It used to be when you walked into Bob San on Division the sing-song greeting “irasshaimase” would bounce off the celery walls and land on the cement floor at your feet. A pioneer since 2000 on a strip of Division that now boasts a yoga boutique, a chocolatier and a parade of restaurants and bars, Bob San didn’t draw a crowd, initially.
I had discovered West Egg over St. Patrick’s Day when downtown revealed too many bars and not enough restaurants. It was packed with patrons spilling over in the “waiting room” at the adjacent building. We were seated quite efficiently and proceeded to eagerly pore over the menu.
I've been to several Ethiopian restaurants and while the sour injera leaves my hand sort of dry and the dining process is really neat, I've never really had a craving for Ethiopian food. Maybe it's a change of taste, maybe it's a revved up appreciation for something different or maybe it's the food and atmosphere at Ras Dashen that has me looking forward to more frequent Ethiopian dinners.
Ginza is around the corner from my office and I've mentioned it here before (and here) and I know udon is kind of pedestrian but recovering from an illness sucks, especially the first day back to the office. What better way to temper the unbearable congestedness of being than with a steaming bowl of soup. Especially when you get the red pepper powder container to liven up the proposition. I went with the tempura udon. It's a nice bowl where they toss in tempura shrimp, potato and eggplant, right into the soup. It does get soggy but I've gotten used to it. I do ask for a side plate and take them out ASAP. That breading comes off completely otherwise. It hit the spot and I did start to hanker for some salmon, so I left before I could rack up that bill.
The additional fact that you automatically get a cup of green tea in lieu of water is another reason for the infirm to enjoy.
On Saturday night, the Chicago Beer Society at Goose Island Brewery will present Night of the Living Ales IV. It's already sold out, but this is one of the rare moments to give beer lovers the chance to enjoy cask conditioned ale. Those who have spent time in England or Wales may rememberr the hand-pumped "warm beer" with low carbonation, low alcohol, and a taste unlike bottled or typical draft beer. Forty casks of real ale will be sampled in this event.
Continue reading "Night of the Living Ales IV: Goose Island" »
My first warning probably should have been the "all-you-can-eat sushi" for only $16.99. However, my hole-in-the-wall-lovin' self worked up an appetite as we descended to a basement in Lincoln Park, revealing a small space adorned with wooden furniture and a sushi bar wedged in the corner.
I deliberated over the menu and like all my prior "all-you-can-eat" experiences, secretly vowed NOT to roll out of the door in discomfort by the end of the meal. Their menu had a decent variety of appetizers, nigiri sushi and their special rolls. My friends jumped on the appetizers as I carefully made my choices of the special rolls.
German food seems to have very slowly fallen out of favor, and every once in a while there will be news that a German restaurant or pub is closing. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I don't see a trend in the opposite direction, and to be fair there have been a few German-themed bars, such as Prost, in Lincoln Park, opening. But for the most part the German places around town generally tend to be older. One of these is Laschet's Inn, which until very recently was run by Germans. The current owners have vowed not to change anything, except add tables in front during the summer and a biergarten in back.
Honestly I had not heard about Terragusto until two days before I ate there. We received a recommendation from someone I just met, and it was convincing enough for us to want to go there. The fact that the restaurant was BYOB made it very easy to consider, and I promptly went to one of my favorite wine shops, Que Syrah on Southport, and picked out a traditional Italian dolcetto (a red wine from the Piedmont region). It seems that lots of people know about this place, too. I was told that 5:00 dinner on Saturday was impossible so I had to settle for Sunday.
Continue reading "Terragusto: Wonderful Homemade Pasta at BYO Prices" »
Though a chain, Elephant and Castle is purportedly an English pub, and a good one at that. Though it is very difficult to immitate a pub that's been around for 400 years, and it may not be worth trying, Elephant and Castle's now-third location at North Wabash does a wonderful job giving the pub atmosphere, perhaps better than their Huron St. location. Fast expansion, as chains are prone to do, may put it at risk of not staying cool, but for now there aren't many places downtown that do a better job as an English pub.
Continue reading "Elephant & Castle: Proper British Pub Grub" »
Alice and Friends is a vegetarian restaurant on the north side in Edgewater. I've been there several times and have never had a bad meal. I'll go as far as saying that it's not only my go-to veggie spot, it may be my favorite restaurant in Edgewater. It's also almost entirely vegan.
The un-meat selection consists of beef, duck, chicken alternatives and my dinner companion questioned how it was possible for someone who doesn't eat meat to make food that tastes like meat. How can the chefs be vegetarians? Who knows but the bottom line is that the different pseudo-meats are disturbingly close to the genuine article.
There's always something fun about going to a new restaurant. I'm always hoping it will be something new and when the place is 3 blocks walking distance all the better. Viet Bistro is a new restaurant just off Broadway on Devon from the owners of Pasteur, a really nice French-Vietnamese restaurant on north Broadway. Viet is their bistro. Entrees are priced from $8 for veggie options to $18 for a whole red snapper that was recommended but not tried.
One of the perks we envisioned upon moving to Edgewater was the proximity to Devon and all of the Indian and Pakistani restaurants that we'd be able to order delivery from. Shortly after we moved in we went to Devon and started collecting menus from our favorite places, as well as from those on our list of places to try. Unfortunately, to our great disappointment, none of them would deliver. They claimed it wouldn't taste as good.
From the light-up sign one could correctly guess that the Candlelite has been around for a long time. They did close but quickly reopened when a group of regulars bought them back into existence. Obviously people like the place. The crowd included families and a section inside had a reunion going on... Congrats to the Class of '77.
