Carrot soup

Dinner. Pureed carrot soup with nutmeg, from The Best Recipe. Good, a little watery this time, and a little bland. May need to use more than 4 cups of carrots? The carrots were from Nichols Farm.

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol. It was extra spicy, zowie. And not nearly enough rice, but plenty plenty of veggies.

Chipotle Mexican Grill
2000 N. Clybourn Ave.
773-935-5710

My Pie

Dinner, delivery. Medium deep dish with pepperoni, onions, green peppers, and tomatoes, unsliced. Delicious. They recommended unsliced so that it wouldn't run as much, and they were right. It was a snap to slice with our chef's knife.

My Pie Pizza/Li'l Guys Deli
2010 N. Damen Ave.
773-394-6900

Cosi

Lunch. Sesame chicken sandwich, with carrots: good.

Chicken tikki masala

Dinner. From the jar. With only carrots and onions (both from Nichols Farm), good.

Panda Express

Lunch. Orange chicken: good as usual. Kung pao chicken: not very good.

Panda Express
100 W Randolph St
312-201-8790

Costco crab cakes

Dinner. Good, and easy. With beets, nice.

Whole Foods herb-Parmesan chicken breast cutlets

Dinner. Not bad, pan-fried with a dusting of flour. But not worth paying extra for (better off making our own flavors). Luckily they were on some kind of sale, and they cost less than plain straight-up cutlets -- maybe they were disgustingly old.

Chipotle

Lunch, dine in. Chicken fajita bol: delicious, the guy gave me tons of fajita veggies. But, at 12:00, the line was all the way to the steps, and every table was taken! :-O Why has this Chipotle suddenly been inundated?

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Dirk's salmon-and-corn chowder

Dinner. Dirk's salmon-and-corn chowder: quick and easy meal, frozen soup (thawed under running hot water), heated up in a saucepan. Pretty good, strong spice flavor (pepper?). Had mine with rice, which diluted the flavor, so it needed some salt, and it was good. Not as good as their lobster bisque, though.

Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop
2070 N. Clybourn Ave.
773-404-3475

Miso-glazed salmon, wasabi mashed potatoes, and Swiss chard

Dinner. Cooking Light 2003's miso-glazed salmon (Atlantic salmon from Dirk's): delicious again, great sauce. This sauce good be made any time, not just according to their crazy broiling recipe, it would probably work as a (thick) pan sauce). Cooking Light 2003's accompanying wasabi mashed pototoes (Mavis Piper potatoes from Nichol's Farm): excellent mashed potatoes, but not enough wasabi flavor, maybe cuz we're using lame horseradish "wasabi powder". The chard, also from Nichol's, was good, steam/sauteed with garlic and hot red pepper flakes.

Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop
2070 N. Clybourn Ave.
773-404-3475

Korean Restaurant

Dinner. Free scallion (and seafood?) pancakes: pretty good, and a nice surprise. Mandu: good. Kalbi: pretty good, good quantity, and best of all, sliced tableside off the rib bone into little bite-size strips! The pork bulgogi was OK, but not great. The banchan was OK -- decent variety, decent quality. Of course, the litmus test is the potato banchan, which they didn't have -- or give us.

A good place, maybe not good enough to tell everyone in the universe about, but at least as good as Woo Lae Oak, not that much further, and much friendlier service (and more available seating, and fantastic water service). Oh, and open 24/7!

Korean Restaurant
2659 W. Lawrence Ave.
773-878-209

Room 12

Brunch. Chorizo and white corn burrito (with jalapeno, some kind of cheese, eggs, some kind of salsa, and probably some other stuff): delicious, probably the best thing I've had there in a long time, AND it didn't make me sick to my stomach. Also, a portion of a banana pecan pancake, which was good, and good to have in moderation.

Room 12
1152 S. Wabash
312-427-9972

Cleo's

After dinner. Cleo's is a nice place, and all the food going by looked delicious. SS says it's the best bar food within city limits.

