I needed to find a new dimsum place since a terrible experience with my local place, Furama (horrible food, incompetent service). And I was headed to the South Side to meet an old friend for a game at Comiskey (or whatever it’s called these days, LoanShark Park or whatever it is…). So I decided to drop into Chinatown for some dimsum before the game.
Off on the Red Line, I took the southern exit and headed for a street full of places offering dimsum. The first place had a line, so I walked to the next place – Mayflower. Was not busy at all, which is good and bad. No crowd worries me on a busy Saturday lunchtime, but I wanted a fast and no-frills lunch anyway, so…
Brusk service, the dimsum is ordered by a large photo-laden sheet. No prob. Tea came quickly, scalding hot as usual. It always takes me at least 10 minutes before I can even touch it. I ordered and chilled for a bit, trying to keep up with the chaotic news coming out of Russia that day.
Soon the first two items arrived. The turnip cake was pretty good, seasoned well.
And the shumai was actually quite excellent, larger than most of the ones I’ve seen in other places. So this is starting off really well. I polished them off and after a little while the next set arrived.
The shrimp and chive dumplings are a total mess. The thick, glutenous wrap was already disintegrating, so this could not be eaten as a whole. Just not a good item at all. I learned my lesson.
The tripe was sadly underseasoned. It’s a little less cooked than in other places, which I like but many people don’t. But that also means the flavour doesn’t seep in, as in this case. Oh well. This is the problem with a place that’s not busy.
I waited for awhile for my last item, which took for ages. A dimsum that took half an hour?
And although it was okay, it certainly wasn’t worth the wait. I guzzled it down and settled up, needing to head back to the Red Line to get to Comiskey.
Overall this wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t expensive. The shumai was one of the best I’ve had in years, so that tells me what to do if I come back again. But with so many choices in Chinatown, I’ll look elsewhere. But maybe just to grab an order of shumai walking by.
Mayflower 2225 South Wentworth Avenue Chicago, Illinois
One thing I miss most about Argentina is the way they grill meat. It’s not just the quality of the meats, but also the prep. I’ve had a hard time finding places that properly replicate Argentinian grill establishments. Bunch of fakes that thinks putting a thing of chimichurri will trick 90% of their dining audience seems to be the establishments du jour.
I found an especially crappy one in Chicago called Artango and their fake “tira de asado” they jokingly serve. It was not “tira” nor was it “asado” if you can believe it. That almost turned me off exploring, it was that much of a joke.
But I found a place called El Che Steakhouse and it looked fabulous, so I took a chance after work one day earlier this week. A quick bus ride out of The Loop west and I soon arrived. I was nice and early, so took a bar seat in the corner closest to the grill. Ah, this looks proper, so I was satisfied. But we’ll see when the food arrives.
A cocktail in hand as they are having happy hour, so I decided to have some snacks. Drink was strong and good, but having skipped lunch, I decided to switch to wine for my food.
The chorizo was part of the happy hour, and it was delicious.
The morcilla was not, but very much worth it. Extremely tasty. This all gave me confidence about this place so I ordered more wine and my main. I think you can guess what I ordered, as it’s my go-to dish, one where I can really discern the quality of this place.
Yep, tira de asado, and this is actually really tira de asado – unlike how Artango missold their “tira” and “asado” when I went there. And this is nice and thick, even better than the one I had at the fabulous Parilla Peña in Buenos Aires. This is so succulent I almost ordered another!
But I also had these asparagus to keep me honest, so that filled me up nicely. That was very enjoyable, and another to-go place for me if I have meat cravings, especially these amazing short ribs!
I left happy, knowing I will be back. It’s not inconvenient from my office, so it’s yet another safe place for me to enjoy some fine food! Heavily recommended!!!
My little summer trip is coming to an end as I spend a large part of it in Santa Fe. I usually am here bringing a dear family friend to visit her husband’s grave, but alas, she is no longer in any condition to make that trip from Albuquerque. So a rare opportunity to spend some relaxing time here.
