Chicago Tummy

Everyone needs to eat

Saturday, April 30, 2005

HotChocolate

Dinner. Asparagus and tomato salad in a walnut vinaigrette with fancy Vermont Brie-like goat cheese: delicious. Kobe-like beef skirt steak sandwich on ciabatta bread: very good, and enormous. "Milk chocolate" dessert (chocolate mousse with a peanut goopy topping -- Snickers -- and peanut butter mousse and white chocolate mousse -- Reese's cup): deeeee-licious. Flight of four hot chocolates (white, milk, 70% dark, and "black and tan" -- milk chocolate and fudge): delicious!!!

The one hostess took our name and told us 35 minutes. Twenty minutes later, the other hostess gave a table to another couple that came in after us, thinking they were us. I talked to the first hostess, and she apologized but said she didn't see the mistake happen until it was too late. Huh? And what's up with those dodo's being called somebody else's name and not blinking an eye? They gave us two bad cookies and a table that had been mysteriously empty since we had arrived. Started our otherwise excellent meal on a very, very sour note.

HotChocolate
1747 N. Damen Ave.
773-489-1747

Sultan's Market

Lunch. Falafel sandwich w/ taboulleh, 1/2 spicy: delicious. The line was to the door when we got there, and stayed that long while we ate. Wow!

Sultan's Market
2057 W. North Ave.
773-235-3072

Friday, April 29, 2005

Vivo

Dinner. Free bread and oil: very delicious bread, very delicious oil. Watercress salad with pears, tomatoes, and walnuts: delicious. Grilled salmon with asparagus, tomatoes, and rosemary potatoes: salmon was overcooked and dry, asparagus was thicker than my fingers. Some kind of chocolate cake dessert with white chocolate gelato and strawberries: very good. Some kind of raspberry sorbet: very delicious.

Great restaurant, but loud.

Vivo
838 W Randolph St
312-733-3379

Oriental Express

Lunch. Chicken broccoli: OK, goopy sauce, made me feel a tad queasy later.

Oriental Express
233 E Wacker Dr
312-938-1118

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: delicious.

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Penny's

Dinner, delivery. Vietnamese spring rolls: good. Japanese gyoza: good. Lad nar w/ chicken, noodles separate: great.

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

Monday, April 25, 2005

Paulina Meat Market gnocchi

Dinner. Gnocchi from Paulina Meat Market, with tomato, basil, and cream sauce (i.e., vodka sauce without the vodka) from Pam Anderson's How to Cook Without a Book: absolutely delicious. Gnocchi had a perfect texture, not gummy, not mushy.

Need more than a pound of gnocchi for a recipe of sauce. But one pound is about 3 full servings. And the leftovers get overcooked and mushy. So, tricky to work out the portions.

Sandwich and chips and yogurt

Lunch. Brown sack of bread found at Dominick's, honey whole wheat variety: not good. Too grainy-tasting, a little bit too crunchy for me. Low fat lightly salted Kettle Krisps: terrible, worse than Baked Lays maybe.

Whole Soy & Co. strawberry creamy cultured soy "yogurt": not bad, but not great. Pretty good creamy texture. Nice chunks of real strawberry. Slightly sweet, but maybe not sweet enough (in fact, a small squeeze of honey helped the taste). Overall just a little bit bland.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: delicious. Except they ran out of fajita veggies, and so I just got the tiny amount of dregs left over. And they were just starting to get another pan of veggies on the stove. What gives?

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

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Pizza D.O.C.

Dinner. Margherita pizza, plus sausage and onion (and minus basil apparently): delicious. Service was super fast and super good. We were in and out in no time. Great place.

Told us the wait would be 20 minutes, and it was less than 10.

Pizza D.O.C.
2251 W. Lawrence
773-784-8777

Blind Faith Cafe, Evanston, IL

Lunch. Mongolian seitan: delicious still, but different than it used to be. Instead of the ramen-like brick of crunchy noodles, now it's the white fluffy stringy crispy noodles that some Chinese dishes have -- not as good, but not bad.

