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I committed 7 deadly sins today -- only it was the same sin over and over again: gluttony, gluttony, gluttony, gluttony, gluttony, gluttony, and what was that last one? oh yeah: gluttony.
It started out innocent enough. We headed over to Manny's. I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. We got a pastrami reuben, roast beef on onion roll, cheese blintz, and a diet Dr. Brown's black cherry. The guy behind the counter was great -- attitude, but always in a fun-loving way that made you think you were being hassled by your goofy uncle.
The pastrami wasn't bad. Better, I'd say, than most and better than the midtown places in NY. It's sliced on a slicer, but relatively thick and is tender enough to work that way. Not very smoky and pretty salty and sweet, but it's the real deal. The portion was ridiculously huge. The use of a panini press, though, complete with grill marks was just weird.
Latke was too eggy and greasy and not crisp, but better than many that I've had in delis -- actually better than most that I've had in delis other than ours, but I'm very partial to a latke that is very crisp and almost entirely potato.
Blintz was premade, including pre-pan-fried. Blah, but fine. Cheese seemed more like cottage than pot and was a bit sweet.
Roast beef was cooked nicely, but lacked seasoning. Salt really helped. Some slices were a bit stringy and tough for the thickness it was cut. Love that it was cooked truly rare. Liked the pickles. Had a nice crisp crunch to them, but a little flat tasting.
I think Manny's is worth being proud of. It's not GREAT deli from what I tried, but it's respectable.
Then we went over to the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen. Love that place. Afterwards we walked up 18th, visited Bombon and Birreria Reyes de Octolan. The cake we got was beautiful, but just decent tasting. I think there stuff lacks intensity and flavor. It's gorgeous, but the pleasure of the tongue doesn't live up to the pleasure of the eye. This one had mango on top and the mangos were flat tasting too. The chocolate they were using was very plasticky. Perhaps it's just the cakes.
After that, we headed over to Humboldt Park and the Paseo de Boricua. Walked that and had a "snack" at Papa's Cache Sabroso of a jibarito with arroz con gandules and some maduros. Maduros were a little overcooked on one side and undercooked on the other. My wife still liked them, but they're one her absolute favorite things to eat. The arroz con gandules was more like Mexican "Spanish" rice with pigeon peas than what I've had in PR. There, the rice is simpler, firmer, and richer tasting. The jibarito was really good. Such a great sandwich and the parts individually were executed well. The meat was thin, tender, nicely crusted, and well seasoned. The cheese was melty and creamy. The "bun" was crisp, but tender inside and slightly garlicky. I wish they had mofongo.
Walked through Humboldt Park and got some ice cream from a little cart: Helados de Coco. Aptly named. Got a cup of syrupy, gooey coconut ice cream/sorbet for $1.50. Not good.
Back to the hotel to pick up a gift for Alan and Erik -- they'll have to let you in on it and grab some cash before "dashing" off to Cicero and Xni-Pec. Only, Xni-Pec wasn't open. Got a call from Alan that they were unexpectedly closed. He picked us up at the CTA station and we met GWIV and headed down to Vito & Nick's with a brief stop at Chuckie's (that's right, isn't it?) I liked the Italian beef at Chuckie's but I think the meat/jus is a little underseasoned. I think the sausage was cooked pretty poorly -- burnt, a little bitter, and dry. Fries were okay. I think a combo is a mistake there and the sandwich was better with just beef. I'm torn on whether I like the gardinera there or not. The hot is made with jalapeno slices.
Vito & Nick's was my intro, really, to Chicago thin crust. We got a sausage/onion/garlic and a pepperoni/garlic/basil. The former was better than the latter. The basil was dried. The sausage had a strong fennel component and was slightly sweet. The garlic overpowered the sauce, but it added a nice component and offset the sweetness in some ways of the sausage. I don't think the onions are necessary. The sauce is very simple. I would guess it's something like canned tomatoes and salt and nothing else, just pureed and put on raw or very lightly simmered. It's thin compared with the cheese and everything. The edges were good. For me, this pizza is first about the crunch, which is my favorite texture. The sausage combo had a good flavor overall, but was undercooked as you moved inward. If this was crunchy all over, I think I would have really liked it.
On the way back we hit Mario's. I love how refreshing their Italian ice is, I think largely because it's not very sweet. I got watermelon and lemon. Both just tasted like you had frozen the fruit and chopped it up. My wife got the pineapple, which was tasty, too. Alan got the banana, which personally I don't think works as well and I prefer in an ice cream, I think. Maybe because of the texture of bananas themselves is creamy.
We got a quick nightcap at Jim's Original for a polish with onions, mustard, and peppers. Fries were crisp and decent. Sausage was tasty with a nice snap, semi-course grind, sweet and garlicky meat. Well-charred which I appreciate. I'd like truly caramelized onions, but they were fully cooked. I'd also prefer a bun that was more substantial for such a substantial and tasty sausage. This sausage was a definite step up from WC.
So that's it, except for whatever I get out of the vending machine for my midnight snack. (It's midnight back home.) 12 courses for tomorrows dinner? I can't wait.....
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