It’s been awhile since I’ve walked around Old Santa Fe, so that was certainly nice. I also needed these few days away from the office as the last few weeks have been a grind, so this re-charge was very much worth it. I head back to Albuquerque to fly home tomorrow, so tonight’s dinner is the last one on this trip.
This evening’s destination is the highly-regarded Sazón. Despite it winning James Beard accolades (yes, these days James Beard to me is just a warning sign to avoid), I took a chance and booked a reservation. Plus, most places in Santa Fe are closed on Monday nights. And as many places in Santa Fe, they do love their art.
I walked there on-time and it was still quite a rush, so had to wait a little for my table. And of course, they put me at the most awkward island in the middle of the room… You can see the servers are all a little under pressure with the place absolutely packed and the kitchen running very quickly.
Took awhile to get a menu, and drink, and especially the sample moles that they said was coming…
But it was good. I do love the chocolate ones, but I was thinking lamb tonight, so went with one that had more straight spice. I enjoyed the rest of my cocktail and ordered a glass of wine to go with my starter, but the food beat the drink by a long shot. Took awhile for the wine to show up. I know they’re busy, but this is something that annoys me, much like at Smoque Steak a few weeks ago back in Chicago.
My starter featured huitlacoche, that wonderful funky, diseased corn that has such a unique taste. It was milder than I like it, but I can’t complain as it’s not easy to get this. I had originally ordered chapulinas, but they ran out of it. Not a bad start, but nothing special.
My server is a quick learner and quite a friendly Irish bloke, so we had a good short conversations when service allowed it. I asked about some of the art on the walls and was immediately impressed that he was familiar with Botero, which turned the conversation to Colombia for the rest of the evening. Oh, he brought the wine very quick this time before my main arrived, the lamb.
Not bad, but nothing special. The mole was a nice touch, bringing spice to the mediocre meat. I guess that’s one way of making dull lamb good. But if this is how to win a James Beard award, I rather never eat at another again.
I relaxed and since it was my final evening, I decided to chill and order a dessert. Unfortunately they were out of the brandy I had ordered, so they actually brought me another and comped it – how nice was that?
The dessert was quite interesting. Called the dulce sinfonía, it was a unique combination of flavours that runs across the board, with a touch of spice. Unique and interesting.
I thanked my excellent and friendly server and headed out. It’s nice and cool this evening, so it was a very pleasant stroll back to my nice little hotel, the El Sendero Inn. I can’t say I’d recommend Sazón, but it was a good evening.
Albuquerque is one of those cities where I’ve visited many times over the decades but never had a really excellent dinner. Lots of fails, to be honest, no experience I’d like to repeat. I had arrived back after a rather underwhelming trip to El Paso, and frankly the further north I got the better things turned.
I had a good but tiring afternoon, getting everything done that I needed to. However, the primary reason for my trip has changed unfortunately, but that also gives me a little more flexibility tomorrow. And I was hoping my dinner destination tonight, Mesa Provisions, will give me a reason to visit again.
A quick Lyft ride and I was at Mesa Provisions. They sat me at the bar on a busy Sunday evening as many places in town are closed. It was busy when I came in, and people were still coming in. And I thought I was dining late this evening. But that’s definitely a good sign.
A friendly server came and took my drink order and I chilled and examined the food menu. Looks good. The cocktail arrived and it was very much needed, refreshing in this hot and sunny environment. I sipped at it and made my decision and ordered. I relaxed and enjoyed the ambience – far more energetic than I imagined. I finished my drink and asked for a wine to go with my food and they all arrived soon after.
A pretty good pork belly dish, good quality meat. The flavours worked well, even with the very mild cucumber kimchi. A nice dish. I relaxed and asked for another glass of wine and soon that and my main course arrived.
I smiled. This duck looks like a winner for sure, and I was right – it tasted like a winner. Cooked perfectly, didn’t need much of the other stuff on this busy plate. But it was a delicious combination.
Very happy with this dinner, I think my Albuquerque curse has been broken! With that, I decided to have a dessert and an after-dinner drink. And soon they arrived as well.
