a bite of brownie

Kona Grill is one of our favorite Friday lunchout place. It tops in the number of times we eat here because of their lunch specials or what Kona calls as perfect pairings where one could pick two dishes from a list of delicious choices. Perfect pairings are only available from 11am to 2pm. I chose the mini club (a mini version of Kona's clubhouse sandwich ) and crab crunch (a roll of maki with crab and tempura crunch). I've also tried their sushi combo (contains a piece of salmon, tuna and white fish), lunch roll combo (or california roll) and mini cheeseburger. My friends have tried Kona's tomato basil bisque and clam chowder. Kona's calamari is also among the best. Kona also gives freebies to birthday celebrants who joins their club. Every now and then, they also offer discounts.

when you're searching for restaurants that serves chicago deep dish pizza, UNO will come up in the list along with Giordano's, Lou Malnati's and Gino's East. last friday, we were craving for some deep dish so we picked UNO.






we had muchos nachos and wings in 3 ways: buffalo style, honey barbeque and wowza sauce. the nachos was very satisfactory. i enjoyed its melted cheese and jalapeno. the wings were not bad but not that significant.




we chose numero uno deep dish for our entree. it's like the super supreme pizzas of other pizza chains. the crust was crunchy and tasty. it was too meaty for me though but i enjoyed it's cheezy tomato sauce. i'm glad the filling wasn't that deep like the deep dishes in Giordano's.

UNO Chicago Grill
1160 Plaza Drive
Schaumburg, IL 60173

Verdict:
4.5/5 (-0.5 for the wings)

Last night we ate at this cozy Japanese restaurant for dinner. The waiter immediately offered us hot tea or cold glass of water. Since it is getting cold outside, we chose hot tea. =)

They have an array of tempting dishes from sashimi, sushi, maki, rolls, soup, bentos and many more. We were served fried tuna roll with oyster sauce and Japanese mayo as appetizer, complements from the chef. It was perfect.

I ordered gyudon to compare it with the one in Mitsuwa. After tasting it, I could not decide though which one beats the other. I guess they are 5 stars both.

I'm definitely going back to this restaurant to taste their platter of sushi and sushi rolls.



Sushi Kushi San3
281 W Townline Rd
Vernon Hills, IL 60061

Verdict: 4.75/5 (presentation of their menu needs improvement)

Verdict:

N: 5/5 seriously, I can eat a bucket of these and I'll be the happiest person on earth =)

We often go to the cheesecake factory meaning to order cheesecake but we end up sampling their entrees until there's no more room for dessert.

This time we resolved to change that so we had an early dinner and after a fair amount of strenuous activity to burn the meal (read: shopping) we decided to refill our calories with cheesecake.

I ordered the Kahlua Cocoa Coffee Cheesecake because I wasn't really in the mood for something sweet and I expected this one to be bitter. My friend ordered their Tiramusi which she claims is their best dessert yet.

Our orders came surrounded with whipped cream, which I'm not really a big fan of, so it was a total turn off =p. I took one bite each and then called it a night. We had the leftovers to go and I grabbed a slice of their famous chocolate bread appy that I like.

I don't know why but now this restaurant reminds me of Sheldon ^^

Verdict:

N: 4/5

How many guys does it take to make one good burger? Five!

If In and Out is to California, Five Guys is to Illinois. When in America, you have to eat like Americans, that means all the meaty, beefy, greasy goodness of burgers and fries and soda all rolled into one meal.

I ordered the small bacon cheese burger, and believe me it wasn't small at all. Their regular burgers have two patties and probably 4000 calories, so I opted for half of that =) Their serving of fries made from Idaho potatoes was a meal by itself, it's good with vinegar and the huge portion is perfect for sharing.

My friend said she preferred In and Out but I think Five Guys is ok, I can't really remember the taste of the former, I should go back to LA soon and compare ^^

Verdict:
N: 4/5 - great burger experience

For my friend's birthday. her housemates took her out for a sushi dinner, it's an hour drive from Buffalo Grove but it was all worth it. After feasting on sushi in Vancouver, which costs really cheap over there, somehow a $20 sushi place looks so expensive to me.


Sea Ranch is a Japanese grocery store with four or five small tables where customers can sit down and park their bags as they order freshly made sushi and ramen - they serve both ala carte and AYCE. For the latter, they give you a checklist and you can just mark everything you want to order then give it to the counter and wait.

