Why are they bragging that this cheese product is uniquely American and only our country could have developed it? Perhaps this point is true, but is this something to crow about?

Yes, why have natural, aged, artisan-crafted cheese that’s been perfected through the hard work of generations and generations when you can have chemical-infused, machine-created product! Do your patriotic duty and eat the inferior stuff!

While you’re at it, don’t forget the cheese in a can.

Well ok. I may actually consider those brag-worthy. I mean, can you just imagine the looks on the aliens’ faces when they get introduced to that?

The rest of their food is reliably good, but since they are a super blend of all things Asian, none of the dishes are going to be better than those from your favorite Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. place.

Still, the servings are large, the food comes fast, and the dishes are seasoned to support the fruit drinks. In the picture, you’ll see a Korean stone bowl meal, Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce, and a beef and mushroom noodle soup. Look at the size of the dishes for under $10 each! The boyfriend is having a taro drink, and I’m having a lychee one.

If you are not familiar with bubble drinks, all the bubbles (sometimes called black pearls) are are tapioca balls. Tapioca is essentially starch and the ones used in these drinks taste and feel like flavorless gummy bears. They’re fun to chew and suck up the straw. Just take care with your first couple though. Newbies always manage to choke on a couple before they get used to the action.

The tapioca does fill you up though—you’ll have to keep an eye on your food to drink ratio.

The rest of the drink is a frozen fruit blend. Joy Yee’s uses real fruit rather than the frozen mixes so sometimes the taste will depend on whether or not something is in season. If you are trying one out for the first time, just order a fruit that you like. It will pretty much taste exactly like that.

These are heavenly on a hot summer day.

The food is fresh and tasty. I loved that it wasn’t overly salted. The broth in my noodle soup was full of flavor but still light. To me, it tasted as if they’ve been simmering that stock with some really good stuff for a really long time. As a person who adores soup, I was so happy that this was a bowl I could clean out without being dehydrated from the sodium or weighed down with oil.

I’ve been reading some of the reviews on Yelp, and a lot of the negative ones complain about flavorless food. This must be why I really enjoyed my meal. I don’t use a lot of seasoning in my own cooking at home so when I eat out, I can find the food over the top at times. Why drown out flavor and taste with artificiality?

I tried the boyfriend’s curry dish, and that was very yummy—creamy and lip smacking. And everyone in my party seemed to enjoy his/her bubble drinks.

I do wish the entree portions and rice allocations were just a little bit bigger, but overall, this was a great find.

I finally got to visit the diner on Christmas Day. Yep, when they say open 24 hours, they mean it. We were at one place for Christmas Eve dinner and presents and would be at another household on Christmas night. At that point, why cook?

As you can see by the picture, I had the meatloaf special, and the boyfriend had a Denver omelet. We split a short stack of pancakes.

Jeri’s Grill is not as good as our favorite breakfast/brunch place, Cozy Corner, but it is serviceable. The coffee is hot and reasonably priced. The prompt service keeps your cup well filled.

Don’t come here expecting a million different choices and organic this and that. This is a greasy spoon neighborhood diner. It’s going to be there for you when everything else is closed, too expensive, or just not worth the hassle. Jeri’s Grill is a place you can stop in for a fried spam sandwich and a piece of pie. Mmm.

It’s a lot of food for their very affordable prices. Just remember to bring cash because that is all they take.

The suburbs of Chicago are not like the city itself. It can be quite a challenge to find good and interesting independent restaurants.

I did my research online or else I would have never found this place. Like many places in the ‘burbs, it’s hidden in a corner of a strip mall. The outside is extremely unassuming.

Luckily, all that changes when you step inside. The place still looks and feels very new, but it’s clear that they have tried to take their patrons into another world.

There are no windows except for one. In my opinion, they tried to pick the most picturesque view they could, but the window still looks out onto the Metra railroad and a brand new condo building.

The music is understated, which I appreciated, and the ambiance is relaxed.

This isn’t a place to go right before a movie or if you want an in-and-out meal. My party of four was there for two hours. The service is attentive but not prompt. You’re there to enjoy a dining experience with your friends or family. I think the point is to slow down and linger.

