International House of Pancake

We woke up at 4am on SUNDAY as we had a plan to take a romantic walk at the beach and enjoy the beautiful sunrise. As far as we know, there were not much restaurants operated 24 hours around our areas. So, we decided to go to IHOP for breakfast before we went to downtown.

We were the only guess in the restaurant when we first entered. We could only see two employees in the restaurant. One of them was vacuuming the floor and the other one seated us.

We ordered a coffee to stimulate our wakefulness.

Eric had the traditional breakfast. It’s called International Passport. There were two eggs, two bacon strips, two pork sausage links and choice of pancake. He ordered this as it sounded like their signature breakfast. “IHOP - International house of Pancake”.

I had the Chicken Florentine Crepes. It’s a chicken breast strips sautéed with fresh spinach, mushrooms and onions in light seasonings. Rolled inside two delicate crepes with Swiss cheese and topped with rich hollandaise.

We were totally disappointed by the food’s appearance and taste. This restaurant really needed improvement in every area. After breakfast, we started to become sleepy. So, we drove all the way back home and continued our dream. Mission failure! :-)

By the way, I missed the IHOP at Forest Park, OH. We used to go there for supper when we lived there. They were great!

Fuego Mexican Grill & Margarita Bar

17 W Campbell St, Arlington Heights IL 60005. www.fuegomexgrill.com

We exhaustedly waited 25 minutes to be seated after a whole day shopping at Schaumburg.

The classic interior features Mexican décor with hats, old lamp, tequila etc. The concrete fence like panel makes you feel like dining outdoor.

We started with two refreshing frozen margaritas. Wow, they have bunch of selections only on margaritas. I had the guava and Eric took the banana. Both were fruity and frosty, perfect drink for summer.

Then, the server brought us a basket of nachos and dipping sauce. We did not take the well-known guacamole for our nachos because it was too big in portion. It was tableside prepared with freshly avocado, jalapeno, tomato, onion, cilantro and lime.

We would probably come back for this on our next visit. We took a long time to learn about their menu. Not only they have an intensive menu but also 90% of their dishes are new to us. As a result, we took the server’s recommendations to have Calamari Fritos, Pechuga en Huitlacoche and Mole Poblano.

After placing order, we were served a small little cup of chicken soup. I squeezed in some fresh limejuice. It was too delicious than what I would have expected. (we immediately made this soup at home for the next day:))

The calamari was ordinary good with chipotle salsa.

I had the Mole Poblano. It was nothing exceptional than what I would expect from a Mexican mole. But, it was really good by adding some fried banana on the dish. Yum…

I love Eric’s Pechuga the most. I was not sure what was that but it tasted rich and creamy. Although it didn’t seem to have cheese or cream. Smart choice!

P/s: We reached 70% full after half basket of nachos. Therefore, half of the entrée went to the box for our next day lunch!

Hija de la Guayaba – Tequila Corralejo, tropical fruit juices and guava.
Baila Banana – Ripe banana, Tequila Cazadores and banana liqueur.
Calamari Fritos – Fried calamari served with a citrus roasted Chipotle salsa.
Pechuga en Huitlacoche – Chicken breast stuffed with sweet poblano peppers and queso Oaxaca, doused in a salsa de Huitlacoche (inky corn mushroom) Served with Chipotle mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables.

Mole Poblano – A black sauce from Puebla, featuring toasted seeds, spices and the most talk about ingredient – Chocolate.

Big Bowl Asian Kitchen

1950 E Higgins Rd Schaumburg, IL 60173847.517.8881

This is one of our favorite restaurants in town. I always want to try everything on their menu. But, I can’t resist myself from ordering my favorite dish “Scallop and Shrimp Citrus Curry”. I favor the dipping sauce for Chicken Satay. Though not authentic but I love their creativity to make such a unique sauce, delish!

Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wrap - an asian favorite, chicken, bibb lettuce, hoisin sauce. This was the worst dish that I ever had at Big Bowl. Taste weird. It was far below my expectation.

