Restaurant In Business For 250 Years Due To A Single Dish

This Japanese restaurant has been in business for 250 years, is famous for one dish called Oyakodon, and have long lines with wait times up to 4 hours!



And Noma thought it has a fanatic following! :)

It's a nice video. However, I wish there was a bit more description of the dish that is is famous for. Instead, the video focused more on the current owner of Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo.

Anyway, I found another video on the preparation of an Oyakodon. It may not be identical to what they serve in Tamahide, but it will tell you what the dish is. And now, I haven't had the opportunity to have something resembling this yet.



Zz.

2018 Best Restaurant In The World

Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy has just been named as 2018 Best Restaurant in the world.

This is the second time that the restaurant, led by Chef Massimo Bottura, has made the top of the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, chosen by the international organization of the same name.

El Celler de Can Roca, serving traditional Catalonian food by chefs and brothers Joan, Josep, and Jordi Roca in Girona, Spain, was the runner up for best restaurant in the world. In third place was Mirazur, which serves French-Riviera-inspired food under Chef Mauro Colagreco, in Menton, France.

I was wondering where Noma was, considering that they've won this top honors several times. I turned out that Noma was closed for a large part of last year when they moved to a new location. So maybe that is why they did not make the list at all for this year.

In the Chicago area, Alenia remains as the top restaurant, and it made the list at #34.

Still, as I expected, this list is controversial with it's heavy leaning on European-friendly food and how expensive they are. The lack of diversity and recognition for restaurants helmed by female chefs is also quite glaring.

Zz.

Chef and the Farmer New Sign

I love "A Chef's Life" on PBS. I reported earlier of my first visit to Chef and the Farmer a few years ago. And in another post, I reported about having dinner there for a second time this past April, 2017. I'm slow, but I'll post pictures and a report of that second visit in another post.

During that second visit, we saw the new sign in front of the restaurant. In fact, the first thing I said when we arrive was "Oh, they replaced the sign!" The old sign was kinda iconic, because it was always shown in the show, and the theme of the sign matches their business cards, etc. So it was curious to see that they replaced the sign.

But in case this is not known, the 5th season of "A Chef's Life" is currently airing in the US on PBS. On Episode 4 titled "A Food Truck and a Pear Tree", we now know why they had to replace it. The old sign was crumbling, and there was a family of wasps living behind it. The guy who built their "designer" chicken coop was the one who made the new sign.

This episode, though, was quite touching. It showed Chef Howard opening the box that contained the first print of her cookbook. She was in tears as she opened the box, and it was a very emotional moment. As tears were running down her face, she uttered the best line in the entire episode:

I gave it everything that I had,..... and if people don't like it, then I can throw it at them, because it is freaking heavy.

Don't throw that book at me, Vivian, because I LOVE IT. Heck, I even stood in line when you were in Naperville to get it signed! :)

Zz.

My Most Favorite Korean Restaurant

We have many Korean restaurants in the vicinity (hooray!), but this one remains my favorite. It is the New Seoul BBQ Korean restaurant.

Don't expect slick decor, or anything fancy. This is a place where the food is the main attraction and nothing else. And as with any ethnic restaurant, my rule-of-thumb is, if the population and demographics can support it, the majority of the clientele must be of that ethnicity or else it is not a good restaurant. This rule certainly is alive and well at this restaurant, where you will see plenty of Koreans and other Asians on any given day.

If you order any of the items that is grilled at the table (such as the Bulgolgi), then they will bring out a charcoal pit/hibachi to your table. This is one of the few Korean BBQ joint that still uses charcoal pit instead of gas hibachi. I think it adds flavor to the food being grilled.

Here is a picture of what we had a couple of weeks ago.

It was scrumptious!

It is definitely one of my on-rotation restaurants.

Zz.

