20100227

one sixtyblue

to finish off a busy week of work and school, J & i went to one sixtyblue as my finale to restaurant week (though she's going to at least 2 more this weekend...i've reached my spending limit already haha)! it's one of the restaurants that Michael Jordan owns, and it's always had a reputation for being an amazing place to eat. in fact, it's been on my "List of Chicago Restaurants to Visit" since 2007, and i finally had a chance to eat there!


J and i decided to each get different dishes so that we could try as many different ones as possible, so prepare to scroll through an amazing collection of pictures! (:


welcome to one sixtyblue - it's right off Ashland / Lake!


20100222

The Melting Pot

Chicago Restaurant Week has officially begun, and my friends (including J, AK, and my adopted older brother JT) and i decided to take advantage of that on Saturday by heading to The Melting Pot for lunch. Most people would probably spend about $50 plus tax & tip on a normal meal there, so the $22 lunch option seemed like an amazing steal.

the last time that i'd been here was for a party, so the entire bottom floor had been rented out and we had chocolate fountains flowing...i blogged about it before but i didn't document it very well, and was glad to have another chance to eat there.

the meal started off rather shaky, as one of our burners didn't work and they had to switch us out of our booth - not to mention our waiter ignored us for a long time and didn't get us our waters until about 45 minutes after we had been seated. after complaining to the manager, they were a LOT more attentive, and the real fun began!


20100221

homemade Italian

i finally had the chance to invite my roommate from last year over to my apartment and cook with her! A and i decided after shopping in downtown Evanston for a while that we were going to cook Italian, so we headed to Whole Foods and picked up some stuff. most of the things from the meal were ready-made: Caesar salad with dressing (which, by the way, many people think is Italian because they associate it with Julius Caesar, but it's actually of Mexican origin), a fresh demi-baguette, pre-packaged parmesan cheese, and ground pesto, as well as fresh ravioli from Trader Joe's.


we heated the bread in the oven for a while and then essentially made "bruschetta". notice that it's in quotes because i honestly didn't bother looking up any recipes or suggestions - i just tossed together some ingredients and made my own (aka substituted cilantro for basil). it actually turned out really nicely! the pictures look so pretty, don't they?? red + green = happy! maybe because it reminds me of Christmas..it's just so bright and happy!



the ravioli was the chicken sausage ravioli with mushrooms and cheese from TJ's (my favourite grocery store EVER).

we cooked it and then browned it in some pesto sauce..we originally were going to make a cream pesto sauce, but A somehow made it curdle HAHA. okay, i blame her but i honestly don't know if it was truly her fault ;)

we also bought some vodka sauce from WF that we're going to test out with our Conchgliette pasta some time soon (: stay tuned for delicious pictures some time soon!

hot pot!

for Valentine's Day / Chinese New Year, J & i went with HKSA to Chinatown to eat some hotpot (shabu shabu) and ring in the (second) new year! it was a long trip that spanned from 5 pm til 11:30 pm, but it was completely worth it!

the concept of hotpot is simple: dump food into a boiling pot of seasoned broth for minutes at a time, and then fish it out when it's ready to eat. dip it in as many sauces as you want to (generally you stick with satay sauce, garlic sauce, and other Asian creations) and shove it into your mouth. repeat until you are stuffed!

for $25 per person (plus tax and tip), all 11 of us ate the all-you-can-eat hotpot buffet at Lao Sze Chuan, a restaurant in Chicago's Chinatown that has grown rather famous for its dishes. i've blogged about it previously in my old food blog twice - the first time was amazing and the second was crap. i was hesitant to go there because i wasn't sure if i wanted to pay for a bleagh meal again, but i was happily rewarded with good food and good service this time!

20100214

pho.

J & i have been kind of slacking in terms of going out and eating.. even though we feel like we've been eating a lot, i think we've focused more on wine sampling than actually restaurant-reviewing. we decided to change this by heading to Argyle and getting us some authentic Vietnamese food this Friday!

this is technically only the second entry in the "Eating Our Way Out" series, but we'll pick up the pace soon haha. having tried 777, Tank, and 999, the only place left to go and get some warm pho was 888, which was recommended by the NU Asian magazine.

20100212

Cosí

i've always been kinda ehhh about this place since the first time i stepped foot inside. i think the concept is nice, and the food is quite good, but i'm just unwilling to pay $8 each time i go to eat here. some how i don't think the sandwiches are THAT nice...

with that said, it's convenient to drop by once in a while and pick up one of their flatbread sandwiches. since it's in the dead of winter and i'm in Chicago, i went for the 1/2 + 1/2 soup/sandwich combo - lobster and butternut squash bisque & hummus and fresh veggies sandwich.


the lobster bisque was surprisingly good - albeit rather watered down and light, i was surprised it was even offered on the menu since it's not exactly the cheapest dish to make. i appreciated that it was very light though, because most of the lobster bisques i've had in the past have been way too salty.

the sandwich was stuffed with veggies and generously spread with hummus. it's a very refreshing thing to eat because it's not weighed down by meat, and the veggies just make you feel very happy (: at least, they make me feel very happy! note that you probably shouldn't have this on a date, though - red onions will stay on your breath for quite a while hahaha.


again, i probably wouldn't come here more than once every month (if even) because you could eat at other places for much cheaper, but when the craving kicks in, what can you do? (:

Cosí
1740 Sherman Ave.
Evanston, IL 60201

homemade Asian food

i haven't been too good with keeping up this blog, have i? :( sorry!

school and work have definitely been keeping me busy, and i've barely had time to EAT in between all my meetings, let alone cook. that's why this entry is going to focus on something i cooked a while ago..

i bought some frozen squid at H-Mart and decided to make my own version of Kung Pow Squid. you know, it actually turned out quite nice!


i added an insane amount of serrano peppers as well as some Siracha garlic pepper sauce. yum!

i paired this with some stir-fried bean sprouts and, of course, my mixed wild rice.


i think there's about 7 or 8 types of rice in the mix that i bought from Whole Foods, and i really love it! it makes you feel super healthy when you're eating it, and the overall texture is very chewy and nice.

a nice big plate of food makes me very happy (: