Dung Gia

So usually after a night of a little too much fun, my friends and I usually like to go to Viet town to get some Pho. There is just something about the broth that just seems to always settle the stomach. The only problem with Viet town is the inconvenience of driving and looking for parking. Then one day a friend of mine called me and asked if I wanted to get some Pho. She told me that it wasn't in Viet town, so right away I had some reservations. Everyone knows that the BEST pho is in Viet town, but now I believe that this new place can give most the restaurants in that area a run for its money.

Im a HUGE fan of any kind of noodle dish that is spicy. So when I saw this on the menu, I had to order it. This was my spicy pork and beef noodle soup. It wasn't too spicy, but there was definitely a little kick. 

This was my friends combination pho. I am really particular about my broth because I am not a fan of broth that is sweet, but this broth was perfect. The best way to describe it is that it is extremely... clean. 

When I was younger I was never that big of a fan of pho so I always ordered some kind of dish with pork chops. This is a little different than the ones that I am used to ordering, but it was still great. I loved the onions that were on top of the pork chop. It added a nice sweet touch to the meat. 

2 people, 3 dishes. We put in work. 

Was a little sad when all the noodles were gone. 

She actually ate more than me. 

My friend demanded that I cut up the meat for her and I did. She devoured everything.

So I found my new Pho spot that isn't in Viet town. My only complaint is that they don't have any bahn mi.

Urban Belly

I was super excited to go to Bill Kim's first restaurant, Urban Belly. I couldn't wait to compare it to David Chang's Momofuku, but when I got my food, I was a little disappointed. Two of my friends ordered the noodle dishes and they loved it, but I really did not think there was anything special about the rice dish that I ordered. The dumplings were ok at best but the side dish of eggplant that I ordered was amazing. I tried my friends noodle dishes, and I was impressed. Definitely not what I was expecting, but really good. All of the dishes seem to have a fusion of many different Asian influences. But overall I was not too impressed. Maybe I had too high of expectations, but I personally would not go again unless there was something new that I HAVE to try on the menu. Nothing blew me away but the food was decent at best. 

I really enjoyed the communal style of eating until some random guy started offering me some of his food. He then tried to tell me about how there is this great Asian grocery market that I have to go to because of the food. 

The first set of dumplings are the pork and cilantro dumplings. They were good but like I said in my post, they were not to die for. The duck with pho spices were good but nothing too crazy. I would have to say that both are a little bland and that is why i drenched the dumplings in hot sauce. 

My 'ok' rice dish. The short rib and scallion. Not a die hard fan of long grain rice because to me it always seems dry, but the meat was good! 

Aloha Eats

One of the best places to go when you really do not know what to eat. The menu has something for everyone, and when you still cannot make a choice, just go with the spam masubi. I do not know why people have this stigma towards spam, but growing up in an Asian household, you learn to love it. I was introduced to this restaurant less than a year ago but right after I tried it, I fell in love. They also have many different combinations of meats that you can have for your meal. But I have to warn you, the portions are HUGE. I usually see my friends split a plate lunch. The plate lunch comes with whatever meat you choose, plus two scoops of rice, and one scoop of the best macaroni salad you will have ever had. You can also substitute fries with any of the rice or salad, or you can just get all rice, or all salad. I also recommend a side of spam with your meal and pass-o-guava aloha maid. 

The Hawaiian BBQ mix plate. A plate filled with meat. Chicken, short ribs, bbq beef. One of the favorites amongst me and my friends. And in the picture, you can see that my friends are sharing the dish. 

The double chicken and 3 scoops of macaroni salad. A plate filled with Hawaiian style bbq chicken and also loaded up with their chicken katsu. The chicken katsu is extremely crispy but thats how I personally like it. The sauce for the katsu is also a perfect match with all of the food. 

Katsu mini plate. Just to give you an idea of how big the portions are, I am 6'2" tall and weigh about 230 lbs. This is what I eat and I am usually stuffed after. 

Katsu and beef combo. Perfect mix of chicken and beef. 

I love Aloha Eats. Every time I am in the area I try to convince my friends to go with me. Everything is good but things can get a little sweet. I personally like my food with some spice so I don't get tired of eating the same thing over and over. The restaurant does offer sriracha and make sure you take advantage of it. 

Tokio Pub

 Tokio Pub is a new restaurant located in Schaumburg. Its a small restaurant that specializes in Asian small plates. All of the food seems to be a fusion of many different types of Asian dishes, and also has a little bit of an American twist. I personally really like the food, but it does get pricey. The portions are extremely small so be prepared to order many different dishes. The first thing that I noticed about the restaurant was its size. It really is not that big. There are about 10 tables and then there is a small outdoor seating area. There is also a bar located right in the front of the restaurant where they make fusion cocktails. One of the favorites for the table was the sake sangria. I personally think that they have the best nachos in Chicago, only because I LOVE pork belly. I also think that Tokio Pub takes the cake with the best fish tacos in Chicago as well.

Combination of tuna, salmon, shrimp, crab, and lobster crispy rice. Almost like nigiri rolls, but the rice on the bottom is extremely crispy on the outside. 