Random Tastes of 4 Fast-Food Fried Chicken

This is some random, unscientific survey of fried chicken from 4 popular chain restaurants: KFC, Chick-fil-A, Church's, and Popeyes. Here's what they found:

All in all, if you want excellent fried chicken, your best bet is Popeyes or Church's. If you're willing to sacrifice a true, on-the-bone experience, Chick-fil-A's strips are your best bet. But don't bother with KFC.

This is why Popeyes chicken, with the spicy version accompanied by their Cajun rice, is my most favorite guilty pleasure. However, I do think that they used to be "spicier" a while back, and the spicy version seems to have been toned down a bit now.

Still, it's my #1 most favorite chicken from a chain restaurant.

Zz.

Had A Whole Fish For Dinner

Went to our favorite Mexican restaurant last night. Los Compadres was as good as ever. I ordered the Huachinango Frito (fried whole red snapper). Haven't had this in a while, and it didn't disappoint.

I ate through everything that was edible, even around the head. Yum!

I think this picture might be a candidate for my new "Fish Are Food, Not Friends" t-shirt.

Zz.

Dinner at Chef Ping

This is what I call a feast!

We had a lovely dinner at one of our most favorite restaurant in the area: Chef Ping. It is a Chinese restaurant, but this is far from your typical Chinese restaurant in the US.

First of all, on any given night, Asian customers outnumber others. And you know my rule about ethnic restaurants: if the majority of the clientele isn't of that ethnic origin (assuming that the demographics can support number of clientele), then there's a very good chance that the food isn't that good or authentic. For Chef Ping, the majority of the clientele is Asian.

The menu includes the standard American Chinese items, but it goes way beyond that. It also has menu items that you don't normally find in such a restaurant. Browse the menu. You'll see sea cucumber, tripe, beef belly, etc.

Our favorite items are the fish with wood ear, beef stew hotpot, and the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. But we have never had a bad items here yet, and their noodle soups are especially good since they are fresh noodles made in-house.

The only drawback is that this place is often very, very busy. Heaven saves you if you show up at 6:00 pm on a typical Friday or Saturday.

Zz.

Chef & The Farmer

I mentioned a while back that "A Chef's Life" on PBS is one of my most favorite food shows on TV. I've bought every season of the show on iTunes and have it on my iPad at all times, so I watch it regularly.

We were lucky enough to had the chance to actually dine at Chef & The Farmer back in early Dec. of 2015. We made the trip to Kinston, N. Carolina just to dine at the restaurant.

We arrived early before our reservation. So decided to walk across the street and visit their other restaurant, The Boiler Room.

We didn't stay long because we just wanted to take a look. But soon our reservation time arrived and we were seated. I must say that the restaurant was smaller than I was expecting. But the vibe was very good and it was pretty buzzy. I think by then, it has certainly hit its fame because the 2nd season of Chef and the Farmer would have aired by then.

The menu consisted of only one page. The items were divided into 3 sections: Share Plates, Small Plates, and Large Plates. We ordered 2 items from shared plates: warm lima bean spread and the beef carpaccio.

OK, first of all, even if you don't like lima bean, ORDER THE LIMA BEAN SPREAD if it is on the menu. Trust me on this. This was surprisingly very, very good. It is a humus-like spread served with toast points. If we weren't at such a fine restaurant, I would have licked the bowl.

The carpaccio was fine, there was nothing wrong with it, but it was severely overshadowed by the lima bean spread.

So then comes the entree (or what they called large plates). There were 4 of us, and we decided that we each got something different, so that we can have a taste on the other dishes. I ordered the Dayboat Flounder. Very good and satisfying.

We also had another fish entree that was ordered, which was the Wood-Roasted catfish, served with sprouted Hoppin' John, pomegranate, and fannel aioli. This was also good and the Hoppin' John was certainly different than the usual.

There was green curry rabbit. Love the rabbit meat, and nothing wrong with the flavor. But of course, the heat of the green curry was toned down considerably.

