Oceanique

Hello Everyone,

My girlfriend celebrated her birthday this week and I decided to take her to Oceanique in Evanston.  I have heard good things about it and I bought a groupon for it a while back so it was the perfect opportunity!

SUSHISAMBA rio

Hello Everyone,

This past weekend was a celebration for many people.  A fifth of the world’s population celebrated Chinese New Year, all the lovers celebrated Valentine’s Day, and a happy couple in Chicago celebrated their 17-month anniversary.  Such an occasion deserved a nice dinner in the city!

I had made reservations to SUSHISAMBA rio (Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian fusion) around a month ago because I read on Opentable that they would have a special menu for Valentine’s Day.  When we walked in, we were welcomed and offered complementary coat check, which is always a plus.  We were seated right away in the back corner which was nice for a romantic dinner.

 

I looked over the special menu for the day and nothing really stood out.  I looked through the regular menu and it was the same feeling.  We decided to order from the special menu since it was only offered for that day.  We started off with chilled seasonal oysters, filet mignon anticucho, shaved hearts of palm, and a bobo brazil roll.

The roll came out first.  It roll was made with seared kobe beef, avocado, kaiware, shiso, red onion, and chimichurri ponzu.  I was really leaning towards getting something with toro or salmon, but the kobe beef and avocado caught my eye (also didn’t hurt that the waitress recommended it as well).  In the end, the roll was okay at best.  Japonais has better sushi for around the same price.

 

Then the oysters came next.  There were four oysters with a kumquat mignonette.  This was much better than the roll.  The oysters with the mignonette were very refreshing and a great way to start a meal.

 

I have never had hearts of palm before and don’t really know what it is, but it was my least favorite of the four starters.  It was served with mango vinaigrette and pink peppercorns and I am not a fan of the texture of the pink peppercorn.  It was a very pretty dish, but I just couldn’t get over the crunchy texture.

 

And they saved the best for last.  The filet mignon anticucho with butterscotch miso and almonds was the most amazing thing ever.  I could eat it over and over again!  The filet was cooked perfectly and the sauce was sweet but not overpowering.

 

For the main course, they had the choice between lobster and kobe beef…so we ordered one of each!  The butter poached lobster was very good.  The presentation amused me, so they get extra points for that.  You could definitely taste that it was poached in butter, but I think that’s what makes it better.

 

                                                                                                                     

The kobe beef a la plancha was slightly disappointing.  Since I commented about the presentation of the lobster, I feel obliged to say something about the kobe.  It was just a piece of meat on a plate.  I know it’s a steak, but I expected something a little more.  The presentation wasn’t the only thing lacking though.  I have never had kobe beef like this before so I wasn’t too sure what to expect.  The first bite was very rich and I was really enjoying the taste.   But the next few were kind of chewy; my girlfriend was even complaining about how her jaw was getting sore.

 

For dessert we got the chocolate peanut butter caramel bar with toasted marshmallow (in the shape of a heart) and caramel popcorn ice cream.  At first, I was a little afraid that the dessert would be too sweet and rich, but I was surprised how subtle it was.   The bar, ice cream and marshmallow complimented each other very well and the side of caramel popcorn was a nice touch.

 

Overall, it was a nice Valentine’s Day dinner.  The meal came out to be around $180 and another $12 for the valet which isn’t too bad, but I felt like the dinner should have been better for the price I was paying.  I do not think I would go back for dinner, but wouldn’t mind going for their happy hour to grab some sushi and drinks (and the filet mignon anticucho if possible).  Also, I had a look at their Restaurant Week menu and it looked much better than the Valentine’s Day menu…something for all of you to consider.

MK

Hello Everyone,

This will most likely be my last post for the year 2009.  I will be traveling to Washington to visit my parents during the holidays.  I want to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays.  Stay warm, be safe, and eat some good food!

First I want to congratulate my girlfriend who just graduated from the school of Medill at Northwestern University with her Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications last Saturday.  Her mom came to town for her graduation too, so I wanted to make sure to treat both of them to a nice celebratory graduation dinner.  After asking for recommendation from my friend, I decided to go with MK on the near north side.

I made the decision to go to MK a little late and was worried that they would be booked by now, but luckily, there was availability for a party of 3 at 8pm.  As we walked in, I noticed the Christmas decoration at the bar which was a welcoming touch.  There were also other decoration in the restaurant that gave me the holiday feeling, but I am not quite sure if that was intended…

When we were seated, I noticed that the wall behind me was a wine cellar.  I was handed the wine menu and it was thick.  Since my girlfriend’s mom didn’t want to have any wine and the last time my girlfriend and I shared a bottle of wine lead to some hilarious stories, I decided not to order a bottle.  Something else that is worthy to note, MK has a BYOW policy (with a corkage fee).

The dinner menu was impressive and the first thing that caught my eye was the foie gras.   I still remember the first time I had foie gras last year (it was a very magical moment) and I just can’t help myself from ordering it whenever I get the chance.  So of course I had to get the foie gras as an appetizer and we also got the ravioli.

When I ordered the foie gras, the waiter said that it would be rather small and is considered a single serving.  I still ordered it thinking that I would share it no matter how small it was, but when it came out I was quite surprised at the size.  It was much larger than anticipated and we did not have a problem sharing this among three people.  In all honestly, I would have much rather had the entire piece for myself, but the holiday season is all about sharing and giving…right?  Needless to say, the foie gras was delicious.  It was rich with flavor and I loved how it just melted in my mouth.  I haven’t had foie gras from too many different places, but this was the best of all the places I had so far.

The ravioli was also very good.  It came with three pieces, so that was perfect.  It was stuffed with Vermont mascarpone cheese and topped with prosciutto and mushrooms.  I don’t think I have ever had mascarpone cheese before, at least I never noticed it, but I sure did notice it in the ravioli.  The creamy cheese went so well with the prosciutto.

We also ordered the pommes frites with truffle cream.  When we first sat down, we noticed that a lot of the tables around us ordered them, so we decided to give them a chance.  There was nothing too special about the pommes frites themselves; I have had better fries from other places.  The only reason to get this is the truffle cream.

For the main course, I got the whitefish with Maine lobster; my girlfriend ordered the special, venison; and her mom ordered the chicken.

The fish itself I thought was good; the skin on the fish I thought was amazing.  It was crispy and I could taste the lobster and cilantro broth.  This was also my first time trying Maine lobster (the one and only reason why I want to go to Maine).   I didn’t think much about the lobster itself, I guess I would have to go to Maine to get the true experience, but I thought the lobster went well with the fish.

The venison, something else that I haven’t had before that night, was tender and juicy.  I only had a couple of bites, but it is something that I would try again.  My girlfriend enjoyed it a lot as well; she liked the flavor of the meat and thought the carrot puree and chocolate sauce that came with it amplified the flavor.

Now the chicken…  I thought the chicken was decent.  I just didn’t feel like there was anything impressive about the chicken.  The chicken is probably the “safest” dish on the menu; you can’t really mess up chicken, but you can’t really make it that special.  Also, I am not the biggest fan of thyme because of the texture.  Don’t order the chicken unless it’s the last option.

For dessert, we ordered two crème brûlées; classic vanilla and Vermont maple.  We all enjoyed both of them, but we agreed that the maple was better than the vanilla.  They are rather small portions, so I would suggest getting multiple and sharing.

So to sum it up, dinner at MK was good and I would recommend others to go.  There is plenty of parking in the area (some free and some pay boxes).  The service was great and everyone was very nice.  The dinner will be a little pricy; our party of three came out to be around 200 bucks.  Just remember to try the foie gras.