Posted by Krista on April 29, 2012
Time for a break. Too many restaurants, too little time. And I’m TIRED. I know, I know. What happened to all your photos, Krista? What happened to full blog write-ups? Frankly speaking, no one restaurant has driven me to such great lengths in a long time. So micro-reviews it is for you. For now. Personally, I kinda like the micro-review thing. It’s like Twitter. Or a Haiku. (A long one.)
Benny’s Chop House, 444 N. Wabash, River North (ish, because I kinda feel like Wabash is a bit of a wasteland and even though it’s north of the river, it’s still in The Loop, isn’t it?). When I was looking for new kitchen knobs in December (yes, I’m very domestic like that), I met Benny himself in a hardware store and made a mental note to stop in to his restaurant sometime. In return for the name and phone number of his handyman and all. So I did. (Although I never called his handyman.) It was a weekend afternoon and the place was EMPTY. I sat at the bar and had a burger. And it was so flavorless, it was sad. The bun was good though, as were the fries. (Served in their own miniature basket for frying! Genius!) But really, all I wanted was some salt and pepper. BUT wait. The PRICE. The price was kind of amazingly right. $10 for a burger and fries that is certainly better than Mickey D’s. I mean, for that, I might just have to go back. Even though the bar area kinda felt like a bad 2008 Chicago condo kitchen installation. The Verdict: If you like value for money, sit at the bar and get a burger, but ask for salt and pepper and all that other stuff.
Irazu, 1865 N. Milwaukee, Bucktown. Everyone told me I would love Irazu, one of Chicago’s only Costa Rican restaurants. Well, I didn’t. It all felt a bit unkempt and dingy, and our table was unsteady, so that was annoying. And my tilapia tacos were probably about the most underwhelming thing I’ve eaten so far in 2012. (Tilapia. In a taco. With a lot of overcooked onions. No thank you.) My friend Amy got that oatmeal shake that everyone raves about and I thought, “Gee, it’s just like drinking cold oatmeal.” The Verdict: Meh. Not so exciting. Not sure why it’s so packed.
Maza, 2415 N. Ashland, Sort of Lincoln Park-ish. I will admit to a total bias. I used to live by the old Maza on Lincoln and I always loved it. You might know my greatest goal is to go to Lebanon at some point in the near future. And I am also a sucker for hummus. So it was that I found myself at the new Maza at Ashland & Fullerton, where I heard the incredibly sad story of the owner losing the lease on his old space in West Lakeview. The landlord on Lincoln wanted a monthly sum that no sole proprietor could ever agree to. So Maza moved. And the old space remains unoccupied still. Greedy bastards. Well, bygones because we had fun at Maza and I loved my assortment of food, just like I did in the old days. I love that it’s this guy’s restaurant and it always has been and he works there all the time. The Verdict: Support a local businessman and go. (And really, ignore the Yelp reviews.) Sadly, the proprietor hasn’t been back to Lebanon in 30+ years.
I’ve got more. A lot more. Coming up: Storefront Company, RPM Italian, and the part where I nearly die on a bar stool at Yusho. And a lot of other places that I can’t even remember at the moment. Hmmm.
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Posted in American, Bucktown, Latin, Lebanese, Lincoln Park, River North | 3 Comments
Posted by Krista on June 2, 2009
Ranoush
338 Kings Road
SW3 5UR
Date of Last Visit: Friday, May 22, 2009
The Victims: Anna, Feathers, Jen, Ally
The Damage: £25 each
The Background: We've been over to the Royal Chelsea Flower Show. It was my first time. And I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting more than a handful of show gardens. I suppose show gardens are expensive these days and it's a recession and all. But after reading the Royal Chelsea Web site–where they say to wear comfortable shoes because you'll be doing a lot of walking, and where a day pass costs you £57 a head, well…my expectations were just not set correctly. (We opted for the much cheaper £18.50 evening tickets.) I mean, the hats made of flowers were cool, but not that cool.
So afterwards, we made our way down the King's Road in search of sustenance. Anna suggested Lebanese and we were all on board. But Al Dar, which got a good review from Anna, couldn't take us. So we kept walking. And walking. And walking. (The things I do for my blog.) Until we got to Ranoush. (We took the bus back to Sloane Square after dinner.)
The Entrance: I've called ahead to the restaurant and they've said no problem, they can take us. The staff were very nice and told us which table was going to be ours, and that they probably just needed 10 minutes or so. And they were right on. 10 minutes later, the table was ours. And I have to say, the departing guests were the nicest people ever. They kept apologizing to us that they had taken so long wrapping up their bill, etc. We didn't care. We were busy chatting.