Blind Faith Cafe
525 Dempster Street
Evanston, Illinois 60201
847-328-6875

Friday, April 22, 2005

Topolobampo

Dinner. Five-course tasting menu:

"Tetelas Oaxaqueñas - fresh corn masa triangles filled with avocado leaf-scented black beans, cooked to a rustic crispness on the griddle; served with first-of-season local morels and grilled ramps, and Oaxacan pasilla-tomatillo salsa." Delicious, like little empanadas or samosas, with a great salsa sauce.

"Sopa de Espinacas a la Poblana - creamy soup of organic Snug Haven spinach and roasted poblanos with smoked chicken, roasted parsnips, epazote and crispy potatoes." Delicious, the littel crunchy potato strings were super.

Fried halibut fillets: delicious.

"Puerco en Pipián Verde - slow-roasted Maple Creek Farm pork loin with classic pumpkinseed-thickened green pipián, pepita-crusted white bean cakes (studded with serrano chiles) and shoestring chayote salad with wood-roasted poblano rajas." Delicious, but not the best.

Dessert: Three samplers, all delicious.

What a great place. Super friendly, super accommodating, not at all snooty. Not everyone at the table has to get the tasting menu, and if you want to swap something off of the tasting menu for something else on the regular menu, go right ahead. And no charge for iced tea and hot tea - wow! Plus a free sampler cup of the other kind of coffee, just for comparison to the first. Wow!

Rick Bayless was there. At first, he was checking on the kitchen, then later he was wearing street clothes, dining at a corner table with his wife (?).

What a great place!

Topolobampo
445 North Clark Street
312-661-1434

Ada's Famous Deli & Restaurant

Lunch. Turkey BLT club sandwich: decent, enormous. French fries (steak fries): OK, needs lots of salt.

Ada's Famous Deli & Restaurant
14 S. Wabash Ave.
312-214-4282

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Bandera

Dinner. They said the wait would be 35-40 minutes, it was at least 55 minutes. They tried to make up for it by giving us their cheapest appetizer for free (queso dip), and it was pretty bad, but the chips were nice and warm and salty and crisp. Cheesburger (with cheddar), medium-well: very good and juicy. Fries: delicious as always. Crab cakes: tons of lucious crab meat, but it was still just OK ... and way overpriced ... much rather have 3 cheeseburgers.

Bandera
535 N Michigan Ave
312-644-3524

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: delicious.

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Coast Sushi

Dinner, carry out. Namasake: good, but not perfect. Hamachi: better, but still not perfect. Maguro: very very good. White dragon roll: delicious. Grilled asparagus roll: just OK. Spicy tuna crunch roll: good.

They said the food would be ready in 15-20, and it was waiting for me 15 minutes later.

Coast Sushi
2045 N Damen
773-235-5775

Panda Express

Lunch. Orange chicken: good. Double white-meat chicken with garlic and green beans and red peppers: good.

Panda Express
100 W Randolph St
312-201-8790

Monday, April 18, 2005

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: delicious.

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Margie's Candies

Dessert. Turtle sundae w/ pecans on the side: delicious. Who knew you could ask for pecans?

Margie's Candies
1960 N. Western
773-384-1035

Opart Thai House

Dinner. Spring rolls with peanut sauce: excellent sauce, but the skins were the thick rubbery kind, not the thin (Vietnamese) white ones. Fried chicken spring roll: crazy fried triangle of chicken nugget wrapped in a crispy friend spring roll skin ... it was just OK, but the dipping sauce was great. Spicy cashew chicken in peanut sauce: very good, the peanut sauce was not thick and goopy, it was quite liquidy. Spicy wide flat noodles with basil and chicken: spicy beyond my wildest dreams, too spicy, but otherwise quite good.