The “mole sundae” was awesome, a wonderful combination of ice cream with chocolate and chile, caramel with duck fat, and an assortment of other goodies. Rich but interesting, working well with the nice brown beverage in my other hand. What a nice way to end this excellent dinner!
I thanked the crew and headed out – and there are still people coming in, with the kitchen closing in mere minutes! This is a popular place, and rightly so. Very much recommended if you are in Albuquerque!
Mesa Provisions 3120 Central Avenue SE Albuquerque, New Mexico
I flew into Albuquerque for a short rest from a very busy few weeks at work. Memorial Day weekend was not very restful, but the trip to Kentucky and surroundings was nice (except that last dinner at previously-reliable Seviche). Yet I didn’t wind down, and this was the reason for this trip to the Southwest.
Instead of staying in Albuquerque upon arrival, I headed south towards El Paso – the largest metropolitan area in the US I’ve yet to visit. After this, it’ll be Spokane and Amarillo I think… It was a good time to clear my head, which I definitely needed. Got to the border city with plenty of sunlight, and it was still ablazin’. Got to do a few things I wanted to do that afternoon, so very much worth it.
I got near my downtown hotel and there were tons of blocked roads due to a downtown street festival. Oh goody, pounding music until past midnight. My hotel was not bad, a restored old office building that was rather charming. I relaxed before I had to head to dinner across the street at Taft-Díaz – a restaurant named for the two presidents who held their historic cross-border summit here and across in Juárez in 1909.
As a historian, a restaurant named Taft-Díaz would get my attention. However, when I walked in, I realized all it was was a gimmick. Inside the chic Stanton House hotel downtown, I walked into a modern mess – with dive-bombing chandeliers. Yes, you read that right.
I offered to sit at the bar but they said the service is better at the table. Well, I see why…the restaurant was absolutely empty on this Saturday evening. I don’t know if it’s because of the event nearby, or the price point here. Wow, looking at the menu I was thinking this looked more like NYC or Boston with those numbers.
I ordered a cocktail and looked over the menu. After a little, it arrived. Not bad. But then my server, probably bored, was becoming a little pushy about me ordering, constantly asking me every other minute. So before I had a chance to relax after this long afternoon with a nice cocktail, I ordered just to get him off my back.
The bread was much needed, as I’ve not eaten all day. Nothing special, but in about 10 minutes I would be so glad they were there… Eventually I switched to a wine and my starter arrived, the so-called “Mexican butter” on the menu.
I was excited, but then it all went south very quickly. The problem is that the marrow is very liquidy and having poorly-made porous tortillas just makes this a complete mess to eat. Frankly only 1 of the 4 tortillas (this first one) was fit for purpose.
And the tortillas went downhill from this point (this below is one of the better ones)…
This is why I am so glad I had so much bread leftover to mop all this up. But the marrow itself was awful. Instead of letting the flavours of the marrow rise, there was so much acid introduced on this dish (not listed as an ingredient in the menu as the only thing they claimed on it was “togarashi”) that just destroyed it. Either it was a kitchen F-up or they had inferior quality stuff they’re trying to mask.
Either way very not pleased about this dish. Could have been so good, but done so badly. I’m starting to get why this place is empty…
My mood soured as my distracted but pushy server came back and asked how it was, I mentioned not that great and he basically formulaically mumbled “that’s great” and walked away. This FoH is a mess too…
Eventually I got his attention again for more wine before my main arrived. What is it? It’s actually black cod…or at least that’s what they said it is.
Scraping off the burnt semiments I see my fish, but I barely taste it.
Black cod has a very nice, distinct flavour, but this was a terrible preparation. A very oily fish does less well in a rich sauce like nantua, which fought it for palate prominence. An additional own-goal of a problem is that the fish was basically unseasoned, so the natural flavors of this rich fish was wasted and the sauce overwhelmed the fish. This would have been better with a plainer fish like halibut. Again, this dish show both poor planning and poor execution combined into a mess that caused me to lose what’s left of my appetite.
Frankly the best thing this evening was the chunks of cauliflower embedded in this nantua. The mixture of peppers was also far better, but I gave up on this whole dinner.
