Chicago Food (Twin Anchors, Pequod's Pizza, Ann Sather Restaurant, Futatsuki Ramen, Lickety Split Frozen Custard, Dao Thai Restaurant, Star Grill, The Weiner's Circle, Venice Cafe, and Pierogi Crib)

I recently went on a trip to visit Chicago. I had never been to the city and while there I tasted some of Chicago's food.

Twin Anchors:

Apparently Chicago is known for their barbecue. I wasn't aware of this before visiting the city, but smoked meat was added to the list of Chicago foods to try. I ended up at a restaurant called Twin Anchors. They have been open since 1932 and boast that Frank Sinatra was one of their regular customers.

I ordered a half slab of ribs with a side of onion rings and cole-slaw. The ribs were good enough. I found the meat to be a little on the dry side. Not the best I've ever had but good enough to keep the restaurant open since the 1930s.

Pequod's Pizza:

This restaurant was recommended as one of the best places to get Chicago-style pizza in the city. I'm still a bit confused on the different nomenclature of Chicago-style pizza, and the explanation that I got here didn't help. There is apparently pan pizza, deep dish pizza, and stuffed pizza. I think I understand that stuffed pizza is what Giordano's serves (seems like nobody in Chicago actually likes Giordano's). Haven't really figured out the difference between pan and deep dish though, and I don't know which version of the pizza I ate here.

Started out with a side salad.

The pizza, topped with Italian sausage and spinach. I enjoyed this pie. It wasn't the complete overload of cheese like you get a Giordano's and was much better proportioned. I did really enjoy the crust which got nice and crispy around the outer, vertical edge of the pie.

Ann Sather Restaurant:

This was a Swedish diner, which was a new concept to me. I visited them for breakfast and ordered one of the specials, which was a Swedish breakfast sampler. It started with two very large cinnamon rolls. I was pretty much full after both of these. 

This was followed with a plate filled with a Swedish pancake with lingonberry jam, a Swedish meatball with gravy, a Swedish sausage, scrambled eggs, and a fruit salad. I liked it all with the exception of the sausage. I believe it was a pork and potato sausage that lacked flavor.

Futatsuki Ramen:

A friend in Chicago said the ramen in this restaurant is amazing. He was right. Futatsuki was a very efficient restaurant with only a few things on the menu. There was tonkotsu ramen, curry pork, and some appetizers. 

The large bowl of ramen had a milky white broth with was delicious. From what I understand, the broth takes a while to cook, getting its color from pork fat and bone marrow slowly seeping into the soup. Ramen noodles were hidden underneath the broth. Two slices of pork, scallions, pickled vegetables, an egg, and nori finished off the bowl. I don't like making bold statements when it comes to food, but this just might be some of the best ramen I've ever had!

Lickety Split Frozen Custard:

Frozen custard, desserts, and candies was what Lickety Split sold.

I had the Bing Crosberry Concrete. This was cherries and raspberries mixed together with cheesecake, graham cracker crust, and vanilla custard. It was tasty, but I thought it was a bit on the expensive side for the small size of the cup which it was served in.

Dao Thai Restaurant:

Had Thai food in Downtown Chicago here.

Chicken Satay:

Wonton and BBQ Pork soup. The menu made this sound more exiting in my head then it was. This was basically a huge bowl of wonton soup that you can find in any Chinese restaurant.

Star Grill: 

This was my first attempt at having a Chicago style hot dog. I got caught in a nasty rain storm so I hid in a restaurant called Star Grill to wait out the rain. I was told by a Chicago local that these weren't authentic Chicago dogs because of the toppings. The two hot dogs came topped with mustard, pickle spear, peppers, and tomatoes in the form of salsa. Apparently the salsa was the offender. Tomatoes on an authentic Chicago dog need to be sliced...

The Weiner's Circle:

My second attempt at finding an authentic Chicago Dog was at The Weiner's Circle. Besides the hot dogs, this restaurant's gimmick is being nasty to the customers. Unfortunately, there's a difference between being clever about insults and just coming across as bigoted. Using the gimmick to ignore the people complaining about food/wrong orders is an interesting way to do customer service. I guess there's a reason that there were only tourists in here...

