Eating Food for Homework: The Best Assignment I've Ever Recieved Part IV

For the second part of my Chinese eating out activity points, I chose not to go to Chinatown, since I had already been there once. I went to a place called Furama, where I eat very often for dim sum but never go for anything but that. I always go with a large group, most often for the Chinese New Year parade they have on Argyle. When you arrive with a big group, you get a large table with a rotating circle in the middle that the food just gets put on so you can rotate whatever you want to you. The reason why I love this place for dim sum so much is because they actually have people walking around with carts full of food that you can just ask for and get. There will always be at least one person by your table with a cart asking you if you want whatever they have. There are some people here who are very aggressive as well and, when they ask you if you want anything and you say no, will then go on to offer ten other things they have and how good they are and how you should just try them. The carts are great! You can just pick and choose what you want, but this always ends up leaving us with a huge surplus of food and about three things untouched at the end of the meal. The people are always willing to find something for you as well, so if they don't have what you want on their cart, they just call someone else who they know has it. Dim sum is just really easy and a great alternative to Sunday brunch!

We came late as usual, around one in the afternoon, but it was still full to the brim with people and carts alike. We order mostly shrimp things on account of my sister and mother's pescetarianism, but we got so much I couldn't come even close to telling you what we ordered. My father and I got some duck that was extremely full of bones but otherwise good, and we picked these people's carts bare of several kinds of dumplings, buns and noodles, all filled with assorted things most of which we had to ask to make sure had no meat in them. It is truly amazing how many different kinds of buns there are. There are barbecue pork buns, chicken buns, vegetable buns, custard buns... I could go on all day. There are ten thousand different kinds of dumplings, each one just slightly different form the next. And the menu doesn't even cover half of what they have in those carts. Each person has a different cart with different things in it, and when you take into consideration how many people there are with carts, that is a lot of food. 

I was asked to answer this question in my review: Are the characters on the menu in Chinese or English? That is the awesome thing about dim sum - there is a menu, but you of course don't use it and it gets buried underneath your pork siu mai or whatever other thing you are eating and deems more important than a piece of paper with some pictures on it. The characters are Chinese and English, but this is required for much of the people visiting to understand the names of the dishes. However, when the people come around with the carts I do suppose you just point to what you want and say "oh, yeah, one of those", and that is that. The people in the restaurant are a majority Chinese, but there are quite a few non-Chinese people like my family who discovered this concept, just marveled at it and now goes there all the time. I honestly have no idea about the ownership of this place and don't frankly care, so long as they keep the chef.
This place is to me a pretty good example of solid Chinese food served in an interesting way that doesn't cost a lot, and it seems to be part of the clump of places that have been slightly modified to fit American tastes but overall just a good place in total.

Eating Food for Homework: The Best Assignment I've Ever Received Part III

Since we are currently doing a unit on China in my social studies class, I was once again able to go to a Chinese restaurant for some points! I went to Chinatown and, since I don't really come down there at all often, first just looked around at some shops they had there. There was a sort of bulk items/candy store sort of thing that a guy was just closing up so we went in there. We started looking at the tea so he came over and suggested some stuff for us and told us how amazing of a company Ten Ren is.(We actually did end up buying some Ten Ren tea, and it was pretty good!)
To end the debate between different restaurants in Chinatown we've gone to and already enjoyed, we decided to go to a place called Triple Crown that is right on Wentworth with a view of the big sign there. It seemed like it had been there for a really long time and was just one of those old-school Chinese restaurants that everyone likes. It had dim sum all day so we ordered some random dumplings and such, which were pretty average and not particularly fantastic. Later I ordered the beef and mixed mushrooms, which I somewhat regret because I wish I had gotten something slightly more interesting and not as straightforward. This restaurant in total seemed pretty straightforward and not as authentic as some others I have been to in the past, so that was unfortunate.
The people in the restaurant were a combination of Chinese and non-Chinese with the latter definitely being the majority. The menu had dish names in both Chinese and English, but the English was more prominent, which leads me to believe there were on average more English-speaking customers coming here whether they were of Chinese descent or not. The menu said the food was "Hong Kong cuisine", so this would lead me to believe that there would be some Western food influences in this food on account of the British colonization of Hong Kong for some time. The menu did have a section with Szechuan food so Hong Kong style food could also be influenced by this as well.
My fortune cookie ended up saying, "This is the year when ingenuity stands high on the list." I don't know if this review is ingenious but can you really trust fortune cookies?

