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Their signature noodle soup is the Urbanbelly Ramen. Our two friends both ordered this soup and gave me the opportunity to give it a try. This one starts with a saltier pork broth and is filled with classic ramen noodles, braised pork belly, mushrooms, and a soft-boiled egg.
When it comes to small plates in Chicago, Avec has continued to be the foodies top choice.
Its always a tough decision for me when it comes to omelets/frittatas. I never know whether to build my own or choose one of their combinations. This time, I stuck with their Tuscan Frittata. The ingredients were incredible... scrambled eggs mixed with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and red potatoes. These are all baked together before being topped with goat cheese. It comes with a side of either pancakes, toast, or an english muffin.
After finishing up my wings, I ordered a BBQ, single order to go for the girlfriend. These are the same fried wings tossed in a sweet and tangy BBQ sauce. It also comes with a side of celery and ranch dressing.
There were two pasties that seemed to be the no-brainers of the menu. The first was the Chic-Pot-Pie. I mean, who doesn't love chicken pot pie? This pasty was made with their traditional crust and stuffed with shredded-poached chicken, peas, carrots, and a béchamel sauce. They add a touch of curry to give the flavor some complexity.
The caramelized pork shank is a MUST HAVE dish. A huge pork shank has been cooked until fall-off-the-bone tenderness. It is topped with diced sweet potatoes, braeburn apples, and sits on a bed of mashed potatoes. A cider reduction is then drizzled around the entire dish. WOW!
The heat was finally felt with this taco. It was a little on the spicier side, but nothing that overwhelmed your tastebuds. The fresh slaw again was on point and the balance between crunch, fresh, salty, sweet, and spicy was perfection. I would order this taco, like the others, time and time again. Delicious!
We were both expecting more palate-cleansing type dishes for the second courses, but instead encountered this surprisingly rich dish. The oyster and uni is exactly as the name describes and was served mignonette style. Each mignonette was made with either oyster or uni and was topped with pickled onions and crushed pine nuts.
It is a well-known fact in Chicago that Hopleaf has some of the best, if not the best, mussels and frites dish. So it was quite obvious that this would be our first pick. Prepared Belgian-style, the mussels are cooked with a Witterkerke white ale and a mixture of shallots, celery, and thyme. It is served with a nice chunk of toasted bread and an entire cone of frites.
The must try dumpling becoming easier to find in Chicago is the Xiao Long Bao. Hing Kee had two options. The first was the traditional pork meat filling. The dumpling has the typical noodle-like shell filled with a pork meatball and enough broth for one bite of "soup".
My girlfriend recommended ordering the short ribs. And I was glad she did. The dish comes with a sizable short rib that has been braised for quite some time. The tenderness shows that. It is served with manchego mashed potatoes, grilled onions, brussel sprouts, and ripened red jalapeños. The entire dish was incredible.
Coccoli consisted of crispy, airy dough balls resting on top of prosciutto de parma, which is served along side scoops of stracchino cheese, basil oil, and all drizzled with a truffle honey. You can tell they thought of every component, making the dish absolutely INCREDIBLE.
They had more than two dozen different barrel aged beer kegs from the popular Bourbon County Stout to interesting pinot noir aged beers and even one named cappuccino. All of the beers were served in tasting options, so my friends and I were able to at least taste a dozen or so beers.
We did have the pork belly white pizza with kale and the sweet fennel sausage and pepper red pizza. Both were excellent with the pork belly having a strong smoke flavor and the sausage having that homemade italian sausage taste. AND, our dessert (the crostata) was served warm!
The sausage slice was typical... thinner style crust, plenty of cheese, and a few sausage pieces to finish it off. At $2.50, it was a pretty solid deal. Unfortunately, that is where the positives ended.
We chose the Medium style Hot Chocolate which was made with milk chocolate, a little dark chocolate, and caramel. It also came with one of their house-made marshmallows. The cup is huge so definitely worth sharing. Rich is an understatement... imagine drinking liquid milk chocolate with a little heavy cream. It is tasty, but may be too much for some.
Having eaten congee a countless number of times, I couldn't believe I never had fish fillet congee. This "asian porridge" is made with rice cooked down and sometimes ground which is cooked in a chicken stock and then plenty of ginger, mushrooms, and scallions are added.
