Square Bar and Grill

Square Bar and Grill recently opened in the former MoJoe's space on Belmont. I saw a piece about the bar in Time Out Chicago and had to check it out.

The space is really nicely done - very warm and freindly vibe. The bar does not yet have beers on tap, but does have a nice selection of bottle beers, including Metropolitan Flywheel (a good sumemr lager - I sucked down 2 of them after biking to tghe bar from work!).

The menu has a nice variety of starters, sandwiches, salads, pizzas, and more. I had eyes only for the burger, though - and it turned out to be a great pick. The burger was deliciously seasoned and served on a pretzel roll, and was done perfectly to eahc person's order. The fries were handcut shoestring, and absolutely addictive.

Even though I finished all of my fries and all of my burger (although I did have to leave some of the roll, sniff sniff), I wanted dessert. I proposed to my friend that we split the crunchy banana (I may have gotten the name slightly wrong), and she agreed. Mmmm. A plate bearing a deep-fried banana and a huge scoop of ice cream arrived at our table and we attacked. The banana's coating was sweetish and had nuts, and was perfect eaten with a spoonful of the vanilla ice cream.

All in all - a great meal. I look foward to visiting the Square Bar and Grill again to check out more of the menu!

Ras Dashen

Before seeing a play wayyy no the north side (to me anyways!), I went to dinner with Allyn at Ras Dashen. We had decided to get off the Red Line at Berwyn and walk up Broadway, window shopping along the way to decide on our dining spot. Ras Dashen caught our eye, so we headed inside.

Seating at Ras Dashen is either typical Western seating - a table & chairs - or traditional Ethiopian seating - low seats, with a small rattan table the size of the serving trays. We sat at a Western-style table, but I'd like to try the other seating next time.

The menu is very extensive, and we spent a good bit of time reading it over - everything sounded wonderful. We decided on a combo, ordering Doro Wat (chicken and egg in spicy sauce), Yebeg Alicha (lamb tips in alicha suace), Misser Wat (lentils in suace), Diffen MIsser Wat (whole lentils), and Misserana Bowmia (lentils and okra in alicha sauce).

Our food came on a tray lined with Injera (bread) - the waitress tipped each dish onto the injera. We also had a basket of injera to scoop the food up with. Everything was fantastic - flavorful, perfectly seasoned. Both Allyn and I noted that the dishes seemed spicier than at the Ethiopian restaurants by Belmont, and wondered whether Ras Dashen's seasonings were more true to the original. In any case, this was the best Ethiopian food either of us had eaten, and we did our very best to eat everything on our tray.

We finished with a cup of Ethiopian espresso, which seemed like a good idea at the time, as we were off to see the play. It certainly was delicious. It must have had some serious caffeine, though, as we both had trouble getting to sleep that night!

Al Bawadi Grill

Last month, I rented a car for MLK weekend, so I took the opportunity to travel down to Bridgeview and check out Al Bawadi. The area, including the restaurant, had been featured in Time Out Chicago. I was curious to see what Mediterranean food tasted like on the south side!

The restaurant was not very busy when we arrived for lunch, and service was very friendly and attentive. We were immediately given a small plate of pickles, toasted & seasoned pita slices, and an eggplant spread, all of which was delicious.

When it was time to order our food, we requested water glasses - we had a pitcher of water on the table, but no glasses. The waiter, who I believe was the owner, apologized profusely and gave us a second small plate of appetizers on the house.

I ordered the mixed grill - lamb, chicken, shwarma, and shish kafta with rice. Bridget ordered a meat "casserole" which turned out to be more of a patty in tahini sauce. I loved both of our entrees. Bridget wasn't too crazy about the tahini sauce, but otherwise enjoyed her entree; she really enjoyed my grilled meats. The rice was really tasty, just tender enough without being mushy and very subtly seasoned.

Really, we could have ordered one entree and shared - that would have been plenty of food! As it was, I took home a very large doggie bag, which I enjoyed for lunch the next day.

It's a heck of a drive to get down to Al Bawadi from my place. But if I were down that way, or looking for a Sunday drice, I'd definitely head down there for more grilled meat.

90 Miles Cuban Cafe

Today I ate at 90 Miles Cuban Cafe. I passed this little place on Clybourn a couple of months ago and have wanted to eat there ever since, especially after reading rave reviews. I love me some good Cuban food!

The restaurant is a tiny space with only counter seating. The walls are very cool, covered in Cuban and Cuban-related newspapers, magazines, and photos. One of the owners was eating lunch when I arrived, and a new staff person was taking orders. Service was incredibly friendly.

I ordered a beef empanada and a Cubano sandwich to go. Since it was cold today, both had cooled off a little by the time I biked home, but were still relatively warm. The empanada was excellent - flaky pastry, tasty filling, and a cilantro sauce on the side that I hadn't encountered before, but loved.

The Cubano sandwich looked as though it would give my favorites a run for the money. But the first bite ended that impression - the pork, while good, was not as flavorful and tender as other restaurants. The bread, ham, cheese, mustard & pickles were all excellent, but I ended up pulling the pork off, as it was just not right.

