Sakura
May 7, 2010
1163 East Ogden Avenue Naperville, IL 60563
Lunch, dinner & all-you-can-eat ($20/person)
http://www.sakurasushibuffet.com
This is one of our favorite sushi spots in the suburbs! We usually always get the all-you-can-eat, which is $15/ person for lunch and $20/ for dinner (but they always have coupons in the clipper magazine). The wait staff is friendly, though not always tentative, but the sushi is great. The all-you-can-eat includes everything from miso soup to California Rolls to Unagi (eel) . The sushi comes in large portions and is always very fresh. Word of advice though, wear your elastic-band pants because you will be stuffed by the time you leave. Chris and I always end up fighting over who has to finish the last couple of pieces (they charge you if you leave sushi on the plate). Some of our favorite orders are the miso soup and vegetable tempura. We usually follow that by Shrimp Tempura rolls (Japanese fried shrimp), Salmon Skin rolls (the name says it all, it is filled with delicious crunchy salmon skin), Spicy Tuna rolls, and whatever the Chef’s Special is (usually something original, and spicy). This is the perfect place to go to suppress your sushi cravings!
Saffron
May 4, 2010
6020 S. Cass Ave., Westmont, IL 60559
Lunch & Dinner ($20/ person)
Last weekend Nikki’s parents took us to Saffron. It is one of our favorite places, and somewhere we don’t go often enough. If you’re trying to get your Indian fix, this is definitely the place to check out. We ordered right away because we all have our favorite dishes that we could not wait to devour. We got the Paneer Makhani, which is a tomato-based dish containing voluptuous homemade cheese cubes. It was fantastic. We also tried the Fish Tikka Masala, which contained delicious pieces of Mahi Mahi marinated in yogurt and served in a special sauce. In addition, whenever we eat Indian food we order a side of naan bread and rice. It is a great addition to the food and it adds to the feast. On a sour note, Saffron has poor service. We waited for over 20 minutes to get our drink order taken, and later, after our food was wrapped in to-go boxes, we waited another 20 minutes and we were finally forced to track down a waiter for the check. In short: good food, bad service, but we have yet to find somewhere better!
Cooper’s Hawk
April 9, 2010
510 Village Center Dr., Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Lunch, dinner, & wine tasting ($40/ person)
http://www.coopershawkwiner.com
Let me begin by saying the pretzel bread they bring out before dinner is fantastic! I would come just for a glass of wine and the pretzel bread! Anyways on with the show… We will be the first to tell you some wines are decent and were not so great (keep in mind we have gotten to try some really good wines recently), but to the average diner they make for a great evening and definitely make dinner that much more enjoyable. On to the food! We ordered the Tuna Sliders as our starter which was absolutely wonderful! The tuna wad cooked perfectly, just kissed the pan, and had an amazing spice rub that was salty with just the right amount of spice! Next, we ordered our entrees. The Sea Scallops, which were also cooked to perfection, were served with white rice and asparagus, but it was the wine butter sauce that made it irresistible. Similarly, we also tried the Cashew Crusted Walleye that was served with a mustard buerre blanc. This may sound unusual, but it was fantastic. We were sopping it up with leftover pretzel bread. With the fish we swapped the Mary’s whipped potatoes for Betty’s hash brown cheese casserole, which was delicious! Cheap wine aside, Cooper’s Hawk is a great place if you’re looking for anything from burgers to seared tuna. Another perk is that while you wait for a table (we had an hour long wait) they have great wine tastings. They do a select 8 wines for $7, but if you want to try any of their wines be sure to ask, they offer complimentary samples.
Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria
April 6, 2010
131 West Jefferson Ave., Naperville, IL 60540
Lunch & Dinner ($15/ person)
Chances are that if you live in the Chicagoland area you have already been to Lou Malnati’s, or at least heard of it. We went there last Thursday on a beautiful, sunny day because we were looking for somewhere to eat where we could sit outside. The plus is that they do have outdoor seating (and we were lucky enough to walk up as someone was leaving), but the negative is that the outdoor seating is covered by a large canopy so you have to sit in just the right place to get some sun. We started off by Chris ordering a beer and I ordered a glass of wine. They weren’t serving any mixed drinks (a mojito sounded good while basking in the sun). We then ordered the Combination Platter, which was an assortment of toasted mozzarella sticks, cheddar cubes, breaded zucchini and mushrooms. It was very good, but too much food for only two people. By the time our medium deep dish pizza came we were no longer hungry (that didn’t stop us from each eating a slice though). The pizza was of course delicious. Nikki usually doesn’t like deep dish pizza, but Lou Malnati’s is perfect. It is not too “deep”. We took the rest of the pizza and it made for a great lunch the next day! If you have never been here you need to check it out. And if you are already familiar with Lou Malnati’s be sure to order a small pizza and maybe try out a salad, which we hear are fabulous!