Eating Food for Homework: The Best Assignment I've Ever Recieved Part II

For the second part of my project, I chose Tiffin, an Indian restaurant on Devon. My mom and sister, being vegetarians, were pushing to go to Udupi Palace, which was more Southern Indian, but I decided to come here. The first thing you see when you walk in is this big piece in the middle of the restaurant with two Greek-looking pillars sticking up to the ceiling which has an oval on it with blue sky and clouds. It’s pretty dimly lit which makes the dark orange and yellow walls even more dramatic than they already are. The restaurant is pretty empty at 7 on a Tuesday night so we had a waiter constantly coming over to our table, asking us if we needed anything and filling our water glasses.

We ordered the assorted appetizers which had vegetable samosas, pakoras, kabobs and a spiced chicken of some sort cut into cubes. My father and I were therefore stuck- no complaints- with the kabobs and the chicken because Mary and my mother had to eat the vegetarian things. The kabob was, my dad assumed, lamb sausage which was very rubbery and not my favorite. The chicken looked interesting- it was an uncommon shade of salmon pink- but really was just well-cooked but not super flavorful. Once we were finished with starters, I ordered the chicken makhani. When it came out, I recognized it as a dish I knew better as murgh makhani or butter chicken, something that I had wanted to give up a while ago because I thought it wasn’t very spicy. I had ordered it medium heat but it had only a hint of spice. The buttery taste was still strong in the sauce though which was very good. I mixed in some of my dad’s rogan josh which was much spicier to add heat and that made it better. We also got a garlic naan which is always good to dip in the sauce of your dish, especially because the rice-sauce proportions were way off here and I ate some of my sauce with biryani, which was still very good. When my parents asked the man waiting on us what region of India this food was mainly from, he said it was from Northern India. The cultures are probably different in different parts of India, then, if Northerners are more meat eaters and Southerners are more vegetarian. This could relate to just culture, but it could also be possible resources or location.

In conclusion, Tiffin was good Indian food and while it maybe wasn’t as flavorful as I had hoped it to be, it still tasted good and was a nice weeknight dinner that was worth going a little out of the way of where you live.

Eating Food for Homework: The Best Assignment I've Ever Recieved Part I

          Every new unit, my Social Studies teacher asks his students to do something called Activity Points, where you have to go out and do various activities of your choice that are related to the topic we are studying. This unit happens to be about geography and foreign culture, and one of the options for an activity is going to a restaurant from a different country. I of course loved this option and more than half of my points are going to be from going out and eating good food. My first stop was my favorite pho restaurant on Argyle, Pho 777(better than Pho 888, don't mix them up). We know the people there("Chicken pho for you, and oh-you don't eat meat.") and absolutely love the food. You are supposed to turn in a review of the restaurant, so I will write it here- what better excuse than this to post on a blog you haven't written on in almost two years?

          Obviously, I ordered chicken pho as usual. Pho is basically noodle soup but better- in addition, it has about twenty different cow parts you can order in your soup, along with chicken, pork, seafood and vegetable soups. Noodles, then, are presumably a prominent food in that area and something that is eaten a lot. I recommend pho with a combination of Sriracha sauce and the chili sauce put out on your table- that is how I have always eaten it. When the pho comes out it is steaming hot, which is really the best time to eat it, except there is about a gallon of it in that bowl. Before the pho is served you are given a plate of condiments including lime, Thai basil, sprouts and jalapeño peppers. I am not entirely sure why Thai and American basil are different; this is probably something about the land there and what is available. There isn't really anything in the pho other than broth, noodles, meat and unidentified leafy greens. It is fabulous that way, which is what makes it different from my mother's more American noodle soup, with potatoes, carrots, celery and fat noodles. This is possibly important to the culture of Vietnam and the U.S. because I know that in the U.S. noodle soup has always been a common comfort food. Judging by how popular pho seems to be and how there are Vietnamese restaurants entirely given to pho, one would think that this particular dish was of some value to their culture.
             The atmosphere of Pho 777 is very casual and probably family-owned- my own family is constantly trying to figure out who is part of the family, which couple owns this place, and how everyone is related. In addition, there always seems to be family or very good friends having dinner in a table by the kitchen, and half of the time someone working there will bring out a dish with candles in it and sing something in Vietnamese. My family and I all think it is hilarious that most of the time the music they are playing is older music by Americans dubbed in Vietnamese(for example, Kenny Rogers and rock-n-roll hits). The two people always serving can be slightly grumpy but we know the older woman there well and she is very sweet(this is the same woman from the picture included).
              Summing it all up, Pho 777 is the best place for pho on Argyle, and while it is not the most well-known pho restaurant in the city, the bowl of soup it has to offer is delightfully warming and filling on a cold January night. And while you are on Argyle, make sure to stop at the Tai Nam Vietnamese market for some unique Asian goods and the Chiu Quon Bakery for Chinese pastries and a lot of different kinds of buns.

