Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Restaurant’ Category

Ribs

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2010| 1 Comment »

The only other meal worth blogging about from our trip last week was our final dinner. We used Las Vegas as our start and stop point simply because the cheapest flights were to Vegas and we were able to make a nice circle out of there. Anyone who knows me has heard me tout the brilliance of Mike Mills’ ribs. He’s the owner of 17th Street Bar and Grill in Murphysboro, IL. When my mom and step-dad attended law school at SIU they turned me on to his ribs. He’s a 5 time rib champion of the Memphis in May BBQ contest, 2 of those times also taking the Grand Champion trophy. Bon Appetit Magazine has him ranked right at the top of BBQ Ribs. For whatever reason, he opened up 3 locations in Vegas and named them Memphis Championship BBQ. I was looking forward to those ribs to close out the trip ever since we booked the flights.

We started off with a jar of beer each and some rolls with honey butter.

Slabs and half slabs of ribs each come with two sides. We quickly realized that it’s cheaper to share a slab and then order two extra sides, which still turned out to be a bit too much food for us. Also, the sides aren’t all the same price. So, we included fried okra and steamed vegetables with the slab since they were the two most expensive and then added an order of mashed potatoes and, what BBQ meal is complete without them, baked beans. The okra came with a dipping sauce made with Mike’s famous Magic Dust, a spice blend recipe handed down to him from his grandmother. The vegetables were simply a mixed bowl of steamed vegetables. The potatoes had bacon them as well as Magic Dust in the gravy. And the baked beans also had bacon as well as his BBQ sauce.

On to the ribs. A nice full slab of slow-smoked baby backs. We got there at about 9:30 at night and our ribs were probably at their peak about 6:30-7ish. They were slightly dry, but still fantastic! Still better than any other rib you’ll get at a restaurant. We devoured those meat popsicle about as well as any vulture could. MMMMMMMM!

Read Full Post »

We got our kicks…

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

…on Route 66!

After we hiked out of the Grand Canyon we drove across Arizona and then up to Page through Flagstaff. That route took us on a portion of Historic Route 66. Along the way we decided to stop for a burger.

We stopped in Westside Lilo’s Cafe. Hey, if 5 out of 4 eat there why shouldn’t we?

Yuki and I both got the burger with Cheddar Jack cheese. A basic 1/2 pound of Angus beef burger. Served with the regular accouterments of lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickles. The burgers were actually quite good. Cooked through but not dry and a nice full beef flavor. The fries on the other hand were a different story.

I got the regular french fries. They used real cut potatoes which was nice, but the oil they fried them in was not nearly hot enough. My fries were floppy and just dripping with oil. They left a sizable puddle on my plate. I couldn’t eat them. Fortunately Yuki got the sweet potato fries and they were cooked properly. Nice and crisp on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside. There were more than enough on her plate to fill us both up. So all was not lost, except for maybe some of my stomach lining.

Read Full Post »

Fry Bread

Posted in Environment, Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Sorry for not posting anything all of last week. Yuki and I took a trip to the Grand Circle, something which I highly recommend to each and all of you out there. The canyons are so beautiful it truly is an amazing area of this world in which we live. With so many different canyons and parks you can tailor an itinerary to fit any level of activity.

We started our trip with a hike into Supai. I’m not going to post a lot about this trip since this blog is about food, but we did eat some fry bread after hiking 8 miles to Supai and then another 2 miles to the campgrounds. As you can imagine, we were pretty damn hungry by the time we got to the campsite!

One of the native Havasupai Indians had set up a little table with a two burner stove top right outside the campgrounds where he served up some fry bread. We really didn’t feel like walking back up 2 miles to the village cafe, so we decided that fry bread would have to suffice for the time being. Also, fry bread is something that I have yet to find anywhere in Chicago.

Fry bread is, well, it’s fried bread. I’m not exactly sure what kind of bread it is, but he took balls of the dough and flattened them out into discs. Then he fried them in a pot of hot oil. After taking them out of the oil he sprinkled them with powdered sugar. Simple as that.

