijing. It's one of those that they reinvested in. This is in South Africa. What?

Cowfish Silver Star Casino. The name of the casino is Cowfish, but that's not affiliated. But no, no, this is Cowfish Sushi Burgers. Yeah, but the logo's not the same. It's not the same. No. But what is this?

Well, and who's stealing Cowfish's good name and trying to profit? And it's the same thing. It's the sushi and burgers. I mean, unless this one was first, which it very well could have been, but... But do they have

burger as sushi? Well, that's the question. That is the question. I'm actually extra confused. This truly is the question this is real this truly is the innovation the spirit that drives catfish because yeah you could a restaurant can offer both of these things but both of these things together never been done before and that's what we're dealing with if you've never been there if you've never been by there if you've never been to rally north carolina apparently or south africa or south africa if you've never been to south africa this is a combo

burger and sushi restaurant but that also combines these items into a magical blend an unprecedented blend called burgooshy never before seen and never to be seen elsewhere very possibly never again um when you okay when we corresponded about this, was this based on an experience that you had that you were enthusiastic about, or are you just, like, baffled by cowfish? I think, you know, we suspend reality by being theme park people very often,

but we're simply not talking enough about the fact that this exists and thrives in Orlando. Absolutely. Thrives. That's what this whole thing is about you know i think people have said that city walk orlando feels like a place that you rush through on the way to incredible theme parks but not us we till we slowed down we took the time and that's what we're doing now is meditate every day stepping through and making sure we all reflect on the fact that there is a burger sushi restaurant out there which thousands of people could go to if they wanted to. And I think many do.

Yeah, it seems like it. Yeah, seems popular. You know, the time of year we were there, we tried to do it kind of like middle of the week after Halloween, kind of an off season, and we encountered some empty rooms, some lonely rooms at various establishments. Cowfish, not one of them. Cowfish, definitely hopping and happening.

An excitable wait, like not excitable, but like very friendly wait staff. Oh, that's true. Because there's all the onboarding that they have to do. Yeah, yeah. That they're excited to do. There was an energy in there. Yeah, yeah. That they're excited to do. There was an energy in there. Yeah, yeah. Yes.

Of excitement. You get that question at many a restaurant, is it your first time here? And usually it's like, I'm going to, it is, but I'll be fine. I'm not like relearning. You're not like shaping my view

of how the earth works, are you? Right. In this case, they are. When the person asked asked is it your first time you're like yes and you've got a lot of explaining to do it's i mean i don't want to talk out of turn but it does feel like the cowfish has something that toothsome wants and will never have whoa wow interesting that's an interest that's a little gauntlet thrown because toothsome we're going full decor we're're doing terrifying walk-around characters.

But here at Cowfish, they don't need that. They don't need that. You know what you're getting into. It's going to be wild and everyone is literally seated waiting for it. And the food is the abomination at Cowfish. Not the character. Not the decor.

The food is going to shock you. So there's no Jacques the Robot equivalent of cowfish. Not as far as I saw. Well, there's cowfish himself, my friend, who is outside the restaurant. Greets you. Yes. Which we've noticed a lot of these places have some big thing out front to kind of hurry in. And the cowfish, one of the great ones.

I sat on cowfish. I took the great ones to, you know, like I sat on cowfish. I took a magical ride that I'll never forget. It illuminated, changed me forever. I didn't know that cowfish was a real animal that is that looks a lot like the one in the logo. It is this like

odd squat little, like this yellow squat with two little horns animal. Yeah, I didn't know that either. So there are cowfish in our world, in our part of the multiverse. That's how another restaurant could get away with using it, because if a cowfish is an animal, well, it's just named after the animal. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah. You just put the blame. Yeah, yeah. No, we're going more off of the anatomical correctness. Because it doesn't look like this cowfish stole any of the proprietary dishes. Okay, yeah. You just put the blame. Yeah, yeah. No, we're going more off of the anatomical correctness. Because it doesn't look like this cowfish stole any of the proprietary dishes. Okay, okay. It doesn't look like it. That's really what it's about.

And it was one of the biggest questions that I had on the way to our CityWalk Orlando expedition. I knew of this place, obviously. And, okay, so it's burger-sushi combos. But what does that mean? Exactly. is it fun and then there's a sushi roll in the middle is it like and i couldn't begin to picture what rolls are that are burger oriented rarely is an entire restaurant concept predicated on i don't know what this is and i don't know if it's going to be good yes Yes. And that is the cowfish. The suspense is high before your food even comes out. What other restaurants are you like nervously anticipating?

What do you mean burger sushi? What do you mean? That sounds bad. Could it be bad? I don't like that's the feeling. Oh, I don't know. Well, that's what I found about cowfish is that cowfish's reputation wasn't good. But maybe the cowfish is misunderstood.