Cleo's
1935 W. Chicago Ave.
312-243-5600

Penny's

Dinner, dine in.

Japanese gyoza: very good

Vietnamese spring rolls: very good ... so much sauce at the restaurant, so little with take-out :-(

Lad nar with chicken: very good

Hot pepper noodle with chicken: not that good, a little mushy. This dish has the widest variance in quality (at this location).

Penny's Noodle Shop
1542 N. Damen
773-394-0100

Chipotle

Lunch, dine in. Chicken fajita bol: delicious. At 12:15, there was an unusually long line (all the way to the entrance steps)! :-O

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Vienna Beef hot dogs

Dinner. Not bad, not great. The dogs at ballparks are probably better (Best Kosher?).

The Midway Club

Lunch. Gleacher Burger: not bad, not great, the mayo was surprisingly good. Apparently The Club is run/catered by Wolfgang Puck. The prices are startlingly reasonable. I got a few looks for wearing blue jeans and running shoes, oh well.

The Midway Club
University of Chicago Gleacher Center
450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, Fifth Floor
312-464-8775

Sushi X

Dinner, delivery.

Shrimp tempura roll w/ avocado (whoops, forgot to add tempura crumbs ... and when I said "w/ eel sauce", they said "it already comes with eel sauce, do you want extra?" ... that might have been too crazy): good.

Vegetable tempura roll w/ cucmber (whoops, forgot to add tempura crumbs): good.

Tuna roll inside out w/ cucumber and spicy mayo and chili sauce: good, but not as spicy as I was trying to make it.

Asparagus roll inside out w/ cucmber and chili sauce: very good, even spicier than the tuna roll!

Salmon roll inside out w/ avocado(?) and tempura crumbs: very good, delicious salmon.

Lessons learned: gotta mention "inside out" (it's free), and yes indeed, fifty cents for tempura crumbs are the best-spent fifty cents on the planet.

Oh, and they said an hour for delivery, and it was about 40 minutes.

Sushi X
1136 W. Chicago Ave.
312-491-9232

Big Bowl

Lunch. Potsticker combo: pretty good; chili-pepper chicken: pretty good, all white-meat chicken, but not that good, not many veggies ... the nuts were nice.

Again, a small disappointment.

Big Bowl
60 E Ohio St
312-397-1806

West Egg Cafe

Lunch. Half rotisserie chicken: dry; baked potato: fine; broccoli: limp.

West Egg Cafe
620 N Fairbanks Ct
312-280-8366

Homemade pizza

DInner. Whole Food frozen sourdough crust: not great, very crispy, and not especially tasty; Muir Glen pizza sauce: fine (we added fresh thyme and oregano); Whole Foods ground sirloin: very good, used a small amount of salt and pepper.

Schlotzsky's Deli

Lunch. Turkey BLT: not bad, but it was on wheat, not the usual sourdough bun. I think my regular sandwich must be the smokey turkey. Warning: the "orignal" sandwiches seem to be what in the South they called "muffulettas" (yuck).

Schlotzsky's Deli
1564 E Golf Rd
Schaumburg, IL
847-330-2867

Edward's

Breakfast. Apple donuts: yummy! :-)

Edwards Apple Orchard
7061 Centerville Road
Poplar Grove, IL 61065
815-765-2234

Roy's

Dinner. Lobster dim sum with white truffle emulsion: deeee-licious; calamari with nuts and some kind of thick soy-based sauce: deeee-licious, and not rubbery and chewy like most all other calamari; pesto mahi with gnocchi: the mahi was very flavorless, the gnocchi was good, and the sauce's flavor was just OK.

Disappointing, because there were open booths, and they refused to seat us in one.

Roy's
1 W Superior St
312-787-7599

Dunlay's

Lunch, dine in. Cheeseburger: fine, the French fries (like Houston's) were good. MH had the iron skillet chocolate chip cookie and said it was delicious (and very very gooey).

