Tag Archives: bread

Raising the Bar

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Mark T

Bars are normally just known as watering holes for groups of friends on the town or creepers trying to cruise for some ladies (all dependent on what part of town you’re in, of course). Their drink selections can range from the mundane to the most elaborate with the rise of microbreweries and the sudden rise of professional mixologists, a.k.a. hipster bartenders. However, it’s not often that people associate fresh and/or gourmet food with bar food. True, it may be delicious, deep fried, and coated/stuffed/infused with many different types of cheese but nothing for more elegant palates. This was the case with Jimmy’s Grill in downtown Naperville.

Originally, Jimmy’s was your more typical waterhole that was the starting point of the night with a couple drinks before going to some of the more dance-centric establishments. The food? Just burgers, fries, nachos, and more fried foods up the wazoo.

Meh

These guilty pleasures were of average quality and served more as a lining for your stomach for the bender to come rather than a culinary experience. However, I recently visited it for the first time since coming back from Korea. Not only do they have a new logo and color scheme, but according to the menu, they have a new chef in the form of Travis Rodriguez and new management. Looking over the menu, I could see that they really upheld their pledge to utilize, “house braised, grass fed meats, free range chicken, fresh seafood, and baked goods.” I mean hummus? tartare? asparagus? Talk about the transformation of the ugly duckling. After much deliberation, I decided to get the Cubano sandwich ($11) which came with a free side of vinegar chips, salad, or fries. I went with the last option. My dad got the Picasso burger with Swiss cheese on top ($11), and my mom got the pulled pork sandwich ($11).

After a good amount of time taking in the new environs and checking out their ginormous tvs on the patio, they brought out our meals. My Cuban sandwich looked great and tasted even better. Not only did it have the signature grill marks thanks to the panini-esque grill called the plancha, but I could see all of the key ingredients that have made the Cuban sandwich a Miami staple since the early 1960s when Cuban refugees fled Castro’s Commie paradise. From the first bite, I was hooked. The bread was light, crispy, and chewy and gave way to a one-two punch of juicy pork loin and a hefty layer of succulent ham slices. Next came the melted Swiss cheese that gave the sandwich a slightly nutty yet mellow flavor that served as a contrast to the sour pickle slices and tart yellow mustard drizzled over all of the bread. They didn’t spare any expense with any of the ingredients which led to a meal packed with plenty of sassy Latino flavor to the last cheesy bite. The French fries were expertly fried and very lightly salted which scored major points with me. Moving on from there, I luckily was able to steal a nibble from my mom’s barbecue pulled pork sandwich that came with a side of apple jicama slaw and onion rings. The pork was messy yet heavenly with the sweet sauce that coated every strand, and the onion rings were perfect in terms of breading composition and onion stability within the crunchy shell. I didn’t get to try my dad’s burger since I didn’t fancy a ruptured stomach, but he took it down like a champ. Ergo, I’d only assume it was delicious. I did try the vinegar potato chips on the side, and they were crispy yet oh so sour with plenty of white vinegar bite.

Overall, I’d highly recommend checking the newly improved Jimmy’s Grill. Not only is the food delicious but also nutritious for a reasonable price.

I Like the Cut of Your Rib

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Mark T

Man, what a summer. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better with the weather improving and the World Cup around the corner, I finally made it out to Chicago’s famous Ribfest. While there is another similar festival out in Naperville, the Chicago one apparently is the best in the entire city for the summer. That really means something since there are ten billion street fests in Chicago for every type of cuisine, ethnicity, and music genre. Why so many? Oh, let’s just say when the winter hits Chicago, you don’t want to be anywhere outside, especially this past winter.

Ribfest is typically a three day event complete with music, games, and oh yeah, the food, including an amateur rib eating contest! Perhaps this video could give you a good idea of what it’s like to be there minus the crushing claustrophobia Janice and I experienced on the wonderful Sunday afternoon we spent there. We could see rib vendors from all over the Chicagoland area and the USA. After dodging millions of the food zombies slowly grazing and ripping apart various foodstuffs while shuffling slowly down Lincoln Ave., we ended up at the Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro tent. We had to try it since it has now won best ribs at the fest for the fifth year running. We got a sampler, and it was absolutely finger-lickin’ good. The whiskey laden sauce coated every inch of these fall-off-the-bone tender ribs. The sauce was smoky yet quite sweet, but the only downside was that I felt that there could have been more meat on the bones for the price.

She doesn’t mind.

After those tiny but tasty buggers, we moseyed on back to the Texas Thunder BBQ tent because you can’t mess with Texas! Not only did we splurge for a rib sampler but also a side of the sweet cowboy cornbread. I was much more satisfied with these bad boys since everything definitely was bigger in Texas. These Flintstone-sized ribs were more my speed since they had plenty of meat along with a spicier sauce that had hints of cayenne pepper. Not only that, but the cornbread was the best cornbread I’ve ever had. Not only was it sweet, but it was moist and spongy which allowed them to soak up some of the bbq sauce to create a spicy and sweet treat. It was a great day.

