(Inhale slowly)
Now that I am no longer responsible for the GNRs (thank you Onur) or LTHForum (thank you Ronnie) - both tasks I took on quite happily and performed in my own way for years - I can actually post on meals without any pangs of guilt about what other LTH tasks I should be doing right now.
(exhale)
This is a very good thing, and so I think I may start to write here about food again. But first, please be patient with me a bit longer as I explain how I plan to do it, and along with it expound a bit about my impressions of LTH of late. My normal stomping grounds are around my home in the south loop and my office in the western suburbs. I eat out fairly regularly in both areas and am always looking for ideas. I have not found as much as I would hope about these places in LTHForum, so I plan to do my bit to remedy that. These will not be long or detailed reviews, because when I eat I am enjoying my food and just trying to remember impressions as they occur. I will endeavor to provide enough detail to make it clear what I liked, and did not like, and why, and also so you might begin to calibrate my taste to yours, and thereby determine whether or not my comments are of any use to you.
There will be no, or very few, photos because my photos are usually not so great, I forget or just do not wish to take pictures at times, and photos lie. A photo tells me is how good the photographer is, and very little about the food. I know that many eat with their eyes so photos work for them, but not for me.
And there will be two threads, one for each of my locales. Of course, when there is already a thread about a place, I will (probably) just chime in there.
Feel free to respond, disagree or ignore at your pleasure of course - my opinions are just my reaction at that point in time, and nothing more.
Manifesto complete, on to the food.
No longer residing in the western burbs, but returning a couple of days and one night a week as a tourist has changed my dining habits out there, as well, it seems, as my view of that scene. After almost a year of these visits, here is what I found.
Almost all of my old favorites really ain't that great. Places I have tried once or more over the last year, used to like, and have no plan to return include
Greek Islands - Lombard. After three impressively mediocre meals that would have fit right in with a Chicken Kiev banquet in terms of quality and preparation, I am done. Sticking to Greektown now.
Reza's Oak Brook - how can you screw up a Kabob? This place is so tired that just sitting there wore me out. The food was not that bad, and they have some weekday specials where you get a lot of food at a good price, but it also is not good enough to go back either, particularly given the sad, tired feeling of the whole place.
Chinn's Pier 34 - Lisle - This is a strange one, because I will go back. They have very good ingredients, but the preparations are just uninspired. No one there gets that less is more, so the fish is often overcooked, but the sauces and seasoning are bland, limp, meh. If you want a piece of fish simply griled and can convey to the that they need to cook it lightly for you, go. But anything beyond that is a crap shoot.
A few places have held up well - Mediterranean Oasis - Naperville - still serves a very nice range of Middle Eastern fare, mostly for carry out. I like the people, like the food, need to go back more often.
I have a soft spot for Labriola Cafe in Oakbrook, too. Yes, it is just a good version of the old Corner Bakery chain with better food and baked goods, but if you just want a salad, some soup, some chili, a burger, or the few dishes they make up every day, it is reasonable, reliable and enjoyable. Not worth a trip for sure, but a good standby in the neighborhood.
I find myself going to Katy's - Westmont, and Mapo in Napervile when I want some Chinese, and not Fabulous Noodles - Lisle, or Lao Sze Chuan - Downers Grove. The two former places have some reliably wonderful dishes (most of the noodle soups at Mapo are excellent, and see the whole thread for Katy's), while I have found LSC in DG to be a bit more variable as I explored more of the menu, and Fabulous Noodles while still pretty good feels a little faded these days. My first love is growing stale, I guess. Anyway, Katy's and Mapo are worth a detour for sure.
I continue to enjoy Zenwich in Elmhurst from time to time, but would not make a special trip to go there.
Lastly, I still enjoy Taco Grill and Salsa Bar in Westmont. Best Torta Milanesa around, great selection of salsas, good tacos al carbone, and more. In a way, it is the best of what is a pretty mediocre selection of taco places out here, but it is pretty good.
But none of that is new.
The two new places I have tried were further afield.
Shahi Nihari in Villa Park is owned by the same folks as the location in Morton Grove. Have only been once so far, but the Frontier Chicken Rice and Eggplant Curry I had were both delicious, generous and inexpensive. I love Biryani and all its related Indian/Pakistani rice dishes, and the Frontier Rice was perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned with a bit of heat and just wonderful. I will be back soon
Rio's in Addison is owned by a relative of the owner of Rio's D'Sudamerica in the city, but the menu is slightly different, and inexplicably after being open for over a year, they have no web site. Business seemed okay on a cold, Tuesday night, so I guess they do not need it. Anyway, I was there for a late dinner on my own, and just had a ceviche, a bowl of Chupe de Camarones and a Pisco Sour chased with a beer. I was not impressed by my Pisco. A bit too sweet and I think some sort of mix may have been used in there. The Ceviche was fresh, bright and delicious. The Soup was more of a stew, and again fresh, bright and delicious. Definitely plan to return for a full meal soon.
Lastly, I tried A Toda Madre in Glen Ellyn recently with a friend. I guess this place started as a sister restaurant to Bien Trucha in Geneva, and then relocated to Glen Ellyn where it is doing a very good business (it was full on another cold, snowy Tuesday, so beware of that). Basically they are doing the modern, creative, DF style cuisine pretty well, making a great addition to the Glen Ellyn dining scene. On this visit we started with the Aguachile, which was a very mild rendition, using tuna, and made into a nice mountain with lots of cucumber mixed in. A bit too mild for my taste, but not bad. At that point we requested some hot sauce and were sold a salsa sampler - Morita, Habanero and Serrano. Decently seasoned and flavorful salsas.
We then shared two orders of four small tacos each - Diabla and Buen Trucha. The Diabla are crispy sauteed shrimp, dressed with mojo de ajo, a chipotle lime sauce and some avocado. It needed a bit more heat, so we experimented with the salsas. Still, delicious and pretty little jewels of tacos. The Bien Trucha is a steak taco dressed with a bit of cheese and a tomatillo salsa. As such things sometimes achieve in my dreams, it was a sort of rich, beefy, ideal, managing to pack into what looked like a small bite a richness, pleasure and heft far beyond its size. Essence of beef, rich, creamy bite. Yeah, I added some habanero to up the heat.
I might accuse ATM is slightly toning things down for Glen Ellyn as far as the heat (it has been a while since I have been to Bien Trucha, but I think things were hotter in Geneva), but the food is damned good.
More notes to come.
Shahi Nihari
541 East North Avenue
Villa Park, IL 60181
http://shahinihari.com/Rio's Addison
1600 West Lake Street
Addison, IL 60101
A Toda Madre
499 North Main Street
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
http://www.atmrestaurant.com/
d
Feeling (south) loopy