brady60611's Profile
4 days in Chicago
Nxtasy's post is fantastic - the Lula people also opened up another place - Nightwood which is fantastic.
You might also want to try Publican or Avec
A block or so away from Sofitel is a nice little sandwich/foodie shop - I can't remember the name, but its in the old Cru space (maybe someone can help with the name).
I've ate at all the ramen places listed in the tribune article and would say don't come to Chicago for ramen. the most passable version is in arlington heights, and that is way out in the suburbs.
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Avec Restaurant
615 W Randolph St Ste A, Chicago, IL 60661
Green Tea Two thumbs up
Green Tea has a *fantastic* lunch price for the chirashi.The dinner chirashi is slightly more and includes a few more pieces.
Korean Fried Chicken?
I like Crisp - you might also want to try the fried chicken place in H Mart in Niles, though I think all orders are for an entire chicken as opposed to a few pieces.
What do you think of Blue Elephant in Bangkok?
I wouldn't so much characterize thai food as pretty standard - some of those pushcarts serve pretty awesome food. I would say there is great food just about anywhere in bangkok. The 5 star hotels also serve some amazing food.
What do you think of Blue Elephant in Bangkok?
Hi - there are *sooo* many little great places to eat in Bangkok. With that said, about 5-6 years ago I took 5 days of cooking classes at the Bangkok cooking class and well, I've been eating thai food at home since then. Its probably one of the more useful ways I've spent five days of my life. I would highly recommend taking an afternoon of classes - lots of hands on fun.
I also dined there once and it was ok - a bit overdone for my tastes and you do feel foolish spending that type of money knowing you could get amazing street food. Actually, maybe I've been lucky, but just about everytihng I've ate in Bangkok has been delicious.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai update
thanks for the post! interested in more cheap eats. i'll probably just end up at gordon ramsey's place.
Must eat's in Dubai?
Hi - I'm also interested in finding out some chowhound types of places. I've hung out at buddha bar a few times in paris, no need to eat there in Dubai! I've been looking at a few tour books and sites - and the focus seems to be on "fancy" dining. I checked out Timeout Dubai.
Lux Bar brunch?
Decent food, fun scene. There is the standard brunch menu downstairs and they also offer an all-you-can-eat option in the much quieter/less scene upstairs. Just about every item downstairs except for a breakfast steak is available upstairs. Really good deal but you miss out on the downstairs "view."
Dim sum redux & more; requests
For Asian Fusion, I'd strongly recommend Japaonais. I've ate at O Chame and Slanted Door and can't think of a place simliar to either one. Perhaps Takashi but nothing as elegant and simple as O Chame and nothing really like Slanted Door. We don't have any Vietnamese places like Slanted Door - our thai places are either crazy expensive or mom and pop.
I'd put a thumbs up for shui wah for dim sum, but dim sum in chicago sucks compared to the sf bay area dim sum. I wouldn't travel to chicago for chinese food. To me, Opera is just a high end PF Chang.
The Le Colonial in Chicago is the same as the Le Colonial in SF.
There are lots of interesting and great places to eat in Chicago, but most are not Chinese. Lao Sze Chuan is decent for dinner.
Hot Doug's: 2008
Honey Bee - if you want a decent Chicago hot dog - try the char dog at the place RIGHT behind the Park Hyatt, next to Pippen's Bar. You can actually grab a spot at Pippen's and order from the hot dog place. Hot Doug's is an interesting place but not sure if its worth the logistics in getting there + the wait.
Bloomington Normal Illinois
Hi - any updates to the dining scene in Bloomington, IL? There must be more than Biaggi's. Looking for great food at any price point.
VA Cook's Report - 1 Week Culinary Tour of Bay Area
very nice! Looking forward to the ad hoc review.
Japanese Breakfast?
I love how the original poster was looking for inexpensive and we end up recommending he check out the Peninsula, Four Seasons, and Park Hyatt!! Chicago seems to be at the sushi/expensive Japanese food phase and not even yet at the ramen/yakitori/other misc stuff stage. Cheap japanese diner/curry/breakfast/kaiten places are way out in our future.
Japanese Breakfast?
I wish I knew! Looking forward to seeing if there are any responses.
The first problem is that Chicago doesn't have any decent ramen/udon/japanese noodle restaurants.
And there aren't many authentic Japanese places - there is not much of a Japanese community downtown (no Japantown, no matter how faux) - but there are some Japanese out in the suburbs, especially in the Arlington Heights area near the Mitsuwa supermarket.
Dim Sum: Shui Wah's or Happy Chef?
Hi - I'm partial to Shui Wah. Give it a try!
I've also traveled extensively in Asia, grew up in the SF Bay Area, and married to a gal from Hong Kong. When in Chicago, we eat dim sum at Shui Wah. Its not fancy and its dirt cheap, but its also crowded and the selections are traditional.
near magnificent mile
Some other decent French restaurants nearby:
Bistro 110 - casual, packed with Michigan avenue tired shoppers
Brasserie Jo - decent
Brasserie Rulhman - new, beautiful room.
With that said, I'd go for Les Nomades, especially for such an important meal.
Shanghai Soup Dumplings in Chicago?
Finding that "perfect" soup dumpling is as far as I can tell, an impossible task in the Chicago land area. I've ate at Joe's Shanghai in NYC many times and also the DTF in Taipei and more recently an outpost in Singapore and in Los Angeles. My wife and I were recently in Los Angeles and I dragged her to the DTF and we waited about an hour to share a table. It wasn't as good as I remember, but ok. With that said, just buy a plane ticket and go to Shanghai or Taipei.
Where do I get my bowl of rice covered with Uni and Ikura?
Well, there is always Mitsuwa. I assume you can cook rice/have a rice cooker. There isn't much preparation after purchasing a package of uni or ikura! Any place with uni or ikura (as in just about any place) should be able to make an uni-don or ikura-don (ok, I just made up those names) for you.
Trai Coc at Tank Noodle
How interesting. The "hog plum" is a type of fruit, but what is it like? Is it grown in the US or somehow imported from Asia?
Food finds in Chi-town Chinatown?
While I've also mostly given up on finding decent ramen in Chicago, I did recently have an ok miso ramen at Takashi Yagihashi's place in the Macy's on State Street food court. There was way too much stuff in the miso ramen and it wasn't what one could remotely call a classic miso ramen, but the broth was ok and it is worth a try. I also recently tried the ramen at CoCoRa in the River North area and was dissapointed. The Mitsuwa noodle shop has as close to a traditional miso ramen I've seen in the area. In NYC there seem to be a lot of ramen shops - not sure why that trend hasn't made it to Chicago.
I'd give a thumbs up to Shui Wah for not only dim sum but also for dinner. There are actually different owners (and I assume kitchen staff) for the dim sum and dinner.
For bonus points - Katy's Dumpling WAY OUT in the suburbs has tremendous chinese beef noodle soup (not ramen) and other wonderful items on the menu. Hand formed noodles.