The sandwich menu is pretty extensive, as are the sides. There are a few breakfasts and dinners available as well. Prices are comparable to, maybe even a bit better than, other Cuban restaurants in the city.

I would definitely go back - for more empanadas, and to try out the ropa vieja. And the cafe con leche. I'll probably stay away from the pork, though.

Tamalli

Last night my mom and I ate at Tamalli. We were very excited about eating there. But first, we had to find it - we nearly walked by as it is an unassuming storefront on Armitage - only the awning tipped us off!

There was only one couple dining when we entered, and while we were there, no other diners came in. As a result, we had very attentive service.

The space felt a little sterile to me, possibly becuase there were so few diners. It's an open space with the tables arranged in rows. The tabels and the walls are bright and cheery colors, as is the artwork on the walls.

I had been expecting a fairly small menu, since the focus is on tamals. But the menu is pretty extensive with a lot of options. We decided that we would order the way we do at Maiz, basically treating the menu as though they are tapas and planning to share each dish. After some debate, we settled on the Tamal De Chorizo En Hoja De Platano and Tamal Nejo al Pastor to start. We also got flavored waters, cucumber and pineapple.

The waters were absolutely delicious and we were tempted to slurp them down, but resisted. The tamals were also excellent - the Nejo was on a fairly flat bed of cornmeal, while the de Chorizo was on a big, thick bed. We both preferred the de Chorizo slightly; my mom liked the thicker bed while I absolutely loved the flavor of the meat.

We got a bit greedy at this point and decided to order tacos. We must have had a taste for beef, as we ordered picadillo and steak marinated with onion. When the tacos arrived, we were surprised that each order consisted of two! The meat fillings were good, but a little salty for my mom's taste. The consensus was that the tacos were decent but we should have stuck to the house specialty, tamals.

All in all, we were pleased with our dinner at Tamalli. The tamals and drinks were excellent, and while the tacos were not quite as delicious they were pretty good. Our total bill was $31, which is not bad for a very appetizing meal for two (and we were stuffed!). I look forward to returning to Tamalli and sampling the rest of the tamals on the menu!

Fonda del Mar

Back in March, I ate at Fonda del Mar. It was Lent and a Friday, and my mom and I needed somewhere meat-free to eat. I'd read a couple of good reviews of this restaurant and was intrigued.

When we parked across the street, we were less than impressed - the block is not a very attractive one, with somewhat dingy storefronts. You walk into Fonda del Mar, however, and it's a different story; the decor is warm, cozy, and inviting.

I looked at the drink menu, and the Rustica maragarita jumped out at me immediately. Described as "a rustic, smoky and toasty margarita made with Chacmol mezcal from San Luis Potosi, Gran Gala orange liqueur and fresh squeeze limonada," it sounded too good to pass up. And it was as good as it sounded - with just a hint of smokiness beneath the typical, bright flavors of a margarita, it seemed like a more sophisticated and sultry twist on the usual.

For my entree, I got the Pescado Tikin Xic: "Achiote marinated mahi mahi cooked in banana leaf served with room temperature chunky roasted tomato-jumiles sauce , pickled onion and garlic mashed potato." It was delicious. The sauce was incredibly flavorful, perfect for the mild-flavored mahi mahi. The mashed potatos were also tasty, although (amazingly) I abandoned the idea of finishing them off in favor of eating all of my fish - and I love my potatoes, so you know the fish was good!!!!

My mom got the Tilapia En Crema Poblana: "Garlic marinated sautéed Tilapia in a cream of poblano pepper served with white rice." She was somewhat disappointed with the dish, as it wasn't as flavorful as she expected. The cream of poblano pepper lacked any punch, and paired with the tilapia, it made for a fairly bland combination. The rice, however, was perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious.

The dessert menu was fairly large and varied (not to mention tempting). Unfortunately, we were too full to order anything. Another time....

I would definitely recommend Fonda del Mar. The ambience was fantastic, and my entree was unbelievably good. I'd like to try a couple more dishes on the menu that look very tasty - if I do, I'll report back!

Paramount Room

I ate lunch at the Paramount Room (Milwaukee & Kinzie) a couple of weeks ago. The food was delicious, and the space was very tastefully decorated.

We didn't order a huge variety of food - in fact, the 3 of us all ordered salad, and 2 of us had the same salad. I had the Cobb, which was made with duck confit instead of chicken or turkey. Everything was very fresh, and I really enjoyed the light coating of dressing on the salad - just enough to add flavor without drowning it.

The highlight of the meal, though, was the order of fries we shared. They came in a paper cone and with a side of garlic aoli. YUM. Even my non-grease-eating friend couldn't keep from having a couple - they were seasoned to perfection, and a dip in the aoli made them pure heaven.

The only downside is that it is fairly pricey for bar food - three salads, an order of fries, and two ice teas came to $25 or so. Which isn't bad, except that it was all half off due to a pre-tax-day special -- so double that for the normal prices.

Even so, I'd love to go back one evening and check out the beer selection, which looked balanced and interesting. A thumbs up for Paramount Room!