Trendy Does Not Equal Good…

29-30 March 2024

One of the things you notice if you travel a lot is that when you rely on stuff you find online when you do your food research, you get some gems – and you get some duds. I’ve had plenty of duds recently, and sadly, I have to add two more now. And these are all “trendy” places.

If you read my previous review on that excellent dinner at Kado no Mise in Minneapolis, you’ll note early on I mentioned I had lunch at a trendy place that went rather subpar? Sadly the place in question was the highly-raved Union Hmong Kitchen.

I got there not long after it opened on this Friday and ordered. It was quiet as it was early, so I just chilled out trying to plan what I was going to do due to the ice changing my plans. Then my lunch arrived.

My heart sank. The pork belly looks sad, really sad. They were some of the worst roast pork belly I’ve had. Stringy, at times all fat, and almost no flavour. It’s like someone forgot to season this. This does not even compare to the amazing Hmong pork belly I’ve had at places like Union Market in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which had some of the best Hmong meats I’ve ever had, or more recently, Hmong Express in Appleton, Wisconsin.

I will say the sausage, which I took away, was far, far better. But this belly dish was just a cry for help, I’m sorry. I love Hmong meats, especially the pork belly, but this looks ridiculously lame compared to the stuff you can get at any small Hmong store in Wisconsin.

The next day I headed out of icy Minneapolis before dawn, as I planned to spend part of today in northern and north-west Iowa. I was amazed that merely 15 miles south of the Twin Cities there was very little snow or ice left. So I had a very productive day as I moved south, then south-west, then west through Iowa and eventually into South Dakota.

I drifted into my destination, Sioux Falls, at an earlier than expected hour, so I had time for a late lunch. I have this love for chislic and would grab it at every opportunity I get, so I decided to try this place called Urban Chislic.

I hesitated because it was featured on that crappy “DDD” show hosted by that gasbag who I will never forgive for what he said to me the night my restaurant closed. But I nevertheless took out an order each of the beef and lamb chislic and opened them up. Honestly, it don’t matter which one this was cuz they looked the same.

My heart sank again. This was really poor. Once I bit into it, I was even more sad. They forgot to season it. I called for no sauce because that’s the tradition, but these were dead plain. Worse, it was cold, 90 seconds after they brought it out from the kitchen? This also tells me they are not making these fresh. The lamb suffers more with that bad temerature than the beef, but both were awful.

Well, I got burned on both of these. Sad, as these places have amazing potential with great concepts, but the products I received are half-assed at best, shows no care. It won’t put me off pork belly, Hmong food, or chislic, but it will put me off these two establishments next time I visit Minneapolis or Sioux Falls.

Sigh…

Union Hmong Kitchen (Lake Street)
901 West Lake Street
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Urban Chislic
431 West 85th Street
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Review: Boonie’s Filipino Restaurant

11 January 2024

As mentioned earlier, 2024 is not starting very well. And that trend isn’t really changing, so I wanted to wind down a little after a stressful day at the office. I chose Boonie’s Filipino Restaurant because I’ve heard so many good things, and I wanted to skip boozing today because I have an early morning important event to attend.

I got there early, thanks to a somewhat functional Brown Line. Still quiet, and they gave me a nice spot at the counter. This would be a good bar, but alas they are a BYOB place. So a mango juice in hand, I ordered. Skipped lunch, so was hungry.

And in no time the freshly-fried lumpia came out. This was absolutely delicious, some of the best I’ve had in a long time, better than the ones at Bayan Ko. I was really optimistic at this point.

The garlic rice then came out, and I was glad it was as garlicky as advertised. For someone who eats garlic raw all the time and uses it excessively cooking, this was a treat. Went well also with the liempo.

Good chunks of pork belly, did not make me regret skipping on my absolute favourite thing, the beef shortrib. This was so far a really good dinner. And after a little, conserving my rice, the main course arrived, kare kare.

Their rendition is beef tongue. Although they say it’s braised, they did way too much to it afterwards. The sauce on it did not work, sadly, fighting the somewhat burnt tongue and its werd texture. Cutting the tongue lost its unique appeal, especially since there were chunks that seems burnt solid that was hard to eat. The bagoong helped it down, but when I ran out of bagoong on the side, I had to abandon the rest of this dish.

Oh well, that was an optimistic start that didn’t carry through to the end. Too bad. I thanked my excellent server and headed out for a much-needed walk to do some pre-storm shopping.

Maybe that last dish was an anomaly. Too bad, as it started so good.

