Elephant & Castle

Hi guys.

Alright, I've been a pretty awful blogger this month. I think this is the longest I've ever gone without making a post. But rest assured - this certainly doesn't mean I've given up stuffing my face with delicious things and cooking up a storm in my kitchen. It just means that sometimes your responsibilities overshadow your hobbies (unfortunately).

The good news is, I'm now back at school and ready for another year of kitchen experiments and favorite restaurants. But before I do, I have a few Chicago posts on my hard drive that I'd like to get out here.

One of them is this post about a fantastic gem of a restaurant I found near my place in the city called Elephant & Castle. It's a British/Indian fusion restaurant with everything from traditional fish and chips to butter chicken and naan. It's also a great little place to grab some beers with your friends after work.

My guest started off with some Ale & Onion soup.

For a long time, French onion soup has been one of my favorite foods. If the broth is well-made and the cheese is melty, we're in good shape. This soup (which I've had on several occasions) has a touch of beer in the broth for added flavor, and the bread on top is chopped into little cubes so that you don't have to struggle to cut it into manageable pieces. 

Next came the appetizer of 'mini yorkies.' This is a delightful little bowl of mini yorkshire puddings filled with roast beef and gravy.

I'm not gonna lie - I ate about half of this and dipped some of my fries in the gravy. It was just SO GOOD. If you visit an Elephant & Castle, you HAVE to try this dish.

I went with the classic fish and chips...

One huge piece of haddock, a pile of fries, delicious tartar sauce, fresh lemon, and malt vinegar. An oldie and a goodie - definitely a dish that won't let you down.

Of course, the next time I'm in town I might have to try this little beauty I found on the menu after we ordered....

^This just brings hot dogs to a whole new level. For real.

I highly recommend visiting an Elephant & Castle if you live near one. You can find your city here.

All in all, a delicious dinner, followed by....

The funniest and best musical I've ever seen. This is another thing that I cannot recommend enough. If the show comes to your town GO SEE IT.

Your abs will hurt from laughing, but you won't regret it.

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Grand Lux Cafe

If you've been to or live in the US, you've probably heard of The Cheesecake Factory.
Well, as grand and magnificent as The Cheesecake Factory is, I'm a much bigger fan of the franchise's little brother - Grand Lux Cafe.

My friends Courtoon and Sirene (of cosplay fame) first suggested this place to me when I asked them what their favorite restaurant in Chicago is. I had to trust their good taste and made sure to pop in for a visit.

My first impression of Grand Lux Cafe is that this place is BIG. Huge ceilings, huge tables, huge EVERYTHING. It's very impressive and beautifully decorated.
We sat by the waiting area, carefully seated right next to the kitchen, and watched waiters whizzing by with sizzling plates being weighed down by pounds upon pounds of delicious goodies. Needless to say, by the time I sat down, I'd worked up quite an appetite.

Fortunately, minutes after we sat down, an order of Double Stuffed Potato Spring Rolls was plopped down in front of my face.

Let me deconstruct these beauties for you:

A crunchy spring roll wrapping
Filled with creamy and delicious mashed potatoes and green onions

Fried
Topped with melted cheddar cheese

Topped with bacon.

.....Are you drooling yet?

Let me just say, this whole plate would have satisfied me for lunch (in true Grand Lux/Cheesecake fashion, all portions are ridiculously large). But of course, there was still a main course coming.....

Including this mammoth of a turkey, apple, and brie sandwich on ciabatta with a side salad.

Trying to be relatively healthy, I got this asian chicken salad, which ended up being about the size of a basketball.

A delicious mix of greens, carrots, lettuce, chicken, crispy rice noodles, all smothered in a tangy Asian dressing. I've had cravings for this salad ever since the day I got it.
If you're in Texas, Florida, New York, or Nevada, I highly recommend checking out Grand Lux Cafe.
Because Cheesecake Factory is so overrated. ;)

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Taste of Chicago

This post is coming a bit late, but all good things come with a wait, right?

Let's pretend that's a legitimate saying and move on.

Well, last week my friends and I decided to check out something called Taste of Chicago. It's the world's largest outdoor food festival that combines local flavor, nationally popular music, and fun.
All you needed to say was largest food festival and I'm in.

So, I snatched up a few of my friends and we headed out on Saturday evening to see what all the fuss was about.

Neha and Hillary had their tickets in hand and were ready to scour the booths for something tasty.

And Tiffany gave a boost of enthusiasm.

While Neha and Hillary parted from the group in search of something spicy and delicious, Tiffany and I beelined for the Cafe Vienna German food booth.

5 tickets for a Schnitzel sandwich = well worth it.

Clearly a fried chicken sandwich was not enough for me, so I stopped off at The Green Room @ The Abbey.

Nothing like a steaming plate of curry fries to brighten up your evening.



We regrouped on the lawn to hide from the sun, relax, and enjoy our finds.

Neha grabbed what looked like the best purchase of the evening - a chicken, rice, and veggie mixture that I believe was chicken madras masala (but don't quote me on that.

Regardless, I want the recipe.

This is Neha's 'someone's been dating for over 2 years' face.

Of course, we had to finish our meal off with some dessert. Fortunately for us, there was a gelato stand very close by.

Bacio gelato a.k.a. hazelnut flavored a.k.a. Nutella flavored.

Definitely a successful food day.
If you find yourself in Chicago next summer, be sure to check out the taste! It's free to enter and costs $8 for 12 tickets (most meals are from 4-8 tickets). Definitely enough to get a good fill.

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La Frasca

You know those moments where you're scrolling through your phone pictures, searching for that one you wanted to send or upload, and you happen upon something that completely slipped your mind?
Well, that happened to me today. And what I found was something I meant to blog about weeks ago.
Remember when I said that Emily joined me in Chicago for the summer? Well, a few weekends ago she invited me for an impromptu dinner up on the north side to watch the Blackhawks game. She promised the restaurant we were going to would bring back joyous memories of scrumptiously authentic Italian food. It was called La Frasca, and I was happy to see that it was a short train ride away.

I also brought my friend Neha with me, but she was difficult to catch on-camera. 

I tend to snap when people least expect it. My bad.

We started with some Sangrias, which came in a generous serving for only $6.

I quickly perused the menu for the tastiest options. It was difficult to choose when the pizzas all looked scrumptious and the pasta menu included mouthwatering gnocchi.

We decided to start with some appetizers. La Frasca has an extensive and generous bruschetta menu. For $8, you pick 3 types, which gives you plenty of wiggle room to sample different flavor combinations.
We went with the traditional (basil, mozzarella, and tomato), mushroom & goat cheese, and apple with brie. They were even kind enough to cut the bruschetta into three pieces for us.

The grand finale, however, was the pizza.

Emily was exceedingly happy about her beautiful pepperoni pizza.
Neha kept it classic and went with a simple but chic margherita pizza.

As for me, I went with a fantastically delicious-sounding pizza called the rustica. Authentically Italian thin and crunchy crust covered with smoked cheese, prosciutto  pesto, and tomatoes. 

Let me just say it took all of my willpower to not eat the entire delicious concoction in one sitting. Just look at that fresh flavor.

If you find yourself in Chicago with a craving for real pizza, not the pounds-of-bread-deep-dish staple usually found in this city, I cannot recommend La Frasca enough. 

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