Maybe that's why the cowfish is that cowfish's reputation wasn't good but maybe the cowfish is misunderstood right right maybe that's why the cowfish is an outcast and really and that's what i've found that cowfish's spirit is what matters that's very important yeah isn't that right cowfish oh thank you for okay okay yeah standing close by don't want to don't want to bother cowfish but you can chime in if you want yeah um so the i think that all the decor kind of plays on your expectations or confusion or lack thereof because when you get up to, past the host

stand, you get up to the second floor of this massive establishment. Massive complex. It's a complex. Yeah. Absolutely a complex. You go to the bathroom on the third floor. Kind of a trademark of city walk restaurants. That's true. NBC Sports, Bar and Grill, the restrooms are on the second floor. You got to walk up some stairs to get to those restrooms.

Yeah. Same thing here. And somewhere on top of each other. It's like the Fantasyland Dark Ride. So, you know. Right. Yeah, Alice, you're up above Mr. Toad or whatever. It's this beautiful interconnected complex.

It's beautiful. Yeah. It's a beautiful way to say it. It's beautiful. It's almost like the uh combination of burgers and sushi to make burguers okay so that you know if that phrase is in your head and you know i might be having burguers today and you're wondering what does that look like then you end up at like um there's this like fountain when you get past the host on the second level.

And that shows you what you might. There you go. Yes. That is a burger bun. Okay, so it's a fish bowl tank. And then there's a burger bun with lettuce and maybe, I don't know, is it mushrooms or seaweed? What's up on the top? I don't know.

It's unclear. Something. Something dark. Some brownness. A a brownish blackish substance and then between not a burger patty but a full sushi roll and so you think is this what i'm having today am i gonna bite into is that the size of it it looks it looks like it's 30 pounds is it a novelty thing is it like a heart attack grill where it's like i'm 30 pounds. Is it a novelty thing? Is it like a heart attack grill where it's like I'm going to have to eat

the biggest piece of food I've ever eaten before? That was what occurred to me. Taking a bite of that, it does feel like your heart would be immediately upset. Yeah. There'd be some quiver. Right. Like it's bracing itself for a heart attack.

Is it going to be served to me in a fish tank? That's a question you might have. Is that part of it? That might be part of it. And then there's fish. It is a real fish tank. There are fish in there. There are also fish in it.

So yeah, this I think is designed to sort of light your imagination on fire and say, can you believe the world? Look at the world we've created here. And it's got more. One man is capable of. Right. And really what it does though,

is it asks more questions than it answers. And I don't think they're good questions necessarily because this doesn't look like an appetizing thing. No. This doesn't, this. Frankly, it doesn't really look, it looks kind of like a stuffed animal or like a stuffed thing you would buy.

Yeah, I don't know. A stuffy, a squish-a-mallow. Yeah, edible squish-a-mallows. Okay, it also just, yeah, it looks, it doesn't look real. Obviously, they have to build something that's an approximation of food so it would sustain in liquid.

So yeah, all of that, it would um you know sustain in liquid so yeah all of that it feels like some sort of like gross 90s commercial where kids are going to a restaurant that their parents want to go to and they've built some like monstrosity like to look like food your parents would like that you hate and you want a cheeseburger or you want pizza today the bug yeah and it's the lady with the beehive hairdo i eat your burgerushi or whatever and like that's what it looks like to me here yeah yeah um this is carly context here there's been other guests who we have like specifically sent and made to go do things at city walk orlando who all regretted their our decision for

them. In this case you had just because you're down there you go down there so you were willing we did not coerce you force you to go to this place. Not at all I went on my own volition in the past yes. Solo or the. Oh always solo. Yep.

Yeah. Yep just just me. Better to test solo in case you ever bring other you don't want i don't know you like meet your mom down there you don't want to like now your mom is having a tough time with yeah i didn't want to invite you know be there maybe on a vacation more of a vacation type of trip because it's always a little bit of work but i didn't want to i don't want to bring anyone with and have them discover if they liked burger boguershi or cheese burguershi uh in person i went solo i basically was like a it was like an intrepid reporter trip you know just trying to find the truth in the sushi right now podcasts are great because they help us make the most out

of our routine we learn about the fall fall of the Ottoman Empire while we drive, keep up with news while we take the dog for a walk, or turn folding laundry into a comedy show. Make the most out of your time with the PC Insider's World Elite MasterCard, a credit card that can get you unlimited free grocery delivery and the most PC optimum points on everyday purchases. The PC Insider's World Elite MasterCard, the card for living unlimited. Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit pcfinancial.ca for details. As we keep saying this, what I am picturing would be like tasting plat, like omakase, I believe is the tasting, right?

