let's eat!

[muckefuck]

bunj has threatened not to read me until I make good on my promise to review Tweet. In the interests of shoring up my fan base and preserving domestic harmony--

It was okay.

We ordered the gnocchi, which--to coin a phrase--were al labbro instead of al dente. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed it was a style, rather than a complete ignorance of how to cook pasta. It was saved by a bleu cheese sauce which was lovely for dipping bread into--or would've been if it hadn't been MINED with capers! I know I've come out before against pretentious ingredient-list food names (e.g. "Fresh-brewed Steinthal Gardens Darjeeling with Femminello Siracusano Lemon and Paraguayan Stevia"), but, if you ask me, the FDA should stop farting around with trans-fat percentages and require huge labels saying "WARNING: CONTAINS NASTY GREEN POISON BALLS!!!" on anything with capers.

So monshu loved it, though he said the addition of a dollop of walnut pesto was just gratuitous. The bread was good, though, particularly the anise-spiced raisin bread. (What are you talking about?? Nobody needs warning labels for anise! Honestly, stop bothering everyone with your ridiculous culinary prejudices!)

So now the entrees: monshu ordered the Amish chicken. My pork was non-sectarian, but doused in Trappist ale. It was also mislabeled. Yes, there is such a thing as "pork loin chops". By no stretch of the imagination does this make a pork chop a "pork loin". Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to complain about having a big, meaty pork chop set in front of me, but if you can't get the small stuff right, how do I know you won't fatally mislead me when it really matters.

Like when there's CAPERS!

Actually, we had a bit of a tussle over who would order the loin, which I lost by winning. What I mean is, it read a lot better than it tasted. Frankly, it was bland. Pork's hard to screw up--particularly high-quality meat like that was (they totally have a thing for organic)--but it's not enough just to soak it in cider and call that seasoning (as I discovered myself years ago when I tried cooking pork chops à la normande). monshu's chicken and fixin' was much better spiced. Hell, even the pork chop I had at Ðong Kỳ with Jeff on Monday had this one on the ropes--even with the "handicap" of being Jewel's Finest.

We passed on dessert--after all, what could they possibly offer me that could top the tuxedo cake?--and on wine, since it's BYO. Also, we had to keep costs down since we weren't loaded with cash and they don't take credit. WTF? Every hole-in-the-wall for blocks around can handle credit cards, what's their problem?

I also thought it was cheesy to pay upscale prices for paper napkins and tablecloths, but, to be fair, they only recently switched to dinner service and maybe their linens simply haven't arrived yet. Or maybe they're still shopping for JUST THE RIGHT pattern. Oy, I know how that goes! The waiter was adequate (he sorta disappeared around check time), but the busboy was on fire. Try drinking more than a third of your water glass without getting his attention! But he wasn't intrusive or hovering, just there whenever he needed to be.

I think I've talked about the décor before. Chicago's love affair with sound maximisation continues. Outside of the entrees, there wasn't an absorbant surface in the place. It was maybe a third full on Wednesday and the noise level was approaching uncomfortable; come Friday, it must be like a rock concert. And speaking of music, when exactly did Brazilian go mainstream again? It was playing there and at Lulu's last night. Was it David Byrne in the 90's? The World Beat movement in the late 80's? Snaps up for the Brazilian rendition of "Smoke on the Water", btw.

Will I go back? Yes, yes I will. I'll give the pasta a miss, however, and work harder at reading between the lines on the "meh-NÜ".

Comments

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

When I am Empress of the World, I will put the caper warning labels into effect. So foul!