More like a big donut than anything else, they did taste pretty good. They also did surprisingly well as far as satisfying our hunger for the rest of the night. Nothing like pure carbs to get you through the night. When we woke up early the next morning, we were treated to the Havasu Waterfall all to ourselves before hiking back out of the Grand Canyon.

Read Full Post »

COALFiRE Pizza

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2010| 1 Comment »

The other night Yuki and I went for a walk in the neighborhood, something we do quite often when the weather is nice. There’s always new stores and restaurants opening up as well as new condos and real estate that we like to admire or criticize. As we walked down Grand Street we noticed two new things. First, the new Tesla dealership located itself just west of the highway on Grand. What a sweet little ride! Don’t know how that little car will deal with Chicago potholes, but it sure is slick. Second, we noticed a new pizza joint that looked enticing. COALFire Pizza, located at 1321 W. Grand, claims to be the only coal fire oven pizza in Chicago. I’ve never seen another one, so they must be. It’s a Neapolitan-style pizza with an American spin (paraphrased from their website). Instead of the classic wood-fired oven, they use coal. Not sure if it’s from the American love of the grill or the coal unions and lobbies got to them, but they do a damn good pizza.

The interior is a classic Chicago storefront. Very simple inside with enough room between tables to not sit on top of strangers. This place just looks like a clean, mid-scale pizza joint. It smelled really good too.

We started by splitting a Caesar Salad. An absolutely huge salad! Definitely made for sharing. Fresh hand cut lettuce, not that crap that comes pre-cut in large sealed plastic bags that suffocate the produce, tossed with a classic Caesar dressing, a bunch of house toasted garlic butter crutons, and a load of parmesan on top. It was what it was, a large, classic Caesar Salad.

The pizzas are all 14 inches, so they’re ideal for splitting between two people. We ordered the Prosciutto. They do prepare their pizzas very much in the Neapolitan style. Thin crust, with fresh mozzarella on top, and then the sauce (nothing but crushed San Marzano tomatoes, the only tomato to make a real Italian pizza) lightly brushed on top of the cheese. After it came out of the oven it was topped with a lot of really good quality prosciutto. Taste-wise, it did taste pretty authentic. Having been to Naples and eaten a few pies in that area I have a good handle on what a real Neapolitan pizza is. I have no arguments at all with the taste or quality of the pizza. The only thing I would say is that the coal burnt the edges a little too much for our taste. I think the oven gets a little too hot and takes away that chewiness of a real Neapolitan crust. But, they don’t claim to be authentic, so that’s a moot point.

Overall, the service was fast and friendly, the decor was simple and inviting, and the food was fresh and of high quality. When I’m in the mood for a thin crust pizza I think Pizza Metro has found its match. If I just want a couple of slices I’ll walk to Pizza Metro, but if I want a whole pie or want to eat at the restaurant COALFiRE kicks Metro’s butt (the people who run Metro are not very friendly or inviting). I would definitely recommend COALFiRE.

One side note. If you do go for a pie, bring cash. They offer a 10% discount if you pay with cash.

Read Full Post »

Spring

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Back during Chef Week a few weeks ago Yuki and I went to Spring for dinner. We have both been there before, so we pretty much knew that a $30 pre fix there would be well worth the dollar. We were right, as usual.

I do apologize, the pics I took with my phone were absolutely terrible! You’re going to have to use your imagination if TV, cinema, and the internet haven’t already sapped you of it.

When we got there our table wasn’t quite ready. No worries, we went to the bar and ordered a bottle of wine. Within a few sips we were seated. The first thing I remembered about the tables is that, unlike a lot of restaurants (and I mean you Paul Kahan!), there is more than ample space. The only conversation I heard was ours, my elbows weren’t banging into anyone, and there was no chance of an accidental ass-to-the-face of the person next to me when one of us got up. It is definitely a more romantic atmosphere.

