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.