The hot dog was very adequate. The toppings were on in the right form, unlike my previous experience with a Chicago dog. The bun had poppy seeds on it. I've had better Chicago style dogs with more generous toppings in Florida. We won't mention the cheese fries. They were cold and soggy topped with something that didn't really resemble cheese besides color. The majority of these were thrown out.

Venice Cafe:

Got a quick slice of pizza for a snack from this restaurant near the Willis Tower. I decided to try a NY style slice in Chicago. In my head, it was what I would expect NY style pizza to be like in the midwest. Way too much cheese and a bit doughy.

Pierogi Crib:

I visited a food hall in Chicago called the French Market. After wandering around a bit, I decided to try a booth called Pierogi Crib.

I had a Pierogi Bowl. This was an assortment of six pierogi served over a spinach salad, topped with bacon, grilled onions, red cabbage, and sour cream. I very much enjoyed this meal.

And that was my trip to Chicago. I tried most of the stereotypical Chicago foods on my list, along with foods I wasn't expecting to try. Never got around to trying an Italian Beef Sandwich though. Guess I have to go back...

Thai Thani in Celebration, FL

I had dinner at Thai Thani in Celebration. Located in a space which was once one of the last few holdouts of Gooding's Supermarkets, Thai Thani has no resemblance to once being a food store. The restaurant was about half full when I ate there, yet all the servers were acting flustered and apologizing about how overwhelmed they were. It was strange to see all the servers act like this, when in all actuality, the service was fine besides all the apologizing.

I had the Chicken Red Curry. This was a coconut milk based curry with string beans, eggplant, basil, bell peppers, peas, and bamboo shoots. Steamed rice was served on the side. It was pretty standard for a Thai restaurant curry dish, which is good. Only complaint was that I ordered the dish with medium spice and it had no heat at all. Still tasty though. I'd eat here again.

Long Island Asian Food (Chaba Thai Cuisine and Tony's Sushi)

Here's a couple more restaurants from my travels. Today we're going to be visiting a couple restaurants in Long Island, NY serving Asian food. We'll start in Long Beach for some Thai food...

Chaba Thai Cuisine in Long Beach, NY:

Chaba is located in downtown Long Beach. They were a small restaurant but they were very busy with both people dining in and take out.

I had the Chicken Curry Noodles. I was a little afraid that this might be a boring dish of chicken, noodles, and sauce from how the menu described it. Luckily, this turned out to be a beautiful bowl of deliciousness. There was plenty of variety with lots of vegetables mixed in, arranged in a very structural fashion. The sauce was very tasty. No complaints about this meal.

Tony's Sushi in East Moriches, NY:

I had dinner on another evening at a restaurant called Tony's Sushi. They had the menu split into three different sections. One each for Japanese, Chinese, and Thai food.

I had the Singapore Mei Fun. There was a nice presentation with an orchid served alongside the mound of noodles, but the portion was a bit small for the price. The noodles tasted fine, although there really wasn't anything that made them stand apart from other noodle dishes I've had either. The annoying part of this meal was the employee's apparently urgent need to clear the tables. From the beginning of the meal when we were served noodles with duck sauce, all they wanted to know if they could take that away for us. Someone else ordered soup and salad with their meal. They were delivered at the same time, and the servers wanted to take away the soup before it was touched while the person was finishing up the salad. They did eventually take away someones plate before they were finished with it. It was strange. It seemed like they wanted us out really quick, but there wasn't a wait or lack of empty tables. Some manager probably told the servers to make sure they clear the tables and they really took the advise to heart...

Sea Thai in Orlando, FL

I had dinner at Sea Thai in Orlando. Sea apparently stands for South East Asia rather than anything to do with seafood. I know this restaurant from the countless awards that they won over the years, but this was my first visit to Sea Thai.

I ordered the Spicy Basil Duck. This dish was served in a sizzling skillet. The duck was served with sweet basil, chili, onions, scallions, and bell peppers in a slightly spicy sauce. I enjoyed the crispy skin on the duck. While some of the meat was nice and tender, there were other parts which were tough and chewy. Different parts of the duck perhaps? The sauce was good, although it wasn't as spicy as the menu advertised. My biggest complaint with the dish was that there wasn't enough sauce. Being that the plate was hot and sizzling, most of the liquid in the sauce evaporated. I would have liked to use some of that sauce to flavor the rice that was served on the side.