One of my personal favorites at Tokio Pub. BBQ pork belly. This really reminds of the Japanese Izakaya style of eating. If you like pork belly then you will love this dish. 

In the back on skewers you can see the crying tiger shrimp. It was marinated with sriracha to give it a slight spiciness. In the front of the picture you can see the fish tacos. Probably one of the best dishes at Tokio Pub. 

From the pictures above, you should be able to tell that the plates are EXTREMELY small. Luckily we went with a friend that worked for Lettuce Entertain You and the manager of the restaurant gave us a 50% discount. We also received quite a few dishes on the house. Overall the restaurant is great. I loved the food and the service was great. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone and I plan on returning in the near future.

Cafe Ba ba reeba

I really wish I took some pictures of the food but I am a little addicted to hanging with friends which drains my battery but I am sure I will go again soon and I'll update with pics. First off, the food is amazing. I loved everything that I ordered. To start off I ordered a pitcher of the peach sangria and it tasted great. I don't know how much alcohol is in it, but it tastes great. After 2 pitchers of wine, I decided to give up on trying to catch a buzz and just started to order food. First dish that came out were the spicy potatoes. I personally think a lot better than cafe iberico because the potatoes actually have a slight kick to them. Then we had roasted dates wrapped in bacon. Im usually not the biggest fan of dates, but these were perfect. The bacon added the perfect smokiness to the dates and the sweet savory flavor combination was perfect. Next I ordered the beef tenderloin and blue cheese. We ordered the steak medium, but I definitely recommend it medium rare. The steak was great and it was accompanied by house made potato chips. To go with the steak I also ordered the spinach and manchego stuffed mushrooms. I was really excited about the mushrooms but when they came out I was extremely disappointed. I was expecting something large enough to share with people, but they were 4 tiny little mushrooms. The mushrooms were all a little bigger than a quarter and it was hardly stuffed with any spinach. And for our last plate of tapas we had the serrano ham and tomato bread. I was also really excited for this dish, but when the dish came out, it seemed as if the bread and tomato sauce had been sitting out for a long time. The bread was all soggy from the tomatoes and there was no way of picking up the bread with your hands. I ended up just eating the ham on its own and it was great. After all of this we decided to order some dessert and I must say, their dessert is just as good as their main tapas. The chocolate truffle cake was nice and rich and the Dulce de leche cake was amazing. I recommend cafe ba ba reeba to everyone and make sure you go with a lot of people so you can order many different things to share. The sangria, food, and atmosphere are all great and I plan on returning very soon. I personally think that ba ba reeba has a little more american/spanish fusion twist that I personally like. Cafe Iberico is also great, but the atmosphere of ba ba reeba is just much more inviting.

Happy Birthday America!

The 4th is one of my favorite holidays. People always gather together and enjoy all the great activities that different places have to offer. This year I watched the fireworks at both Maine East High School on the 3rd and at Morton Grove Days. I have to say both shows were great, but Morton Grove Days had a step up. There was a carnival set up in the same park as the fireworks. I personally did not get a chance to go on any of the rides at the carnival, but many of my friends did and they said that the whole experience was great.  

April

The month of April has been great. The first weekend of April me and all of my friends went down to U of I to get away from everything in Chicago. Being on a real college campus was extremely refreshing. I loved how we could all just sit in the quad and just relax. Small things like that make me miss Syracuse. We also went around campus to try a lot of the food, and I think I may have found my new favorite Chinese restaurant. Pictures will be posted soon!

Sprinkles vs. Molly's

I LOVE cupcakes. Every time someone mentions cupcakes I get excited. I actually get a little mad when I see someone take some of the frosting off of their cupcake. Its there for a reason! I love all the different creations that different cupcake shops have. I love the different flavors and I love the atmosphere. Two of the most popular places in Chicago are Molly's and Sprinkles. I personally like Molly's filled cupcakes and I like the regular cupcakes from Sprinkles. I also like the frosting from Sprinkles better, but many of my friends stand by Molly's. The cool thing about Molly's is that they actually donate some of their profits to local schools in the area. Honestly this is just another excuse for me to buy more cupcakes. I tell myself that I am helping children by eating cupcakes!

Molly's. On the left is my personal favorite. Peanut butter Nutella. Its a filled cupcake with a peanut butter cake filled with nutella. The outside of the cake is usually a little crunchy, but that is the reason why I love this cupcake more than anything else offered at Molly's On the right is the classic red velvet with a cream cheese frosting. 

I wish I had pictures of their actual cupcakes but I always forget to take a picture before I eat them. Love the little shop and the people inside are extremely friendly. 

Sprinkles is also cares about the environment. They are a fully sustainable cupcake shop. All of the plates, boxes, utensils, and bags are all from recycled goods. They also use green cleaning products and only use dairy products from local farms.  

BIG STAR!