A nice walk to a new pizza place would be a good appetite stimulant and help digestion on the way home. The only problem was when we realized that Spacca Napoli was on Sunnyside, not Summerdale. So we stopped at Joie de Vin, next to Pauline's on Balmoral, had a glass of wine and then started our additional mile-long march for pizza.
A total of 2.7 miles usually means eat like a pig but somehow we didn't. We simply ordered the four cheese pie, two more glasses of wine and the antipasti plate. While it's not enough to really judge this place, it was a tasty evening and delivered on the artisanal wood-fire style pizza where we were disappointed by Pizza D.O.C.
We finally got to Hamburger Mary's after driving past its sign many times. It's a big sign and, hey, you always want a burger, don't-cha? I settled for splitting a burger, rings, and coleslaw. But that's okay, the burger's are huge.
The name of the place and the style of the menu seem to say diner with burger's defined by Mary's Special, Proud Mary, etc. however the velvet curtains, loud club music videos (of people who likely skip the burger) skew it some which I think is a good thing. Another Johnny Rocket's/Ed Debevic's type place isn't as needed.
Aside from Korean BBQ, I've really only eaten Korean food once. It was at a restaurant that I could recognize and return to without knowing the name (which is written in Korean on their rather large sign). Jin Ju is nowhere near that type of environment. It's not quiet. It's not predominately Korean and I could figure out, or was told exactly what was what.
It's a Korean restaurant for Americans... easy enough. But oddly it's pretty unique in that respect. From myriad plates of Kim Chee and other "items" to the phonetically challenging dish names Korean food is pretty unusual and has not really been geared to Americans in any major way.
So while we have adopted Thai food as the Asian fare de rigueur and Vietnamese pho is more unusual, Korean is pretty much off the map. But maybe Jin Ju will help to change that.
It's been a long while betweeen visits to Indie Cafe. My experience had been months ago, during their Reader-induced celebrity. It was time to go back.
They're still BYOB and they're still packed. Thursday night we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. The dining room is small. So I'm guessing their business is still very brisk. That was a good sign and I was in for more good news.
Back from a virtual leave of absence, and finally in town after the holiday season, I was pressed into service late Monday to quell a burger jones. Moody's is the local Edgewater burger place but it's really a summer beer-garden spot. I did some thinking and found Hamburger Mary's online. Had I done some more poking around I would have found out it has closed... Time was of the essence. It was a burger jones. There was imminent crankiness.
This Italian spot in Andersonville used to have that red carbet, booth and disco feel of a spot that's been there and been doing that for a while. They opened a shmancier option next door and then chucked it all and just remodeled the two together. Lots of the character is gone but the old-school menu stayed the same.
To many Chicagoans Japanese food means raw fish. I'll admit I can count on my hands the number of times I have eaten Japanese that isn't sushi. I didn't know what to expect with Sunshine Cafe except that it is a small restaurant and based on decor it would be likely considered a takeout place. I have noticed that it is usually very well attended. After a couple of good Japanese experiences recently, Renga-Tei and Katsu, I was excited. Boy was it good.
The first, and last, time I tried Ethiopian food was in college at Madison, WI. I remember it being very unpleasant; the sticky bread that tasted strongly of vinegar, the mushy stews with mystery meat and cooked vegetables and grubby hands all reaching into the same plate. Looking back I probably shouldn't have let one restuarant experience in Madison define Ethiopian food.
Now, living in Edgewater, I drive past Ethiopian resturants every day. One in particular, Ethiopian Diamon, looks pretty packed most nights, which to me is a very good sign. So, after four years I finally put my fears aside and decided to take the plunge one Friday night. Again, there were a healty amount of people in the place, which is actually much larger inside than I would have guessed, more like a banquet hall. They had live music that night, one guy that played about 6 different instruments. He switched to a new one every song.
I've been reading rave reviews about Dorado for some time now and finally decided to give it a try. If the food is consistantly like I tasted last night, I've been missing out on a lot of fantastic meals. Dorado serves Mexican cuisine with a French flare.
There are some traditional Mexican items on the menu, like Queso Fundido, Carne Asada and Chicken Enchilades Mole. However, there are far more non-traditional items, each sounding more delicious than the next. We decided to start with the popular Duck Nachos. I'm not a huge Nacho fan but these were tasty - topped with crispy duck, black beans, cheese, sour cream and jalapeño peppers.
I first heard about La Cucina Di Donatella on NPR. I kept it in the back of my mind for some time before actually finding an occasion to go, and I was sorry that I had waited so long. The unassuming restaurant is small, about 10 tables or less, in a very crisp and airy white decor. You can see the kitchen, and Donatella herself, cooking from any seat in the house.
The wait staff is very personable, it feels like you're at someones house for dinner because you also have to bring your own wine, which makes it a reasonable night out. With such an extensive menu of pastas, meat and fish (the nightly specials menu is just as long, if not longer than the regular dinner menu) it's really hard to decide what to try so this particual evening we went with our waiter's recommendations.
If you haven't yet been, I'm guessing that you've at least heard of Moody's Pub, known for it's expansive beer garden. I'm fortunate that Moody's is in my neighborhood, just a couple of blocks away. But, you say, "a lot of bars have beer gardens." So what makes Moody's so special?
First off, its huge. You never (or at least I've never) had to wait for a table. It has atmosphere - dark with red flickering candles and waterfalls or fountains that are somewhat cheesey but they help create the mood. Lots of trees and flowers make it truely a garden of sorts. Most importantly, the price is right - pitchers of beer are 6 bucks and pitchers of Sangria are 9.
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