First, where…

Wait, isn’t that… Yesterday’s picture? Actually, yes! After my lunch at Ma Dang Coul, I went next door, to Mum’s Gelati! ^_^

In my head, running a gelato shop in this area ought to be difficult. I mean, from Robson and Burrard to Denman to English Bay, I think there are about six or seven (if not more) gelato/ice cream shops… Anyway, here is the shop inside.

I didn’t take a close-up of all the varieties but, in addition to the expected flavours, they had some interesting ones like chocolate-Grand Marnier…

Which is what I had along with a scoop of chocolate-hazelnut (just under $4). Though it tasted great, I was slightly disappointed with the texture, as it was more on the lines of ice cream than gelato (as for the difference, TS of [eatingclub] vancouver recently wrote a really god post about gelato, I highly recommend you check it). In the end, because they had some interesting flavours, I am willing to give it a try again; however, if I do, I will be doing it thinking of ice cream rather than gelato.

Now that I am settled (work-wise) in Vancouver West End, where to go for lunch should not be a problem, right? I mean, all the options around… Well, actually that might be the problem. Too many places, which one to go? So, after I came back from my trip to Merrillville/Chicago, rather than think where to go, I just selected one randomly, in this case, Ma Dang Coul.

Ma Dang Coul is located a block south-west of the corner of Robson and Denman. I have walked by this place a couple of hundred of times (literally) and never thought of going in. Reason? I think the fact it is innocuous or not outstanding has a lot to do…

Decoration is spartan but you will not miss the fact this is a Korean place.

As for the food, I ordered Bi Bim Bap, a dish that is starting to be a personal favourite.

I apologize for this picture, as the dish originally had the different ingredients (zucchini, carrots, bean sprouts, etc, with a fried egg) nicely placed next to each other. I was a bit too hungry and started mixing the rice with the items (plus some chili sauce) in the bowl. Sorry!

Almost as expected in any Korean restaurant, the side dishes, in this case (from left to right), seaweed, kimchi and potatoes.

And a close-up of the Bi Bim Bap. Hmmmm… Drool… ^_^;

Compared to the other Korean restaurants in Robson Street, I easily understand why this go unnoticed; however, I am glad I visited here. The food is simply, unpretentious and cheap. Wait, I did not mention that, right? The lunch above was just under $7 (slightly more for dinner). Definitely will consider it for future lunches.

After the unsatisfying dinner at Kenzo, I wanted something “sweet” to finish the meal. Originally I was planning to go to a ice cream shop in HighGate Village but, alas, it was already closed. Instead, I went to a nearby Dairy Queen and picked up one of these:

That’s their Strawberry Waffle Bowl ($4.5), a waffle shaped like a… bowl, with some soft-serve, chocolate, whipping cream and their strawberry mix. I will admit that after I purchased it, I regretted not getting something “smaller”… After a couple of spoons, I wanted to leave it. Really!

Conclusion? It wasn’t that bad but, next time, I should get something more simple (and manageable)…

We are all aware of the ramen restaurants in Downtown Vancouver (Benkei, Motomachi Shokudo and Kintaro). With their popularity, it was just a matter of time for that type of shops to expand to other neighborhoods, like Menya near Broadway @ Cambie. And then there is Kenzo, located in the Middlegate area in Kingsway…

Observant readers will notice something “interesting”… In addition to kanji, you see hangul. Was this a sign of my to-be meal? Probably, but I was determined to find out rather than guess how it might have been. Anyway, I was quickly seated and given the menu.

Restaurant interior. OK, there is your bar if you need some booze.

The menu had a mix of noodle dishes plus some Korean dishes (bi bim bap, bulgogi, et al). Now, the reason for this visit was for ramen so I focused on that. And this is what I ordered:

“The King of The Kings Ramen” ($10), spicy. It was the bowl with all the toppings and I saw no reason to order it. Now, one thing that can’t be easily observed from this shot is the size of the bowl, so let’s try again.

The bowl was huge! Also since they have Korean dishes, I saw no reason why I should not order… Kimchi! OK, that was stereotyping but, hey, food is food…

A complain I have had in several ramen shops is the over-use of bean sprouts and Kenzo has the same issue.

