Last night, Alex and I ate dinner (kind of) at one of Goose Island's two brewpubs. We ate at the one on 1800 N. Clybourn. Mostly, we drank beer, as that was kind of the point in going.
Goose Island is a Chicago microbrewery. They bottle some of their beers--I'm a pretty big fan of their 312, which they describe as "urban wheat ale"--while others they only serve at their brewpubs. We'd been told by none other than Richard Berg that what they serve at the brewpubs is much better than what they bottle, so we pretty much had to go.
I started off with their India Pale Ale, continuing a trend I began in Portland of drinking I.P.A.s at brewpubs. I liked theirs a lot, but my beer vocabulary hasn't really expanded enough to say why, other than that it was fruity yet spicy and not too bitter. Alex got the Red ale, which turned out to be a dollar off. Sweet.
Continuing the discount trend, we ordered nachos. From 4-6 pm, Goose Island has half-price appetizers, and I guess we got the nachos in right under the wire, because on the bill, they were half the price. We wanted the nachos because they came with a beer-cheese sauce. I couldn't really taste the beer, but it was a delicious cheese sauce. It was a little richer and not as salty--just generally less junk-foody--than most.
Then we had a beer flight! Goose Island, being creative, allows you to order 4 5-oz. beers for $6. They come in these cute little glasses with instructions on the side about how to taste beer. The beers are placed on a place mat, with circles for where the glasses go, with their names written in underneath, and then lots more instructions on how to taste and describe beers. Apparently, you can sort beers into seasons, as well as into wheat, spicy, and some other categories I don't remember. (I'm never going to be a serious beer drinker at this rate.) We drank a winter wheat ale, a hefeweizen, something with the words midwest and bitter in it, and a porter of some sort. They were all good, but I think I liked the wheat ales the best.
After that, we were so full of beer and nachos that we didn't get any more food, which is why I say we kind of ate dinner there. But nachos hardly count, even though they were yummy. Hopefully this is a legitimate blog post anyway.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
La Condesa
Last night, Alex, Sasha, and I ate at La Condesa at 1001 N. Ashland. (Interesting note: Every review of La Condesa I found--TOC, Metromix, Trib--all gave only this address for the restaurant. But once we got there, we saw that it was a chain, with several locations on the west and southwest sides. 1001 N. Ashland is in a rapidly gentrifying area, while these other places remain largely working-class Latino neighborhoods. Hmm.)
Anyway, we went there because it was on TOC's list of the Top 5 margaritas in the city. The other places on the list either didn't serve food or served rather expensive food (or rather expensive margaritas), so we went to this one. And the margarita was really good. It definitely used fresh lime juice and had a good balance of flavors, though it was probably on the sweeter, less alcoholy side. We ordered a pitcher because it seemed more cost-efficient, and we certainly got a pitcher. In fact, we got three full glasses plus a beer-sized pitcher. The pitcher had a decent amount of ice in it, which probably saved us from really feeling the effects.
The food was really good too. I ate chicken flautas, which came with rice and beans and sour cream and guacamole. I really like the deep-fried goodness of flautas, but I wasn't really a fan of their chicken filling. It was kind of stringy. I think that always happens to me when I order chicken at Mexican food places, though, so I should learn to just not do it. Everything else, though, was excellent. The guacamole was relatively smooth and not too full of cilantro, just the way I like it.
Alex had cheese enchiladas. I had a moment of panic when I first looked through the menu and couldn't find anything vegetarian, and the seafood options were pricey. But then I spotted the enchiladas and felt much better about life. They had several varieties of sauces for the enchiladas. Alex got the Suiza sauce. We don't know what that means, but it was good. The enchiladas were loaded with cheese and cream and more cheese--I think several different kinds of cheese. Yummy.
Sasha had beef tacos. She said they were really good, but I didn't try them. Sasha and I both really wanted ceviche, so we split an appetizer of their shrimp version (Alex had some too). It was pretty good; I especially liked the addition of avocado to the fish and tomatoes. I think I prefer non-shrimp ceviche, though. I think it pickles better and has a better texture.
The chips and salsa they gave us at the beginning were pretty delicious too. I'm not a big salsa person, since it's usually too spicy for me, but I really liked this one. It had nice big pieces of tomatoes and onions, good for piling on a chip.
I think the margaritas were the best part though. They were really good.
Anyway, we went there because it was on TOC's list of the Top 5 margaritas in the city. The other places on the list either didn't serve food or served rather expensive food (or rather expensive margaritas), so we went to this one. And the margarita was really good. It definitely used fresh lime juice and had a good balance of flavors, though it was probably on the sweeter, less alcoholy side. We ordered a pitcher because it seemed more cost-efficient, and we certainly got a pitcher. In fact, we got three full glasses plus a beer-sized pitcher. The pitcher had a decent amount of ice in it, which probably saved us from really feeling the effects.
The food was really good too. I ate chicken flautas, which came with rice and beans and sour cream and guacamole. I really like the deep-fried goodness of flautas, but I wasn't really a fan of their chicken filling. It was kind of stringy. I think that always happens to me when I order chicken at Mexican food places, though, so I should learn to just not do it. Everything else, though, was excellent. The guacamole was relatively smooth and not too full of cilantro, just the way I like it.