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Posted in American Cuisine, Barbecue, Burgers, Comfort Food and tagged bread, Chicago, corn, eating, fest, northside, review, ribs, sauce, smoky, spicy, sweet. Bookmark the permalink.

Aiming to Cheese

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Mark T

“The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.”

– George Miller

While many different countries have certain culinary stereotypes that may or may not be true like the British being terrible cooks (try a pasty and get back to me) or Indians only serving spicy food, one interesting cultural interaction in the kitchen is between Italian and Italian American cooking. While both emphasize fresh ingredients that often times circle around staples like olive oil, tomatoes, and a feisty nonna (grandmother) who’ll put you in your place if you mess around in the kitchen, there is a clear difference in presentation and dishes that exist in the USA that would never happen in Italy.

Made in America

Italians have always enjoyed big meals, and when large waves of Italian immigrants initially came to America, they couldn’t really afford much food or had to stretch their resources to make do. Thus, one icon of Italian American food culture in Chicago was born, the Italian beef sandwich. However, as time went on, the concept of abbondanza or “abundance” came to the fore as more and more Italian immigrants and their children were able to integrate into American society and earn a decent wage. With extra money, came extra ingredients to classic Italian plates to show to the world that these often times poor Southern Italians had finally made it in America, i.e. more cheese, sauce, and meat. Their legacy survives today from coast to coast especially in Chicago and New York City. I do love my Italian food, aside from pasta (yes, I know I’m a weirdo), and Papa Joe’s in Orland Park is a good family restaurant serving down-home Italian cooking.

Upon walking into the establishment, we were greeted by the strains of Old Blue Eyes and Deano. We went there for my cousin’s graduation party (congrats, Jen!), and there seemed to be an initial confusion with the reservation. It was a mere hiccough as we were quickly suited at the far end of the lower section by the wrap-around bar. I wouldn’t recommend sitting there since the some of the air vents on the ground might make it harder to roll your chair back when getting up and down from your table. Floor plans aside, the wait staff was competent and started us off with baskets of fresh bread. These piping hot bread orbs were wrapped up in cloth, and were pre-sliced which I enjoyed. The crust was a bit thick for my liking, but it had a nice crunch and an almost pretzel-esque flavor. My favorite part was the warm, white interior that was ideal for mopping up the olive oil and Parmesan cheese dust on my plate. Using butter on such a loaf wouldn’t be too Italian of me now. After that, we had a few salads places along our table including a typical mixed green salad, a pasta salad, and then a cucumber salad I was especially fond of. It was soaked in a vinaigrette that also had flecks of pungent goat cheese to counter the tangy and smooth cukes. The tomato pieces also added a bit of color to the mainly green plate. Once we moved beyond these antipasti, we ordered our main dishes. The menu was long and filled with Italian favorites like a plethora of pastas, meat dishes, chicken dishes, paninis, pizzas, fish dishes, and appetizers. I went for the chicken parmigiana ($14.95) since it was another dish I missed from home while I was in Korea. We also got a free cup of soup on the side, and that day’s choices were either cream of chicken or minestrone. I plumped for the former.

The soup came out first, and it was delicious. I liked to dip the bread in it since it softened up the thick crust. There were large nuggets of chicken in the creamy, pastel yellow broth along with a few slices of celery and carrots. After quickly downing that small but rich appetizer, my selection finally was placed in front of me. A chicken parmigiana consists of breaded and fried chicken cutlets that are then covered in marinara sauce and a hefty layer of mozzarella cheese. Papa Joe’s also offered veal and eggplant parmigiana. My poultry version was great. The tomato sauce was savory and buoyed the gooey cheese that topped the crispy and juicy chicken breasts. It was all white meat that left me extremely full after just one piece. My meal also came along with a side of pasta, but I managed to swap it for mixed cooked vegetables that were sauteed and delectable.

So if you’re looking for a cozy and authentic Italian restaurant in the south suburbs of Chicago, pay a visit to Papa Joe’s.

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Posted in European Cuisine, Italian and tagged bread, cheese, chicken, Italian, oil, olive, Orland Park, Parmesan, salads, sauce, soups. Bookmark the permalink.