Kate

Mary's Food Rule

From the age of 1, I loved real food. As an infant, I didn't eat baby food- I ate mashed up vegetables and fruits instead of some wild concoction that people thought babies would like. And that's impacted my eating habits today. Now, I enjoy real and exotic food that might not seem as appealing to others. For example, an octopus. At age 4, I had my first bite and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In Language Stars, though, we were having a snack. I took one look at a slice of American cheese and decided that, no I was not eating this, and from then on American cheese has been called "Plastic cheese" and in our household, that will forever be it's name. That doesn't mean that I won't eat a grilled cheese - that is one of the food options on the top of my list. At the grocery store, my mom always says that if I can identify the majority of the ingredients on the ingredient list , I can buy it. If not, we'll have some discussion. Basically, if it's not real, I'm out.

-Mary 

Nice to Meet You

The Taste Buds are two well seasoned epicureans, age eight and under; two children who choose sushi over nuggets, gnocchi over buttered noodles and brie over American slices. Follow them around Chicago as they bypass the children's menu, try new foods, and share their findings here. Reviews from all over the city, and not from restaurants generally tagged as kid friendly, voiced (but not penned) by the Taste Buds.

Kate
When she was two she was offered a piece of cheese. Kate stared at the just unwrapped slice of American cheese, turned it over, took a nibble and said, “No thank you”. She deemed this plastic cheese and swore it off forever. At seven she remains true to her word,” plastic cheese” is on her very short list of dislikes. She will try anything once but after several attempts has yet to find a favorite Indian dish. Kate, like Noah, puts Asian food at the top of her list, specifically sushi and Thai. She loves sitting at the sushi bar at Green Tea, and similarly, at the counter at the Pasta Bowl, because she likes to watch them cook. She loves Vietnamese Pho in the winter and turkey sandwiches, on a picnic, in the summer. The best turkey sandwich around? Chicago Bagel Authority.

Mary
Mary does not hesitate, her favorite food is gnocchi and she is quickly becoming an authority on best options in the city. Bachanalia  is very good, as are Mario’s, Fornello and the Pasta Bowl, which makes the list because the people that make the food talk to her. And they know never to put mushrooms on her gnocchi, she doesn’t like them. Thankfully she rarely finds mushrooms in her sushi, number two on her list, which she prefers at Oh Fusion, just down the street from Wrigley (also on her favorite places list, but hopefully not for the food). She loves spanikopita but, as she is seven, will order a grilled cheese sandwich when offered the opportunity, “with cheddar and tomato please”. Tops for that, Frances.

First Course, Taste Buds

The arrival of twins seven years ago did nothing to slow our restaurant habit, as we feared it might. Rather, we took them along, finding two sleeping infants to be rather good dinner companions. For several months they slumbered away in their seats as we enjoyed evenings out, albeit at a much earlier time and more rapid pace than before their arrival.

As things happen, eventually those sleeping children woke up, sat up and, as quickly as their tiny fingers could sign, they asked for more. At six months they were trying out restaurant high chairs, eating avocados at El Barco, pancakes at Uncommon Ground and green beans at Bistro Margot. We became experts at menu reading, piecing together kid-friendly meals from ingredients offered in other dishes. Any restaurant that has a Cobb salad on the menu can offer a diced egg, avocado and small pieces of cheese. Mrs. Murphy and Sons fed them mashed potatoes, carrots and bits of roasted chicken; at steak houses we opted for for diced asparagus and baked potatoes; and in Asian restaurants we relied on tofu, edamame and broccoli. Sourcing the menu became a game, a challenge for us to see who could assemble the best non kid’s menu meal in the shortest time. The truth is, despite my being the family cook, it was their father who really mastered the art of reading between the lines and creating masterpieces for our budding gourmands.

Their restaurant skills developed along with their taste buds. Once they started talking, they started ordering. They developed favorite dishes, favorite restaurants, and favorite types of food. When they were unable to agree on something to share, we asked for half portions, and found most places agreeable to that request. More often than not restaurants seemed pleased to see young children interested in trying new food; that we try to eat early helps keep our hosts happy. The girls have eaten everywhere from Topolabampo to the burrito place at the end of the street. They eat close to home, downtown, in Chicago’s diverse ethnic neighborhoods, and occasionally in their own apartment.

Listening to us complain and compliment for seven years has worn off; Mary and Kate freely offer their own opinions on everything from service to food to atmosphere. Their reviews are both hilarious and often dead on, and now here. We're skipping the kids menu and talking real food for real people, just in a smaller size.