I liked what I tried at Sea Thai. With my one data point of eating here, I don't know if I'd be willing to rate it as the Best of Orlando like all their awards do just yet, but I'd go back!

Tuk Tuk Truck in Orlando, FL

I tried TukTuk Thai Cuisine at a recent Food Truck Bazaar in Casselberry. This was my first time coming across this food truck. I'm not sure how long they've been around, but I decided to try their take on mobile Thai food.

I ordered the Shrimp Pad Thai. The noodles were cooked with egg, tofu, bean sprouts, peanuts, and cilantro. The Pad Thai had plenty of flavor, but I would have preferred slightly larger shrimp. The tiny little shrimp in the dish were somewhat sad looking.

TukTuk was okay. It was good, but not outstanding. Their prices seemed a bit more affordable for what you get compared to some of the other food trucks that frequent the bazaars. I'd try something else from TukTuk, but not before I try some other food from trucks which I haven't tasted yet.

NY Thai Food: Yum Yum Queens and Aceluck Thai Cuisine

In a continuation of the last post on the blog about New York foods, this post is about the Thai food which was eaten on my trip. I ended up at two Thai restaurants while in the area. The first was called Yum Yum Queens in Sunnyside.

I visited the restaurant at lunchtime and had one of their lunch specials. The meal started with a dumpling appetizer.

I had the Chicken Pad Kie Mao, or Basil Noodles according to the English translation on the menu for my main course. This dish consisted of rice noodles with broccoli, onion, bell pepper, basil, and egg. The huge bowl made the portion look a bit small, but this was plenty to eat.

Next up on my food adventure was Aceluck Thai Cuisine in Hell's Kitchen.

The inside of Aceluck was very green.

We started out by ordering a Duck Wrap appetizer. This consisted of roasted duck, scallion, cucucmbers, and hoisen wrapped in a pancake. I liked the presentation with this appetizer. The wrap was cut and arranged vertically, served next to pools of swirly hoisen/peanut sauce. The duck in the wraps was very tender and was balanced nicely with the rest of the fillings.

I didn't realize it at the time of ordering, but I think I had the same thing at Aceluck as Yum Yum. I ordered the Pad Kee Mao. Rather than Basil Noodles, this dish was subtitled Drunk Man Noodles here. The two dishes at both restaurants were similar but had their differences. The noodles were spicier here. There was more peppers and onions in this version of the dish. The presentation was also very nice with strings of shredded beets and carrots topping the noodles.

The Tuck Shop in Chelsea, NY

While in NY, I was looking for a late breakfast and ended up at the Chelsea Market. I had been here before and tried The Lobster Place. On this visit, I quickly forgot breakfast foods and decided to try an Australian meat pie from a place called The Tuck Shop.

I guess what I ordered was more Australian fusion. I had the Thai Curry Chicken pie. It was filled with chicken, kafir lime leaves, galangal, coconut milk, thai basil and chilis. The crust was nice and flaky, similar to a typical pot pie. The fillings were creamy and tasty, although the chilis were very intense. I normally have a high tolerance for spicy foods, but I was tearing up every time I bit into a piece of pepper. Interesting how I ordered something denoted as spicy at a Thai restaurant the night before and there was hardly any spice, but this Australian-Thai pie with no warning about the heat was one of the spiciest foods I've eaten in recent memory. I really have no clue if pot pies like this are really a prevalent food in Australia, but I'm assuming this is more Australian than Outback Steakhouse is Australian...

One More Thai in Manhattan, NY

I made my way up to New York. One of my meals in the city was Thai food in the Lower East Side at a restaurant called One More Thai.

I ordered the Drunken Noodles. This consisted of wide noodles mixed with chicken, egg peanuts, peppers, and basil. The noodles were tasty, although the spiciness noted on the menu was hardly present even with all the peppers. I'm not an expert on Thai food, but each time I've had drunken noodles seems to be very different. The only consistency between my experiences with this dish seems to be with the shape of the noodles. Interesting...