Since this was my first time there, I wanted to try some of everyone’s dishes. Here’s my run down of everything.

Wine: I think many French food lovers are going to be disappointed at the limited wine list. The night we were there, they were out of the Cabernet. They suggested the Cotes-du-Rhone, which I had never tried before, and I’m glad there was the substitution because I much prefer the lighter, less-sweet taste of this red.

Although, I can’t drink much at all so the smaller wine list is not going to make that much difference for me.

Appetizers:

• Chicken liver pate—Complementary from the chef. Mmmm.
• Lobster bisque—Very rich and creamy but too salty for my taste.
• Duo onion soup—Way too salty for me.
• Seasonal salad—Yummy. The raspberry vinaigrette had real raspberry in it. The bitterness of some of the greens was a nice touch.

Entrees:

• Pork tenderloin—So good. The wild mushrooms and the sauce were fantastic. The pureed squash had everyone coming back for another fork-full.
• Rack of Lamb—I think this was just ok overall.
• Halibut—Very light with interesting sides. I might try this one next time.
• Cassoulet—I’m not a big fan of beans, and that much meat kind of makes my stomach turn so I can’t comment too much on the entire dish. The bites I tried were fine.

The final tally, with tax and tip, came down to about $45 a person.

Chef Michel came out later in the night and shook hands with every table. Overall, the entire staff was very gracious and charming with their French accents.

I hope more people in the western suburbs discover Bistro Monet. It would be a shame to lose this place. It’s just the spot to go and enjoy a nice, leisurely, relaxing weekend evening.

Don’t let the outside fool you. There’s plenty of room inside what looks like a cozy storefront. But, the dining rooms (plural) do fill up each night.

The walls are filled with interesting photos. The majority of them showcase the famous faces that have come through these doors over the restaurant’s long history. On this particular night, I sat next to Dolly Parton and Matt Damon.

On the right, you can see my eggplant parmigiana. It comes with a side of pasta (the shells).

I’ve never had eggplant parmigiana like this. Usually, it’s breaded and harder. Here, the eggplant slices had the texture of a stewed vegetable. With it topped with loads of melted cheese and sauce, it had a pleasing chewiness to it.

The side was not very good. The overcooked shells had that mushy pasta feel. The sauce, however, was still very tasty.

Truthfully, by the time the entree arrived, my house salad and the table bread already filled me up. The house salad was of a good size. It was fresh and crisp. The roasted red peppers added a nice touch. The dressing does come on the salad, but I don’t think it is overdone. For my Italian meals, I like a hearty and vinegary dressing.

What really sets this place apart is the service. There are a lot of people in white and black walking around. Service is fast. You don’t have to wait to order, for a drink refill, or to get your check. I like that.

Overall, I wasn’t blown away by the food, but it is a nice atmosphere with a lot of range on the menu. I’d like to go back. Even with this disturbing menu typo.

There is also another location at 2521 N Clark, but I went to the one in Wicker Park so that is the only location for which I can vouch.

Sultan’s Market is supposed to have the best falafels in Chicago. While I don’t feel that I could go as far as that, not having had that many in Chicago proper, I certainly had an excellent falafel sandwich there.

(For a picture of one of their falafel sandwiches, check out eforrest’s on Flickr.)

In many restaurants, their falafels get too hard on the outside and dried up on the inside. At Sultan’s Market, their falafels are crispy on the outside and nicely moist on the inside. In making my sandwich, they squished the falafels so I didn’t end up with the usually difficult to eat lumps inside the pita.

I had a generous glob of creamy hummus and lots of Jerusalem salad. For $4.00, it’s a steal.

The sandwich comes in three levels of spiciness. The mild was great texturally but a bit too bland for me. Next time, I’m going for the medium.

(continued from part 1)

Because I wasn’t hungry, I had just ordered an appetizer. Their appetizer selection excited me a great deal. One of my least favorite things about a typical Mexican plate is that they are so heavy. There’s a side of rice, a side of beans, and some kind of meat in a flour or corn wrap with cheese and more beans. Sometimes you get a bit of iceberg lettuce, chopped onions, and a wedge of tomato on the side. Perhaps some Pico de Gallo.

