Food in Chicago

While in Chicago, I stayed with my friend Andrew who is a big foodie. He showed me a list of places he wanted to take me to while I was visiting. 8 of the 10 places were restaurants. And I tried my best to document as much of the food as he would let me.

Antique Taco

My first meal off the plane was at a Mexican place in Wicker Park. We ordered the pork carnitas tacos, fish tempura tacos, guac & chips, chili cheese curds, and horchata milkshakes. The pork was a little tough but meat has never been my favorite. The fish tempura was just the right amount of tangy and fried goodness. Guac & chips will also be guac & chips. You can never go wrong with copious amounts of guac. CHILI CHEESE CURDS. OMG, they blew my mind. Andrew said I haven’t really experienced the Midwest unless I’ve had cheese curds. They are basically just fried cheese balls piled on top of delicious chili. Andrew ordered the milkshakes last minute, on a whim. They were heavenly thick and creamy. The only annoying part: cardboard-I’m-eco-friendly-straws that got all icky after two sips. My recommendation: if you’re in Wicker Park and have the hankering for Mexican food, give it a shot.

1360 N Milwaukee Ave
http://antiquetaco.com/

Cocoro

According to Andrew, no one really knew about this hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant until it made some best Japanese food in Chicago list a while back. We went on a Thursday night and there were only 3 other occupied tables apart from us. The menu was very extensive and I had a hard time deciding. I wanted something I couldn’t get in Monterey so we started with cuttlefish and fried octopus balls. Sounds horrifying but actually tastes magnificent. Andrew ordered a nice bowl of curry (not pictured.) I got the eel roll. YUMMERS. Definitely recommend this place and the wait should be minimal, even on weekends.

668 N Wells St
http://www.cocorosushi.com

Hopleaf Bar

Hopleaf is a gastropub located in Andersonville. Apart from the very impressive beer list, it boasts an awesome mussel appetizer. We ordered them Belgian-style, which meant they were “steamed in Wittekerke white ale w/ sliced shallots, celery, thyme & bayleaf.” Served with the creamy white broth, it goes perfectly with some fresh bread. Additionally, I ordered an salad, mistakenly thinking it would be a decent size. It was good (asparagus and potato) but not very filling. I would advise ordering at least a sandwich or burger. My thoughts: go for the mussels!

5148 N Clark St
http://www.hopleaf.com

Mindy’s Hot Chocolate

I went to this restaurant to meet two friends from undergrad that both go to the University of Chicago. As the place is called Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, we had to order that. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We started with a delicious focaccia (not pictured.) Two of us ordered the delicious crab cake sandwich and the third person had the artic char. It has a curious texture like salmon, but not as heavy. After dinner, one of us had the medium hot chocolate. It came with a large marshmallow that floats and slowly melts. Another one of us ordered the Fernet Branca & mint, which is frest mint frozen nougat, oreo brownie, Fernet Branca hot fudge, and chocolate bark. I ordered the rhubarb which had creme brulee tarlet, rhubarb jam, fresh rhubarb poached in preserved Klug farm raspberry & framboise, and red velvet cupcake. Speechless. Incredibly delectable. Must-go. Also located in Wicker Park.

1747 N Damen Ave
http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com

The Bongo Room

After an hour long wait on a very cold and wet Sunday morning, I had high expectations for this brunch place. I am happy to say it did not disappoint. Immediately after we ordered, we were given a french toast courtesy of John. We had no idea who John was but we devoured it anyways. We later found out John was the owner and he also “took care” of flapjacks we had ordered to share. I got the chorizo avocado omelette which was absolutely yummy. Located in Andersonville, the only negative aspect of my experience here was the hour-long wait.

5022 N Clark St
http://www.thebongoroom.com

More Cupcakes

Andrew took us here as we were walking through downtown. The store is small, located in a side street. Even though we got the mini cupcakes, they were still really rich and sweet. Not my thing, but worth a visit if you are a cupcake fanatic.

1 E Delaware Pl
http://www.morecupcakes.com/

Portillo’s

My last real meal in Chicago was at Portillo’s. It is a touristy trap with gaudy decor but a good place to get Chicago street food. It is located conveniently downtown and has plenty of seating for the weary traveler.

100 W Ontario St
http://www.portillos.com/portillos/look/

Honorable Mentions (from my first visit to Chicago in 2011)

Molly’s Cupcakes

Must go for cupcakes! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

2536 N Clark St
http://www.mollyscupcakes.com

Del Seoul

A perfect fusion of Korean and Mexican food. It is right around the corner from Molly’s Cupcakes.

2568 N Clark St
http://www.delseoul.com

XOCO

Sandwiches were enjoyable but the highlight of the restaurant are the churros dipped in chocolate sauce.

449 N Clark St
http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/xoco.html

Giordano’s Pizza

You haven’t really been to Chicago unless you’ve had deep dish pizza. According to Andrew, this is the best place for deep dish. All I am saying is, leave plenty of room in your stomach for the pizza awesomeness.