What dessert reminds you of your childhood? For me, it is S'mores. At The Melting Pot, one of their dessert fondues is called Chocolate S'mores. This fondue is made with milk chocolate swirled with marshmallow cream before being flambéed and topped with crushed graham crackers.
With not too many burger choices, besides the build-your-own, I decided to try the cason burger. The main reason was the poached pear on top. Served on a pretzel roll (despite asking for the other option), the burger was a little overcooked from my requested medium rare. It was topped with camembert cheese, the poached pear, applewood smoked bacon, and supposedly some dijon mustard.
Both of us are huge fans of pork belly. So for our first appetizer, we chose the pork belly dim sum. These dumplings remind me of tortellini but are made with wonton wrapper instead of pasta. Inside is a mixture of mashed pork belly and veggies. They rest in a puddle of mint-cilantro oil and are topped with sesame seeds. These were delicious.
Our first guac was the tocino. Imagine bacon, roasted sweet potato, tomatillo pico, serrano peppers, and topped with fried sweet potatoes... can't go wrong! The other guac was called pera. This one had pears, chipotle meco epazote, and pico all mixed in.
After seeing this chocolate tart and finding out it was basically a Snicker bar, I had to order one. It was a chocolate tart filled with peanuts and caramel. This tasted exactly like a Snicker, just looked much more presentable. The caramel was still in that gooey phase despite being in the fridge for a few hours. Definitely worth trying!
nfortunately, I was still EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED with the meal. First of all, they state southern fried chicken tenders, but all I found was three frozen chicken fingers that were warmed up. No seasoning whatsoever meaning I needed to use ketchup on my chicken fingers.
The special came with a country-style venison sausage served with red wine poached pears, cinnamon corn bread, candied jalapenos, and a red wine syrup. It sounds like a lot, but everything was portioned very well. The sausage itself had plenty of strong seasonings that made the sausage unique but still keep that venison-gamey taste. I absolutely loved the poached pears and the candied jalapenos. Sweet and spicy paired very well with the venison.
I saw the "pizza by the slice" sign and had to give it a try. They offer the staples... cheese, pepperoni, sausage, or spinach thin crust slices at a reasonable price. I chose the sausage. The pizza slice is crammed into a small slice box lined with wax paper.
A veal cutlet was pounded thin, breaded, and pan-fried before being topped with a pomodoro sauce and a healthy helping of mozzarella cheese. It came with a side of spaghetti to make this dish just as large as the other entrees.
This sandwich creation was made with roasted turkey breast, caramelized onions, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a cranberry mayonnaise. It was elegantly placed on their country white bread before being sliced in half.
For the many years I have been living in the city, I have only come across a couple Caribbean restaurants, which are both located extremely far from the downtown proper. Luckily, one of these places, Jamaica Jerk Villa, recently opened a second location near the Chinatown area. And wow, the food is just as incredible.
Their spin on red beans and rice includes the New Orlean's style red beans slow cooked with chicken andouille sausage, peppers, and onions. It is ladled on top a bed of white rice, served with two eggs over easy, and I opted for the corn muffin.
Unfortunately, this sucker was SPICY. And spicy is an understatement. It was easily the hottest chicken sandwich I have ever tried and the cayenne is not a pleasant spice for flavor. In fact, it reminded me of a fried piece of bread just caked in cayenne.
All I can say is WOW. This pizza is without question some of the best thin crust pizza around. The crust itself isn't super crispy, but it somehow still supports the generous toppings Piece uses.
My friend and I were starving... and coming in late Friday night, reservations are just hard to come by. Times like this is when I turn to Tuscany. This Italian restaurant has been around for quite some time...
When it comes to seafood, Chicago has a variety of speciality restaurants that range in cuisine from Chinese to Mexican. El Barco has been one of the longer standing establishments located in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood...
When I first moved to Chicago and was introduced to good Mexican food, I used to love coming out to this open air dining area. Big Star was the place to get great tacos...
World Famous Billy Goat's Tavern & Grill
Billy Goat Tavern is one of Chicago's most famous establishments. It has been around since the 1930s and now has several locations throughout the city. When first walking into the restaurant, you get that diner feel...
The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant
A little over a decade ago, one of Chicago's iconic firehouses was converted to a restaurant. This south loop establishment brought a fine dining experience to this neighborhood. Featuring steaks and seafoods for dinner, it can be a little pricey for many...