Sweet Ginger Sea Scallops and Shrimp - fresh sea scallops, gulf shrimp, mushrooms, sweet vinegar-soy glaze. The seafood was prepared in a light sauce with ginger and taste a bit sour. It was perfect to serve with rice.

Red Hot Pepper Chicken Noodles - chinese egg noodles, chicken, fresh chili peppers, chopped peanuts, red onions, hot sauce. This was simple stir fry dish.

Shrimp Pad Thai - wok seared gulf shrimp, fresh lemon and herbs with rice noodles, basil, eggs, sprouts and peanuts. This mildly spicy dish was the best of all. It was a refreshing change from traditional Pad Thai that I had tried at other restaurant. I never order Pad Thai, I think it is too sweet and way too Americanize.

Pomegranate Ginger Ale - with pomegranate juice. Although this is one of their signature drink. But, it was just average. It wasn’t worth the dollar we spent.

Famous Dave's Bar.B.Que

Famous Daves Bar.B.Que, 1631 W Lake St Addison, IL 60101(630) 261-0100

This is a chain restaurant located pretty close to Eric’s office. Their BBQ has won over 200 awards. We stopped here for a Monday dinner. Monday used to be slow, so we did not have to wait for the tables.

I love every pieces of antique they use to decorate the restaurant. It feels southern and nostalgic.

All the staffs we met were upbeat and friendly. When the server learned that we were there for the first time, he made a detail explanation on the menu and described the taste. He also pointed out his favorite on the menu. We could see his enthusiastic at work. The manager stopped at our table at the middle of our meal. She brought us a bottle of BBQ sauce as a welcome gift.

Eric ordered the famous margarita. It was so good. It tasted like the lime/sour plum juice.

He also ordered half baby ribs that served with the muffin. The rib was perfect with the succulent meat and savory sauce just like its advertised.

I had the Georgia Chopped Pork. It was deeply seasoned with the rib rub and BBQ sauce. Delicious! It came with the side order. I chose the creamy coleslaw, which was unexpectedly good. I love the rich and buttery muffin too. It was the best muffin that I ever had.

I favor the six different kinds of BBQ sauce on the table. (Mild, Spicy, Sweet etc) I tried each of them on my fries. All of them were unique and tasty. This place really surprised me, as it was really good. I would highly recommend to those who are looking for BBQ on summer.

Penang Malaysian Cuisine

2201 S Wentworth Ave Chicago, IL 60616 (between 22nd Pl & Cermak Rd)

Penang is the most popular Malaysia restaurant in the United States. We had tried other chains located in New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta. We think Philadelphia is the BEST. We had visited the Penang in Chicago for couple times. I loved their décor when I first came here 4 years ago. Now, they are a bit old and dirty. Also, they do not keep the same quality and taste of foods at all time. Though, they are still the best Malaysia cuisine in town. Last week, we had a great experience in Penang for a weekday lunch.

I ordered the Penang Char Keow Tiao. It is a popular Malaysian Chinese dish, stir fried rice noodles with bean sprout, green onion, egg and seafood. It was so delicious. The authentic flavor really satisfied my craving. It would make it perfect to substitute the squid by the cockles.

Eric ordered the Prawn (shrimp) noodle. It was a dish with egg noodles, shrimps, hard-boil egg, kangkung (water spinach) and deep fried shallots in a fragrant shrimp stock. Traditionally, the stock is made from shrimp shells, dried shrimps and chicken. Some people will tell you it is made from fresh shrimps. In fact, those hawkers in Malaysia will not use the fresh shrimp to make the stock, as it is too expensive. The shrimp shells work well for the fragrant and sweetness. And, it taste equally good as fresh shrimp. Eric finished it all in minutes. I could only taste some of the soup. It was excellent! I love kangkung so much. How good if they could have more kangkung on this dish.

I wish I could have more room for others. But, we could only have a dessert for sharing. We had the traditional dessert, Cendol. Basically, it consists of shaved ice, coconut milk, red bean, palm sugar and green starch noodle. I always judge Cendol by its palm sugar. Malacca (one of the states in Malaysia) produced the best palm sugar in the nation named sugar Malacca or coconut sugar. Therefore, they have the best Cendol in Malaysia with rich and savory taste. I would say Penang made a good Cendol as it tasted very similar to Cendol Malacca.