Opart Thai House
4658 N. Western
773-989-8517

Wow Bao

Snack. BBQ pork: good. Spicy cashew chicken: good.

Wow Bao
845 N. Michigan
312-642-5888

Ann Sather Cafe

Brunch. Pumpkin bread French toast with pecans: crazy sweet, couldn't eat it all. This is probably on their menu in order to compete with The Bongo Room's crazy-sweet dessert-breakfasts.

Ann Sather Cafe
1448 N. Milwaukee
773-394-1812

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Giovanni's, Rockford, IL

Dinner. Coconut shrimp: ridiculously crispy on the outside, but excellent dipping sauce. Filet mignon, medium: ridiculously rare (I'd say medium-rare) -- when sent back to the kitchen it came back well done.

The waiter had to consult his notebook to say what was in the lobster pot pie (which was the size of a pie pie).

Giovanni's
610 N Bell School Rd
Rockford, IL 61107
815-398-6411

Milk and Honey Cafe

Brunch. BLT: delicious!

Milk and Honey Cafe
1920 West Division St
773-395-9434

Friday, April 15, 2005

El Barco

Dinner. Guacamole: pretty good. Whole red snapper, deep fried, with onions and garlic: fish was good, but was too hard to get at -- too many bones, too much skin, yuck.

El Barco
1035 N Ashland Ave
773-486-6850

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

My Pie

Dinner, delivery. Deep dish w/ pepperoni, sliced tomato, onion, and green peppers: delicious.

They said an hour, and it took an hour.

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

Shelton's Chicken Noodle Soup

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Papajin

Dinner, delivery. Egg rolls: delicious. Won ton soup: very good. Szechuan chicken, spicy: pretty good. General chicken, spicy: not bad, a little mushy as usual. Free chicken fried rice: gristle-y ... should ask for veggie fried rice instead.

Delivery came in about 40 minutes, they said 45.

Papajin
1551 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-384-9600

Monday, April 11, 2005

Horizon Organic Apricot Mango Yogurt

Lunch. Horizon Organic Apricot Mango Yogurt: sweet, but gritty. :-(

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Sultan's Market

Lunch. Spicy chicken schwerma sandwich w/ tabbouleh instead of Jerusalem salad: just OK, and way too spicy. Better stick with falafel sandwiches.

Sultan's Market
2057 W. North Ave.
773-235-3072

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Pacific Cafe

Dinner, delivery. Yakiniku w/ chicken: just OK. Rice was weirdly congealed, and no miso soup. Once again, Pacific disappoints.

Pacific Cafe
1619 N Damen Ave
773-862-1988

Friday, April 08, 2005

Enoteca Roma

Dinner. Simone pizza (mozzerella, basil, tomato): good, but got bad when it got cold. Granny smith apples, brie, and honey bruscetta: good. Diced tomato and olive oil bruscetta: very good. Goat cheese, walnuts, and grapes bruscetta: just OK. Some other bruscetta: good.

Good food, good prices, very filling. Sit at the tables at Leticia's for quiet, no smoke, and no wait!

Enoteca Roma
2146 W Division St
773-342-1011

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Penny's

Dinner, delivery. Gyoza: fine, a little cold and clammy. Hot pepper noodle w/ chicken: very good (and it was a Wednesday!). Pad thai w/ chicken: very good.

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

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Good Eats Baby Back Ribs

Dinner. Very "adult", "sophisticated" sauce. Ribs came from Paulina Meat Market, recipe from Good Eats. Delicious!

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!

Dinner. Shrimp in garlic and oil: delicious -- the garlicky oil is great for dipping bread in. Chicken and pork coquette(?): delicious. Bacon-wrapped dates: good. Lots of other stuff I don't remember: good.

Friday, April 01, 2005

a tavola

Dinner. Some kind of salad with pears and parmesan: very good. Gnocchi: very very very good! Some wide flat noodle w/ lamb ragu: very good.

This is a fantastic restaurant with interesting dishes.