It's like a bunch of little plates. The original name for Quibi, yes. Yeah, the original name for Quibi, yes. Yeah, the original name for Quibi. And someone would be making you a sashimi or Kobe beef, real beef. And it's little plates. Well, this someone you're describing is already overshooting. Yeah, I don't think that's what this is. The curated, because omakase is the finest I learned from the Quibi name, is the curated, selected.

Very high quality. And I think the one Epcot restaurant does it. It's like 10 curated, selected. Very high quality. And it's, I think the one Epcot restaurant does it. It's like 10 or 12 courses. No burger sushi there. No burger sushi. Okay. Is that like a fine restaurant? They will serve meat and they will serve sushi,

but not in the manner that this place does. Right. Not in the sacrilege way Calfish does. I kind of remember when this opened in the mid-2010s, when a bunch of new stuff was coming to CityWalk Orlando. And they're like, well, you know, bento boxes. Well, imagine if bento boxes had burger and sushi. Is that right? You're not wrong, but that's not the whole picture and sushi. Is that right? Yep.

That you're not wrong, but that's not the whole picture. Okay. So that is an option. That is an option. It is, yeah. And that is what I got. I got a bento box, but that is not something you have to get. I tried some other things.

You got the bento box? You went all the way to cowfish and you got a bento box? For the main, but we tried burgushi. Yeah, we split a burguschi okay all right let me paint a little more of the of the picture of where where you're because the the you know the boot the the food is one thing but the location you've got a couple odd things going on weird art that mashes up um these a cow and a fish this icon iconography. You know, this like, here's a big like yelling trout or something and there's a big saddle

on his back. Or here is, perhaps most inexplicably, Japanese style art of Elvis eating... Well, does he have... Wait, there's like pill...

Wait, that's very grim. Elvis having pills? Yeah, on his little table, there's like pills Wait that's very grim Elvis having pills On his little table there's a bunch of pills Is he dying Well Elvis famously was taking a lot of pills Yeah that's true But he doesn't look good in this photo This is a very let yourself go

Later period Elvis Eating a ton of burgers But then Japanese text I wonder what it says Somebody translate this eating a ton of burgers, but then Japanese text. I wonder what it says. Yes, somebody translate this if you can. But you look at Elvis in this and you're like, well, I don't know if I want to.

Is this food going to make me look like that? With all the pills? His robe is open and there's pockets. This looks like a private moment between him and his meal that we shouldn't be seeing. Seems like the art is signaling you to maybe give it another think and decide if you really want to dine here. Elvis needed to be really pilled up

to be able to eat cowfish. That is something that's maybe saying. Now, in the context of our trip, I set this one out. This is after a couple days of busy park stuff and the day, the Thursday of the week where a lot of us

were defeated. The hell day, yeah. Yeah, hell day. And so you guys opted for this for lunch, right? Is that right? That is correct, yes. Okay. We did. We sure did. We signed up. We said, Cowfish, I see you. I will see you at a table.

And then also, this I'm curious to get your thoughts on, Carly, the gender binary that is presented in the restroom signs in which men are bulls standing up and peeing into a... Not a urinal.

Not a urinal. No, no, no. Just like a big proud stream coming out of this bowl. And then women are fish holding purses. I hate what I'm looking at right now. Yeah, I really don't care for this. And not in a quality way,

in a that shouldn't exist. Someone should have said Maybe no It's very off-putting I'm just confused a little bit by it I don't like seeing a cow pee into a toilet I don't like that That's an abomination separate from the Gender split

That all women are fishes Right and they hold their purse I will say They don't show a stream on the lady's side, at least. That's good, I guess. Well, shouldn't the fish be in the toilet? Because that's her home.

That's true. So basically, we're watching her gasp for air and try to survive. Oh, that's a very good... She'll be dead after this silhouette is done. Does the fish swim up through the toilet, pop out of the toilet, go to the bathroom, and then flush itself? Maybe. Maybe, yeah. Maybe it's a

double flush. This is somehow insulting to all parts of the gender spectrum. Yes. To all humans and some animals. It's really something. So you're taking this all in aesthetically

as you're waiting for food, after some stuff has been explained to you. Nervous anticipation. Carly, I guess I'm curious what you had. We should go off of your... How many times have you been here? I've been once. Oh, you've only been once.

I do think because I usually go to Universal solo, if I had been traveling with children, like a whole family visit, I would be here way more often. Okay. But because I don't usually do a sit down dinner on my trips, I'm just running in circles. I've only been once.

And I don't want to say once was enough, but once was enough to know what burgerushi is. And you did get burgerushi. If you take me to Calvary, I'm not fucking around. I'm getting the burgerushi is and you did get burgerushi if you take me to cowfish i'm not fucking around i'm getting the burgerushi yeah yeah well do you have any i mean and i can i can narrow it i can toss out some items but i don't know if you remember what you the gist of what you had i will say i don't remember everything i ordered but i would never forget the burgerushi i see i see okay okay uh oh yeah well, yeah, appetizers, drinks, any of that? Do you recall any of that?