The Food: Lots of meze to start. Labneh (great), hummus (ok), babaganoush (great), falafel balls (a bit too dry for me, but not bad overall), and some deep-fried spinach-y things (eh). And some nice hot pita bread (nice, but not that nice). All this washed down by the Lebanese house wine (eh) which we later replaced with some Tempernillo (much nicer and smoother). Oh yes, and green beans, which sorta tasted like they were straight from the can.
I was glad we had convinced the gals that we didn't need a main each. One chicken shish and one mixed grill were just about right for us. These were both just solid options. Nothing spectacular.
The Service: Super-friendly and nice. Kept checking in on us. Not bad.
The Loos: I've seen worse. These were okay.
The Verdict: £25 per head for the quantity of food we experienced and the quality of service we had is not a bad thing. I'd go back here for a quick meal. It's very small though. Very small.
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Posted in Lebanese, London, SW3, United Kingdom | 3 Comments
Posted by Krista on March 2, 2009
Fairuz
1 Blandford St
London, W1U 3DA
Date of Last Visit: Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Victims: Stacey, Julie
The Damage: £50 each?
The Background: It's amateur night. (Also known as Valentine's Day.) So Stacey has suggested just us girls go out for dinner. It's a good plan. And she's picked Fairuz in Marylebone, which is very convenient for some quick shopping beforehand.
The Entrance: Fairuz is all romantically lit and glowing when we enter. I am surprised by the number of people who walk in off the street and try to get a table without a booking. Again, it's amateur night. What were they thinking?
The Food: Our only choice is the special Valentine's Day menu, but I convince our server to thrown in a little labneh too. The selection of hummus and aubergine and salads is nice. But just nice.
I order the vegetarian moussaka and it's cold and mushy. I like the rice though. When we finish our meals, they bring us this big plate of fruit. Those were definitely genetically modified strawberries because I've never seen strawberries so large and perfect before. This was the best part of the meal.
The Verdict: Eh. Although I did the think the table under the staircase was romantic-looking.
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Posted in Lebanese, London, United Kingdom, W1 | No Comments
Posted by Krista on April 10, 2008
Ishbilia
9 William Street
SW1X 9HL
Tel: 020 7235 7788
Date of Last Visit: Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Victims: Limster, Zuriga
The Damage: £20 each.
The Background: I hang out on the Chowhound boards. Other cities tend to have Chowdowns, or get-togethers of fellow Chowhound'ers. I thought it would be fun to organize a London Chowdown. Howler, one of the main players on the board always speaks highly of Ishbilia, so I thought it would be worth a try.
The Entrance: I've tried to get into Ishbilia before on a Sunday, and I've been denied. So I book way in advance and we get the table for 12. I arrive at 12, and I am the only person there. It's funny, in a sweet way. The server brings me a complimentary coffee while I'm waiting, which is really nice of him.
The Food: Zuriga and Limster arrive and we dig in. Firstly, they bring us a huge plate of veggies which you can see in the main photo. They also bring us some excellent pita bread, hot from the oven and all puffed up. We order an eggplant dish–it's like babaganoush, but it's not–and some broad beans called foul muqala, seasoned with coriander leaves, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Fantastic.
We also ordered some kibbeh nayeh (raw minced lamb with herbs and onions), a chicken shwarma (pictured) and a fantastic lentil dish. I honestly cannot believe how much I liked the kibbeh nayeh. If I had closed my eyes, I wouldn't have guessed that I was eating raw lamb. It was fantastic.
This was all followed by mint tea and an assortment of Lebanese pastries. I've pretty much died and gone to heaven.
The Verdict: I'm in love. I think this is going into my Top 10.
*****Don't Forget: Submit Your Guest Blog and Get Your Chance to Win Dinner with Me*****
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Posted in Lebanese, London, SW1, United Kingdom | No Comments
Posted by Krista on June 24, 2007
50-52 Hanbury St
E1 5JL
Tel: 020 7539 9200
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, June 7th, 2007
The Victims: Ben, Gerry, Sarah, Matt, Andrew
The Damage: Hmmm…£20 each? We were quite pleased.
The Background: So, I really wanted to go to First Thursday…the east end late night gallery night. If you’re not a Time Out subscriber, you might not know that on the first Thursday of each month this summer, all the galleries in and around Shoreditch will be staying open til 9.
I managed to convince some people to come check stuff out with me, and although there were some odd bits (naked men, blood, etc.), all in all, I’d highly recommend checking it out. (The odd bits make it worth it, no?) We wandered from Old Street to Whitecross Street to over by the Holiday Inn Express (where I ran into Howard & Ben during a beer break at The Reliance, funnily enough) to down through Rivington Street and then over to Brick Lane, where it was time to…
EAT.
Yes, and I didn’t fancy a curry. So The Lebanese Lounge it was.