All About My Cheddar

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Mark T

Top o’ the morning to ye and welcome to Mastication Monologues! Today’s post involves an Irish pub with plenty of class and delicious food. I’m talking about Lady Gregory’s located on the north side of Chicago. The name references a female Victorian Irish playwright who penned “Playboy of the Western World”, a play made infamous due to its scandalous reference to underpants. Ohhhhh my! She faced plenty of resistance and even death threats from audiences until Teddy Roosevelt saw the play and praised it. Looks like the king of “Bully!” stopped the bullies, and Lady Gregory’s menu contains the same sassyness the original Lady Gregory possessed. It ranges from flatbreads, salads, soups, burgers, and big plates. Plus, they have plenty of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to wet your whistle.

As for the layout of the restaurant, it has both indoor and outdoor seating. Janice and I chose to sit inside, so we were ushered past the impressive wrap-around bar to the area known as “the library”. Why? Simple. It’s an actual library that has walls stocked with reading material to go along with your eats and a few board games as well if you’re not entertained with simple conversation. After looking over the menu, I went for the ultimate grilled cheese ($10) and a side of champ ($3.50). My meal eventually came out, and it looked great. When they say the grilled cheese is “ultimate”, they mean that every element of the sandwich is coated, stuffed, and/or infused with cheese. *Cue Homer moment*. It was unlike any other grilled cheese moment I’ve had in other parts of Chicago or in my life. First, the bread was a Parmesan encrusted sourdough that had plenty of crunch, cheesy flavor, and consistency to support the flavor bomb that was ticking between the slices. When I bit through the beautiful bread, I was greeted by an avalanche of lava hot cheeses: Gruyere, Irish white cheddar, mozzarella, and brie to be exact. While these smooth and flavorful cheeses were cascading down my palate, I also managed to catch some of the mashed tomatoes in the waves of dairy along with some delightfully smoky yet sweet, candied bacon pieces. I’d highly recommend this delightfully rich in flavor but not in price plate. The free pickle on the side only “sweetened” the deal with its sour, dill crunch. As for the champ, it’s an Irish take on mashed potatoes. Called brúitín in Gaelic or “poundies”, this side takes basic mashed potatoes and combines them with butter, green onions, and milk. A simple food that packs plenty of complex sensations into a humble bowl. While the potatoes were extremely creamy, the rich butter contrasted with the semi-strong green onions that introduced a bit of attitude like a champion side dish should have.

So if you want to have some great versions of simple meals that won’t cost you a pot o’ gold, check out Lady Gregory’s!

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Posted in American Cuisine, Comfort Food, English, European Cuisine, Irish and tagged bread, butter, cheese, Chicago, English, grilled, Irish, mashed, northside, onions, potatoes, Pub. Bookmark the permalink.

The Cradle of Deliciocracy

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Mark T

Tikanis, people? That’s “what’s up?” in Greek which is the language spoken at today’s reviewed eatery in, you guessed it if you’ve been reading my latest entries, Delray Beach, Florida. If you haven’t been reading through, some highlights include me taking down a giant chicken sandwich, eating a breakfast jammed in a burger, and a sexually titled sushi platter. So, after having Italian the previous day, I wanted to continue the Mediterranean theme with a proper Greek dinner or maybe I just had a hankering for some good Feta cheese.

After a bit of sleuthing through the online food directories, I found Zorba’s Taverna that had a lot of great reviews where people raved about the tasty eats at reasonable prices. Perfect. It didn’t look like much from the outside as it was located in a strip mall, and coming from Chicago, I’m normally used to them looking like the white-washed buildings in Santorini. The sign on the door, on the other hand, already provided me with a taste of the Greek hospitality to come (thankfully sans broken plates). The place was moderately busy, but the seats quickly were occupied as we managed to beat the crowd rushing the doors trying to get out of the rain. Our waiter slowly sauntered over, and he seemed slightly off for some reason I couldn’t put my finger on. Nevertheless, he was amiable. Inside, Zorba’s Taverna was the Greek diner I was expecting complete with a classic Hellenic blue and white motif everywhere along with a fitting tribute to the Anthony Quinn film that serves as inspiration for the restaurant’s name. After looking over the menu that had all of the classic Greek dishes that they’ve served since antiquity like spanokopita, souvlaki, and baklava along with a couple newer Greek innovations like saganaki that was reinvented right in Greektown in my hometown of Chicago. My mom got an order of the saganaki ($8.95) for us to share to start off. For those who have never had the pleasure of trying saganaki, the name describes how the cheese, in this case vlahotyri, is melted in a frying pan since saganaki is the diminutive of sagani or a “frying pan with two handles”. The cheese is then eaten with a spritz of lemon and maybe a sprinkling of pepper. Once Greek immigrants came to America, they served this gooey cheese dish to diners, but as I mentioned before, the Greeks in Chicago added a bit more showmanship to this humble dish. What can add panache to any sort of performance art like preparing and serving food? Fire! If you visit most Greek restaurants in the Chicagoland area, you can experience something like this. Strangely, in Florida they didn’t set the cheese ablaze but rather placed it on our table with a whimper along with a free plate of pita triangles and hummus. The saganaki sans flames was still delicious with a salty and citrusy flair to each forkful. As for the hummus and pita, I don’t know if they do this for every patron or if we were the 100th customers, but it was a great perk to our visit. The pita was warm and fresh, and the hummus was creamy and evenly spiced with a liberal splash of olive oil. We then ordered our food where my dad got the tzatziki platter ($4.95), my mom got chicken souvlaki platter ($12.95), and I got a side of dolmathakia ($7.95) and the roasted Greek chicken ($14.95). Eventually, our food came out, and it all looked great. My dad’s tzatziki or cucumber sauce was thicker than I was used to compared to back home in Chicago but didn’t affect the overall quality. My mom informed me the chicken souvlaki or shish kabob was very dry. On my plates, on the other hand, I found nothing but mouth-watering choices. The dolmathakia consisted of cooked grape leaves that encased fluffy grains of rice with spices and just the right amount of dill that was further enhanced by the translucent dill broth that these mini-grape loves were stewing in. I got a free Greek salad on the side which was verdant and scrumptious along with the creamy pieces of Feta that scratched my itch for cheese like the big rat I am. As for my chicken, although it couldn’t hold an oil lamp to some of my Greek friends’ mommas’ cooking, it was alright for Delray Beach. The chicken was so well prepared that it literally fell apart as soon as I touched it with my fork. From the oregano coated skin to the juicy white meat interior, I was in a state of apotheosis as a foodie during this meal. Unfortunately, then it went downhill from the average green beans to the less than noteworthy potatoes on the side that were quite bland and hard. The tumble from the top of the Mount Olympus of food ended with a definite thud.