Chicago Diner
March 29, 2010
Chicago Diner
3411 N. Halsted St., Chicago IL
Lunch & Dinner ($10/ person)
The Chicago Diner is one of those places that we’ve wanted to try forever! They are a vegetarian restaurant with everything from pasta with “Meatballs” to vegan Irish Carbomb cupcakes. We went on a Saturday night and we were able to park in their free lot, which was great! We read that there is not usually a wait, but when we arrived we were told that it would be about 45 minutes. We were willing to wait, but the problem was that there was nowhere to stand. Most people had to wait outside, but we were able to stand in the doorway and had to jump out of the way every time someone came in or out. When we were seated we ordered a milkshake right away because we had heard such fabulous things. We got the cookie dough peanut butter milkshake along with the fried ravioli as a starter. The milkshake was fantastic (think Reese Peanut Butter Cup), but the ravioli was only okay. It seemed too dry and was kind of bland. Next, we ordered our entrees, a Gyro and BBQ Rib Sandwich. The gyro was amazing. It tasted just like the real thing. The Rib Sandwich, on the other hand, fell short. It was thick and chewy. Now, we haven’t had a rib sandwich in a while, but we expected it to be better. On a positive note, with the entrees we ordered a side of chili and sweat potato fries. Both were good. Although our experience was not the greatest, we would definitely try Chicago Diner again because they have such an interesting menu and all of our veggie friends have nothing but good things to say. We recommend this place to not only vegetarians and healthy eaters, but also to meateaters who want to try something new. If you were looking to try this place we recommend doing it this week because they have great specials to celebrate their 27 year anniversary.
Fiamma
March 3, 2010
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 89109
http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/fiamma-italian-restaurant-bar-menu.aspx
Dinner ($40/ person)
For our friends birthday we decided to try out Fiamma, was which located within our hotel. Before we get into the food, we just want to mention that the service was great. We mentioned briefly that it was our friend’s birthday when we made the reservations and at the end of the night they brought out lemon drop birthday shots for all four of us. The food was superb as well. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to take any pictures because we were too busy scarfing it down. We got the Gnocchi, which had lobster, portobello, roasted leeks, and black truffle crema. It was incredible. We also got the Linguini, which had shrimp, scallops, shallots, and Cortese Wine. The food, service, and atmosphere of Fiamma was amazing and we definitely recommend this place to everyone!
Diego
March 3, 2010
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino 3799 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89109
http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/diego-mexican-restaurant-menu.aspx
Dinner ($32/ person)
We tried Diego because it was in our hotel, the MGM Grand. In the reviews in contained one “$” so we assumed it would be relatively cheap. We got there are few minutes before dinner so we sat in the bar and had a drink. They have an excellent tequila selection. When we were seated they gave us chips and salsa. It was very unique. They served three types of salsa (mild, medium, hot) and three different spices to go with the salsa. It was cool, but we weren’t exactly sure what to do with the spices. We decided to split and appetizer and an entree. We first got the Lump Crab Cocktail, which contained jumbo lump crab meat and roasted tomato salsa with avocado. For our entree we got the Seafood Pot. The Seafood Pot consisted of scallops, seafood ablondigas, black mussels, and pasta in a Lobster and Guajillo chile laced tomato broth. It was a little hard to eat because of the broth, but it was well worth the struggle. The food was delicious, but we thought that it was a little overpriced and the service could have been better. When you’re staying in a hotel with about 10 fine dinning restaurants there is no point returning to one that is not great.
Brickhouse Bakery & Café
February 24, 2010
654 East Roosevelt Road Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Lunch, dinner & bakery ($10/person)
Yesterday we stopped by the Brickhouse Bakery for a quick dinner. We were pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t your typical café, it is more of a cozy little restaurant. It is run by a husband and wife team that work both in the kitchen and out on the floor. They were very friendly and you could tell that they had a great deal of regulars who come in. The prices were good and the food sounded tasty and unique. Unfortunately, there was very little in terms of vegetarian options. However, we did order Baco Sticks, which were almost like big cheese sticks. They were great! Then we split a medium Southwest pizza, it was loaded with tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms. It was one of the best pizzas we have ever had. If you’re ever in the area be sure to check out this place. You can grab your food to go, and they have a great bakery selection as well. Keep in mind that the staff is small and so it may not be the fastest service, but everyone is friendly and the food is delicious.
P.S. Tomorrow we are headed to Vegas so be sure to check back next week for all our reviews!!!