Chicago

catswiththumbs · Joined: 03 Jun 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Columbus

Went to Chicago this weekend to visit some friends who lived in the area who happened to be foodies as well and it was awe.some.!!

If you go I highly recommend a stop on Argyle on the red line which has approximately a four block concentration of Vietnamese, Chinese, and a few Thai restaurants. We had Chinese but not the typical fare you'd expect. Among the dishes were duck with crispy skin, sauteed Chinese greens, fried soft shell crab, shrimp shumai soup. Most notable were the ducks and chickens hanging so seductively in the window-front of the restaurant, reminding me of my time I had spent in Korea. I never wanted to leave that neighborhood.

On Sunday morning we went to a HUGE weekly outdoor Mexican market that sold everything under the sun--most of it looking kinda questionable (tire rims, shampoo and cleaning supplies, used vacuums, medical equip, etc). Nestled in between all this merchandise were impromptu Mexican restaurant stands which were GREAT. I figure you know you're in a good ethnic restaurant when you're the only person NOT of that ethnicity there--and we were. We were adventurous and tried tongue tacos (can't remember from which animal, ha) and also corn smut (huitacoche) quesadillas. Apparently corn smut is a kind of fungus that ruins corn and is seen as a blight in the US, but in Mexico it is something of a delicacy. If I turned off the "this is weird and gross" factor, both were great!! It's also worth noting that, yeah, your regular old Mexican restaurant such as El Vaquero....well, they just don't hold up.

Anyhow, I hadn't been to Chicago since my teens and it was really awesome to experience the city and food with somewhat of an insider's perspective. I'd recommend these food experiences to anyone visiting!

uhockey · Joined: 02 May 2008 Posts: 26 Location: Dublin

I fear going to Chicago because I don't think I'd be able to resist Alinea or Tru.......and I don't want to miss rent for a month just to eat. Smile

Glad you had a good time.
_________________
My reviews on yelp: http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=U4INQZOPSUaj8hMjLlZ3KA