So if you’re looking for mostly lip-smackingly good Greek food that’ll make you shout Opa! down in Delray Beach, boogie on down to Zorba’s Taverna.

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Posted in European Cuisine, Greek and tagged bread, cheese, chicken, dance, Delray Beach, flames, Florida, grape leaves, Greek, pita, rice, salad, shishkabob, tzatziki, Zorba. Bookmark the permalink.

My Glorious Food Revolution- Day 1 in N. Korea

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Mark T

Happy New Year to everyone out there! Sorry for the long hiatus between posts, but I just returned from an insane vacation through North Korea and China. I’m going to start off with North Korea since it is the more mysterious of the two countries, but if one is familiar with Korean food beyond the ubiquitous barbecue that everyone and their 엄마 (momma) loves, then you’ll see that my food adventures in the Hermit Kingdom really aren’t as exotic as one would think. I’m going to do a day-by-day installation of the various foodstuffs and stuff they passed off as food whilst we were ushered throughout Pyongyang and Kaesong which is a city close to the DMZ. I knew I was in for a doozy of a trip when I had my first encounter with North Korean food on the airplane.

Sadly, we were not riding on a Cold War era Russian plane en route to the Glorious Fatherland; then again, it’s not sad since I greatly value my life. However, I questioned the safety of my G.I. tract when I was face to face with what I’d like to call the “enigma burger.” I got a beer on the side since I was in a festive mood, and they seemed to have more of that than water. It looked like a normal burger of sorts when wrapped, but after unwrapping it slowly I took a peak under its uniform top bun to find some sort of organic matter with some scraps of lettuce.

Your guess is as good as mine.

I assumed it was chicken, but when I bit into it I was greeted with an oddly creamy texture that kind of tasted like tuna yet had yellow flecks of what seemed like eggs. Yet between my befuddled bites, it had tinges of chicken which made me somewhat relieved that my theory was correct…sorta. It was a microcosm of one of the most isolated countries on earth: nothing is really what it seems. Overall, it wasn’t too bad, but it may have been overshadowed by my ravenous appetite.

When we landed in Pyongyang, we made history as the first tour group to ever been in North Korea during the New Year festivities, so even our guides were leading us into uncharted territory. All of which obviously led to an even heightened sense of excitement when we started the night off right with some classic Taedonggang North Korean beer. Taedonggang in Korean means “Taedong River” which is where we had our New Year’s Eve cruise through the middle of Pyongyang. The story behind the beer is quite interesting. A British beer company, Ushers, went bankrupt, so the North Korean government bought the factory. They brought it over to Pyongyang, and now are churning out bottles of this delectable brew. My first bottle was like heaven after months of drinking the dreadful triumvirate of Hite, Cass, and OB in South Korea. It was a full bodied lager with a slightly bitter aftertaste which nicely complimented the eats at our little shindig. It wouldn’t be my last time tangling with Taedonggang though during the trip. The first food at dinner that I never saw before was this julienned potato dish that was delicious. It was served slightly warm, and each starchy strand was soaked in a peppery vinaigrette that supplied my palate with a piquant punch with every chopstick clasp. The other element of the meal that really caught my eye and tastebuds was actually a garnish to our main meal of fried rice: a thousand year old egg. Obviously, these eggs aren’t really a thousand years old, but they have been around for centuries in Chinese cuisine where they are known as 皮蛋 or pidan. They are prepared by taking eggs and storing them in clay, ash, quicklime, and salt for months at a time. What ends up happening is the whites turn a deep amber color almost bordering on black, and the yolk becomes a grey almost light green/yellow color which you can see in the photo.

