The Kinda Jerk I'd Like to Meet

I always believe that sharing is caring, but that was not the philosophy of my friend Sharone.  We went to dinner a couple weeks ago and I asked him to pick the place, so he picked what he says is his favorite restaurant in his neighborhood, Lincoln Park.  He chose Ja Grill (http://www.jagrill.com/), which coincidentally was on my list of places to check out from many many months ago, so of course I was excited.  It was a Monday evening, so the small venue was far from packed.  As is customary, with my pickiness, I had perused the menu hours before so I already knew what I was going to order. 

Curry Chicken Entrée

The menu is basically a choice between curry or jerk meat for entrees.  They also have stew entrees but I thought for this initial visit I'd steer clear.   Because my safe eating instincts would normally tell me to go for the jerk chicken, I decided to go for the curry chicken. And I'm glad I made that choice, it was definitely different than anything I'd ever had and it was tasty, too. 
The entrees are served with a side of cabbage, rice & peas (they looked like beans to me), and a couple of plaintains.  Despite my disdain for beans (the menu says they're peas but I don't like those either) I did not stay completely clear of the rice, I just ate around the beans/peas.  When you've been selective about what you eat for as long as I have, maneuvering around the food non grata becomes a skill.

Jerk Chicken

Sharone ordered the jerk chicken, which is where the non-sharing portion of the evening began.  He explained to me that he doesn't share, but as anyone who volunteers to go to dinner with me knows, sharing is definitely part of the deal.  So after a few minutes of using our long-term friendship as a guilting mechanism he relented and shared.  And I pretty much came to the conclusion that I liked the jerk better than the curry chicken.  I will definitely be sure to order my own jerk chicken, especially if I'm in the company of non-sharers. 

Overall I liked Ja Grill.  I wouldn't necessarilly go out of my way to eat there, but if I was in the neighborhood it would defintely be on the top of my list.  I'd love to go back and try some of the appetizers, especially the Honey Wings and Curry Shrimp.  Adrienne mentioned she'd only had drinks there before, but the server recommeneded the Red Stripe Light, of which I wasn't a fan.  I know light beer has less calories, but when I lose the flavor and it tastes like watered down beer, I'd rather just stick to water.

Orange is Not Just a Color

So I started this post over a month ago and I figured it was about time I finished it...

For Monica B.'s birthday we decided to make a detour from our regular brunch spot of Yolk in the South Loop.  There are so many different brunch spots throughout Chicago, but Monica and I had heard great things about Orange (http://orangerestaurantchicago.com/Main.html) and so it was chosen.  We went on a Saturday morning, and like most brunch places, they do not take reservations, so we did have to wait a bit for our party of six to be seated.

I must admit that I'm not an adventurous bruncher.  I don't typically eat a traditonal breakfast of eggs & bacon in the mornings so when given the chance that is usually the option I choose.  Once, I did order an omlette and because I only wanted bacon and cheese in the omlette it contained an overwhelming amount of eggs.  So I reverted back to my typical bacon, eggs scrambled hard with potatoes and a side of pancakes.  But I figured new place, new meal so I tried their sandwich special.    It was a sandwich filled with egg, cheese, bacon, spinach, and a rasberry jam/jelly.  And I must admit I liked it very much, sometimes it pays to deviate from the norm.  Though I like to have potatoes with my breakfast, I must say I was quite surprised at the "mashed" form their breakfast potatoes come prepared in. It reminded me more of dinner potatoes, but it was still pretty good. 

So I must confess the reason it took me so long to do this post is because I didn't do my due dilligence and find out what everyone else ordered.  It appears when you ask someone what they ate a couple weeks ago at a particular restaurant, most people aren't able to recall.  Or maybe the food just wasn't that memorable to them.  Who knows?  Here's a brief recap of what the rest of the table ordered:


This is the meal that has me stumped.  I believe it's a French Toast of some sort, but I can't recall the name.  It was Erica's meal and she was unable to enlighten me on further details.



I adored Dr. Seuss books when I was a child and to see his "Green Eggs & Ham" come to life was a treat.  The eggs are mixed with pesto to give it the green appearance and it is topped with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  



 

This is a slight variation of the green eggs & ham.  Instead of ham the dish is prepared with bacon.  And I have to admit if I would have ordered this meal, I don't really eat ham, so I would have also asked for the bacon substitution.



Now this I love.  It's the pancake flight.  If you suffer from an inability to make a decision as I sometimes do, this flight gives you the option of ordering four different types of pancakes.  Chocolate & powdered sugar covered, cantaloupe w/ whipped cream & granola,  blueberry panckaes, & I believe strawberry syrup covered pancakes.

I liked Orange and the fact that they have a byob option where you bring the champagne and they provide the orange juice gives them quite a few bonus points.  But as fancy as they try to make their dishes, the food just didn't live up to the hype of their above average names was the general consensus of the table.