Alex had cheese enchiladas. I had a moment of panic when I first looked through the menu and couldn't find anything vegetarian, and the seafood options were pricey. But then I spotted the enchiladas and felt much better about life. They had several varieties of sauces for the enchiladas. Alex got the Suiza sauce. We don't know what that means, but it was good. The enchiladas were loaded with cheese and cream and more cheese--I think several different kinds of cheese. Yummy.
Sasha had beef tacos. She said they were really good, but I didn't try them. Sasha and I both really wanted ceviche, so we split an appetizer of their shrimp version (Alex had some too). It was pretty good; I especially liked the addition of avocado to the fish and tomatoes. I think I prefer non-shrimp ceviche, though. I think it pickles better and has a better texture.
The chips and salsa they gave us at the beginning were pretty delicious too. I'm not a big salsa person, since it's usually too spicy for me, but I really liked this one. It had nice big pieces of tomatoes and onions, good for piling on a chip.
I think the margaritas were the best part though. They were really good.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Ghareeb Nawaz
Last night, Alex and I ate at Ghareeb Nawaz at 2032 W. Devon Ave. It was a post-Indian-grocery-shopping excursion. I think we picked it because we were looking at a very short TimeOut Chicago list, and this seemed the most attractive. There's definitely a more extensive TOC list here that we should be sure to check out some restaurants on.
Still, it was incredibly delicious and incredibly cheap. I had the vegetarian thali, for $3.50. It came with rice, paratha (which didn't taste too different from when I made it for dinner with Josh Scodel, yay), and raita, which I think are three of my favorite foods. And then there was a sampler of four dishes. I'm going to have to guess what they were. There was definitely daal, which was really good, but still not quite what Lutful's mother makes. There was chana masala, I think--there was definitely a spicy and delicious chickpea dish. There was a spicy eggplant and tomato dish, which was also good, and there was a last thing too, which I'm forgetting entirely.
I don't remember what Alex had, but I do remember that it was $2 and he got naan for another 50 cents. It had the word spicy in the title, and was like a spicy lentil soup. It was really good with the naan. It came with raita as well (yay again). (Alex, if you remember any of these things, can you comment? This is why I actually have to write things that happened last night!) It was a good thing Alex was there, generally, because the portions were large, especially my thali. He ended up eating his dish plus like half of mine. As I said, the prices were really really good.
The restaurant itself was pretty spare. You ordered at a counter and ate at cafeteria-style booths. The walls were decorated with pictures of the hajj, so it's probably a fair bet that the owners were Pakistani.
The one other fantastic thing about last night's dinner was how excellent our timing was with the rain. It rained while we were in the restaurant and while we were on the El, but it barely rained on us!
Still, it was incredibly delicious and incredibly cheap. I had the vegetarian thali, for $3.50. It came with rice, paratha (which didn't taste too different from when I made it for dinner with Josh Scodel, yay), and raita, which I think are three of my favorite foods. And then there was a sampler of four dishes. I'm going to have to guess what they were. There was definitely daal, which was really good, but still not quite what Lutful's mother makes. There was chana masala, I think--there was definitely a spicy and delicious chickpea dish. There was a spicy eggplant and tomato dish, which was also good, and there was a last thing too, which I'm forgetting entirely.
I don't remember what Alex had, but I do remember that it was $2 and he got naan for another 50 cents. It had the word spicy in the title, and was like a spicy lentil soup. It was really good with the naan. It came with raita as well (yay again). (Alex, if you remember any of these things, can you comment? This is why I actually have to write things that happened last night!) It was a good thing Alex was there, generally, because the portions were large, especially my thali. He ended up eating his dish plus like half of mine. As I said, the prices were really really good.
The restaurant itself was pretty spare. You ordered at a counter and ate at cafeteria-style booths. The walls were decorated with pictures of the hajj, so it's probably a fair bet that the owners were Pakistani.
The one other fantastic thing about last night's dinner was how excellent our timing was with the rain. It rained while we were in the restaurant and while we were on the El, but it barely rained on us!
Heartland Cafe and Paleteria La Monarca
Last night, Alex and I ate at Heartland Cafe. (That's a total lie, obviously, since I just said that last night we had Indian food. But we're going to go with it.)
Heartland Cafe, on Thursday nights, has $2.50 pints of Rogue beer. So we had a couple of pints each of Dead Guy. Actually, Alex had a couple of pints, but I could never get the waitress' attention to get my second. It's probably for the best. Alex and I like Dead Guy, but the big fan of it is my dad. We brought some back for him from Portland, and he told me that he thought it was really, really excellent. My dad can be a harsh critic, too.
I had a philly cheese steak-like sandwich that was made with portobello mushrooms instead of steak. It was really good. I have to say, every vegetarian philly cheese steak variation I've ever had (like those awesome vegetarian philly cheese steaks at the USAS conference) is far better than its meaty counterpart. But it's entirely possible I've never had an actually good cheese steak. Maybe in good ones, the meat would be less stringy and gross. I got sweet potato fries on the side, which were good, but I've had better. They didn't quite match the flavorfulness and crispyness of the Zen Palate ones.