But, putting that aside, how was the food? Unfortunately, there was nothing exciting about the food. The ramen was just OK. The pork has no redeeming qualities and the broth, though spicy as requested, had no other other qualities. Finally, the kimchi, well, it tasted as if it came from a plastic jar. This might be literally, as it had some funny plastic-like aftertaste I have not had from other Korean restaurants. Overall, it was a filling meal but that was about it.

In addition to my dinner with FYZ and WS, we also had breakfast on my last day in Chicago. Again, I asked for a place they would suggest, rather than asking for a particular cuisine. After all, I was still dazzled by the options! Anyway, here is where we ended up going.

This restaurant is located in an area called Andersonville. From what I was told, the best analogy would be Davie Village.

For drinks, I had grapefruit juice, rather than orange juice (which FYZ had) or coffee (which WS had), I wanted something cold and bitter at the same time. Grapefruit was perfect for this. However… Can somebody tell me why restaurants don’t usually serve the bloody red grapefruit juice? Not that I asked but I am just curious…

For breakfast, WS had:

Peach~rasperry (sic) blisscake, described as “two of our fluffy hotcakes layered w/warm peaches & raspberries, vanilla crème & topped w/a brown sugar & oat crust“. According to FYZ and WS, it was really sweet, as in dessert sweet. The first thing that came to my mind was “sugar overload”! ^_^;

This is what FYZ and I had, chorizo scramble ~ two eggs or tofu scrambled with chorizo or soyrizo, poblano, pepper, corn, sweet onion, cilantro, queso fresco, salsa verde & sour cream, served w/ house potatoes. I am not sure how to describe this… Even with some hot sauce, it was… bland. In fact, I suspect we were given the tofu version rather than the egg version as I couldn’t taste the egg (either the egg-iness or the texture). The hash was just OK.

Overall, I find the breakfast passable, not the greatest. However, I find it difficult to make a straight comparison to something in Metro Vancouver, as most places that pop into my head are on the lines of greasy spoons, which M. Herny is not. Regardless of my perception of this place, the company was great which made up for the shortages.

FYZ and WS, thanks a lot your hospitality: I had a great time! Although I mentioned I might not be able to accommodate you if you come to Metro Vancouver, that was a joke! My apartment is right now a mess and need some time to tidy up… ^_^;;; If you guys drop by, just let me know and will try to do my best!

As for Chicago itself, as mentioned previously, I am still amazed at the different ethinc options. If you thought Vancouver was multi-cultural, Chicago can easily beat Vancouver in variety. Too bad I did not have that much time… Next time I hope!

Sun-Tzu said “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”. Using a similar logic, you usually have friends and then you have FRIENDS. These friends are those that will not hesitate to tell the blunt truth, knowingly that although it will hurt you, in the end, it is for your own good. On those lines, I have a really dear friend, FYZ. In fact, if I need a reality check, I can rely on her.

Unfortunately, we have not seen each other for close to a decade - until a couple of months that is, when she was travelling to Seattle and we agreed to meet each other. Now, don’t get me wrong, we did send/receive emails once in a while but still, that is not the same. She is currently living in Chicago and, since it was on my way from/to Merrillville, I knew we had to meet each other. Of course, since she lives in the area, it was up to her to choose the place… And here is where we went, Semiramis Restaurant.

Sorry for the fuzzy picture, it was COLD!

Now, in reality, FYZ (and her BF, WS) asked what I wanted to try. My initial reaction was “anything local/representative”. Oh, boy, that was a big mistake, as I soon found out Chicago is culturally diverse, probably more than Vancouver. Anyway, back to the food…

The first appetizers. The green one is obviously green olives; however, we were debating what was the red thing. It was tart and crunchy so we hypothesized it might be turnip or radish (marinated in a brine which gave that reddish colour). I was about to ask the waitress but, in the end, to keep the mystery, we decided not to, hehehehehe.

We had tabouleh. It was quite good, as it had an interesting balance of oily yet not too acidic. Also, it was not too watery, compared to others I have had.

We also had hummus. It was quite good; however, I wish it had a little bit of tahini (sesame paste).

As for the food…

Chicken Shawarma Special. I had a piece of this and I must say it was quite good! If I compare it to the one in Falafel King, this one is a lot better. It had red cabbage which gave it a crunchy texture. Also, the tahini gave it a really different, interesting twist (again, compared to the ones I have had here). We also ordered the Falafel special but, somehow, I do not have a picture of that one!