Everyone was egging me on to eat it. Yolks on them.

I saw them before in Taiwan, but I never got around to buying one while chilling in the 7-11. So now I found myself on a boat in the middle of Pyongyang for NYE= YOLO. I was the only one brave enough to pop the gelatinous slices in my mouth, and it really wasn’t that bad. It just tasted like a hard boiled egg that got a brand new paint job, and they certainly didn’t taste as bad as the German cookies they were selling on the boat for snacks. It was a great celebration where everyone enjoyed each others company in a unique environment. However, the main thought in the back of my head the entire time was how much food we were being served while millions of people have died from famine in the very same country. It added a somewhat sombre tinge to my perusing of Pyongyang’s culinary entries, but it was a sad truth that further added to the odd atmosphere that would continue in day two.

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Posted in Alcoholic, Beer, Beverages, Far East Asian Cuisine, North Korean, North Korean and tagged Bar, Beer, Beverages, bread, Burger, chicken, Chinese, eggs, North Korea, Taedonggang. Bookmark the permalink.

Last Action (Grill) Hero/Which Came First: Toast or the Egg?

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Mark T

Hey everyone! Welcome to the 120th installation of Mastication Monologues! Not only is this post special just because I’ve reached another milestone in the “arduous” quest to be a great food blog writer, but it’s also an installment that chronicles my 26th birthday. Naturally, I had to go big for my second birthday overseas, so I ended up at Action Grill in Hongdae. Here is their business card with all of the information you need along with their Facebook page. The directions are quite long and detailed, so I’m sure Google Maps will suffice.

It’s surprising that I even ended up here in the first place because I found it originally on accident like Christopher Colombus minus the biological warfare and genocide of the local population. It was a lovely summer day with my friend who I went out with to get ice cream at Fell and Cole. We then walked around Hongdae just for fun, and we stumbled upon the establishment that drew us in with the grills set up outside. We took a look inside, and I knew that I absolutely had to eat at Action Grill one day. What better day than my birthday? So I set everything up with the owner, Kim, whose number is on the card. He was very helpful and understanding, so I’d give the service an A+ just based on his accommodating nature. Now you might be wondering what sets Action Grill apart from other restaurants and made me want to eat there above all other places? Well, at Action Grill you camp indoors while you eat. So basically everything from the seats to the grills, to the decor are straight out of a foray in the forest. Their menu revolves around grill sets which range from 15,000 W to 40,000 W. They also have a wide range of beverages both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. For our group of 12 people, we got three of the “Brother” sets which feeds four people, more or less. It took about 15 minutes for them to prepare it, and then they brought it out to our tables in full Weber grills. When they removed the tops, I was taken aback by how much delicious food was piled up in front of me. On one grill we had slices of bacon, sausages, full shrimp, chicken, potato wedges, and veggies encased in a tin foil tent. It was a fun group eating experience since you had fold out forks and filled up each others’ small camping bowls with the food. As for the actual meal, all of the food was great. I was especially partial to the bacon because there was a lot of fat on it which made it especially smooth and buttery tasting. The chicken was good but oddly had an aftertaste of hot dogs. I personally liked combining the onion and pepper veggie salad with the different meats to provide a crisp contrast to the savory elements that the meats brought. As for the potato wedges, they were well made with crunchy exteriors along with firm, snow-white interiors. It was an even more interesting dining experience since I was interviewed and filmed by Korean college students talking about how I much I enjoyed the restaurant. Overall, I was quite satisfied with my meal at Action Grill and the unique camping experience was quite entertaining since they took away all of the annoying parts of camping like mosquitos and rabid raccoons. However, my birthday food adventure didn’t just stop there. I also tried some pizza beer with my friend, Bora. Somehow Tom Seefurth managed to distill the essence of a classic Margherita pizza into a lager. It wasn’t something that I would ask for again, but the experience was worth it. It had a distinct oregano smell, but as for the taste, it was more peppery and cheesy. This was an occasion where I think they over-elaborated on culinary fusion. Nothing’s better than pizza and beer, but when they combined them, it left me feeling less than saucy.