However, the winner entree of the evening was, in my opinion, the Cavatelli Pasta served with beef sausage. It was outstanding! The beef sausage alone could have been the main star by itself. This was easily the most tasty dish on our table.

And then, of course, we ordered desserts. I'll start with the best one, and unfortunately, I can't remember what it was exactly since this was their "Ice Cream of the Day". I think it was some sort of a sorbet, but it was easily the best dessert on the table. I wish I had ordered it.

This is the chocolate peppermint cake. I didn't have a taste of it, but the plate was cleaned at the end of our meal.

This is the Chocolate Bread Pudding. You can't go wrong with this.

Finally, we come to the dessert that I ordered, and unfortunately, this was where they had a slight hiccup. I ordered the buttermilk grapefruit Panna Cotta. While the flavor was excellent, the texture fell short. The Panna Cotta didn't actually set completely, because it was still a bit runny. I still ate it all, but this was where it was a minor letdown after such a fine meal.

Interestingly enough, in Season 3, Episode 8 titled "Honey, I'm Home!" of A Chef's Life, her sous chef at that time, John May, also had issue with the Panna Cotta they were serving not setting properly at Ben Knight's art show. So it appears that they are not getting good luck with this dessert.

We had a terrific time there. Food and service were top-notch. The sad thing was that we didn't get to meet with Chef Vivian Howard. I did ask, and our server was gracious enough to take down my name and address, while letting us keep the menu that we were served with that evening.

2 weeks later, in the mail came a signed menu from Chef Howard and a very nice note.

I mean, really, not many people make time to do this. So I was pleasantly surprised. You can see the items on the menu that we had for that evening. I was already a big fan of her and the show, and this just reinforced why.

Dial forward about a year later, Chef Vivian Howard has released her first cookbook titled "Deep Run Roots". And not only that, she was coming for a book signing at a bookstore out in one of the Chicagoland suburbs. We signed up for it and got a copy of the book and a meet and greet with her.

She was as genuine and pleasant in person as she was on her show. And oh, I wore a "Chef & The Farmer" t-shirt that I bought at the restaurant to the book-signing. It was a great evening. It was almost like a "A Chef's Life" fan convention while we were standing in line waiting for our turn to meet her.

The good news is that we will be dining at "Chef & The Farmer" once more in a couple of weeks. We are scheduled for a trip to that part of the country, and have already made our reservation. This will be good because their menu changes often and is quite seasonal. We were there at late fall the first time, and now we will be there in mid Spring this time. I will be curious to see different items on the menu (I'm seriously hoping for turnip run-ups!), and also how the new Chef de Cuisine that has been running the kitchen since the end of Season 4 of the show is working out.

And if we have time, while we are in that part of the country, we might try Piedmont restaurant in Durham, NC. This is where "Chef & the Farmer" former sous chef John May is now the executive chef. It sounds like this restaurant is a tailor-made fit for him.

Yup, this upcoming trip will be all about the food!

Zz.

Leaf Kitchen In Iowa City

Over the weekend, we visited family in Iowa City and had breakfast at what I claim as THE best breakfast place in all of Iowa City. It is a small, hidden gem of a place that is producing some of the best breakfast food, and I only wish that we have something like this in this part of the Chicago suburb.

The place is called Leaf Kitchen. It has a very rustic, homey, retro feel to it. When you walk in, the decor, color, and mismatched chairs, tables, etc. reminds you of being in your grandmother's kitchen. Heck, it feels almost comfortable enough to walk in in your pajamas and fuzzy slippers!

But then, there's a food. The menu changes, but there's always a few things that remains the same. Top of the list is what I think is their own invention, the Moroccan eggs. Good lord, order this already! It is eggs, smothered with a slightly spicy tomato sauce that has onions and Moroccan spices, served with hummus and pita bread. This is easily THE best breakfast egg dish I've had anywhere.

The plate was wiped cleaned at the end.