Boonie’s Filipino Restaurant
4337 North Western Avenue
Chicago, Illinois

Three Wisconsin Dining Experiences…Guess Which One I Liked the Least?

4-5 August 2023

It’s one of those summer weekends I wanted to get out of town, so I took half a day and hopped on the train to Milwaukee. If Chicago’s Union Station wasn’t such a headache to get to, I’d go up more often, as it’s a very short ride north. And, of course there was a delay, it’s Amtrak after all! It’s not an Amtrak trip if you make it anywhere in time!

Throw in more confusion when I got to Milwaukee, by the time I got to my motel near the airport I was tired physically and mentally. I think I was a lot less stressed in the office, where I was since 7am. And I was hungry, having skipped lunch. So I eventually hopped on the local bus and headed into town.

After a quicker-than-usual ride with no traffic, I got to the Historic Third Ward and eventually my dinner destination, Bavette La Boucherie. They saved a space for me at the end of the bar, so I naturally took it. It seemed a little chaotic at the bar, and where I was seated it was hard to get anyone’s attention. But soon enough I got my drinks order in and looked over the menu.

Nice negroni to start, and I relaxed. Looked over the menu and ordered two items to start the evening. I found it odd that a functional butcher doesn’t feature much of their meats on the menu and was somewhat seafood heavy. Then I had a flashback to a horrible night in Philadelphia when I noticed the same thing at Kensington Quarters…

Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned I was planning to eat at Ward’s House of Prime, but it was closed this weekend so I endured that horrific “prime rib” at Tortoise Supper Club? Well, that’s now, and with Ward’s closed for the weekend I ended up choosing what would have been my second choice anyway. Did I choose right?

Well, the deviled eggs were okay, nothing too special. I switched over to wine and once I saw it I suddenly regretted ordering it.

This is apparently jamón ibérico… I sat and stared at it for a few minutes. Goodness, was this hand-cut or a product of a deli slicer? Was this even from a leg? My heart basically sank with this, and I laboured through the plate, having lost not just my enthusiasm but my appetite. For someone who skipped lunch and only had those deviled eggs since the night before, I really didn’t want to eat anymore…

This sadly reminded me of the last time I was in town and went to Amilinda, and had to go to Ward’s House of Prime right after to get over it. No such luck, so I had to decamp at nearby Char’d and get some takeaway. And a carafe of soju to drown this night away…

And of course the night ended with my Lyft app giving me crap. It’s like I have a Milwaukee curse…

The next morning I headed north, hoping to cut my losses. A good day, and I eventually ended up in Appleton. As I always do when I’m in this part of Wisconsin, I go hunting for Hmong food. And today’s lunch is a good haul, courtesy of Hmong Express.

Oh these eggrolls are to die for, so good. Rarely do I enjoy these things so much, but had to save room because…

Oh this is even better. The sausage is course and flavourful, while the pork belly is crunchy and rich. How can you not like this? And all this cost about as much as that horrible plate of “jamón ibérico” that I suffered through last night, which by the way, came in a vacuum pack without the leg (my server showed me what appeared to be a pre-quartered, de-boned mess that looked like a pork shoulder you buy at the grocery store…

Well, that was a fantastic lunch. I had plenty to do in and around the Lake Winnebago area, but didn’t realise there’s a music festival in town. So all in all things work out, once I got out of Milwaukee. And for dinner, I explored the venerable and beloved Greek restaurant in town, Apollon.

Old school, with a fabulous server. An enjoyable evening. Not great, but good stuff. The server made it an incredibly nice dining experience. A simple soup and salad to start (sorry, forgot to photo), my main course arrived, the mixed grill.

The lamb was quite nice, extremely tender. And shrimp and scallops were also quite nice. A pretty small portion, but I also remember I have a ton of leftover Hmong food from lunch back at the hotel, so I was okay. But I wanted a dessert, so…

This is a nice cheesecake, made apparently with a touch of Bailey’s but I couldn’t discern it. Too bad, as I wanted something interesting for dessert having passed on my favourite baklava. Oh well. A nice brandy tipple and I headed back by Lyft. At least the app didn’t go bonkers this evening.

And back to Milwaukee and Chicago tomorrow…

Can you guess what my favourite of the three was? Because it was pretty damn obvious which one fell flat.

Bavette La Boucherie
217 North Broadway
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Hmong Express
339 West Wisconsin Avenue

Apollon
207 North Appleton Street
Appleton, Wisconsin

Finally, Success in Albuquerque – Review: Mesa Provisions

4 June 2023

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.

Considering the crap dinner last night at Taft-Díaz, the bar is pretty low…

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