I don't, because do they have anything that's as silly as the main attraction? Well, there's a couple. The moofish cooler, the moofish punch. Oh, I don't mess with that. Japanese whiskey smash. I'm seeing buffaloes and bacon. That's what I see, buffalo.

Yeah, yeah. That's like an old-fashioned, which I'm with all the and bacon That's what I see That's like an old fashioned I'm with all the Bourbon, cherry liqueur, angostura and orange bitter Honey, K, candied bacon K I like some of that I got a mocktail that day

That was show day So I was like I can't get sleepy You ate this before you did a live show Two hours later. As we've covered, we could have had worse things by far. We actually, this worked out. This ended up working out well for us. So I did not have a cowfish cooler.

I had a time after time, which was time, lemon, muddled blueberries, and Gosling's ginger beer. That's what I had. Oh, yeah. Gosling was a fine ginger beer. Jason, have you ever had Gosling's ginger or ginger beer? what I had. Oh, yeah. Gosling was a fine ginger beer. Jason, have you ever had Gosling's ginger or ginger beer? Oh, yeah. You have had it. I have.

I think I've tried a lot of ginger. I like Barrett's a lot. You're a Barrett's man. I'm a Barrett's man. I think you can find it at some liquor stores and stuff. That's what, when my family went on a cruise to Bermuda when I was like 11 or 12, I feel like it was almost more common than Coca-Cola at a lot of restaurants down there. Barrett's Ginger Beer.

Wow. That's another topsy-turvy world. Yeah. Barrett's defeats Coca-Cola. You're on vacation. This is the inventive world the cowfish imagines. This is what it looked like. It looks like a piece of a bush

fell into it. I mean, it's kind of cute. I don't hate it. It was alright, yeah. It's got some smashed blueberries in there, which I like a blueberry. It wasn't anything special, I would say. Okay. Did it make you sick?

No, I didn't get sick the whole trip. I'll tell you where the bar is in the series. I'm seeing something called Bloody Mary Had a Little Cow, which is a vodka Bloody Mary mix garnished with a mini burger, beef jerky straw, pickles of your pickled okra, green olives. This is wrong. So you could go insane with these drinks if you wanted to.

But, you know, you could also just go straight to the main deal. Carly, I don't think you need to remember what your specific thing was, but do you remember any ingredients? I think we've got to tackle, like, what is... What is... Then when burgusci comes out, what are the primary components of burgusci? Well, I realized I have photos. Okay, here we go.

I have photos in Google Photos of when I went. So I see a photo of, I guess I did order, I ordered multiple things because I was doing research for a story. But I have what appears to be the cheeseburger rushi. And then also some sort of burger and fries. Oh, okay. Yeah, because you can do that. Now, you can do both sides of the spectrum. You could do just sushi. You could do just sushi.

You could do just burgers. Yes. You could not cross the streams. You could not play Dr. Moreau at the table and just do regular versions of things. Yeah, I do like that they have kind of like a chicken exit. You know, if you get there, an emergency exit. No chicken. But in terms of if you're too scared to combine them, you can have them side by side.

The DB Cooper, you can bail. Yes. It's a new safe word. You can have them side by side. The DB Cooper you can bail. Yes. It's a safe word. The safe word is burger. Yes. But no, I mean, the one I'll never forget is what I believe is the All-American Bacon Double Cheese Burgushi. I'm fairly certain this is what we got as well.

Yes. Okay. Black Angus beef, yellow cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese, and applewood smoked bacon wrapped in soy paper and potato strings, then flash fried, topped with dill pickle, red onion, and Roma tomato, served over a house-made cowfish sauce, topped with ketchup and mustard. We got a lot of ingredients in play here. Yes, we do.

But still, you order that, and you still can't picture exactly what that's going to be. Basically, I think the main thing to say is the seaweed is replaced by a thin layer of potato. It's like French fry paper. Yes. It's like wrapped in a thin French fry, basically, the sushi is. Okay. And then there's rice. Then the next is. Okay. And then- Get an angry cheese. Yeah, then there's rice. Then the next layer is rice.

You still have- Was rice even in the list we just said? I don't remember. I don't think so. So there's major ingredients not- I think that's rice unless that wasn't rice. So still rice is there, but then the middle is a little puff of burger.

There's a little puff of burger. Yeah, but it's not just burger. It's burger and cheese and a little bacon. Yeah, so you can see- Oh, you're right. There's a little puff of burger. But it's not just burger. It's burger and cheese and a little bacon. Yeah. Oh, you're right. There's a little puff combo. You see this wet right here, Jason? You see this wet area?