Everyone that knows me knows that I LOVE Big Star. I personally think it has THE BEST American/Mexican fusion tacos. I love the atmosphere and LOVE the food. The workers there are some of the nicest people you can meet and they love just talking to you. I have told almost everyone about it and everyone that I have taken there has fallen in love with the place. But I have to warn you. Do not be surprised if it takes about 1-2 hours to get a table. This place is packed almost every night. I have waited at the bar for 3 hours before just to get a table. And don't forget the drinks. I have a tradition every time I go. EVERYONE MUST TRY THE LOS TRES REYES. Its a drink that consists of three parts. 1. Take the shot of tequila. 2. Chase with your sangrita. 3. Take a nice big gulp of your Tecate. After that proceed to pigging out. I personally love the taco de panza. Its a pork shoulder taco. Thats about everything I know about the taco, but its good. And if you like the whole savory sweet thing go for the al pastor. Pork and pineapple. CANNOT go wrong with that winning combo. They also have some amazing guacamole and some other tacos but they change up the tacos every once in a while. The only two tacos that I always see on the menu are the de panza and the al pastor. I have recently gone to Big Star and I have tried some of the newer things and I think a new favorite of mine might have to be the new fish taco. Perfectly crisp fish with a creamy yogurt sauce. The only downside to Big Star for me is that they take cash only. I have had times where I completely forget that it is cash only and have to ask someone to spot me, but thats only a small problem. The food is definitely worth the trip and I promise you will not leave hungry. 

Two of the best tacos you will ever get. On the right you have the taco de panza. The mix of the meat, cheese and lime just make this taco perfect in almost every way.

The los tres reyes. Big star is usually my first stop for the night in Wicker park and I think this is one of the best ways to start off anyones night. This picture is missing the sangrita so don't thing that this is everything. And for all three (beer, shot of tequila, and sangrita) only cost 7 dollars!

Alaska

Last summer I was really excited for my parents to leave for Alaska. They had planned out this trip on a cruise ship to go around the coast of Alaska and had made plans for almost all the stops. I could tell that my mom was a lot more excited than my dad, and I was just excited that my parents were going to leave. A few weeks before the trip, my dad couldn't go anymore so I had to take my dads place. At first I wasn't too excited about this, but I also felt bad for my mom because she was looking forward to this trip for a few months now. So at the end of June me and my mom were off to Alaska

Our port city was Seattle and I was excited because I had never been to Seattle before but we had no time to go sight seeing at all. As soon as we were off the plane there were people with big yellow signs that pointed us towards our bus that lead us to our cruise ship. When we got to the port itself, I couldn't believe how big the ship was. I literally stood there and stared for a good few seconds. 

My favorite part of the cruise was probably all of the small little excursions that my mom had planned out. But the best thing about the excursions were that we were able to stay away from the food from the ship and eat on our own in Alaska

Honestly this picture does not do the cruise ship justice. The ship is HUGE and you cannot believe what is inside. The cruise ship that me and my mom were on was considered one of the smaller ships, but it had a small basketball court on the top floor, a nice sized gym, a casino, about 7 or 8 restaurants, auditorium, and many small little shops. 

 I was really excited to try some fish tacos in Alaska, and I have to say I was extremely disappointed with my first stop. The tacos were over priced and the fries were NOT crispy. I remember telling my mom how excited I was to have fish tacos because I knew the fist was going to be fresh. The fish was fresh but that was about it. Wish I remembered the name just so I could steer people away from it.

One of the last nights on cruise ship there was a chocolate party. I wasn't too excited for this because me and my mom were both starting to get sick of the food. I already didn't like the desserts that were offered on the ship so I just thought that everything would be okay at best. But after having a few of the items I was genuinely happy that I decided to go.

On our way back to our port city we stopped in Canada for a little bit and this was probably the best meal I had my whole trip. The chef/owner of the restaurant came out and talked to me and my mom and gave us some free dessert. I had the italian sausage lasagna and it was amazing.

My mom had the halibut and she couldn't believe how fresh the fish was. Then the owner pointed to the table next to us that there was a guy sitting there and he was her fisherman and his boat was right outside. We were literally eating halibut right out of the sea.

This was the outside of the restaurant and at first we didn't know if we wanted to go or not, but while we were making our decision, a couple came out and said that this was one of the best restaurants that they had ever been to and so we decided to go in and check it out.

I don't really remember where in Alaska this picture was taken, but I remember thinking that this is a weekday... where is everyone?

The Life of a Kendall Student

So I started taking classes at Kendall College in October. I just finished my second quarter and I have found a new love for food. Before I used to take everything from the back of the house and front of the house for granted. During my first quarter at Kendall, I took a class called a la carte and it was probably one of the best experiences ever. The best way to explain the class is... you work for free. I did everything in the front of the house. I must say talking to customers really isn't that intimidating. Everyone just wants to come in and enjoy their food and receive good service. I also learned that there is good service and exceptional service. The difference is knowing how to exceed the expectations of the customers. Honestly some of the easiest things can please a customer such as changing a napkin out or knowing how to explain to the customer what they are eating. Kendall was definitely a big step for me in my life and I can honestly say that this is what I was meant to do. I don't know if I am more geared towards the food and beverage side or the hotel management side, but I know that I want to deal with people.