One great thing about being back in Chicago for work is the chance to see all of my friends that live in the Windy City. On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to meet up with my friend, Jack, who recently graduated from college and is starting his career in banking this July. To celebrate, we headed to Il Mulino Chicago, which is the only Il Mulino to change their name (all of the other Il Mulino’s are known as Il Mulino New York, even though they’re in different locations). Il Mulino is in the Biggs Mansion (most people will probably recognize it from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and is absolutely beautiful inside. When we sat down, the waiters immediately came over and brought us a ton of free goodies:

They also serve bruschetta tableside (my favorite out of all of the freebies). None of the free things were that good (the breads were all too hard) and the zucchini was too oily (although it was Jack’s favorite dish).

Since the portions at Il Mulino are pretty large, the waiter suggested we get a half portion of pasta and a main course. We decided to split an order of porcini ravioli in a black truffle/champagne sauce:

I didn’t know there were only four pieces in a half order (it seemed like so little!) but the sauce is really rich and two pieces really is enough (especially since there is so much cream in the sauce). Jack really liked the porcini filling of the ravioli since there was a lot of flavor in the filling (especially since the taste is usually overpowered with the sauce and pasta):

After the porcini ravioli, we had a serving of osso bucco with risotto:

Jack thought the osso bucco tasted like it was drenched in A-1 sauce/came from a can, which I totally agreed with, and the risotti was a little too mushy. The veal was definitely very tender and cooked well (Jack mentions that it falls right off the bone in the video review), but the sauce basically ruined the veal.

For dessert, we ordered tiramisu:

The best thing of the night - I really didn’t plan on eating the whole thing, but somehow it was gone in about 3 minutes. (oops!) Il Mulino finishes off every meal with grappa (a very strong Italian brandy) - they infuse the grappa and change the flavors on a daily basis (we had a sampling of green apple).

Il Mulino Chicago would be a great meal for a winter night (when you don’t feel bad about having an extremely heavy meal), but I practically had to be rolled out of the restaurant after we finished our meal. I might try Il Mulino in New York, but I’ll wait until the winter time when I don’t have to worry about eating a little extra!

My video review of Il Mulino Chicago:

Il Mulino Chicago Review from Grace Yang on Vimeo.

Since I landed in Chicago, I’ve been seriously craving sushi. I had sushi with my college roommates the first night I got here (some place in Evanston that was pretty good) and I made reservations for Kaze Sushi for Wednesday night with another friend. We were deciding between two sushi restaurants but people said Kaze Sushi was some of the best sushi they’d had in Chicago, so my friend and I decided to go to Kaze. We arrived a bit early (around 6pm) and the restaurant was completely empty. After being seated and looking through our menus, our waiter gave us a rundown of all of the specials and things that are really great on the menu. I decided to order the duck entree and six different types of rolls. The duck entree was brought out first:

The duck was surprisingly tender and well cooked in a white wine reduction with apples and raisins. At first I was a little iffy on the sauce because I’m not a fan of raisins in food, but then I realized it was actually really delicious with the duck (I even ate the sauce after the duck was finished!). The tempura shiitake mushrooms reminded me of carnival fries (same oily smell and a little tastier) and the sweet potato fries on top of the duck were crunchy but good. The boiled spinach was cold on one side and slightly warm on the other (the duck was keeping it warm), but overall, the dish wasn’t very hot/felt like it sat out a while before it was brought over to us. There were too many different temperatures in the food that it was kind of hard to stomach. My friend (who shall not be named for privacy reasons), was finishing up the meal when he thought he ate a hard piece of duck, but when he took it out of his mouth, he saw that it was a broken piece of plastic! Isn’t that absolutely TERRIBLE?!

After we alerted our waiter and he profusely apologized, he brought out our rolls - 6 different types of rolls including a dragon roll with salmon, a shrimp tempura roll, a negi hamachi roll, a spicy tuna roll, a spicy salmon roll, and a spicy tuna eel roll. Here’s a picture of three of the rolls:

And the other three:

My biggest complaint, which I mention in the video review, is that there isn’t enough fish in any of the rolls! The hamachi roll had TINY TINY pieces of hamachi (I couldn’t even call it a hamachi roll, I’d call it a ROLL OF RICE). I also had to send back the soft shell crab with salmon because the salmon was seriously rubbery and couldn’t be chewed through. The other rolls were fairly decent, except the shrimp tempura had too much batter on it and I could only taste the tempura, not the shrimp.

For dessert, we decided to share the black sesame flan:

My first question - why is black sesame flan GREEN?! Second question - why does it look like there are spider babies on the plate?! The flan tasted more like peanut butter than black sesame and was very creamy (as a random side note, my mom sometimes mixes black sesame with almonds and soybeans to make soy milk - it’s quite delicious if you drink it cold).

Kazi Sushi had a great open space and lively atmosphere, but it couldn’t make up for the sub-par food.

My video review:

Kaze Sushi Review from Grace Yang on Vimeo.

Back in March when I was looking all over Manhattan for an apartment, I met a broker that used to be a waitress at Aqua Grill in Soho. Even though I didn’t find a place through her, I got some good restaurant recommendations, including a burger joint in Brooklyn - DuMont Burger. I meant to check it out sooner, but getting to Brooklyn is a hassle.

