Blog Reviews: Week Of Roasting Pig For Jesus And Profit
Chicago's intrepid food bloggers were all over the damn place last week, in alphabetical order by restaurant
• Cheap and easy Thai and Sushi at Butterfly in West Town, when you don't feel like straining your palate or budget [Gastronomic Bypass]
• One-week-old Cafe Marbella, a tapas restaurant in northern Peterson Park, impressed Monica Eng with top-notch mussels and baked goat cheese; she calls it "easily the best new place I know for big convivial dinners on a wintry night." Also, it's BYO for now [The Stew]
• Even former vegans love the taste of Chicago Diner's egg- and dairy-free baked goods. Try the "coconut-custard filled carrot cupcake with coconut 'butter' cream;" it requires six 'c' words to properly describe! [Bake and Destroy]
• When in doubt, Clarke's on Belmont will usually have a free table for brunch (not waiting is worth a lot!) Try the waffles, and if you order potatoes, remember to ask for extra crispy [Drive-Thru]
• Gold Coast winebar Cru Café has a disappointing tendency toward mediocrity, striking both high and low notes on food, service and atmosphere in a genre with a lot of competition [Chicago Foodies]
• Do you like English pub clones? Slightly more true-to-original than Irish pubs, Elephant & Castle has opened a third Chicago location at 185 N Wabash. As the exotic Brits say, "cheers" [Chicago Foodies]
• A little bit more down-and-dirty than Fish Keg, Hagen's Fish Market, will smoke it or fry it if you bring it in, and sells trans-fatty sandwiches and seafood by the pound [Chicago Foodies]
• Kicking it ever up a notch, Hopleaf offers a cashew butter and jelly sandwich, which is pan-fried and served with Stilton mac & cheese. Yowza! [Chicagoist]
• Some of the best surprise dining treats can be found in strip malls; enter La Gondola, which serves big portions of tasty and classic Italian cuisine in addition to their popular pizzas [Drive-Thru]
• Bridget and Tammy go to OTOM, and like - but don't love - the Moto sibling. The food scores merely 3/5 from both reviewers [Chicago Bites]
• We rarely hear "too spicy" as a major complaint about a restaurant, but such is the case for, Zocalo, whose overpriced Mexican food did not impress the reviewer besides [Gastronomic Bypass]
[Photo: Flipped Out/flickr. See Chicagoist for details.]
• Cheap and easy Thai and Sushi at Butterfly in West Town, when you don't feel like straining your palate or budget [Gastronomic Bypass]• One-week-old Cafe Marbella, a tapas restaurant in northern Peterson Park, impressed Monica Eng with top-notch mussels and baked goat cheese; she calls it "easily the best new place I know for big convivial dinners on a wintry night." Also, it's BYO for now [The Stew]
• Even former vegans love the taste of Chicago Diner's egg- and dairy-free baked goods. Try the "coconut-custard filled carrot cupcake with coconut 'butter' cream;" it requires six 'c' words to properly describe! [Bake and Destroy]
• When in doubt, Clarke's on Belmont will usually have a free table for brunch (not waiting is worth a lot!) Try the waffles, and if you order potatoes, remember to ask for extra crispy [Drive-Thru]
• Gold Coast winebar Cru Café has a disappointing tendency toward mediocrity, striking both high and low notes on food, service and atmosphere in a genre with a lot of competition [Chicago Foodies]
• Do you like English pub clones? Slightly more true-to-original than Irish pubs, Elephant & Castle has opened a third Chicago location at 185 N Wabash. As the exotic Brits say, "cheers" [Chicago Foodies]
• A little bit more down-and-dirty than Fish Keg, Hagen's Fish Market, will smoke it or fry it if you bring it in, and sells trans-fatty sandwiches and seafood by the pound [Chicago Foodies]
• Kicking it ever up a notch, Hopleaf offers a cashew butter and jelly sandwich, which is pan-fried and served with Stilton mac & cheese. Yowza! [Chicagoist]
• Some of the best surprise dining treats can be found in strip malls; enter La Gondola, which serves big portions of tasty and classic Italian cuisine in addition to their popular pizzas [Drive-Thru]
• Bridget and Tammy go to OTOM, and like - but don't love - the Moto sibling. The food scores merely 3/5 from both reviewers [Chicago Bites]
• We rarely hear "too spicy" as a major complaint about a restaurant, but such is the case for, Zocalo, whose overpriced Mexican food did not impress the reviewer besides [Gastronomic Bypass]
[Photo: Flipped Out/flickr. See Chicagoist for details.]