Even when it is really, really good, as at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake City (write up to come), I often wish there was just some more lightness to it. Here, they had salads, ceviche, sopas, and my order, the tilapia tacos. They call the dish tacos ensenada. There are two per order and are so delicious. At the base, there are nice breaded pieces of tilapia. These were very moist and definitely tasted identifiably like fish rather than overfried pieces of crunch. On top, there are shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes and onions, cheese, cilantro, and a very nice lime/vinegar dressing. It was light, fresh, and felt great in my mouth. For $6, I thought it was a close-to-perfect summer dinner.

The boyfriend had the wood-grilled salmon with red mole. It comes with a pyramid of white rice and zucchini. When the dish arrived, the salmon was very underdone because they were trying to rush our food. After sending it back to go a bit longer on the grill, he was finally ready to eat. Mole sauce is just not my thing so I’m passing along his note that it was good. The salmon had a lovely flavor and was also very moist.

So even with all this—broken AC, forgotten order, raw salmon—I still enjoyed the dinner a lot. I’m looking forward to going back. And I’m definitely making reservations.

I know I should have photos for all this stuff, but I just wasn’t prepared. But you can see other people’s photos here and here.

1601 W. Montrose
312-523-0923

The boyfriend and I arrived at around 7:00 pm on a Friday. There were two spots open at the four-seating counter. A small crowd congregated along the sidewalk waiting for tables. They quoted us a thirty minute wait but we have no problems eating at the counter so we sat down.

There are, of course, certain risks you take when getting a bar seat. One of those came into play this night. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

The boyfriend had read a positive review about this restaurant in the Reader. I found out later that the Mixteco Grill had also been glowingly received in Time Out that same week. Perhaps this resulted in the rousing turnouts that weekend but I don’t think their boon is going to fade any time soon. The restaurant only seats thirty-five, is BYOB, and has excellent food. Definitely make reservations.

The chef, Raul Arreola (no, we didn’t try to pronounce his last name either), came out of Rick Bayless’s Topolobampo and Fonda del Mar. I’ve been to both, and they are excellent. Mixteco is also outstanding.

Their AC was out this particular weekend but luckily, there was a strong breeze on this warm night. The temperature inside didn’t bother me, and it didn’t appear to bother the other diners either.

Every member of the wait staff was friendly and courteous. Often, service is the weakest aspect of a newly opened restaurant, but these folks worked quickly and politely amidst all the bustle and heat.

The chips came newly fried and warm. The small cup of green salsa was pleasantly tasty and spicy. I was able to spoon a nice daub onto my chips and not kill myself. Some places have very hot salsa that, while good, burns your mouth before the entrees even get there.

When you sit at the counter, you know you’re going to be in the back of the minds of the wait staff. I had accepted this. When the runners saw that we were waiting a while, one of them took our order to place it. Again, I knew this had the potential to go wrong, but I really was ok with it.

One, I wasn’t hungry, which makes a huge difference in my temperament. Two, it was a Friday night so I was not operating at a high mental level. Call me old, but I am just wiped out by the end of the week. Three, this was a new place, and I was ready to experience and enjoy it. The waiting crowd outside was growing ever larger so if our food came right away, I would have felt pressured to eat it and go to free up the space. And finally, every else seemed to be having a good time. I figured the meal was going to be worth the wait.

So yes, they forgot about us. While they rushed to prepare our order, they brought us a complimentary appetizer of guacamole and chicharrones. Thanks to Top Chef, I knew what chicharrones (fried pig skin) were and was excited to try them. I found these chips to be a little too salty for my taste but I have no reference as to what they are supposed to taste like. For something that was breaded and fried, they crunched airy and lightly. My poor comparison would be to a Funyun. Sad isn’t it?

The guac was delicious. It was rich and creamy with a spicy kick. Again, not too much but just enough for you to know it’s there and to dance in your mouth. I’ve never had guacamole like that and really enjoyed it. I didn’t eat too much because I wasn’t hungry and wanted to save room.

(to be continued in part 2)