The second item is a more pedestrian, but extremely well-cooked stack of blueberry pancakes. There are blueberries inside the pancakes, which were very light and fluffy, served with whipped cream and real maple syrup. It shows that they can do the regular item, and do it exceedingly well.

They also have very rich but smooth coffee. They serve it in a cup with one free refill. And unlike other places, they place quite a significant importance to teas, and will serve it in a small Asian teapot. And no, not a Lipton in sight. The hot teas are done with loose-leaf teas.

They have afternoon tea service, which is by reservations only. We have not had the opportunity to do this yet, but intend to soon.

This place is a real winner. Clearly, it shows someone who has not only the imagination, but also the passion, to run this place and serve the kind of food that is just outstanding. I always feel happy and comfortable in this place.

Can't wait to go back.

Zz.

My Most Favorite Mexican Restaurant In The Area

Here in the US, there is an abundant (over abundant?) number of Mexican restaurant. And because of this, there is also a wide spectrum of quality of Mexican restaurant, from the very good and very high end (the Frontera Grill's) to the nasty fast food (I won't name names). Add to that, the majority of the food that are termed as "Mexican" tends to be Tex-Mex, originating from the Texas, Arizona, New Mexico region of the US, rather than authentic cuisine from the various regions of Mexico.

In other words, finding a "good Mexican restaurant" can have a wide meaning and can be a daunting task.

My take on ANY ethnic restaurant is this: Is the clientele of that ethnic restaurant predominantly of that ethnicity? If it is, there is a very good chance that the food is either authentic, or very good, or both. I mentioned earlier of why we love Izakaya Sankyu near where we live, and on any given night, you'll see predominantly Asian, and more specifically, Japanese clientele in the restaurant. So apply this to Mexican restaurants. If you walk in, and the clientele in predominantly Hispanic, there's a good chance that the food is good. If you walk in and you don't see even a single Hispanic customer (and trust me, I've been in many such restaurant before), then there's a good chance that either the restaurant is over-priced, or it is not any good.

After searching around for a good Mexican restaurant near here, I can safely say that Los Compadres in Mount Prospect is my most favorite Mexican restaurant in the area, hands down. On any given day or night, you will see a predominantly Hispanic customers, and the food is consistently good. The menu is huge, and it doesn't have just your typical Gringo-style Mexican fare. In fact, there will probably be many menu items that you haven't seen before in your typical Mexican restaurant. And to me, that is a huge plus.

The restaurant is in an old Pizza Hut joint. Decor is minimal (almost verging on a hole-in-the-wall type). But this is perfectly fine with me, because most people who go there are more interested in the food.

So let's talk about the food. I haven't had any bad items at all. My favorites so far are the fried whole red snapper or whole tilapia. YUM! I love this not just because it is always delicious and can be shared with another person, but it is relatively cheap when compared to other places that serve whole fish. And BTW, you people need to get over this aversion to seeing fish heads on your plate. The fish is dead, and the head meat, especially around the cheeks, is the most succulent piece on the fish!

Another favorite is Arrachera Campesina, which is a skirt steak served with grilled cactus. I tend to eat this by slicing the steak and the cactus, and then wrapped them in corn tortilla with a squeeze of the house salsa. This is simple but delicious.

Finally, I love their tacos, mainly because the selection of meat for it is larger than usual. My most favorite meat for my tacos are the lengua (tongue) and barbakoa (braised goat). Served with cilantro and onions, these are delicious!

I've also had their "cocktail" and the 7 Sea Soup. All were quite good. Like I said, I haven't had anything bad here. And often, when I'm there, I try to look at what other tables were ordering, just so I can see if I want to try them next time.

Service can be a bit interesting. You do sometime have to flag a wait staff if you want something, especially the check. If they are busy, this can take awhile, but there's nothing to stop you from simply walking to the cashier counter and paying your bill there if you don't want to wait. But even then, all the staff are usually very nice and friendly.

This is my most favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. If it is good enough for the local Hispanic/Mexican population here, it is good enough for me.

Zz.