NaraDeva Thai Restaurant in Orlando, FL

A couple weeks ago, the local food bloggers were invited to a dinner at NaraDeva Thai Restaurant in order to sample many of their delicious foods. I'm honestly not an expert on Thai food by any means, and I've actually been disappointed lately with many of the other local Thai restaurants that I've tried. Because of this, I happily accepted the offer to try NaraDeva in order to find better Thai food. They are located near the Mall of Millenia in the SuperTarget shopping center, in a space once occupied by Bear Rock Cafe.

Once I arrived at the restaurant, I quickly spotted the group of food bloggers congregating on the restaurant's patio for drinks. I tried the coconut water and Thai iced tea. The iced tea was my personal favorite of the two.

Once we were inside and seated, the feast began as plate after plate of food started arriving at the table. Appetizers came first with chicken curry puffs and chicken satay. The chicken curry puffs reminded me somewhat of Indian samosas, filled with potato and chicken. The chicken satay was served on skewers with a peanut dipping sauce.

The next plate of appetizers included shrimp rolls and steamed pork dumplings. The shrimp rolls were interesting, consisting of a whole shrimp wrapped in pork and a spring roll wrapper.

After the initial two plates of appetizers, various types of salads started arriving at the table. One of my favorites was the crunchy shrimp salad. This mixed green salad was topped with several large fried shrimp, drizzled in a creamy dressing.

Another highlight was the laab. Ground spicy pork was mixed with roasted rice, onions, shallots, dried chili and mint leaves. I had never heard of laab previously, but it was surprisingly good for something as simple as a ground meat mixed with a few other ingredients.

The spicy beef salad was topped with thinly sliced pieces of grilled steak with cucumber, tomatoes, scallions, and cilantro in a spicy & sour dressing.

Another one of my favorites was the spicy crispy duck salad. This was similar to the beef salad, only with delicious duck rather than steak. The duck was nice and tender and had a wonderful crispy outer crust. The spice wasn't that apparent at first, but the spicyness eventually culminated after a few bites.

On to the main courses, the pork fried rice was different from the typical Chinese restaurant fried rice (I'm not always a fan of Chinese fried rice). This was somewhat sweeter and had a whole lot more flavors involved. Way better than I was expecting!

I definitely wasn't expecting the beef jerky. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear beef jerky is gas station snack food that I tend to avoid. This beef jerky shared little resemblance to a a Slim Jim. The beef was crispy but was still moist. It was served alongside rice soaked in pandan sauce which was completely new to me. Bright green rice is very cool!

The prawns in tamarind sauce were served over a bed of vegetables. I love the garnishes on almost every plate. A pile of shaved carrots topped with an orchid makes always makes food more interesting!

Crispy duck in red curry sauce was another one of my favorites from the night. The duck had a nice crunchy outside and was really tender inside. Many times I've had duck where it had so much fat that it was almost too much trouble to eat. Nara

It was a while since I had soft shell crabs, so I was happy when these were delivered to the table.

The deep-fried whole snapper was very impressive. It's not very often that I get to eat from a whole fish. Figuring out how to best break into the fish to get to the meat was a little intimidating at first, but was a minor difficulty. The crispy skin of the fish was very flavorful while the inside was moist and flaky.

Just when I thought the feast would stop, desserts started coming out of the kitchen! The black sticky rice with coconut and palm sugar caramel was interesting. I've had black rice a few times before, but never as a dessert. The coconut cream sauce topping was very nice. The sticky rice with pumpkin custard was also fun. I never really thought of pumpkin as an Asian vegetable with it's association with Halloween/Thanksgiving, but why not? Pumpkin is good on everything!

The sticky rice with red beans was served wrapped in banana leaves. This was my favorite dessert of the night. Not only is unwrapping food from steamed banana leaves a whole lot of fun, it also smelled great, sort of like black tea. The rice/beans were very moist, not too sweet, but the coconut cream dipping sauce made it a dessert.

The Thai coconut custard was served in tiny ceramic cups and sort of reminded me of a coconut flavored flan.

And finally, there was the Thai doughnuts with pandan coconut custard dip. The doughnuts by themselves weren't very sweet, but they were definitely made into a dessert with the green pandan sauce.

The event was organized by NaraDeva Thai in conjunction with Traveler Foodie, and I really appreciate being invited. I was definitely not expecting the feast that I was treated to, with all of the food being some of the best Thai I've had lately in the Central Florida area. I'll definitely be back!