I love that they have salmon roe here, I could eat this all night =) we also ordered a few other rolls for the non raw eaters but half a dozen ikura was good enough for me, I wish we had something like this in Cebu.

Verdict:

N: 4/5

i had my first time watching a live baseball White Sox game last Saturday. the crowd was fun. some men who looked almost drunk were cheering loudly and dancing under the heat of the sun. the team lost that day but I enjoyed the whole experience. i would not forget to mention eating bobak's bratwurst and nachos while watching the game.

Verdict: 5/5

US Cellular Field
333 W 35th St
Chicago, IL 60616

i've already eaten at a number of steakhouses in chicago; chophouse, fugo's and morton's to name a few of them. together with my friends, we tried one of chicago's landmark steakhouse: "gene and georgetti."

the free bread and breadsticks were unremarkable. they were hard and bland.

we ordered assorted italian antipasto for appetizer. it consists of mozarella cheese, olives, anchovies, pepper and ham. i did not like any particular item in the collection.

i got the broiled small strip loin steak for main dish and potato chips as side. the steak is disappointingly dry and bland. no salt or pepper was added to it. i had to put some A1 sauce to make it taste good. it was way too bland from the steak i ate at chophouse. almost all of us in the group were disappointed. two friends ordered filet mignon which is expected to be tender and juicy but was nothing like that. the only friend, who was happy with her order, got the broiled pork chop. she said it's very delicious.

Verdict: 2.5/5 [-0.5 for the hard bread, -2 for the bland and dry steak]

Gene and Georgetti
500 Franklin St
Chicago, IL 60610

we celebrated valentine's day by feasting at "joy yee's noodles." it's a pan-asian cuisine. it serves korean, thai and chinese food. we did not order noodles there though. we ordered the soft-shell crab, korean barbeque spareribs and shrimp with walnuts. the soft-shell crab is very good and the korean spareribs is consistenly good everytime we order it. Their shrimp with walnuts is comparably the same with the other restos in chinatown but still good. joy yee is also known for its wide range of unforgettable fruit shakes and tapiocas.

Verdict: 5/5

Joy Yee's Noodles
521 Davis Street
Evanston, Illinois

we celebrated a friend's birthday at "phoenix" located in chinatown. the waiting line was long. we waited for probably 30 minutes to get a table. after getting a table, we waited for servers to come by with the food carts. we ordered pork siapao, taro puffs, fried sticky rice, shrimp siomai, pork siomai, goto, chicken feet and shrimp wrap for entrees. we had taho for dessert.

i had an interesting experience of dining in a castle while watching knights jousting. no knives and forks were served with the food. we had to eat with our bare hands.

the dinner started with tomato soup and a piece of garlic bread as starter. the soup was literally tomato sauce with a lot of water. it's a shame they include it in the menu. i wanted another serving of garlic bread but it's limited to one per person only.





after the starter, the maids served one whole leg of roasted barbeque chicken, grilled barbeque ribs and two slices of baked potatoes. i was only able to eat a little of the chicken and potatoes because i was so engrossed watching the joust. the chicken and potatoes tasted good enough to satisfy me. our (red) knight won! before entering the stadium, everyone is given a colored(red, yellow, green, etc) crown to cheer for the knight with the same color.





the dessert was pastry with pineapple filling. it was just fine.





Verdict: 3.5/5 [-1 for the tomato soup and -0.5 for the limited rounds of drinks]

Medieval Times
2001 North Roselle Road
Schaumburg, IL 60195

as a disclaimer, i think my review for this restaurant would not be very reliable because i was very hungry when i ate dinner here with my friends. nevertheless, i'm still sharing the experience i had at "famous dave's".

we ordered right away "not’cho ordinary nachos (grande) " for appetizer and "dave's famous feast" for entree when the waiter got our orders for drinks. that's how hungry we were!

the nachos consist of "Tri-colored tortilla chips topped with Wilbur Beans, Famous Chili, shredded lettuce, tomato, jalapeño, Cheddar, seasoned sour cream, Rich & Sassy® and your choice of barbequed meat: Texas beef brisket, Georgia chopped pork, or pulled BBQ chicken."

the appetizer delicious! we almost finished it all up.

the "dave's famous feast" consists of "A full slab of St. Louis-style spareribs, a whole chicken, 1/2 lb. of either Texas beef brisket or Georgia chopped pork, coleslaw, Famous Fries, Wilbur Beans, four corn-on-the-cob, and four corn bread muffins." we chose the beef brisket. i like spareribs, roasted chicken and corn bread muffins the most in this feast. i can do without the beef brisket. i would recommend this feast for a hungry group of 5 or 6 craving for ribs and roasted chicken. aside from the savory spareribs and chicken, "famous dave's" is also known for its tasty sauces: "Texas Pit" and 'Devil's Spit" to name a few of them.