Subway Chicken May Be Only 50% Chicken!

I'll admit it, I've had Subway sandwiches before. I've never had their chicken though. I've had their turkey and roast beef in my sandwiches.

But after reading this, I'm beginning to question if I also had been eating only 50% turkey and 50% beef. It seems that a test of the so-called chicken that they put in their sandwiches showed that only roughly 50% of it contains chicken DNA.

Subway's results were such an outlier that the team decided to test them again, biopsying five new oven roasted chicken pieces, and five new orders of chicken strips.

Those results were averaged: the oven roasted chicken scored 53.6 per cent chicken DNA, and the chicken strips were found to have just 42.8 per cent chicken DNA. The majority of the remaining DNA? Soy.

I have nothing against soy. I myself often eat tofu at home. But hey, I paid for chicken, and I want chicken.

So, until this is straightened out, I'm avoiding Subway for now.

Zz.

Pho For Lunch

Had one of my most favorite food for lunch this past weekend: Vietnamese pho at House of Pho in Hoffman Estates.

When we used to live in the city (Chicago), we often go to Argyle street, which is the epicenter of Vietnamese neighborhood, and we always have Pho there. Our favorite restaurant was 777.

When we moved out to the 'burbs, it was one of the food that we missed. It is quite a trek to go back to Argyle street to get our Pho fix, so it was quite a joy to discover House of Pho. While their Phos are not as flavorful as 777, they are still quite good and give us what we have been missing.

Zz.

Izakaya Sankyu

There is a popular local PBS TV show here in the Chicago area called Check Please. Each week, 3 people from the area each select a restaurant they recommend, and the other 2 will go and check it out. They then get on the show and give their reviews. This show has been going on for many years and has quite a following around here.

2 weeks ago, our favorite neighborhood Japanese restaurant, Sankyu, was one of the featured restaurants. It was recommended by a Japanese artist who was originally from Kyoto, Japan.

I'm not surprised by this, because on any given day, the predominant clienteles at this restaurant are Japanese, which attest to the authenticity and quality of the food they serve. It is why this is our most favorite Japanese restaurant.

As the name suggested, this is an Izakaya. While they serve the standard sushi, bento boxes, etc., what they really specialize in are these small plates and grilled appetizers. Think of it as the Japanese version of Tapas. You have the ability to order several of these small plates, and then share them with others if you wish (or not). This type of Japanese restaurant is rather uncommon around here, and people expecting it to be the ordinary Japanese sushi restaurant might have a bit of an adventure to wade through the menu.

We were at Sankyu last week, which was the first time we went there after the Check Please episode aired. Even though it was Friday and normally a busy day of the week for most restaurants, the restaurant was extra busy even for early in the evening after they opened. Certainly the review on Check Please may have contributed to the number of crowds there, which I'm sure is good for them.

On this last visit, I decided to scan their menu.

Already from the menu, you can tell that there are large sections of items that are not commonly found in your typical Japanese restaurants. They definitely have the standard sushi and noodles, but their "appetizers", which are the small plates, are the ones that make them distinct from others, and something that shouldn't be missed.

On this visit, our group ordered several items. This first item is Kushi Yaki Mori. It is skewers of parts of chicken including the gizzards, skin, cartilage, and butt. Don't knock it. It is delicious. And I think this was one item that one of the reviewers on Check Please ordered.

 This next one is grilled squid in ginger. Again, delicious!

This next items is the Mexican Maki. It is also not on the menu. It was on the menu when we first went there a few years ago, but even after it went away, we could still order it. Of course, this is an American invention, but it does not diminish the fact that this is our most favorite sushi roll. It has tuna, avocado, cilantro, lettuce, and jalapeno. Yum!

This is another good one, Saikoro steak. It is often cooked to perfection.

This is Shiso Maki Kushi. Again, another favorite of our group.

This is Ikura Cha. It is rice bowl, with broth poured over it, and then topped with seaweed and salmon roe. It is a small bowl, so you can eat this as you munch on the other small plates items.