Mixed grill - beef and chicken kabob, lamb and beef kafta with rice and grilled vegetables. the different meats were quite well seasoned; unfortunately, I found the rice a bit too salty and the grilled vegetable… Well, just OK.

If I have to compare to other Middle Eastern/Lebanese restaurants here in Vancouver, this place is really good! Now, I must admit I have not visited that many Middle Eastern/Lebanese eateries here, so my comparison might be unfair. Having said that, if somebody has a suggestion of a good one, let me know and will update this entry accordingly!

In the end, I decided to stop by Southlake Mall, a nearby mall, to look for options. After all, when I went to Uno Chicago Grill for lunch, I saw a couple of restaurants there, like Potbelly Sandwich Works, Olive Garden and other similar chains nearby. However, none of them caught my attention and kept driving Lincoln Highway on both sides for a couple of clicks. I was tempted to stop on a Japanese restaurant called House of Kobe but decided against it. Driving like an idiot for over 20Km is not funny, specially when you don’t know where you are going so I decided to drive back, this time Merrillville Plaza, a mall across Southlake Mall, and stop at the first place that caught my attention. Old Country Buffet? Nah. TGI Fridays? Nope. At that point, I was starting to give up. Was there anything in the area that was not a chain? (Afterwards, in addition to House of Kobe, there was another restaurant called Gino’s. Oh, well, too late I guess). Finally, I stopped at a place that look different from the other chains (which, oddly still a chain)… Anyway, here is where I ended up:

It must have been a really slow night because, after I was seated (there were 4 other occupied tables), the waitress I was assigned to asked me where I was driving from. Now THAT was scary. It just happens she noticed the car I was driving had a plaque from Missouri… Oh, well…

I must say the ambiance of this place is really strange. There were some funny in-jokes written on the wall, a boat hanging (see below) and, the oddest of all, depending on what was being played, the waitresses would start dancing on the floor. OoooooK?

No, there is a hole in the table for the bucket…

As for the food,

I started with a lobster bisque. Didn’t taste that much like lobster but it was OK.

For the main entree, crab cakes. Yup, crab cakes… AGAIN!

I don’t think it is fair to compare it to the crab cake I had in Baltimore. It was different in so many ways; for example, this was more “flattened” (like a burger patty) and did not have a “crunchy” exterior. Also, the crab meat wasn’t as sweet as the one in Baltimore but the spices they added made it different enough. Fortunately, it was moist enough. Regardless, I must give them some credit considering this is a coastal city (though Lake Michigan is not that far, it ain’t an ocean).

Overall, given the restaurants in the area, this place was decent. However, if I compare it to the restaurants in Vancouver, it would be just another chain…

On my first day at my client’s site, when it was lunch time, I asked what was “local”, i.e., a dish that is unique to that city/town/region. I soon found out that, despite Merrillville is located in Indiana, it is heavily influenced by Illinois, specifically Chicago. And what dish did they suggest? Deep-dish pizza! Fortunately, there was a Uno Chicago Grill nearby so that’s were we ended up for lunch.

OK, in addition to deep-dish pizza, I was told Chicago also has a thin version. But, hey, I don’t want a thin version; a deep-dish had to be. And that’s what I ordered:

A single serve sausage deep dish pizza. Just in case, let’s take another look:

And, most importantly:

Probably because it is a single serving, it was just ~4cm high. It might not be representative of a “full” version but, if this is a lite version, I don’t think I will ever want to try one of those mammoths (even a single slice). Why? Well, there was a bit too much cheese for my liking. Second, it is more of a pie than a pizza, in fact, I could not finish it. Personally, I like a pizza with a good proportion of dough/crust, cheese and toppings. This was overkill.

Of course, this is an assessment of the pizza, not of the restaurant. I did not even bother looking at the rest of the menu, so I can’t say for certain how good or so-so is the restaurant. Would I try something else? Sure but given that I was going to be there just for a couple of days, I would rather try something else…

OK, I admit it: I went to Hooters. I don’t care what people say about this chain or what not; I was tired and hungry. It was, after all, past 10:00 p.m. (thanks to delays plus a flight re-schedule plus 90 minute drive from O’Hare International to Merrillville) and there were not that many dining options. Well, actually there were a couple of restaurants open; however, despite it was near 0C, I did not want to drive and the only other place at a walking distance was Outback Steakhouse. Sure, I could have gone there but I did not want to eat something heavy (read: steak).