Yeah. That's cheese right there. It's melted cheese. And then this is a little piece of bacon, I think, hanging out here as well. You see that dry part there? Uh-huh. That's bacon. And can you just refresh my memory?

Because there's a lot of shades of black and brown going on. Yeah, go ask me anything you want. Is there seaweed? No. No. No. No seaweed. Seaweed is the French fry.

The seaweed is the French fry. This is what I thought was most fascinating. A French fry casing on the piece of burguishe. And is the cowfish sauce just kind of like a Thousand Island kind of sauce? I will be honest with you. There are a lot of flavors happening at once, and I don't really recall the flavor of the cowfish sauce. I think probably in Thousand Island is probably the zone that it is.

Yeah. It's definitely some sort of mayonnaise with something in it to be special oh okay maybe like a sriracha mayo peach colored mayo a peach colored may like a darker peach or yeah i feel like jason could i i hate to do this could i yeah could i do you give you a little quiz real quick yes i just want to make sure you learned what I taught you. So what is the outside here? This is truly, I was having trouble keeping track of it. That's what I thought.

That is French fry paper. Go through it. That's French fry paper and then sushi rice. Sushi rice is, yes, next. Okay, now I'm going to point to this.

because it's not in the ingredient list. Right, Jason, what is this wet looking part here? Well, is that the bacon or the hamburger oh jason you weren't i'm so sorry that's the cheese no that's that wet part is the cheese i'm so sorry to put you on the spot slightly moist and then this you see this part here kind of sticking out that looks drier. That's the bacon. Yes. Now you've got it.

Now you understand. That thin layer is bacon, not fry paper. And then that dark part in the middle is- That's got to be the hamburger. That's burger. That's right. And then- You got like a B.

That was an 80% on that test. That was great. Good job. Good for me. I'll take it. So this is burgusci three sauces i think burgers usually for me it's ketchup mustard ketchup mayo or a thousand i that i feel like that's what i like the yeah i'm down usually two sauces maybe one minimize that so three we got a lot out and

then like there's nothing can really prepare you visually or taste wise for pickle, diced pickles on what looks like sushi. Yeah. Yeah. Something. I was wondering if there was a pickle element. So like they kind of just sprinkle the pickles as if it's a little like a rain shower on the top. They're just scattering the pickles like just a dusting of them. Just a little bit.

Like a little fairy is kissed the top of the burgusci with pickles. Does this seem, does this reflect what you had, Carly, like is this what you're looking at when you see your photos? I'm not gonna,

this is making me so nauseous. It's making me a little nauseous. I do have to say, I'm hungry actually. You know, I was kind of wiped out and trying to rest up for the show. And this was a fatigue choice.

But as you were eating this, I was eating room service. And that was not an indulgence. That was a really tired. I need bacon and eggs or whatever. Was that what you had, bacon and eggs? I think we just put French toast and coffee and we might have had some eggs. Yeah, but was the bacon hidden inside the toast?

Was it an egg that cracked open and said hello and then spit out a little morsel of French toast? It seems like your meal does not sound inventive in the least. The French toast had some toasted coconut. Sapphire Falls? Tropical? It sounds nice, but it's not. It seems like your meal does not sound inventive in the least. The French toast had some toasted coconut. Sapphire Falls, tropical. It sounds nice, but it's not, you know. Guava juice. It's guava juice.

It's not daring. We want boldness here is what we want. We want invention. And that's what this place provides. I guess now that we've described it, and I really don't know where you're coming at this from how did you feel about the burgusci?

so I didn't hate it I didn't hate it I thought I would absolutely just be horrified by it and I wasn't but kind of the overarching theme of it is that the rice shouldn't be there but then you just have a burger

so every bite it's like why is there rice here this is a bird why is there rice here why is there rice is strange because rice doesn't fit with those things i love the shape i'm into the shape of it yeah i think if they they removed the rice you then you'd really be cooking yeah i think so that's the boldness that's like a burger you eat in the manner of sushi fun but the rice just didn't do it for me right and it's not a low it's not like loco moco the wine dish that's like a hamburger patty gravy and rice no because this has i mean you got the little the kisses of the pickles you got the tomatoes you got bacon you got two cheeses there's a lot it's all american because it basically when you taste it it's a burger with rice a cheese

burger bacon cheeseburger with rice but then also what really pulls focus is that fry paper because that's the most like yeah that would really you just you have that and you're like huh i'm gonna wrap my head around this i i neither i'm not in love or hate or anything i'm just baffled i don't know what i still am not exactly sure it's i don't think i've had food where i i don't know if i'd give it like a grade i'm just like question mark it's just a fog for me yes i don't know yes and that's what this whole restaurant is built around isn't it fascinating this is the great mysteries of couch. When I first read about this place years ago,

I was picturing a couple sliders in a California roll. Well, no, that's more in line with what I had as the main. That's kind of what my actual. So I didn't imagine that. You can't get that. You can do this. Yeah. Okay.