Tay Do Vietnamese Cuisine

1232 Bloomingdale Rd, Glendale Heights, IL 60139 (630) 462-8888

This hidden Vietnamese restaurant is located at the corner of the strip mall. If it is not recommended by Say Ing, we will not walk in to this restaurant. The exterior of the restaurant is neither attractive nor inviting. But, the interior is totally different. It is airy and comfortable.

To me, Vietnamese food is all about noodle. It is mild in flavor. And, they use a lot of pork and beef. Tay Do has an extensive menu. There are more than 200 selections, which is really hard to choose.

I decided to try the pan fried noodle with shrimp that I was told it is very good. It was so delicious with lots of shrimp. But, it was a bit too oily.

Eric had the noodle soup with pork and shrimp. It also served with fresh bean sprout and lime. The big portion really satisfied our hunger.

And, the full cost of the meal was only USD15.00. This was the best part of all - CHEAP!

RT Lounge

The Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, 601 N. Milwaukee Ave,Wheeling, IL 60090

We stopped at this restaurant for dinner after a stressful work day. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out this comfortable place was serving sushi. I would highly recommend if you are looking for a cozy and romantic place for sushi.

We were sitting at the bar. The bartender was attentive and helpful. I had the kirin beer and Eric had the orange martini.

We started with the spider roll that filled with fried soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado and mayo. It was delicious and beautifully presented.

Then, we ordered the spicy tuna RT style that recommended by the bartender. It was unique. It was top with deep fried shrimp which was so great.

We ordered the rock shrimp from the menu. It was served in a red square plate which clearly projecting the color of the shrimp. The shrimp was garnished by a chopped red pepper and chives. The first bite impressed me; it was moist, sweet and a bit spicy. It tasted perfect.

The sashimi plate came after the rock shrimp. I should have asked them to serve the sashimi at the beginning so that it would not overpower the subtle taste of raw fish. The bartender advised us to take the salmon at the last. This sashimi plate consisted of five different kind of seasonal sashimi that serves with assorted sauce. I loved the way they created the beautiful and elegance vegetable garnish. I enjoyed the lovely presentation with the excellent taste and freshness. I especially liked the sweet basting sauce of the eel on this plate.

We were recommended the banana sundae and lemon pie for the dessert. We decided to share the banana sundae. The banana sundae was extraordinary good. The combination of banana, melted butter and ice cream was outstanding. Some salty nuts and chocolate fudge were at the bottom of the dessert. The whole dessert was sweet and tasty. It was the perfect end to the meal.

Alhambra Palace Restaurant

It was a Saturday night out. We went to this newly open restaurant located at downtown because they have a belly dance performance. It was the 10th day they were in business.

When we entered the restaurant, we were stun by their decoration. It looks like a real palace. the interior of this restaurant features beautiful mosaics and lantern that highlight the art of Moroccan.

It was unbelievable crowded. We immediately joined the long queue at the hostess stand. Unfortunately, they told us it was over booked. (In fact, when we called for reservation, they told us it was first come first serve basic :-( )Luckily, our friendly and charming bartender, Miro made us enjoyed the rest of the day sitting at the bar.

The professional belly dancer went around the room from tables to tables for the whole night. What a fabulous night out with daddy on Mother's day. I will definitely come back for the hookah and reserve a seat at balcany. Here are what we had for tonight.

I ordered their signature drink, Alhambra Martini. It tasted sweet and slightly sour. Although the appearance did not look good but it was smooth and relaxing.

We ordered the grill sea scallop with tangy citrus jam ad aged balsamic reduction. It was fresh, mild and sweet.

It also served with some pita, a flatbread. I don't really like the pita. It was too hard and thick.

But, I love the cone shape reed basket they used to serve the pita. It looks cool. Overall, it was a bit pricey. The 3 scallops cost USD14.00.