Cheaper Than a Trip to Poland

My latest restaurant quest brought me to one of my favorite neighborhoods in Chicago, Wicker Park.  Lokal (http://www.lokalchicago.com/) is an adorable restaurant located off of busy North Avenue.  Upon entering we were immediately welcomed by a friendly staff.  I automatically become excited about my dining experience when I'm greeted by a cheerful and helpful server. I'm not a fan of sausage and the first thing that comes to mind when I think of polish food is sausage.  But fortunately, there was plenty for me to try even opting out of the sausage dishes. 

I started by asking the server what she thought I should not leave this restaurant without tasting.  I was looking for something that was uniquely Polish inspired.  Her initial response was the Zapiekanka, a frenchbread sandwich with mushrooms, onions, and melted parmesan. Despite my disdain for onions and uncertain relationship with mushrooms, I was still interested in giving this popular Polish dish a try.  She explained that during festivals people often walk around eating these sandwiches.  But we ended up not ordering, because I was dining with Monica and she was completely put off by the dish, and I did not want to waste food if I was the only one willing to try it. (But if anyone else is interested in trying, I'd definitely go back to taste it) 

I arrived knowing I definitely wanted to have the lobster pierogis. So taking her suggestions into account, I think we arrived at a fair tasting of most of the menu (see our choices below).  This dining experience proved to be an interesting lesson in food for me.

Things I learned @ Lokal:

• I like purple potatoes.  They are not much unlike regular white potatoes, just a cooler color.
• I do not like beets.  Both red and yellow beets were in the salad, I was not a fan of either. 
• Grilled endive tastes like I imagine grilled cabbage would taste, I surprisingly liked it.
• I came in expecting to love the Lobster pierogi.  And while I liked it, I was thankful for Monica B.'s suggestion to also order the Spinach pieorgi, this ended up being my favorite dish of the night. I think the creamy pesto sauce is what won me over. 

Slow Roasted Pork Belly



aerial view of Slow Roasted Porkbelly



Roasted Beets (salad)



Pan Seared Artic Char w/ purple potatoes & grilled endive



back of Pan Seared Artic Char, you can see the grilled endive 

Lobster Pierogi (w/ lemon butter cream)



Spinach Pierogi (w/ a walnut pesto)

While I did not sample the European-inspired drink menu at my initial visit, I was fortunate to go back on a Saturday night when the place was a full fledged lounge.  My drink of choice was a Double Jeopardy, which sounded just risky enough.  It was a mix of prosecco, beer, and raspberry.  I loved it.  Good drinks, good eats AND good music? I'm definitely a fan.    

Perfect for Shopping & Sharing

I was driving around the Water Tower area a couple of months ago and I saw a retaurant with a bright blue awning that piqued my curiousity about its food. I was glad for a chance to go inside and try their food when my aunt bought me a discount coupon to Café Med (http://cafemedchicago.com/), located near the Gold Coast area. It is located a couple blocks away from the Water Tower and Michigan Avenue shopping making it a convenient location to stop by if you're out shopping downtown. 

Upon first perusal of the menu there wasn't much in the entrees that caught my eye.  I'm very much a midwesterner in that I'll always default to steak and potatoes when all else fails.  But since there were four of us and the point of trying this new place was to try as much on the menu as possible, we decided to forego ordering individual entrees and order food with the purpose of sharing. 

We decided on two pizzas, an entree of shrimp ravioli, and crab cakes.  While I was waiting for the rest of my party to arrive, I sat at the bar and the lady next to me had an order of prawns that looked and smelled so good I knew I had to add them to our choices.  And that was probably the smartest choice I made all night, while the food overall was pretty good there was nothing that stood out to me beyond the prawns.  They were buttery, hot, and a great overall texture. 



Cast Iron Oven Roasted Prawns


As for everything else, I thought the shrimp ravioli was too milky, it reminded me more of a corn chowder rather than ravioli in consistency and texture of the ingredients.  I have been on a quest for the perfect crab cake, and this one was far from the best I've had thus far.  The seasoning fell a little flat for me.  And while the tomatoes and avocadoes made the presentation more aesthetically pleasing, they did nothing to increase my actual desire for the dish. 

Shrimp Ravioli (w/ spinach, calabrese chiles, & sweet corn cream sauce)

Crab Cakes

 Of the two pizzas, we enjoyed the Pear & Walnut one the most.  It had a nice balance of sweet and salty.  The presentation of the Prociutto pizza was a little disappointing as it appeared as though the argula had just been dumped in the middle of the pizza and there weren't very many pieces of prosciuotto, it was also overwhelmingly bready (yes, I just made up my own word).