If you want. Yeah. You can get a bento box where there's a little, the tiniest, what they call a mini hamburger. And instead you, I'm not sure it's big enough to be designated a slider even. And then like, and then there's a roll of regular sushi and that is fine. Then it's got all this stuff, wasabi and ginger and that is fine. Then there is, boy, a ton of edamame. Yeah, there's a ton of edamame yeah there's a lot of mainly edamame and then so much cucumber salad which is that's being generous a pile of cucumbers

you might say they really pad out the meal with edamame and cucumber salad yeah all that kind of like the it's like wrapping paper it's like or it's like you know it's like the kind of the hay paper that fills out like a gift box that's like yeah but you can't eat it that's when i had to fill like an eight page paper in high school and i just had to there would be a lot of filler because i was not prepared all these these items in this bento box are the so's and varies right yeah because really what you're looking at here is let's say They're fours. They're fours of the food world. Yeah. Because really what you're looking at here is,

let's say 17 fries and four or five pieces of sushi. I wouldn't even consider that little cheeseburger. That is so nothing. Yeah. And it is so- That's like you're at a cocktail hour and they're passing out tiny one-bite cheeseburgers. Yeah. It's smaller than a White Castle Slider.

It is, yes. No, yeah, I couldn't call it a slider. That cheeseburger sucks. That cheeseburger is one of the worst, one of the worst things I ate at City Walk, that little cheeseburger. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Burnt to a crisp. Cold. Sure. Flavorless. So worse than the frozen White Castle sliders. Yes. Which are pretty good. I love White Castle. They're surprisingly good. White Castle is delicious. Frozen White Castle. So you understand

that I'm not Mr. Snooty when it comes to any of this. Yeah. But I don't know. Maybe this is one of the mysteries of the cowfish. Well, you know, I'm only newly friends with him. I'm still figuring it out. Maybe there's a reason why his tiny burger is one of the worst things you can eat at CityWalk. Well, it's given the benefit of the doubt. He's good in his heart.

No, I'm sorry. I don't mean to insult the cowfish who's here, but this isn't his signature dish. So perhaps he's trying to kind of be like, lead you to the signature dish. You're saying he's more fish than cow, maybe. Well, no, I'm not saying. No, but the burgoozy is a lot of cow. You need both.

I'm saying he wants both. He's not going to take time to make this anything special when the prime example of his artistry is the burgusci focuses on on the blending so puts puts it all into the burgusci to make sure that the burgusci is right uh impeccable unimpeachable um did you two like the burgusci i don't know if i gotta read on it i don't think i do either i don don't know if I got a read from any of them. Here's what I'll say. I'll warm up to my maybe final conclusion that is still filled with,

I have a conclusion that is still confusion, if I can rhyme. The conclusion of confusion. Like Johnny Cochran or something here. A lot of different temperatures happening at once in the burgusci in my memory. Yeah. Yes, all living in harmony. All living in harmony.

We are again, boys. One of the layers is a little warm. The next layer is cold. The next layer is medium temperature. Taking a bite of it all at once is a four-dimensional experience of dinner or lunch. Yeah. So I would say that's a negative right off the bat. Okay.

I see. It seems... Not as refreshing like when you do a cold plunge and then you get in a warm or you go right out of the hot tub, right into the cold pool. Right. So that was... I would say that's a hot tub, right into the cold pool. Right, so that was, I would say that's a strike against it right off the bat. The more I think about it,

the more I think like the saltiness of like sushi seaweed would pair well with hamburger, but that was abandoned. That's gone. But the rice was capped. It's the saltiness of fries. Yeah. I can still, I've had much, I've had like great meals that I can't taste in my mouth.

But I remember, I have very firm sense memory of the potato paper entering my mouth. Oh, yeah. And again, I'm not sure if I liked it or not. My stomach. I'm not kidding. My stomach is like making so much noise right now. And it can't be unrelated. Let's get a mic on.

It has to be related. Blub, blub, blub related it's really going wild right now um well it's about to go uh especially wild because at this point an important reveal needs to be made uh because you just discussed the temperature issue and we're all discussing do we like this establishment or not and I think now is the time to reveal a podcast runner a series runner. Cowfish just may be the restaurant that gave our friend Eva Anderson food poisoning

if you wonder for us well not poisoning my bad experience was Margaritaville hers was cowfish. And at this point, I feel like I should let her explain here now, Eva Anderson. Okay, Eva, we are now in the cowfish sector. It has been revealed that cowfish was the place that gave you trouble.