We started with one each of the two appetizers. A smooth lemongrass-cocunut soup with prawn dumplings, thai chili, shaved shiitake, and kaffir lime. As well as a tuna and hamachi maki roll. The soup was outstanding, and while the maki was good, it was very basic. It could have been from a good sushi restaurant instead of a place like Spring.

We both got the skatewing. It was lightly floured and pan-fried to perfection. The natural sweetness of the fish was perfectly matched with light gnocchi that was flavored with kimchi as well as some Brussel sprouts and almonds. Skatewing is not a fish that I get to eat very often, so it was a nice change from salmon, tuna, or halibut, the typical fish found on menus.

For dessert, we ordered one of each. There was lemon sorbet served in a black tea. The sorbet was slightly sour, but not to the point that made your lips pucker. I guess lemons aren’t quite in season yet, they’ll get sweeter in a month or two. The other dessert was a delicious moist brown butter pound cake with caramel ice cream.

Service was quick and attentive. I never felt rushed, but never ignored either.

Overall, Spring was just as good as I remembered. It’s one of Chicago’s best seafood restaurants and Chef McClain is one of Chicago’s finest chefs and restauranteurs.

Read Full Post »

Xoco

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

Well, I finally got to Xoco today. Really, I can’t believe it took me this long to be honest. Being a fan of his cooking for years and sharing some precious moments with him shopping for produce you wouldn’t think it’d take me this long to check out his newest joint. Tortas just never really excited me all that much, though. Whenever I’m at La Pasadita or any other taqueria tacos, burritos, or parillada always get the nod over gentrified Mexican food like tortas. Bread with taco meat? It just never seemed quite right, until today that is.

When you walk it you see all of the action behind the counter. A big chalkboard has the menu. You can either take out or wait for a seat. We waited for a seat, about 15 minutes or so. It wasn’t bad though, it took that long just to decide what to order since everything looked so damn delicious! The menu is on his website.

After we ordered we sat down and ate some chips and salsa. About 10 minutes later our tortas arrived. I got Saturday’s daily special, the goat barbacoa. Nice crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle bread with slices of avocado, onions, cilantro, and Oaxacan pasilla-tomato salsa accompanying moist, soft, fall-apart goat meat. A fantastic sandwich if ever there was one.

Yuki got the Pibil. Just like the goat, this suckling pig was so moist and delicious. The pickled onion and black beans were natural with the pibil. I gotta tell you though, that habanero salsa was some spicy shit! Rick got every bit of heat out of those peppers when he made that stuff. Wow.

We also ordered some churros with ice cream, but I forgot to take a picture. No biggie, the plate had three churros that were heavily sugared and cinnamoned (are those words?). They were slightly overcooked, but delicious nonetheless. The ice cream was vanilla soft serve. Rick has it made in-house and they leave the bean in the mix. I like that. The ice cream was really good.

I have to say, I still prefer tortillas for those flavors, but I will not frown upon tortas anymore. There is definitely a place for them in my stomach from here on out. Here’s to the torta. Thanks Rick.

Read Full Post »

Yakiniku in Kobe

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Alright, going back to last November in Japan, I wanted to show you the dinner we had in Kobe. My buddy Tom lives in Osaka which is a short 25 minute train ride from Kobe. On our way to the Chinatown section to meet up with him we walked by a sake tasting. We knew right away that we had found our appetizers! So, we grabbed Tom and headed back for some sake.

For 500 Yen per person (about $5) they give us each 3 different kinds of sake, a bag of mixed salty snacks, and a tube of sausage. The sake was great, the sausage….not so great. We ended up drinking with a bunch of businessmen that were already hammered and a lot of fun. One of them recognized Tom from a wedding he did (Tom performs weddings in Osaka). Once we were finished with the sake we needed some dinner. Being in Kobe, it had to involve beef! So, we ended up at a Yakiniku joint.