Mama mia! indeed

Much later in the night after a lot of dancing and the occasional imbibing of some adult beverages, my friends and I stopped for some Korean street food. This time I tried a Korean winter specialty, 계란 빵 or egg bread.

Breakfast for a late night snack

It’s exactly what it sounds like. Creative name, huh? They look like small hors d’oeurves served up on a hot griddle, but they were just what I needed to brace myself against the chilly night. The egg is served sunny side up on top of the bread, so watch out for some yolk splatter. As for the bread, it was pleasantly crispy and completed this small, hearty breakfast tablet that I ate in the middle of the street.

Freezing but so worth it

A tasty end to my birthday even though half of it ended up on my face thanks to Bora trying to feed me it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Posted in Alcoholic, American, American Cuisine, Barbecue, Beer, Beverages, Far East Asian Cuisine, South Korean and tagged Beer, bread, chicken, egg, Food, grill, Hongdae, potatoes, restaurant, Reviews, Seoul. Bookmark the permalink.

Qué Guay de Paraguay!

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Mark T

Hola a todos y bienvenidos a un capítulo nuevo de Mastication Monologues! For those who don’t habla the espanol, I basically said, “what’s up and welcome!”. Anyway, the reason why I busted out the Spanish is because I tried Paraguayan food for the first time today. Now, if you don’t really know South America, there are basically two countries that dominate the world’s imagination when anyone mentions the continent: Brazil and Argentina. These two nations have become so famous thanks to their futbol teams/players, food, women, and not to mention the fact that they’re gargantuan and take up most of the continent. Therefore, little landlocked Paraguay doesn’t stand a chance to have its voice heard on the global stage when it’s being drowned out by samba, tango, and pan pipes from Bolivia.

Poor Paraguay in yellow

Somehow a slice of this South American minnow landed in Itaewon in Seoul in the form of the restaurant Comedor or “dining room” in Spanish. It’s located at 130-3 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (서울시 용산구 이태원동 130-3). You can get there by walking out of exit 4 of Itaewon Station and turn around. Take a right at the intersection and then take another right at the small alley. Comedor will be on your left across from Wolfhound Pub.

The inside is very cozy and could probably hold only 10 people max at a time, but I personally preferred it to a large, noisy place. There was only one waitress in the place which added to the homey atmosphere. The menu consisted of individual empanadas (small pockets of meat, cheese, and vegetables) ranging from (4,000-6,000 W), menu of the day, and sides like chipa which is a native Paraguayan bread. I ended up getting the combo platter (14,000 W) which consisted of three different types of empanadas, regular chipa bread, cheesy chipa bread, and a beverage. For my beverage, I wanted to get mate tea (cocido 4,000 W, caliente and terrere varieties 6,000 W) which is the national drink of Paraguay and consists of brewing the leaves of the yerba mate plant. Even though it wasn’t part of the combo deal, my waitress didn’t charge me for it probably because I spoke Spanish with her (hint hint for all you hispanohablantes out there).

When it came out, I didn’t know where to start first, but who was I kidding? I was going straight for the empanadas.

Starting at right and going clockwise: cheesy chipa, corn and cheese empanada, chicken empanada, beef empanada, and regular chipa in the middle

First, there was the cheese and corn one. It was a great combination since the corn was very sweet, and the cheese was slightly salty and gooey. The flaky pastry crust was a golden blanket that kept these two ingredients piping hot which really brought out the flavors even more. I splashed some of the spicy Tabasco-esque sauce from the side bowl on top of a piece, and it was a spicy, salty, sweet fiesta in my mouth. Next came the chicken empanada. I wasn’t really blown away by this empanada since the chicken was on the dry side, but the pastry was still executed to excellence. As for the final beef empanada, I was a bit surprised because not only did it have seasoned ground beef in it but also hard boiled egg crumbles. This added an extra flavor/texture dimension to another possibly pedestrian empanada. So out of the three I tried, the cheese and corn one stood head and shoulders above its less flavorful companions. Then there were the two types of chipa bread whose name comes from the indigenous Guaraní language of Paraguay that still is widely spoken. I tried the cheesy chipa first, and it was like corn bread mixed with Cheetos in a good way, i.e. it wasn’t as radioactively orange, and I didn’t get the cheese dust all over my fingers. Once I forked every last crumb down, I attacked the yuca chipa bread. It was a great last piece of the platter because it was very similar to the Brazilian pão de queijo or “cheese bread”. It’s exactly what it sounds like. The actual bread was ever so crispy on the outside but quite soft/pliable which gave way to a moderate, interior coating of fresh white cheese. To drink, it was a bit of folly on my part. As I said before, I ordered mate tea, but there are three different types on the menu: cocido (cooked), caliente (hot), and terere (cold in Guaraní). I got the cocido thinking it was the traditional mate served out of a gourd with a metal straw, but instead I got the gentrified version of it in a fine china teacup. Qué lastima! Turns out the other two were the traditional versions. Nevertheless, it was a potent brew that reflected its indigenous roots in every sip through a mostly herbal flavor profile while being consumed in a European manner. One could say it was a microcosm of Paraguayan society within one cup of tea.