What can you reveal about what you ate and what happened there? I went there at an off hour i sat at the sushi bar in the back where no one was sitting um which was my first problem my first my first mistake i ordered something called the flamin salmon roll flamin salmon roll no g spicy salmon with togarashi mayo and spice uh minced pickled ginger scallions jalapeno strings flash fried serve over tempura flakes and topped with cayenne pepper strands um it came out um lukewarm which is never good for sushi and we're kind of warm and that i ate it anyway oh no there my troubles began um here's a photo of what i ate and um in that would there we go i it seemed like a

nice place uh i wish i hadn't done orlando humid weather sushi what was i thinking regardless of the cow element the fish was not good either yes so that's what i ate and um and i want to thank the uh marriott various marriotts i stayed at for having lots of little pill sections in their gift shops. Because that got me through. Dear God, I'm so sorry. All right. And that is Eva's experience. Well, I want to say, first of all, does she know for sure that's the place she got sick?

No, not necessarily. You know, while you're traveling and something in your system is all off it's all yeah yeah so sometimes oh yeah i'll travel and especially across time zones and then you're just like weird yeah yeah your bowel movements are all i don't know so uh uh yeah we can't go you know what i mean this is like how i feel like know, a lot of people have cast judgment on Cowfish and wrote Cowfish off as an outcast. And, you know, maybe even if Cowfish did do this to Eva, what if Cowfish was scared? What if Cowfish was trying to protect his family?

And in that moment, the only way that it could be done was to give Eva food poisoning. We don't know. And maybe we'll never know. I won't lie. That story makes me want to eat there more. Did you just go on? Because let me explain. Because a lot of these restaurants, like you get the gimmick.

You know what you're getting at Margaritaville. Here, you don't know what the gimmick. You know what you're getting in Margaritaville. Here, you don't know what the outcome is. And if you're coming from a theme park perspective, straight into this restaurant, I find that thrilling. The fact that I have amnesia about my meal is already pretty entertaining. But it may or may not affect the way my next

two days go. That's exciting. Who else can do that? You know what? I think we're all disappointed by Galaxy's Edge and how the idea of your reputation while you're in Batuu and they follow you into Ogas and whatever and that guy, oh, he didn't do good

on the Falcon Run or whatever. Ultimately, those are all kind of siloed experiences, really. But something like this, there's fate at play. Your entire real world vacation, your trip to CrimeCon could be completely ruined

because you chose wrong on the dial of destiny, if you will, at Cowfish. Gandalf is like, choose wisely when you start a vacation like this because your fate could be worse than death.

This is like jackass or fear factor. That's kind of what this is. This is like a loud version of, I don't know, I'm going to eat worm anuses. And I don't know what's going to happen to my body. This is like a sanctioned professional version of eating a bunch of weird anuses. Right. I agree. I'll eat it.

If it was next door, I would eat it right now. I would do it again. Yeah, I've turned the corner. I went from being horrified at breaking down and zooming in an image of burgerushi on your phone. I don't want to be that close to it unless it's going into my mouth to eat. Right. But I would go back and I would get it again. I wish it was up at our city walk.

Mm-hmm. Because it might take like 10 trips before we figure out. Yeah. It is. Any official judgment calls. It is. I mean, it's blowing my mind that we live in a TikTok age where people are making everything on their phones.

Yeah. But this still just holds supreme in our minds. It's a food that I'm not eating at home. I don't see anywhere else except for at Cowfish. Yeah. It's so special they haven't replicated it anywhere else because it's daring. Maybe I do love it.

Only the theme park primed audience in Orlando. That's maybe the mistake that Eva made or anybody who's had trouble there has made is going there on a trip. I think that the local stomachs have been and the rest of their bodies have been primed, steeled. They're ready to embrace. But then again, your friend, the cowfish has not made people sick from the burger.

Rushi. So maybe all of this. Oh, right. You're right. This wasn't. You come back and you tell your tale and you just you go there and you get the signature dish. You don't mess around with the other stuff because who knows what horrors will befall you maybe this is the

cowfish's message have burgushi and don't stray from burgushi he puts this is how the the way that the lord uh creates tragedies that we can learn from and that create good after the fact the cowfish puts bad burgers and stomach melting sushi on the menu in order to teach you not to have them. Oh, it's like Indiana Jones trying to pick Christ's cup from the night

at the end of Last Crusade. You have to choose correctly. Oh, it's Carpenter's cup. He makes that little hamburger patty look like a baby turd but we learn from this turd we study it we teach future generations yeah to avoid the burger and i don't look that's what this saga is about in a way eva's our good friend we sympathize with what happened of course eva right but i also say

that now that i know the cowfish and i know the cowfish's heart i think that the cowfish had had something to impart to you that day and just please don't judge the cowfish don't persecute the no one persecute the cowfish the cowfish is good and pure and led me back here to the show where i belong well keep that in mind yeah because because if you have a negative experience at cowfish i want you to re-evaluate what it was and now think about it in the way you're explaining yeah yeah yeah i think remember what you had and has burguschi ever done anyone wrong yeah and then i imagine the people that would say like negative and cowfish,

they have to be so few. There could be barely any, I'm sure. But the one, two, three, four, reevaluate it. That's what I'm saying. I mean, all that said, the small amount.