6836 N Sheridan Rd
http://www.giordanos.com

Photos: all taken by me with HTC One X and Nikon D90

Out of My Closet: Leopard Print

I purchased this leopard top while I was in Chicago and I couldn’t wait to wear it in Monterey.

Top: Charlotte Russe
Skirt: Forever 21
Espadrilles Flats: Target
Watch: Anne Klein
Bracelets: Forever 21
Rings: Forever 21 and H&M

Photo: taken by Roxy with Nikon D90

Song of the Day: Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell Williams & T.I.

Robin Thicke is sex on legs. Case in point

Friday Bites 6/14/2013

Introducing a new series on my blog: Friday Bites! Every Friday, I will be sharing interesting things I’ve seen/read/heard/watched over the week and what I’m looking forward to be doing in the next week.

• Do you love Ed Sheeran as much as I do? Listen to his ENTIRE album, +, on Youtube. Thank you to whoever uploaded this.
• I’ve loved Aimee Song’s (from Song of Style) hairstyle. She shows the world how she does it in a few simple steps.
• This photo of a Virginian couple on their wedding day is so adorable and precious.
• This Golden Retriever puppy is blind but he is the cutest thing I’ve seen forever. He even has his own Facebook page. TOO CUTE!!
• One of my current favorite movies, “Pitch Perfect,” has a rated R version! Man, if only this was the original…

I’m looking forward to:

• seeing “Now You See Me” tonight.
• possibly watching the new Superman next week.
• having a good day in Monterey so I can go to the beach!

A Second Helping of the Windy City

Last week, I took a mini vacation to the wonderful city of Chicago. The first time I visited the Windy City was back during the summer of 2011. My sentiments towards this wonderful city has not changed at all.

The Magnificent Mile is one of the main streets that run through downtown Chicago. On my first day there, I walked along Mag Mile, as the locals call it, on my way to the Art Institute of Chicago. I was rewarded with scenes of tourists taking pictures, a wonderful breeze, and this gorgeous view of the Chicago Riverwalk. The Art Institute was amazing. One of the largest art museums in the US, second only to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, it houses many Impressionist and Post-Impressionist pieces. The permanent collection includes one of my favorite paintings of all time, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of  La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. I first came to know this piece in 7th grade art class, but there’s just something about it that fascinates me deeply. This was the first time I had ever seen it in person and it is simply breathtaking. It’s massive size cannot be fully comprehended unless you see it in person. Up close, the multicolored dabs of paint, characteristic of Pointillism, is evident. One can only imagine how much painstaking work Seurat put into the painting.

That night, I met up with the friend I was staying with, A, after he got off work. He took me through Museum Campus and out towards the Adler Planetarium so that I could be able to see this amazing view. We sat there, near the lake, for a good while. It was a weird feeling, being so close to a metropolis, but at the same time, in a place of extreme calmness.

On Friday, I attended a Cubs game with A. He lives only a few blocks away from Wrigley field but had never been to a game before. The baseball gods were benevolent and gave us three homeruns and a grand slam by the fourth inning. I was so happy that I treated myself to five dollars worth of cotton candy. All I got out of that was an extreme sugar rush and an artificially blue tongue.

I made it a point to see all of my friends in Chicago during this visit. I met A in middle school when we were both on the cusp of teenage-hood. The one thing I forgot to do when I visited was to take a picture with him. I guess I was too busy taking pictures of all the food he took me to eat and he was too busy making fun of me for doing so. S and I were two parts of three partners-in-crime in high school. During our senior year, the three of us comprised of the entire yearbook staff and we shared many giggles together in the yearbook room. N and I were close buddies in undergrad. Five of us were grouped together for a yearlong linguistics class and it sort of just stayed that way. The five of us were never all in the same class after our sophomore year, but we always made it a point to have dinner every month or so. These dinners often turned into 5 or 6 hour gossip fests or deep conversations about life.

After brunch on Sunday, we went to the Lincoln Park Conservatory and Zoo. Courtesy of the city of Chicago, these two wonderful public places are completely free of charge. I could have easily spent the entire afternoon here. And if the weather was nice, simply being among nature would be enough. Pictured here is the adorable fennec fox who was one of the few animals that roamed out of its den on that cold Sunday afternoon.

My last activity in Chicago was seeing The Book of Mormon at the Bank of America Theatre. There was only one word to describe it: AWESOME! Written by the creators of South Park, this musical both satirizes and explores Mormonism or religion in general. The music is catchy, the lyrics and lines were hilarious (and certainly not child-friendly), and the singing is phenomenal. I’ve since listened to the New York cast recording and the Chicago cast is much better. One of the highlights is that one of the major characters is played by Ben Platt who was also in “Pitch Perfect”, one of my current favorite movies. This was the best possible ending to my visit.

Photos: all owned by me (taken with Nikon D90 and HTC One X)