Proscuitto & Imported Taleggio Cheese (topped with baby arugula)

Pear & Walnut Pizza (with Pesto & Carmelized Onions)

Though I wasn't completely wowed by anything on the menu, I would definitely go back for another serving of prawns and they do have a Mac & Cheese and a Short Rib Risotto entree I would be interested in trying.

¿Quieres comida mexicana?

Usually when asked what my favorite food is, I would say Italian.  I love pasta.  And so this was just what I came to accept as my default answer to "What's your favorite type of food/cusine?"  Lately, I'm reconsidering.  I'm pretty sure I'm in love with Mexican food.  If I'm not in love, I'm definitely deeply in like and falling more and more each day. I've made it pretty well known thus far throughout this blog that I love tacos, but as I dive into different dishes of Mexican food, I am not encountering much that I do not like.  With this new found appreciation in mind, I was excited for my first experience at Zocalo (http://zocalochicago.com/) for Gina's going away dinner.  I enjoyed my initial experience so much that I went back a few weeks later to celebrate my mom's birthday.  



Enchiladas de Suiza de Pollo

For my first trip I decided to go with the chicken enchiladas.  They are served with beans & rice, but I selflessly gave my serving of beans to Adrienne (her love of all food Mexican currently extends beyond my reach) and so they are missing from the picture below.  I enjoyed my enchiladas and though the chicken was coated with a tomato based sauce with onions throughout, I must say that I loved the taste so much that I didn't even feel the need to pick out the onions or larger chunks of onions.  I call that progress. 




Tacos y Tequila

The biggest surprise of the evening was the Tacos y Tequila, which Gina ordered.  A set of 3 tacos was served with a shot of tequila on the side.  We all wondered whether or not you were supposed to just take the shot of tequila or pour it on the tacos as an extra flavor of sorts.  After inquiring this to our server, she politely informed us that, yes,  it was intended to be taken as a traditional shot.  I don't think I could ever dislike a place that serves you a complimentary shot with your food.

For the guacamole lovers they have a trio of guacamole that was ordered both times I dined at Zocalo.  I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I wasn't very excited about the guacamole.  But there is the traditional, rojo (roasted tomato & roasted red jalapeno salsa are added) and fruta (which adds mango, papaya, habanero and walnuts). It is served with a mix of corn, plaintain and malanga chips.  I tried all the chips, but I only liked the corn tortilla chips, I guess I'm a traditionalist when it comes to my choice of tortilla chip.  

 

Adrienne's Tinga Poblana

For my second go round, I decided to order something that I had never tried before.  Though it was Tuesday night, and they have an awesome special of unlimited tacos for $12 on Tuesdays.  But, I know I love Tacos, I wanted to expand my palate of mexican food.  I decided on the Tinga Poblana, it wasn't until after I received my order that I realized I had ordered the same thing Adrienne has on my previous visit.  It was funny because when I saw her order, I immediately thought I wouldn't order anything like that.  But it was surprisingly good.  As you can see from the pictures, the presentation differed slightly on the two nights. 

Aerial view of my Tinga Polblana 

 

The avocado based sauce was good.  And I liked the poblano and chorizo potato cake that was underneath the chicken.  My first exposure to poblano peppers was a couple years ago in a dish of Chile Verde that I had the chance to assist Monica make for her family in California.  I have never been into peppers and I've always assumed that they were spicy.  But this is a pretty mild pepper that I look forward to incorporating into my own homemade dishes.





The side view allows you to see the poblano pepper-chorizo  potato cake.



 My mother and my sister ordered the the chicken enchiladas, but they both decided on the addition of grilled shrimp to the enchiladas.  It gave it a unique presentation and after stealing a piece off my  mom's plate, I thought they tasted good.  I just didn't care for the combination of the enchiladas with the shrimp, I'll keep them as two separate dishes in the future. My aunt was the only one to take advantage of the Taco special and she ordered a plate of four.  The reason I nor my sister were presuaded to get the taco special is that it does not include steak tacos.  You have the choice of chicken, barbacoa, pulled pork, and some sort of lamb & pork stew.

 

Enchiladas de Suiza de Pollo with grilled shrimp

Tacos!



And as Zocalo calls itself a restaurant AND tequila bar, I couldn't leave without trying the tequila.  Many of their specialty drinks are made with tequila and as I couldn't decide on one, I decided to go for the flight to try a few of their most popular ones.  Icing on top: Sangria made with Tequila!

Zocalo Flight (from left to right: Zocalo Margarita,  Citrus Cazuela, and Sangria)