So if you’re tired of eating the same old tacos and nachos at Vatos in Itaewon, try out Comedor for some rare South American fare.

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Posted in Paraguayan, South American and tagged beef, bread, cheese, chicken, chipa, corn, empanada, mate, Paraguay, South America, tea. Bookmark the permalink.

Baycation Gone Wrong

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Mark T

What’s up, y’all?! I just finished my lengthy recounting of my Korean Thanksgiving abroad in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, so now I’m bringing it back to the Korean peninsula in Hongdae a.k.a. one of my favorite stomping grounds in Seoul. It’s the local university neighborhood, so naturally it’s filled with young people my age compared to the ajummas scowling outside my apartment and the ajeossis getting drunk and visiting the love motels in my backyard. This age difference leads me to frequent this happening student quarter, and along the way I manage to try all of the funky restaurants that cater to the young, restless, and hungry. Today I’ll be talking about Burger Bay. It’s located at Mapo-gu Seogyo-dong 362-7 Seoul South Korea.

It was actually quite an impromptu visit since I had originally just planned on meeting up with my friend Heidi to pick up my shipment of Sriracha hot sauce from the States. Don’t judge me. Korea lacks legitimately spicy sauces for everyday use. After meeting up, we decided to grab dinner and catch up on our vacations abroad. We ended up at Burger B because I had seen it many times during nights out and wanted to see the overall quality of the burgers they made. So we walked into a very nicely decorated and arranged restaurant with no foreigners inside which was interesting for Hongdae since there are normally a lot of foreigners in the burger joints. We sat down to look at the menu, and the waitress recommended the regular size for two people (read: Korean people or anyone else who isn’t used to American sized portions). Heidi just went with a regular cheeseburger while I went for the regular sized Bay Burger. After a good amount of time talking about Korea and how it compared to the States/my Chinese adventures, our burgers emerged from the kitchen. They were a sight behold. I never saw a burger that larger ever in Korea. It was like I was back home, but the size was more intimidating because the bun was quite thick which was a bad meat to bread ratio. On the side we got a small portion of golden steak fries that were delicious and lightly drizzled with a garlic aioli. The jalapenos that came with it were also a big surprise since you rarely see them in Korea, but they were largely tasteless since they took away most of the spicy seeds. The burgers, however, were the main talking point of this meal, naturally. On mine, there was marinara sauce, hashbrowns, tomatoes, lettuce, and a thick juicy beef patty. I didn’t really understand why there were hashbrowns and marinara sauce on the burger, and it didn’t make the burger that delicious. It did make me think of the Korean propensity to always combine tomato based products with some form of potato like throwing potatoes on every form of pizza known to mankind. I was somewhat pleased with my burger but not blown away. Then there was Heidi’s burger.

Heidi’s face sums up our feelings about this “cheeseburger”.

Normally, a cheeseburger is just what it says it is. Cheese+burger, but this was no ordinary burger. When she lifted the bun, she found chopped almonds coating the cheese like a brown and white blanket of snow.

Nuts to that.

Why, Korea? I tried a bite, and it was somewhat disgusting because the nuts were semi-sweet for some reason. I don’t know how she ate 3/4ths of her burger but more power to her.

I’d say check out Burger Bay if you’re looking for a chill place that has an interesting mix of ingredients on burgers, but I’d recommend looking elsewhere for the best burger in Seoul.

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Posted in American Cuisine, Burgers and tagged almonds, bread, Burger, cheese, hash browns, jalapenos, marinara, sauce. Bookmark the permalink.

Taiwan (Part 2)- Delicious as the Dark Side of the Moon

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Mark T

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Mastication Monologues! If this is your first time coming on the site, I’ve been writing about my adventures to Hong Kong and Taiwan, so check out the previous posts if you want to get caught up with all of my latest dietary adventures. Today’s post will be focusing on my second day in Taiwan which was very hot, humid, and happy since I tried a crazy amount of foods that I’ve never tried before. First, there was the National Palace Museum restaurant.

