a bite of brownie

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

when we went to watch the ice sculpture at lake geneva, we had lunch at "popeye's". it's a casual dining family restaurant. i've eaten there a number of times because everytime i eat there, i always have a good time.


i ordered fresh tossed salad with bleu cheese dressing for starter. french bread with butter was also served.


for my main entree, i ordered roasted chicken with mashed potato. the chicken was very tasty. i wanted a second serving after i finished it!

Verdict: 5/5

Popeye's on Lake Geneva
811 Wrigley Drive
Lake Geneva, WI 53147

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 like most of the food except for the taro puffs and fried sticky rice. my appetite was not fully satisfied by the long intervals of waiting for the right servers to come by. we didn't get all the food we wanted at the same time. there was a time when we were almost done with the food on the table while we were still waiting for the other carts to pass by. By the time they did, my appetite was already gone.

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