Alex had a spicy bean burger and cornbread stuffing. His burger was quite good, though much of it fell off the bun, which was a little unfortunate. I've gotten really interested in variations on veggie burgers. (Another post, maybe?) The stuffing was good, too, though maybe a little dry. I'm not sure about that, though. I think it was dry if you're calling it stuffing, but it was definitely yummy if you're calling it something else.
What was really nice about Heartland Cafe was its outdoor patio. It was on a really leafy street right by the Morse El stop. It was a great place to sit and watch the neighborhood go by. Also, the Heartland Cafe is known for its support of progressive causes. In the bathroom, there were signs up for a "prostration for peace" protest on the Rogers Park beach. We had missed it, though. I think that's okay. The bookstore seemed to have lots of interesting books, newspapers, and magazines, but I wasn't really in the mood to check them out.
Paleteria La Monarca is at 6955 N. Clark, and was in the Time Out Chicago list of food to check out on Clark St. in Rogers Park. It's a Mexican bakery, but not really your typical one, as they also sell ice cream. I got rice pudding instead, which may or may not be arroz con leche in Spanish. It was okay, but I think I really should've gone with churros or funnel cake. Alex got ice cream. I don't think I tried it, but I think he enjoyed it.
Heartland Cafe, on Thursday nights, has $2.50 pints of Rogue beer. So we had a couple of pints each of Dead Guy. Actually, Alex had a couple of pints, but I could never get the waitress' attention to get my second. It's probably for the best. Alex and I like Dead Guy, but the big fan of it is my dad. We brought some back for him from Portland, and he told me that he thought it was really, really excellent. My dad can be a harsh critic, too.
I had a philly cheese steak-like sandwich that was made with portobello mushrooms instead of steak. It was really good. I have to say, every vegetarian philly cheese steak variation I've ever had (like those awesome vegetarian philly cheese steaks at the USAS conference) is far better than its meaty counterpart. But it's entirely possible I've never had an actually good cheese steak. Maybe in good ones, the meat would be less stringy and gross. I got sweet potato fries on the side, which were good, but I've had better. They didn't quite match the flavorfulness and crispyness of the Zen Palate ones.
Alex had a spicy bean burger and cornbread stuffing. His burger was quite good, though much of it fell off the bun, which was a little unfortunate. I've gotten really interested in variations on veggie burgers. (Another post, maybe?) The stuffing was good, too, though maybe a little dry. I'm not sure about that, though. I think it was dry if you're calling it stuffing, but it was definitely yummy if you're calling it something else.
What was really nice about Heartland Cafe was its outdoor patio. It was on a really leafy street right by the Morse El stop. It was a great place to sit and watch the neighborhood go by. Also, the Heartland Cafe is known for its support of progressive causes. In the bathroom, there were signs up for a "prostration for peace" protest on the Rogers Park beach. We had missed it, though. I think that's okay. The bookstore seemed to have lots of interesting books, newspapers, and magazines, but I wasn't really in the mood to check them out.
Paleteria La Monarca is at 6955 N. Clark, and was in the Time Out Chicago list of food to check out on Clark St. in Rogers Park. It's a Mexican bakery, but not really your typical one, as they also sell ice cream. I got rice pudding instead, which may or may not be arroz con leche in Spanish. It was okay, but I think I really should've gone with churros or funnel cake. Alex got ice cream. I don't think I tried it, but I think he enjoyed it.
Kala Chana
Last night, Alex made chickpeas. He has an Indian cookbook that insists that you don't buy just regular chickpeas, but kala chana, an ingredient most easily purchased on Devon. Fortunately, Alex doesn't work too far from there, so he bought the beans and necessary spices after work, and I met him for dinner (another entry there, perhaps?). We didn't get around to cooking them till last night, though.
The recipe called for fresh garam masala, which necessitated the purchase of a coffee grinder to grind the spices (my main contribution). Fresh garam masala is amazing. It's a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper, and cumin seeds. (At least that's what this recipe called for--I just looked on wikipedia and apparently there are many variants.) After you grind it all up, it smells amazing, and sprinkled on top of kala chana, it tastes pretty good too.
The beans took forever to cook, though. Alex noted that he should cook them like he cooks any other beans next time, and ignore the recipe's not-so-helpful instructions.
The recipe called for fresh garam masala, which necessitated the purchase of a coffee grinder to grind the spices (my main contribution). Fresh garam masala is amazing. It's a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper, and cumin seeds. (At least that's what this recipe called for--I just looked on wikipedia and apparently there are many variants.) After you grind it all up, it smells amazing, and sprinkled on top of kala chana, it tastes pretty good too.
The beans took forever to cook, though. Alex noted that he should cook them like he cooks any other beans next time, and ignore the recipe's not-so-helpful instructions.
Last Night's Dinner
I think the main purpose of this blog will be to remember what I ate, when it was particularly yummy. Mostly, the goal is to talk about going out to eat, but sometimes other good meals might creep in there too. I'm kind of excited about eating at home these days, a rarity, so I'll try to chronicle that as well. But no recipes! That's too much work.
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