As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a hostess. Now, rather than direct me to a table, I was given the option to seat at any table. Despite it was Monday (read: Monday Night Football), the place was not full, but busy enough.

One “good” thing about Hooters in this region is that domestic drafts are $1 so there was no reason for getting one. And I had a… Well, actually I don’t remember! Reality is I just something “bubbly” to drink and almost anything would have worked. Oh, I have mentioned previously I have low alcohol tolerance but, even then, I found this one was really light. (As a side note, I am working on a beer post but it will take a while).

Not sure if I will call it an odd presentation but this is how utensils were provided…

Now, for the food… Again, I was hungry so I ordered an appetizer and an entree (though I asked both of them to be delivered at the same time). For the appetizer:

Boneless wings ($8?). I will never know if these are actual chicken wings with the bones removed but they actually had chicken texture. I asked them to be (spicy) hot but it was barely spicy. I guess I should have gone all out and ask for the “3 Mile Island” hot instead. For the “entree”, I had:

Fish and Chips ($13). When I inquired about the fish, they could not tell me what it was. After tasting it, if I had to guess, I would have said cod. One thing that I did not like about this fish was the fact it was too flaky. In fact, when I picked it with my hands, it just broke down.

One good point of this dish was the coleslaw; it was tangy, crunchy and not overdressed. Quite a good change from the KFC-like coleslaw I have had lately. As for the fries, it is the curly version and there was not much to talk about. Actually, there is one note: in their menu, it says “but no chips, go figure”. Not sure about you but despite they are curly, aren’t they chips (in the UK sense) anyway?

Overall, the meal was good enough; however, this might have been because I was really hungry and tired. Under normal conditions, I would have said so-so.

Finally, two notes about this place. At the beginning of the post, I mentioned about “what people say about this chain”. Well, for the most part, it is true, if you know what I mean. And I do mean in all ways you can imagine… Second, unlike Metro Vancouver, they do not have no smoking policies. In fact, after I was seated, I started to smell the smoke from a couple of tables away from me. Darn…

Since the departure time of my flight was around 10:50 a.m., I arrived at the airport just before 9:00 a.m., just in time to grab something from Tim Horton’s, their Breakfast Sandwich with Sausage (Egg, cheese, sausage in a “homestly biscuit”).

I must say I am a fan of this sandwich. Sure, it might not be the best/healthiest option available but, hey, it tastes good!

Unfortunately, my flight got delayed… twice (bumped to noon, then to 1:00 p.m.) and finally cancelled. “Fortunately”, I was re-scheduled for a later flight (~2:10 p.m.)…

In the meantime, while waiting for the re-scheduled flight, I got hungry and went *again* to Tim Horton’s, this time for a bagel with (strawberry) cream cheese.

It was actually better than expected: crunchy in the outside and “chewy” in the inside. And, oh, the cream cheese gave it some soft texture to balance it. Now, whether the fact I was hungry might have made me like it a bit more than what I should!

Now, while in Merrillville, I stayed in a Marriott. Good thing about the Marriott is that they provide a free continental breakfast. This certainly helps when you leave really early and don’t have the time to stop at any restaurant to grab something to eat. Whether how good or bad is the food… Well, they have the usual array of donuts, cereals, bread/muffins/bagels, porridge, yoghurt and juices. In my case, this is what I had (in almost all the days I was there):

Some juice, a breakfast sandwich and the porridge. On other days I also had yoghurt and some fruit but that was about it.

The best description of this sandwich would be a packaged/frozen version of an Egg McMuffin. However, while I can tolerate the Egg McMuffin, this version was crap. As per instructions, I microwaved it for a minute and let it cool lightly before opening it. The result was a rubbery thing called “egg”, some chewy bacon and a dry muffin. On the other hand, the porridge was quite good. Unlike the one I had at Au Bon Pain in Baltimore, this reminded me partially of congee in the sense it was savour. However, unlike congee, it was creamy rather than watery. Odd combination if you ask me but good for breakfast.

Overall, despite it could have been better, it is not something I can complain about. After all, it was “free” and that’s not something you can easily beat.