You can probably tell from Tom’s eyes that the sake already had a hold on us when we sat down for dinner. I honestly don’t remember all of the cuts we ordered, but I do know that there was some beef tongue, rib eye, and short rib.

Yakiniku is great. It’s the Japanese version of Korean BBQ. You have the grill in the middle of your table and you order up various slices of meat to grill at your leisure.

Once the meat is grilled you wrap it in lettuce leaves and top it with sauce, and scarf it down.

They also give you little pickled items to eat. I don’t remember what we had that night, but everything was fantastic! Not Kobe’s highest quality beef that made them famous (that would have cost 4 times as much), but still great beef nonetheless.

After finishing up the grilled beef we ordered some Bibimbop, a Korean hot stone rice dish. The stone is heated up super hot, then rice is put in and topped with vegetables and an egg. You stir it all up and eat it down. The best part is the rice that almost burns at the bottom. It’s a great way to finish off a Yakiniku meal.

Read Full Post »

Sepia

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

As if Restaurant Week wasn’t enough, Chicago also has a Chef Week sponsored by OpenTable. It’s a much smaller promotion than Restaurant Week, but there are a couple of tasty deals at $30 pre fix dinners. One restaurant that’s participating is Sepia, easily one of my favorite joints in town. So, last night, Yuki and I ate a delicious pre fix.

My appetizer was the Scotch Duck Egg. It was a perfect croquet of ground duck meat, nice and medium rare after frying, coated in bread crumbs and filled with duck egg yolk that just oozed out when you cut it open. Chef Zimmerman served it with wild rice, arugula, and black olive honey.

Yuki ordered the Grilled Squid. Perfectly grilled, nice and tender. It was served with cara-cara and blood orange segments, watercress, thin slices of red onion that’s been soaked to remove the sharpness, and herb oil.

My entrée was Cider Braised Pork Belly with barbeque lentils and crispy cavalo nero (not sure what cavalo nero means, it was red cabbage in some kind of vinegar). Delicious fatty pork belly! MMMM! The cider and bbq flavors really tasted like backyard cooking, but it definitely had an upscale, modern twist. The only thing I would have done different is to give the pork belly a quick grill after taking it out of the braising liquid. That would have crisped up the skin a little and added some smoke. It’s hard to argue with what was served though.

Yuki’s entrée was the Vegetarian Lasagna with herbed ricotta and piquillo pepper. The herbed ricotta cheese was brilliant with that tomato sauce. The piquillo pepper almost tasted like an olive, lending an interesting briny contrast. The noodles may have been slightly overcooked, but it was up there with the best lasagna I’ve ever tasted.

For dessert I ordered the Maracaibo Mousse with mango ice cream and caramel-mango rum sauce.

Yuki got the Citrus Meringue-Tart with champagne-raspberry sorbet and lemon sauce.

While all of the individual components of both desserts were delicious, they didn’t all work out quite so well. The mango ice cream’s texture and overall feel were very similar to the mousse. There wasn’t much diversity in textures. On Yuki’s, the sorbet was more tart than the tart. Two tarts don’t make a match. We actually switched the ice cream and sorbet and the sorbet matched the mousse perfectly. While I wouldn’t say the mango matched the tart perfectly, it did offer a nice reprieve from the tart lemon. Maybe some sort of herb sorbet, like mint or basil, would have matched the tart better.

Overall, Sepia still resides towards the top of my list for best restaurants in Chicago. Last night’s meal wasn’t perfect, nor was the service as we had to ask for bread (should have been put down as soon as we ordered, but that’s nitpicking), but the ingredients were fresh, perfectly cooked, and for the most part thoughtfully prepared. I will definitely head back at some point.