Dunlays on Clark
2600 North Clark Street
773-883-6000

Hank's Cheesecake

Dessert. Strawberry cheesecake: quite good, not too rich, not too dense, not too strongly flavored.

Hank's Cheesecakes
1063 South Big Bend
St. Louis, MO 63117
314-781-0300
800-466-HANK

Matsuya

Dinner. (Coast sushi had a 1-hour wait at 7:00. We drove to Matsuya and were immediately seated!) Crunch roll: very good; spicy tuna roll: good; ET roll: good; eel roll: surprisingly good, not crispy like I remember eel (sushi) being at Bob San; salmon sushi: very good; tuna sushi: very good, and very very very wasabi-licious (almost too spicy); yellowtail: very good.

MH says to avoid their fatty tuna (toro), because it wasn't white tuna.

Matsuya
3469 North Clark St
773-248-2677

Penny's

Dinner, carry out. Japanese gyoza: delicious; Vietnamese spring rolls: good ... one of them was busted wide open :-( ; pad thai with chicken: good; hot pepper noodle with chicken: good, not too spicy.

Penny's Noodle Shop
1542 N. Damen
773-394-0100

Giordano's

Lunch, delivery. Cheese deep dish pizza: surprisingly, not bad.

Chipotle

Lunch, dine in. Chicken fajita bol: very good, as usual. Again, there was absolutely no line here, at 11:40!

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Costco crab cakes

Dinner. Again, very good, and so easy to "cook".

Giordano's

Lunch, delivery. Sausage deep dish pizza: not bad.

Zen Noodles

Dinner, delivery. Thai cashew chicken: very good; pad thai with chicken: pretty darn good.

Food arrived very quickly. Zen is warming up in my book.

Zen Noodles
1852 W North Ave
773-276-8300

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita burrito bol: good, but not enough rice today. I arrived at around 11:45 and ended up waiting in line til about noon! :-(

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950

Sushi X

Dinner, delivery. Shrimp tempura roll w/ tempura crumbs: faboo; vegetable tempura roll: delish; avocado roll w/ green onions and chili sauce: good; sake roll w/ cucumber and wasabi mayo: good, but not much flavor in the wasabi mayo...?

They said 45-60 minutes, and it took about 15.

Sushi X owns me.

Sushi X
1136 W. Chicago Ave.
312-491-9232

Wolfgang Puck, Los Angeles, CA

Lunch. Pepperoni pizza: pretty good, but don't be fooled by the menu saying that there is "basil" on this pizza.

Wolfgang Puck
LAX

The Standard, Hollywood, CA

Drinks. Crazy place, girl sleeping in her CK undies in a glass box, DJ thumping loud beats, what a crazy place. Oh, and 3 beverages (2 non-alcoholic) cost $17. Go figure.

The Standard
8300 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90069
323-822-3111

El Compadre, Hollywood, CA

Dinner. Chips and salsa: quite good, a slow burn kind of spicy; guacamole: incredibly creamy and not that good; chicken burrito: not bad, huge chunks of white meat chicken breast, and rice which is rare in a burrito (isn't it?); chicken enchilada: good, but not special.

El Compadre
7408 Sunset Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90046
323-874-7924

Joe's, Venice, CA

Brunch. Zuchini bread: delicious; orange blossom French toast w/ strawberries hot and cold: delicious and killer sweet, like Bongo Room.

Joe's
1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
310-399-5811

Diddy Riese, Los Angeles, CA

Dessert. Vanilla ice cream between chocolate chip cookies: good, and super duper cheap.

Diddy Riese
926 Broxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-208-0448

Chaya, Beverly Hills, CA

Dinner. Shrimp tempura maki roll: OK, but a little too fancy; sea bass: pretty good, but the salmon was better.

Chaya
8741 Alden Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
310-859-8833

In-N-Out, Los Angeles, CA

Lunch. Cheeseburger, animal style, no pickles: fine; French fries: fine; chocolate-vanilla shake: fine.