And this server was starting to annoy me with not listening and just walking away, so screw dessert and an after-dinner drink. When the bill came, it was far higher than a night out in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, etc – even without dessert and after-dinner drink. No wonder this place is empty. I think half this bill is to pay for those awful dive-bombing chandeliers that come down on unsuspecting diners.
Probably the poorest restaurant experience I’ve had since 2019. I got hooked by the name, but I should have been more careful. After all, pseudo-dictator Porfirio Díaz died in exile in France, and Taft came THIRD in his re-election bid in an election fail of all times.
I had yet another busy day as I head out of Huntington, West Virginia. Still remembering that excellent dinner at Savannah’s Bistro from last night, it fuelled me as I continued my exploration – but doing it across the Ohio River in that state. Going through southern Ohio for most of the morning, I crossed back into Kentucky and eventually made my way back to Louisville.
It’s been about 5 years since I last spent much time this beautiful city. I’ve always loved coming here, the friendliest city in the country with a vibe I always enjoyed. I even thought about moving here at one point. So tonight I was headed once again to Seviche, a perennial favourite since my first visit many years ago.
The night began badly with an unpleasant rideshare experience, from a vehicle reeking of tobacco to the driver having a ridiculously loud conversation on speaker phone. I was almost exhausted by the time I arrived at Seviche, but I know a good dinner will set this right.
Boy was I wrong… I’m not gonna write a review for this dining experience. All I will say is that the food was good, but when FoH fails this badly – and I mean REAL bad – it marrs any enjoyment of the food.
So here’s some photos. Looks good, tastes good, but looking back I wish I went somewhere else. As I’m not writing review #3 for this evening, I doubt I’ll be writing a review #4 in the future either.
Back home tomorrow. I wish I ended this trip a little nicer. Oh well…
As my explorations took me into eastern Kentucky, my day ended in Huntington, West Virginia. I passed through West Virginia quickly on my way when I moved to the Midwest, but it’s been awhile since I’ve spent time there. I had wanted to stop at the wonderful Lot 12 Public House in Berkeley Springs, but timing didn’t work. I look forward to going back there one day soon, but this time I was headed to the other side of the state.
I’ve not stayed overnight here before, as I passed through several times going from elsewhere in the state (such as Charleston) to Louisville in years past. But I decided to check out this town, which was quiet during the long weekend.
My downtown hotel was pretty good, and the parking guy told me I could save money by parking on the street as meters were off for the weekend. Oh nice, he earned a tip for that tip. I had a little time to unwind and plot out the second half of my trip before dinner tonight, which was at Savannah’s Bistro.
It was a few blocks to walk, which was nice now it’s cooled down a little. I got there and it was…empty. Wow. In fact, all of downtown Huntington was empty. Even though I had a reservation, they seemed surprised I showed up? In any case, any apprehension I had was quickly dispelled. A delicious drink and plenty of bread with rich whipped butter got me going.
Then my starter arrived, some bacon-wrapped scallops. Delicious, surprisingly good quality scallops. Really enjoyable, and priced very reasonably. I should have ordered 5 instead of 3, considering how much bread I was devouring. I was hungry, despite that excellent BBQ. Maybe it’s the nearly 25 miles I’ve clicked in the past 2.5 days…
They brought me a generous pour of a good red and next up was the duck.
Another excellent surprise, the duck done very well, seasoned perfectly. The grapes add something unique to the overall flavour profile. But the duck itself was delicious one way or the other, so the extras – like the grits – was a nice bonus.
This was a nice dinner. Some of the crew were there watching the start of the NBA playoff game, but I was joking with my bartender – who was a fellow football (soccer) fan – about today’s crazy developments in various European leagues. And it seems they weren’t quite done in the kitchen, so I went with a dessert.
Mmmm, a nice rich bread pudding, lovely. With a nice tipple and coffee, this is a good way to wind down the evening. I thanked my bartender/server and headed out for a nice stroll back to the hotel. This is definitely a recommended restaurant!
melhuang1972 