The Entrance: Oh how very sad. There is no one there. They are so happy to see us. But you know who is there? The shisha kids. The shisha/hookah room is PACKED. But no one is eating and that is just too bad because…
The Food: The Babaganoush is AWESOME. So too the Labneh and all the little sausages. We are happy. On the advice of our Bangladeshi server, I go for the lamb and it is fantastic, although I was disappointed in the white rice…now that’s a high margin dish. Then again, they brought us free baklava at the end of our meal…
The Wine: Lebanese all the way. And only £13 a bottle.
The Verdict: I think the Lebanese Lounge is best done in groups. We had the place to ourselves, which was okay because there were six of us and we cracked each other up. Had we been four, we would have been bored.
If I Were Them…
* I’d play cool Lebanese music. Maybe through a DJ on Thurs/Fri/Sat nights.
* I’d try to get the hookah guys to stay for dinner.
* I’d see if I could do anything with Vibe bar…like give out baklava at Vibe Bar to convince people to come in for dinner.
* I would offer a starter platter of some sort…combine a couple of things into one order.
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Posted in E1, Lebanese, London, United Kingdom | No Comments
Posted by Krista on August 22, 2005
4 Vere Street
W1G 0DH
Tel: 020 7493 3030
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, August 11 2005
The Victims: Rutton, Sherry, Roman, Michael
We were over at the employee bar at Diageo. Good values, enjoyed by all, starting at 7 pm. By 9:30ish, we were a bit hungry, so we walked around the corner to Maroush.
Everyone was talking about how hungry they were, so we ordered all these olives and bread–lots of big round bread–and all of this really yummy Lebanese cheese that I had never heard of before. But call me a convert. I don’t think I can live without it anymore. OK, and it wasn’t even cheese. It’s called Labneh, and it’s strained yoghurt served with olive oil and dried thyme. Who would have thunk it? Always order the Labneh.
Well, I thought we were ordering entrees so I went for the lamb simmered in a yogurt-y sauce. However, because of the large quantities of bread our table consumed, everyone else went with schwarmas. So I was left there, feeling like a glutton, with my huge entree. However, my huge entree did happen to be super-delicious, and well, huge, so it was good for sharing. And there was still bread left, so everyone was eating their schwarmas with one hand and dipping into my yogurt sauce with the other hand.
All of a sudden it was 11 pm and we all needed to get to work the next day. Except for Sherry and Roman, who just needed to drive to Poland on Friday. (!) So no desserts for us. But we were pleasantly surprised by the reasonableness of the check, so I suppose that’s dessert enough for us.
The Verdict: Go if you’re shopping on Oxford Street and want something cheap and delicious, but a step-up from a take-away. Actually, I shouldn’t say cheap because there are expensive things on the menu. But the menu is huge, which makes it easy to hunt for good values.
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Posted in Lebanese, London, United Kingdom, W1 | 1 Comment
Posted by Krista on June 26, 2004
Noura
16 Hobart Place
SW1W 0HH
020 7235 9444
Date of Last Visit: Friday, June 25, 2004
The Victims: Rutton, Ashley, Fredrik, Sophia, TJ, Haitham
So someone says to me at Coq d’Argent, "Do you like Lebanese food?" and I say "YES!" because I love Maza in Chicago on Lincoln. And before I know it, I’m in a taxi on my way to a place called Noura that everyone assures me is VERY casual and I’ll fit in fine in my sporty "Casual Friday" attire.
Uh, NO. I get to Noura and it is FANCY. The room is EXPANSIVE and well-lit and the vibe is TRENDY. I love it and hate it at the same time. We sit down and are waited on by 12 different people, which is somewhat annoying. Rutton deals with this and suddenly we only have one very, very attentive waiter and he is SO cute. He makes my night.
We eat hummous and babaganoush or however you spell it. And then they bring lots and lots of eggplant because I mentioned in passing that I LOVE eggplant.
And then they bring raw lamb to the table, two portions, one with cracked wheat and one without.
Now, I never actually thought I’d eat raw meat. But I did at Noura. And it was okay. I mixed it up with some hummous and olive oil and it was good. It wasn’t earth-shatteringly good, but it was good nonetheless. But disgusting looking, for sure.
We drink French wine and I’m mad about this because I LOVE Lebanese wine–it’s spicy and dirty. But I was not in charge, so that’s that.
We had some delicious Lebanese pastries and I had some Lebanese coffee. Zowwiiee.
The Verdict: All in all, a fabulous meal and a fabulous evening, but a bit too trendy for my everyday tastes. It would have to be a purposefully fancy evening for me to go again. I’m just too relaxed for this!
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Posted in Lebanese, London, SW1, United Kingdom | No Comments
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