Besides having their specials written on a white board (there are version written in Japanese and English), one can sometime find extra items printed on paper and posted on the restaurant walls and doors. Their special hot pots are often found this way. On they day that we visited, they had several hot pots, including Sukiyaki, which if you had followed this blog, something that we had at home just a few weeks ago. Someone at our table ordered this hot pot, and unfortunately, since it is not a menu item, I can't tell you want it is since I never checked into it. But by the end of the meal, this pot was empty, so that should tell you something.

I'm glad that they will probably get even more business after this appearance on Check Please. Still, I will miss the easy-going, neighborhood atmosphere that it had before. It will not stop us from going back, but maybe now, we may have to make reservations just to be sure! :)

Zz.

BBQ Burnt Ends

I've been to a few BBQ joints in the Chicagoland area. Most are OK. But I like 2 in particular, and have returned to these two several times.

The first is a BBQ shack in Westmont called Uncle Bub's. The place itself is a hoot, with old-time country, rustic decor. And the food is consistently good. I usually get either the brisket (my stand-by favorite) or the broasted chicken. The food is plentiful and you have no excuse for leaving the place hungry.

But I have a new favorite place, and it is called Q-BBQ. There are, I think, 4 Q-BBQ in the Chicagoland area, but the one that I've been to several times is in downtown LaGrange. Other than the difficult parking during lunchtime, I really like coming here because of one very important thing - they have brisket burnt ends! I haven't seen any other BBQ joints around the area serving this. I love the burnt ends because you something can get the crispy, burnt edges that are full of smokey flavor. Yum!

The burnt edges come without sauce. It was cooked (or smoked) with a dry rub. The platter comes with hush puppies and 2 sides of your choice.

However, on each table, you have the option of 3 different sauces to add to the meat. 

I will admit of mixing the Texas spicy with the Memphis sweet sauces. Heck, I've even mixed all 3 of them together. Still, having the sauce separately gives diners the option of having the meal their way.

The burnt ends themselves are delicious, and has enough smokey flavor that one looks for in a good BBQ. I tell ya, for a BBQ joint in the middle of the upper Midwest, this is not a bad place at all!

Zz.

Lunch And Dinner

We knew that we were going out for dinner a couple of days ago, so I decided that we should have a light lunch. I went back to my favorite standby during the cold, winter months, and prepared myself a bowl of miso soup.

I added tofu, inoki mushroom (my favorite!), swiss chard, seaweed, and green onions. I was quite satisfying.

Then for dinner, we went to a Mexican seafood restaurant formerly known as Las Islas Marias (I forget its new name). I had one of my regular item, the Huachinango ala Natural (deep fried red snapper).

It was OK. The fish tasted as if it was old. The quality of the food at this restaurant has gone downhill over the years that I've visited it. Still, this is another photo that I can use for my "Fish are Food, not Friends" t-shirt if I decide to make another one.

Zz.

A Bowl of Udon Noodles For Lunch

Sure, why not? Don't you have a bowl of udon noodles for lunch often? :)

It was cold here yesterday, and I just wanted to good big bowl of hot, steaming udon noodles for lunch. So I want to the Mitsuwa Market near where I live, and went to the food court. Got the big bowl of beef curry udon from Sanuki Seimen Mugimaru. It was delicious.

I also got a few tempura pieces from their tempura bar. While the noodles were terrific, the tempura was hit-and-miss. The problem here is that getting tempura from a tempura bar means that you might end up with pieces that were not steaming hot. And there's nothing worse than cold tempura. I've had days where their tempura was excellent since they just got out of the fryer, while other days, not so much. (BTW, there is another vendor there that will make tempura to order.)

I like the food court at Mitsuwa. It feels as if you have several street vendors with a variety of food to choose from. This is definitely one of my favorite places to get a quick bite, and do some grocery shopping.

Zz.