If you are looking for a great patio during a hot summer day, I would highly suggest Prasino. This restaurant, located in the Wicker Park neighborhood, is a great place for smaller plates, bottles of wine, and wonderful outdoor seating...
After the fun Santa Hustle 5k, my friends and I were looking for a breakfast joint to grab a quick bite to eat. Located in the middle of Little Italy (near UIC), we arrived at Stax...
Sepia is one of only 16 restaurants in the city to receive one Michelin star. This rating is reserved for restaurants that have excellent cuisine for their specific category. Sepia is built in...
I consider this to be a hidden gem in Chicago! Located in the Bridgeport area, Nana puts a creative spin on both breakfast and lunch favorites...
There are so many "Buy by the Slice" pizza joints in Chicago and so many of them do not do justice to the Chicago reputation of great deep dish pizza. Atino's Pizza in the south loop contributes to the many horrible pizza places...
When first arriving at Arturo's Tacos, I was expecting to find a great, authentic Mexican restaurant. It appears to be a well-established restaurant in the bucktown area...
For brunch, a main staple for many UIC students has been Meli Cafe in nearby Greektown. Whenever I come out here, there is usually a wait of 30 minute or more...
Whenever my friends and I crave sushi and don't want to drive far, Butterfly Sushi immediately comes to mind. With three different locations open until 10pm, we always order take out and enjoy sushi at the apartment...
Flirty Cupcakes was one of the first cupcake food trucks that stormed Chicago. And, their success has been seen with the opening of their "Cupcake Garage"...
Having heard great reviews about the Austrian Bakery in Lincoln Park, my buddy and I decided to check it out for a quick dinner...
One of Chicago's Late Night hotspots is The Wiener's Circle in Lincoln Park. This small hot dog joint is famous for serving the char dog...
Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatesan
Whenever I hear the word deli or corned beef in Chicago, the first place that comes to mind is Manny's. I understand that Chicago deli's can't compare to New York's, but ...
Molly's Cupcakes is one of the more established cupcake bakeries in Chicago. With so many of them popping up everywhere, it has become hard to find the good ones and avoid the bad ones...
One of my best friends works at Jefferson Tap and she always wanted me to come stop by. One day, I decided to order take out to give the food a try...
Ever since Jose Garces became an Iron Chef, I have been wanting to try his restaurant. Mercat a la Planxa is a Spanish-style tapas restaurant...
Margie's Candies is a well-known ice cream parlor that has been serving Chicago for over 90 years. Located on the edges of the Bucktown...
Searching for great study spots in Chicago has become more and more difficult. For several years, I have heard about Iguana Cafe...
Service was excellent and the variety of beers was extensive. They offer several sizes which allows customers to try a variety of beers without dipping too deep into their wallets or losing their minds...
Toni's Pizza and Organic Pasta
So, I have been living in Chicago for the past six years of my life and I thought I had heard about or tasted every deep dish pizza slice ever created...
When restaurants in the city want to try the whole farm-to-table concept... they should all learn from and dine at Nightwood...
One of my "go-to" meals is from the incredible BBQ King House in Chinatown. A few years ago, this place used to be a small, dark Chinese BBQ store...
Whenever I mention the word hot dog in Chicago, everyone always suggests Hot Doug's. And for years, I have been meaning to try it out...
Brazzaz is one of the best places to come when you are starving. This Brazilian style steakhouse serves an all-you-can-eat meat experience that will not let you leave hungry...
When it comes to Chinese takeout, Joy Yee's has become a more well-known establishment, especially for college kids...
With Greektown so close to my apartment, it is difficult not to always consider eating here at any time during the day...
After roaming around on Randolph Street, aka "restaurant row," Maude's Liquor Bar was the choice for dinner. This mixology bar features both creative cocktails and French cuisine...
For the past couple of years, Piccolo Sogno has steadily built its reputation as one of the most popular Italian restaurants in the city...
So, it is late night eating time... and we are wondering around the city. My friends and I tend to gravitate towards the Greek town area, mainly because of proximity...
When it comes to the Italian beef sandwich, two Chicago establishments are clearly the front-runners. Chicagoans are loyal to either Al's Italian Beef or Johnnie's Beef...
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