If there is one museum you need to check out in Taipei, it’s the National Palace Museum. The only downside is that it is jam-packed with hordes of Chinese tour groups. Nevertheless, it’s filled with priceless Chinese antiquities that are simply breathtaking especially some of the precious jade statues. Walking around the giant complex caused me to work up an appetite, so I tried their restaurant which is by the second exhibition hall. I ended up getting the beef noodle soup with a side of “rice with lard”. The beef noodle soup was similar to the bowl I had back in Hong Kong at Din Tai Fung, i.e. a beefy ambrosia of sorts. As for the rice, it was great ,but I suspect there was a problem with the translation on the menu because I think what they meant was that it was fried rice with a slice of sweet potato on the top along with a soupçon of soy sauce. I was expecting rice mixed with chunky white shortening or something along those lines. Then there was dessert which was a tofu soup with peanuts. I’m normally not a huge tofu eater, but I commend them for making the bland bean paste edible. Then again it was quite easy since it was soaking in cold sugary soup along with semi-soft peanuts. Not my all time favorite dessert, but at least I tried something new. As a whole, this restaurant was alright for Taiwanese food, but nothing compared to my dinner with the Wu/Ni family.

While I was eating lunch, Ms. Wu called me up to arrange dinner plans with the family for the Moon Cake festival. After a few brief conversations, I found myself later that afternoon at the San Want Hotel. I met my friend David’s cousins and grandparents. We exchanged a few pleasantries before getting down to business with the food. My plate was quickly filled as everyone was chucking food at me to try, and I didn’t know where to start since it was all new to me. I’ll start with the flaky pork buns and pickled chicken feet. The former consisted of a ball of lightly seasoned pork nestled within a multi-layered, flaky dumpling shell. As for the latter, they were a bit rubbery and thankfully lacking the bones of their dim sum counterparts I had back in Chicago. They just really tasted briny with a hint of chicken. Moving on from there, we had the duck blood which I was really jonesing to try since I heard it was a Taiwanese delicacy. When I first saw the duck blood cakes, I thought they were large pieces of liver due to the texture and color, but when I popped the piece in my mouth, it didn’t have the same granular texture of liver. Instead I was greeted with a rich, mildly iron-tinged caress from the sanguineous specialty. I liked it. Next came the barbecue pork buns which were like heaven. Imagine a pulled pork sandwich minus the risk of losing a single shred of piggy. It was a sweet and savory nugget of glory. The following two dishes continued the line of fantastic foods. First, there was the ginger beef which kind of tasted like something you could find at a Chinese American restaurant back home in terms of the ingredients found in the bowl like marinated pieces of beef in a garlic ginger sauce along with sprigs of green onions. The other bowl contained a similarly stewed tofu dish that once again proved my hate for the squishy soy product wrong with its beefy gravy and peppers. After these somewhat heavier foods, I took a break with a lighter type of dumpling that I could only liken to a Chinese version of a croquette, but the dough was fried minus bread crumbs. On the inside there was minced beef along with vegetables. The next food won points in my book not just for the rich seaweed taste, but also for presentation points. This Taoist inspired soup was an egg based broth with an infusion of seaweed. The last dinner course was the stinky fish rice which pretty much was what it sounds like, but it wasn’t as odoriferous as I was anticipating. Either way, it was a well made fried rice with fresh and juicy pieces of fish.

Dessert was just as varied as dinner where there were many things that were new to me. First, there was a crunchy noodle pancake which you first had to put sugar on it and then pour some vinegar over the sugar. It was a strange yet satisfying mixture of crunchy fried noodles along with a sweet and sour flavor profile that complimented the bold texture. I then had a sweet egg dumpling that had a similar soft exterior like the bbq pork buns, and the inside was slightly runny but very sweet. Then there were three bowls of goo that all were delicious. I felt like Goldilocks in the three bears’ house minus the flaxen locks and risk of being eaten by wild animals. First, there was the taro root pudding which tasted like a taro root which can only be likened to a less intense sweet potato. The second bowl was filled with tofu pudding which didn’t leave any sort of impression on me, but the last bowl definitely did. It was filled with turtle jelly. It’s made from turtle shells and a bunch of Chinese herbs, and it’s used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a variety of ailments like acne and muscle aches. This was the most unique of the trio since it was like eating jello infused with a slightly salty and very herbal Jaegermeister. The honey that came on the side cut through some of the intense medicinal ingredients though. Finally, we ended the meal with the traditional foods of the Moon Cake festival: the moon cakes and pomelo. The moon cakes were delicious as the buttery, crumbly dough gave way to a chocolate interior for one, chestnut and orange for another, and red beans for a more traditional one. As for the pomelo, I could only liken it to a love child between a lime and a grapefruit in appearance. Po-po (grandma) told me I should wear the rind on my head as part of the moon cake tradition with their family, but I broke it to her that my head was too fat to accomplish such a feat. Instead, I enjoyed the slices of this fruit which looked like slices of white grapefruit with a similar sweet and acidic taste profile, but it had smaller seeds than a regular grapefruit. It was a bittersweet end to a wonderful meal with a very generous and caring family that I was grateful to be with on such a special occasion. I really appreciated it.