Verdict: 5/5

Famous Dave's Barbeque
99 Town Line Rd
Vernon Hills, IL 60061

we had lunch at a greek restaurant today to celebrate one of our friend's birthday. the ambiance of the place was remarkable. the design of the walls and ceilings matched with the background music made you feel like you're having lunch in greece.

for appetizers, we had hot italian bread with butter and olive oil on the side, flaming saganaki cheese and fried calamari with squeezed lemon. the bread was good and complemented very well with the flaming cheese and fried calamari. the flaming cheese tasted better than the one i first tasted in "dimitri's greek restaurant" since it was saltier than the one we had today. the calamari was very soft and tasty even without dipping it to the sauce.

i ordered greek pikilia, an assorted sampler of roast lamb, meatball pastichio (greek lasagna), dolmades avgolemona dinner (stuffed grapevine leaves with ground lam and rice), spanakotiropita (baked phyllo stuffed with spinach, leeks and feta cheese), rice and potatoes. that's quite a lot right?! i wasn't able to finish them all. by order of preference, i like the dolmades avgolemona the most. its taste was a nice surprise to my palate. the roast lamb would follow. the meat was tender, juicy and tasty. i was not very fond of the spanakotiropita. it had an odd taste for me or probably not used to such taste. i enjoyed the rice and potatoes with the roast lamb and dolmades. i barely touched the meatball pastichio. it tasted like ordinary lasagna to me.

we had baklava (baked phyllo with honey and crushed almonds) for dessert eventhough we were already full. it was very good because it wasn't too sweet.

Verdict: 4.75/5 [-0.25 for the pastichio and spanakotiropita]

Greek Village Taverna
795 E Golf Rd
Schaumburg, IL

it was my last day with the team yesterday and my team organized a farewell lunch at "olive garden". we had calamari, garlic bread breadsticks and had a choice between soup and salad for starters. I chose garden fresh salad with fresh ground parmesan cheese. the salad tasted good and was crispy fresh. the calamari was just fine.

i ordered cheese-filled ravioli with marinara sauce topped with melted italian cheese for the main course. if you are a cheese lover like i am, you would love this. the type of cheese wasn't that salty and striking but the over-all taste of the dish was very good.

Verdict: 4.5/5 [-0.5 for the average calamari]

Olive Garden Italian Restaurant
701 N Milwaukee Avenue
Vernon Hills, IL 60061

we had a team lunch today at "pf chang's" to celebrate the holidays. for starters, we had CHANG'S VEGETARIAN LETTUCE WRAPS (Wok-seared tofu, red onions and water chestnuts with mint and lime. Served with cool lettuce cups)*, CRAB WONTONS (Crunchy wonton filled with creamy rock crab meat and served with a side of spicy plum sauce)* and DYNAMITE SHRIMP (Lightly battered shrimp served with a spicy sauce)*.

it was my first time to try the vegetarian lettuce wrap because i've always had chicken or beef when i eat with my friends. it was very good! i did not even notice there was no meat on it. the crab wontons was also good but it did not really stand out among the crab wontons i've tasted from "yummy bowl" or "wonton express." the dynamite shrimp was crispy and tasty. it was nicely placed on lettuce over a martini glass. i'd definitely order it next time around.

as for my entree, i ordered MANDARIN CHICKEN (A flavorful mix of chicken, snow peas, carrots, bok choy and broccoli makes this dish a sure favorite)*. it was served with white rice. the chicken was so juicy and the salted black beans added extra flavor to the dish. it made me want to cook the same dish at home. one of my teammates had STIR-FRIED EGGPLANT (Tossed with scallions in a savory chili pepper sauce)*. the sauce complemented the eggplant's taste. it gave me an alternative way to cook eggplant because i only know a few eggplant dishes.

overall, "pf chang's" offers a good selection of tasty dishes and is also friendly to vegetarians.

*from the menu

Verdict: 4.5/5 [-0.5 because the crab wontons did not exceed my expectations]

P.F. Chang's
1819 Lake Cook Road
Northbrook, IL 60062