Chris and I took the L train to Brooklyn for dinner, which is a pretty big deal because taking the L train on the weekends can be a huge pain in the butt; there is always some kind of construction going on! We ended up getting to Brooklyn and finding DuMont Burger:

Initially, we walked into the take-out portion of the restaurant (we were a little disappointed because it was a hike from the subway stop to DuMont Burger and we didn’t see any chairs to sit in while we enjoyed dinner), but when we got up to the counter to order, the cashier told us there was an actual restaurant a couple doors down - whew!! DuMont Burger is actually an extension of their restaurant, DuMont; they opened up DuMont Burger because people always ended up waiting forever for burgers and bar food. We walked into the restaurant, took seats at the bar, and ordered a cheeseburger with fries and macaroni and cheese.

Chris’ cheeseburger with fries:

Juicy medium rare:

The burger was actually pretty good - I’d say it’s worth it if you’re in Brooklyn, but not worth the hassle of going to Brooklyn JUST for a cheeseburger. It was juicy, flavorful, and the brioche bun was the perfect proportion in relation to the meat. The lettuce, something I hardly ever mention in burger posts, was very crisp and the perfect size as well (boston lettuce, I think). Their fries were all small bits (similar to Soho Park’s leftover fries!!).

Since I didn’t want to order the same thing as Chris (we because we always switch plates halfway through our meal), I ordered the DuMac and Cheese:

Remember how I said that the burger isn’t worth going to Brooklyn for? Well, the macaroni and cheese DEFINITELY is; it has an amazingly cheesy crust, lots of perfectly cooked rotini noodles, lots and lots of gooey cheese, and bacon. TONS OF HUGE BACON pieces. I was so amazed at how much pork was in the macaroni and cheese (it was even better than Artisanal’s).

The walk back to the subway didn’t seem as far as the walk over because I was so stuffed from the macaroni and cheese and the cheeseburger. I will definitely go back - for their mac and cheese!

What to order: The DuMac and Cheese, tempura onion donuts, and the DuMont burger.

How to get to DuMont Burger:

DuMont Burger
314 Bedford Avenue between 1st and 2nd Street
Brooklyn, New York 11211
718-384-6127

After a day at the Guggenheim, Chris, Ariel, Joe, Nita, and I headed to Ditch Plains for a relaxing dinner. Joe flew to New York for the weekend to meet up with his new co-workers (he’s moving from Chicago in July!). I also met his co-worker, Nita, who is super cute and hilarious. Since we were a group of five, we decided to eat family style (ordering a bunch of different items off the menu so we could try everything). I got a general idea of what everyone wanted and then decided to order the following dishes:

Chicken pot pie:

Chicken pot pie with a biscuit on top - lots of juicy chicken meat, vegetables, and a biscuit on top. The biscuit was homemade and added a nice texture to the soupy chicken pot pie, but the chicken/veggie combination didn’t have enough flavor. Ariel said this was his favorite dish of the night (originally, Ariel wanted to order a skirt steak, but he said he’d order the chicken pot pie so we could also get a taste of the homemade biscuit).

Fish tacos:

Nita and Joe were checking out the fish tacos when we were going through the menu, so we ordered it. I don’t think anyone really LOVED the dish; there were too many different flavors and none of them were really distinct, so it was just like eating a pile of mush. The sauce on top didn’t taste very good, either, making this dish a total disaster.

Mussels and fries:

Chris and I wanted to order the mussels and fries (even though no one else wanted them) and the mussels were okay (the white wine sauce needed lemon), but the fries were AMAZING. They were thickly cut and had a great crunch to them - Ditch Plains might have the best fries in NYC!! They kind of reminded me of Les Halles’ fries, but the crunch was more similar to a curly fry than anything else. The mussels, on the other hand, weren’t memorable and I wouldn’t order them again.

Macaroni and cheese:

Nita and I really wanted to try the macaroni and cheese (it ended up being my favorite dish of the night). The layer of crusted cheese was amazingly delicious because it added just the right amount of texture to the noodles. The mac and cheese was Chris’ favorite dish of the night as well.

Lobster roll:

The lobster roll was my second least favorite dish of the night. I basically compare all lobster rolls I’ve ever eaten to Pearl Oyster Bar’s lobster roll; does it have huge chunks of lobster meat? Is there enough mayo? Enough butter on the bun? The lobster roll at Ditch Plains had too many onions, celery, and other weird chunks of vegetables that didn’t match the soft, sweet wonderfulness of the lobster. Thumbs down. The sweet potato fries were okay (they were homemade), but a little too crunchy (maybe I have soft teeth like Michael from The Office).

Ditch Plains was very accommodating for the 6 of us and getting a large table wasn’t difficult for a busy Saturday night (we got there around 7:30 right before the dinner rush). Their menu has a variety of dishes to please every type of palette, but they don’t prepare their plates well enough for a repeat visit from me.

How to get to Ditch Plains:

Ditch Plains
29 Bedford Street between Carmine Street and Downing Street
New York, NY 10014
212-524-6800

After David and I found our new apartment, we were wandering around Chelsea and wanted to get a quick bite to eat. David suggested Qdoba, but I’m not a big fan (I like Chipotle more), so we decided to try Better Burger. I walk by the place a lot, but have never stopped by because Chris said he didn’t like the place. Since Chris wasn’t with us, David and I stopped by and ordered cheeseburgers and fries:

Better Burger has antibiotic, hormone, and nitrate free meat, organic fries, and organic buns. My cheeseburger might have been healthy compared to a McDonald’s burger, but it lacked any taste and was extremely greasy:

A “healthy” burger shouldn’t lack all kinds of taste, SHOULD IT?! Better Burger’s meat was dry and their cheese was greasy; there were more condiments than anything else on the burger. I ordered a value meal that also came with fries:

The fries are supposedly more “airy” than other places, but I found them to be really stale and tasteless.

If you’re in the mood for a burger around the Chelsea area, skip Better Burger and go to Corner Bistro instead.