I would love it if we wrapped it up because I do. I am feeling a little queasy just hearing about it. Are you going to throw up on air? Oh, we've never had a puke on air. It's all part of the couch's plans.

He knows what great content this will make. He's furious we talked about the bento box. Jason, imagine a piece of sushi in the middle. The burger is just cold, and it feels like that maybe was cooked two hours prior. Zoom into it again. Let me just teach him like this was cooked two hours ago and the rice was maybe made so don't close your eyes jason stare it down face it see look see that what the cowfish has to say hear of its tragedy and its victory yeah yeah think about all of it all right well i look like i'm punishing jason in a more of a thorough way

than i expected to i know your faces are so genuine i am worried i don't know i don't think i've revealed this yet on this show but i i had a bout of food poisoning recently and it wasn't from this restaurant but it didn't fully kick in until i had eaten at acclaimed LA French restaurant, Petit Trois. Oh, no. So I- You don't think it happened there. You think it kicked in there. I think it kicked in.

Yes. Right. I think it was something that I had at my house. But yes. So the famous Big Mac, which they say is- Yes, they're known for a fun cheeseburger is- They're known for a fun cheeseburger. Which they are known for a fun cheeseburger. I ate a couple times, but not in the way you would like.

Well. That was the creepiest way to describe it. Yeah, that's what I'm going through right now, brother. Wait, you have it now? No, no, no. No, he's feeling a flashing back. I'm flashing back.'m flashing you need to get off Mike we can finish the episode

without you no no I'm saying I don't have the highest opinion of beef right I see I see I see all right we'll take a sip of water and we'll get out of here I'll do that well that's the problem you know don't drag cowfish cowfish is only part beef cowfish is a whole cornucopia of things that's where those bathroom

signs suck too. The binary. Beef boys, fish girls. That's not what the cowfish is. The cowfish is one and all at once. And cowfish, I love you. And I thank you for providing us this very special experience.

And for helping Carly Weisel get here. Carly, you survived Podcast The Ride, the CityWwalk Orlando saga. You did. I'm not sure everyone will. Multiverse of madness. Let's exit through the plug portal. Is there anything that you would like to plug?

I'm nauseous again. There's my podcast, Very Am very amusing where i talk about theme parks and travel and very nuanced disney things um check it out it's weekly it's me gabin on the internet and then you can follow me on instagram at carly weisel good luck spelling it um yeah great great um and please keep on all of those mediums, keep us posted if you go and visit the cowfish again and see the cowfish. I will say I am planning a trip back to Universal Orlando. I do have to do some food stories,

and I will be returning to the cowfish. Wow, yes. When is that? Will that have happened by now? No, no, no, no. I have a little time. It's a while. You've got a while to go.

You've got a while to prepare. Yeah. I mean, my advice would be to buy a home in Orlando, get used to being there for two months, and then I think that's really the way that you can probably prep. Really acclimate to the weather, the water there.

Yes, all those little things. You need to become an Orlandian before you can truly see the cowfish. You're right. You're right. You're right. All right. Well, as for us, thanks to Aaron Gardner for the art,

our own Mike Carlson and Zach Reno for the theme music, Multiverse of Madness merch in our Tee Public Store. For the full Multiverse experience, subscribe to Podcast the Ride The Second Gate or join Club 3 to get every sector ad-free and an exclusive bonus sector. All of that at patreon.com slash podcast the ride. Wait. The stone.

The sector stone is appearing. Oh, yeah. That was something we have to do. What is it, Jason? It's a roll of Fergusci. Oh, okay. Sitting on the toilet. Could you touch it?

Is it the same temperature? Are there pieces of it or the same temperature? Why? It's like my hand is going through all temperatures. Oh, wow. It's cold. It's hot. It's cold.

It's hot. Look at your hand. Your hand is turning. Parts of it are blue and parts of it are orange and parts of it are beet red. Wow. It's like the rainbow of a fish's scales. It is like the rainbow of a fish's scales. That magical glistening.

The magical glistening This is what the lamps Are like in Cowfish And the cowfish itself Right Wow I hope your hand Always stays that way

May your hand Keep that color forever Sure May we always keep The cowfish In our hearts Cowfish Thanks for being here

Forever Dog This has been in here. Forever Dog. This has been a Forever Dog production. Executive produced by Mike Carlson, Jason Sheridan, Scott Gairdner, Brett Boehm, Joe Cilio, and Alex Ramsey. For more

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