In-N-Out Burger
922 Gayley Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Sushi Maru, Sunnyvale, CA

Dinner. Sake: neon bright orange, slimy, stringy, not that good; shrimp tempura roll with eel sauce: cold, chewy, not that good.

Sushi Maru
308 Town & County Village
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-530-8486

Thai Basil, Sunnyvale, CA

Dinner. Chicken with cashews: pretty good.

Thai Basil
210 Town & Country Village
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-774-9009

Round Table Pizza, Sunnyvale CA

Lunch. Cheese pizza: vile; chicken pizza: vile; everything pizza: vile.

Hunan Home's, Los Altos, CA

Dinner. Don't remember what I ate, but it wasn't all that good.

Hunan Home's Restaurant
4880 El Camino Real
Los Altos, CA 94022
650-965-8888

Gaylord India, Atherton, CA

Dinner. Samosa: OK; sausage: OK; chicken tikki masala: just OK. This place was not special, and the servers were pretty terrible.

Gaylord India Restaurant
1706 El Camino Real
Atherton, CA 94027
650-326-8766

Ariba Cafeteria, Sunnyvale, CA

Lunch. Chicken fajitas: not that good, not that good at all.

Ariba Cafeteria
807 11th Avenue
Sunnyvale, Ca 94089

Satsuma, Mountain View, CA

Dinner. Chef's special sashimi (maguro, hamachi, and sake): quite good, but just eating that got old after a while ... but it was pretty soft and melty, but maybe not the best ever; shrimp tempura roll with cooked salmon on top (Victoria's Secret roll?): pretty good ... without the salmon; Ninja roll (spicy tuna deep fried): not that good; some sake, maguro, hamachi, and avocado roll: surprisingly not good; some other chef special roll: OK.

Satsuma Restaurant
705 E El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040
650-966-1122

In-N-Out, Mountain View, CA

Lunch. Cheeseburger, animal-style, no pickles: good, a little messy; French fries: good, not great; chocolate-vanilla swirl milkshake: delicious.

In-N-Out
53 W El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040

Hunan Chili, Mountain View, CA

Dinner. Potstickers: pretty good; egg rolls: just OK; kung pao shrimp: pretty good, good spiciness, but not enough veggies -- it was just shrimp, water chestnuts, peanuts, zukes, and a few green peppers. I asked for a white-meat chicken dish that was spicy, and they said their only white-meat chicken dish was the un-spicy chicken with vegetables. :-(

Hunan Chili
102 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
650-969-8968

Penny's

Lunch, dine in. Japanese gyoza: delicious; Vietnamese spring rolls: very good ... these are definitely growing on me; pad thai with chicken: exceptional; hot pepper noodle with chicken: very good, not too spicy (the Sunday cook scores again!).

Penny's Noodle Shop
1542 N. Damen
773-394-0100

Naha

Dinner. Just a bunch of appetizers. Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich: the soup was kind of boring, but the tiny grilled cheese sandwich was deeee-licious; scallops with honey crisp apples: very good; beet salad with kohlrabi: very good; gnocchi: very very good, and a large portion. Dessert was a Snickers-like semifreddo on top of a cookie with whipped (?) cream and caramel: it was delicious.

The food here was absolutely amazing, service was super super attentive, and the atmosphere was nicely serene. I'd go back in a second. Anywhere else we've been of this caliber was more expensive.

Naha
500 N. Clark St.
312-321-6242

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: excellent. This location was completely empty on a Saturday afternoon -- WTF?

Chipotle
1733 N. Damen
773-772-5713

Adobo Grill

Dinner. Guacamole: just OK, in my book; empanada: fine; three skewers (beef, chicken, and shrimp): not very good ... only chicken had good flavor, and the pineapple had hard-as-cement core.

There is no need to ever return to this place. I would much much much rather go across the street to Picante.

Adobo Grill
2005 W Division Chicago
773-252-9990

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita burrito bol: delicious.

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950