pouletbuffet's Profile
Lunching in the Loop
Ruby of Siam's outpost on Washington near Lasalle has added a good new thai option downtown and has a very affordable all you can eat buffet as well.
153 Akira in Wilmette
Been meaning to post about 153 Akira for a while now. Great sushi and Japanese in a small cozy setting in Wilmette. Far superior to nearby Kamakura IMHO and the owners Kelly and Akira are great and very solictious. My wife, son and I have been about ten times now and the sushi has been uniformly excellent each time. Can't miss items include the tuna tartar appetizer which and the dinner bento boxes which are an incredible value. Also superb are the menage a trois roll and dragon rolls. When crowded the sushi delivery pace can be a little slow so be prepared to wait a bit for the sushi orders, but they are well worth it. Have recommended to a number of friends and all came away very happy. Tempura, gyoza and other Japanese cooked items are solid as well. Its great because now we don't have to drive all the way to Kuni's in Evanston for great Sushi. Enjoy!
http://www.153akira.com
Suggestions for Japaneese Resturant with fun atsmpthere for 30th birthday.
Hey we were looking for the same thing and I think Musha fits the bill perfectly.
Best Indian Food in Santa Monica/West Side?
We liked everything we had at Pradeep's on Montana in Santa Monica--maybe not high on the authenticity list, but the food was tasty.
Chicago Hound's Trip Report
Hey Ceek--we went to Musha on a tuesday or wednesday at about 7:00pm and the place was full but without a wait. We did not order sushi or sashimi that night (if you don't count the tuna tartar) but everything we had was great. For a more casual sushi joint our friends who live there were recommending wabi-sabi in venice, but I doubt that would be one of the first recommendations on this board for sushi fanatics. You can search for the thread with my request for recs last week but a number of people were recommending Orris for fusion/japanese--we never made it. Frankly, the number of Japanese options is somewhat staggering and you should have many great options to choose from. Hope you have a great time!
Chicago Hound's Trip Report
Thanks for all the great suggestions for our trip out to Santa Monica/LA. We definitely used a few of your ideas and they added to the trip. Here is the rundown on our favorite spots:
Breakfast/ Brunch:
Well it may be somewhat cliched, but we had breakfast five out of seven days at Urth Cafe in Santa Monica and loved all of the food, which we thought was not that expensive for what it was. The baked goods were phenomenal and the oatmeal was superb. Mexican omelet with the green sald and fresh sourdough--great. People watching was fun as well. Just worked for us.
We also had brunch in Venice on Abbott-Kinney at 3Square Cafe and basically everybody loved what they had. Apple pancake was exquisite and bacon was top notch. Burgers were solid and my wife thought huevos rancheros there were really good. Also a great street to wander for out of towners.
Dinner:
We ended up choosing Musha for our Japanese night out on the town although we ended up at the Santa Monica location just because it was a mere couple of blocks from our hotel (Fairmont). We loved basically everything we had there, but the standout for me was a green bean sald with bits of bacon and a fantastic dressing. Tuna tartar, tofu fries, Sweet Potato fries were all great. We tried about half of the menu and had a fantastic time, especially my 13 year old son who loved grilling his own steak and the yeling out of the orders by our waitress. I did make a quick run one late afternoon to my old haunt when I was a student, the Terried Sake House and it was exactly as I remembered it 16 years ago--decent unpretentious japanese food and fun place to hang out and have some beers and yakitori.
For Mexican, we ended up at Lares on Pico with some friends and everyone loved it so much we went back later in the week. Solid reasonably priced Mexican with great magaritas.
We also tried the 26 Beach suggestion for a casual dinner with friends and again everything we had was pretty good.
More disappointing was Hatfield's, where we went with some friends one night and I left underwhelmed. I admit to a slight prejudice against overly frou-frou food, but simply did not get the place. Steak/short ribs dish for $36 bucks was frankly mediocre. The standout dish there, though, was a seafood dish, a Branzino filet which everybody wished they had ordered.
We never made it to a Thai place or out for Korean, but am saving up your recs for next visit. Thanks again for your help and we are now in deep withdrawal as we walk our dog in the freezing, slushy rain here in Chicago.
Help Out a Chicago Hound Visiting Santa Monica
Wow! Thanks to the LA hounds for all the generous suggestions. I will post a trip report to let you know where we ended up and how we fared.
Help Out a Chicago Hound Visiting Santa Monica
OK west siders--wife son and I are coming out and will be staying by Wilshire and Ocean but will have car and are willing to go all around westside to find great, reasonably priced (read non-chi-chi/fine dining, but willing to pay for really good quality) food: Here are some of the food goals for the trip:
1. great and preferably fun sushi/japanese place to belatedly celebrate wife's bday;
2. Great Dolsot Bibimbop's for lunch
3. fantastic mexican
4. good salad place/deli to pick up tasty items for hotel fridge
5. Best straighforward breakfast place;
6. one great thai and one great indian place
6. Anyplace else we just can't miss
I know a lot of requests so thanks in advance for your help! Also, does anyone know if my favorite hangout place when I use to live there about 20 yrs ago--The Terried sake House on santa monica blvd. is still around/decent?
Oatmeal
Thanks for all the suggestion! So far the best restaurant oatmeal has been the peach oatmeal at Yolk and the reliable and easy to get corner bakery oatmeal.
Oatmeal
The other question was if I want to make some good oatmeal at home-any recommendations for the tastiest and most healthy brand you can find at your local whole foods or dominicks?
Oatmeal
A near constant throng of dietary experts is recommending that we eat more oatmeal.
Two questions: (1) which restaurant has the best oatmeal in town?
Lupita's in Evanston
I used to live near Lupita's and I have to say it is truly a refuge for the desperate. I would almost reject it for the horrible chips alone. While I am not a guacamole fan generally, their guacamole is also unappetizing. Las Palmas is similarly mediocre, but I personally prefer it to Lupitas. I have to disagree somehat about Little Mexican Cafe. While perhaps a tad overpriced, the food there is pretty decent and my wife, who does love guacamole, says that LMC's guac prepared tableside is fantastic.
Moving to Evanston. Any Good Burger Places?
Cross Rhodes is the best and they have the great steak fries to go with them. Also has my favorite bbq sauce for the fries.
NY hound looking for new tips for second trip to Chicago
As long as we are talking about a true Chicago experience and ribs, Twin Anchors has fantastic ribs and is about as Chicago as they come. Usually a wait, but the bar area is classic Chicago and the place is in a great Chicago neighborhood--old town. Here is the metor mix link: http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/search/30513,0,7442558.venue
Chocolate Comparison and Survey: Piron (Evanston) vs Chocolate Box (Winnetka) and Other Chocolatiers
Thanks for the helpful info, but I used to live right around the block from Piron, and I still have not found a place I like better. The people are extremely nice there and the chocolates are even better, especially the romanas and the toffee! The pecan bark is superb as well.
Favorite Restaurant in Andersonville/Ravenswood area?
Hamamatsu is my favorite place in Andersonville. I get mostly the korean food, particularly the bibimbop and the jop chae (sp?), but the sushi is very good as well. Most importantly, the sushi chef, I think his name is Jason, is one of the most personable hosts you could find and has on a number of occasssions given us extra little items of food to try and has cooked food when we strolled in at closing etc.
