Le Bar

to celebrate my birthday exactly at midnight, a few friends and i went out to downtown Chicago and camped out at Le Bar. the place was relatively filled for a Sunday evening, and the service was decent. aside from getting some of their signature cocktails, we also ordered from their bar menu, which wasn't too shabby. overpriced? yes. delicious? yes.

orgasmic foods i've had recently (imho)

so there aren't pictures to go with this post, but i just wanted to share a few things that i've eaten recently that taste so great it makes me want to cry haha!!

1. Whole Food's Triple Soy Salad

edamame, yellow soy beans, adzuki beans, tofu, shredded cabbage, and seasoning. super healthy and super delicious. (and for $7.99 / lb it's not too pricey either!)

2. Peet's Small Soy Cappuccino [dry, with 2 dashes of raw sugar]

okay, i might be a little biased, but it's hands down the best cappuccino you can imagine. (side note: i'm taking my barista certification test soon!)

3. AU79's Papaya Bing Sa

i have no idea what they add, but it's the creamiest, melt-in-your mouth drink ever. absolutely in love with it. ($4.70 with student discount)

4. Jazz Cat's Fish Balls w/ Caviar and seasoning

you have to try it to understand what i'm saying..really. they only give you ONE with every hot pot order, so you'll have to get a separate plate of them. it's worth it, trust me.

5. Seafood Harbour's Fried Mochi Balls with Salted Duck Yolk dimsum

it's like heaven, but a little better. the salted duck yolk will change your life. ($3.50 never tasted so good..)

6. Whole Food's Fresh Berries Cake

i think everyone at my birthday party would agree with me..cream, spongy cake, fresh berries, more cream, custard, more spongy cake, more berries..oh Lord. ($19.99 for a 12'' cake)

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!

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!

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!

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.

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

Japonais

this is going to be the first of a series titled "Eating Our Way Out of Chicago!" haha. what exactly is that? well, J and i decided last Sunday that we were going to try and eat out somewhere in Chicago at least once a week since we're both getting the heck outta here soon! we did some research, jotted down a few places of interest, and started today.

the place we chose for the kickoff was Japonais, a Japanese restaurant in the swanky River North area. the menu is slightly pricey, but they also have a few affordable dishes..though i wouldn't expect to spend less than $30 a person unless you only nibble on a single piece of nigiri or something.

Roy's Hawaiian

i actually ate here a while ago, but i never had the chance to post up pictures! and trust me, this place is worth blogging about (: Roy's is probably one of my favourite restaurants to visit whenever i'm in the mood for good fish and a cute atmosphere. the Chicago branch has the option to sit either at the chef's counter, or to get a normal table; i've had the pleasure of trying both experiences and they were both great! obviously if you're a foodie or love watching chefs works (and don't mind the excess noise), i'd definitely try the chef's counter at least once.

the more i think about this meal, the happier (and hungrier) i am getting! (:

Chicago-style Pizza

i'm officially back in the Windy City! it's going to be my last six months in this city, and then i'm leaving (and not planning on coming back for a looong time haha)! i've marked Jan as the start of a long goodbye to the place, so i figured i needed to go food-exploring so that i can at least say i've eaten in all most of the hotspots in Chicago. in order to do this, you have to start with what they're incredibly famous for - pizza! deep dish pizza, to be exact.

my friend (and honorary roommate haha) J and i went to the source of deep dish pizza, also known as a restaurant named Uno in the city centre of Chicago. the place was rather small, but we managed to squeeze in after a 15 minute wait. we didn't want leftovers, so we each got a drink and split an individual-sized (about 7 inches in diameter) Numero Uno ($8.99), which is a pizza with the works: sausage, pepperoni, onions, peppers, mushrooms, & cheese. i, of course, had to add on some grated parmesan as well as red pepper flakes. yum!

these were my 2 pieces - perfect portion for lunch! (it's actually smaller than it looks...)

J & i both agreed that this is the best deep dish that we've had since coming to Chicago! the crust was nice and crunchy, and didn't get wet even with all the sauce and toppings. there was an amazing layer of sausage placed beneath all the toppings - picture flattened sausage pressed into the dough. the ingredients were plentiful and not overpowered by cheese. the only complain that we had was that the temperature wasn't ideal. the pizza had already started to cool, and we wished it was still piping hot when they brought it out.

after trying Lou Malnati's, Giordano's, and Gino's East, i have to say that this is probably the best place to get deep dish. even though i still prefer thin crust (yay NY style!) pizza, deep-dish isn't bad to have once in a while (:

Pizzeria Uno
29 E. Ohio St.
Chicago, IL 60611