Read Full Post »

Queso Fundido

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 7, 2010| 2 Comments »

I must have driven my mom nuts with my quest to find the ultimate Queso Fundido in Merida. I was first turned on to the dish from a Rick Bayless “Mexico: One Plate at a Time” episode. He was on scene in Merida at a restaurant I couldn’t find and they served him this big dish of Dutch cheese stuffed with chorizo and drowned in a spicy tomato sauce. Somehow I got the name of the dish screwed up. I had first thought it was called Queso Relleno, then, for whatever reason I thought it was Queso Fundido. Credit that to me mis-browsing Bayless’s website. In season 4 he featured Queso Fundido, in season 5 it was the Queso Relleno that I was really after.

At any rate, I asked a couple of Meridaians (is that a word?) where they go for Queso Fundido. A waiter at one restaurant mentioned a place that my mom and step-dad have been to. Then, when we were at Mayapan, there was a small group of college students touring archeological sites and their local guide was from Merida. So, I asked him and he said, “go to El Fogoncito“. So, that’s where we headed.

Turns out that there are two El Fogoncito’s in Merida, so we went to the one closest to my mom’s house. Much to our disappointment it was located in a brand new modern mall. The atmosphere was so generic we could have been at a TGI Friday’s (turns out that it’s also a major food worldwide food chain, no surprise). No culture whatsoever. But, they do have Queso Fundido con chorizo.

I was a little worried because it was priced about half of what everyone elses entrees were. Was this a meal or an appetizer? When it showed up it was a small earthenware dish filled with melted cheese, chunks of chorizo, and a couple of flour tortillas. It was definitely not a main dish. It was, however, absolutely delicious! I mean, let’s be honest here, it was melted cheese and chorizo. I scarfed that thing down like it was nothing. Since it was an appetizer I was still hungry afterwords.

Seeing that they served Tacos al Pastor, I really had no choice but to order a couple. Not quite as good as the one I ate at the San Benito Market, but still pretty good. These were served more traditionally with onions, jalapeno, cilantro, and a slice of pineapple.

With plenty of room in my belly for dessert I also had to order the flan. This one was clearly not as good as the flan I had in Cozumel’s Sabores. You could definitely taste the love put into that homemade flan that this one lacked as this one was more mass-produced. The texture was a little more jelloey than flan should be and I’m not a big fan of the maraschino cherry on top (save that for lame cocktails), but overall it wasn’t that bad.

I didn’t get the dish I was after, but that was no one’s fault but my own. I guess I’ll have to bother the hell out of my mom about it again next time I’m in Merida. Sorry mom.

Read Full Post »

Salbutes

Posted in Restaurant, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 5, 2010| 2 Comments »

While we were in Merida we spent an afternoon walking through an ancient cave in the Yucatan called Lol Tun.  In the Pre-Columbian days there were an estimated 800 people living in it. It really is an impressive site with the highlight possibly being the 15,000 year old reverse hand-print paintings on the cave walls. At any rate, we filled up on lunch prior to walking through the cave.

I’m not sure what this place is called, but it was directly across the street from Lol Tun, so we gave it a shot. While we were sitting there waiting for our food, out of nowhere, something that felt like mud hit my arm, WTF! I wipe it off and look around. I didn’t see anything at all. Then I look up and see two little geckos hanging out on the wooden ceiling beams. A few seconds later another muddy item hits my arm. Little bastards! They both shit on my arm! I ought to grill them up and eat them for that! If they had shat on my food instead of my arm I would have eaten them instead.

I ordered the Salubtes. Hand-made tortillas piled with shredded turkey, tomato, lettuce and chopped onion. They were pretty damn good. About the right size too because I wasn’t starving and I had to try some of Yuki’s dish.

She ordered the Pollo Pibil. Chicken marinated in achiote (annatto), sour orange juice, peppercorns, garlic, cumin, salt, and then wrapped in banana leaves and baked. Although, instead of wrapping it in banana leaves and baking it they grilled it with the marinade and served it with rice, french fries, and a small salad with avocado. It truly was outstanding! As soon as I can fire up the grill in Spring you can better believe I’m going to try my hand at this marinade.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »