Wow Bao “Potstickers for breakfast when hungover does actually work well”

Even as I start thinking about this post, I feel it verging dangerously close to turning into an advertorial for Wow Bao. I am sure that I can end that thought process quickly if I confess that I often have used Wow Bao as a hangover cure. There is something so satisfying and light about the consumption of some fried chicken or pork potstickers when your head is a little bit dodgy and if you wash that down with some light ginger broth you will instantly feel so much better. I first learnt that in New York when I resurrected my slightly damaged body and soul with some steamed dumplings and hot and sour soup at the Excellent Dumpling House on Lafyette.

When in Chicago I often think nothing of riding 30 minutes down the brown line around the loop to imbibe and take sustenance of a similar soothing recovery dish at Wow Bao. My usual spot is the one located at Corner of State and Lake right beneath the corner of the Loop El line at 1 West Wacker Blvd.

The other Wow Bao that I sometimes end up at is the one next to Macys inside the Water Tower at 835 North Michigan Ave. This one is Ok but sadly (for me) they only serve the Bao’s and not the potstickers, so I do not frequent this one as much.

Apart from the dumplings or potstickers as they call them that they serve, I love the touch screen ordering system. To beat the line or queue you can place your order via one of the screens outside the store and then just swipe your card and it ‘should’ be waiting for you when you get to the counter. My reality was that most of the time, unless it was a really long line, it would take about the same amount of time to get my food. It is a lot more fun though playing with the screens and you feel as though you are beating the line system somehow anyway.

Depending on my mood and stomach I will get 5 or sometimes 8 potstickers fried or steamed. If I am with a friend or family we get both. You can add different sauces as well (sesame-mustard or soy-ginger). I like the soy ginger one. I also favour the soups as well,, you can choose from a thai herb broth, a dumpling noodle, and a thai chicken noodle. I am sure that there used to be some sort of ginger broth, which they served in a cup. That was a really excellent cleansing drink and a definate cure all.

I will be honest and say that the dumplings do not match anything that you will get in China, or even from an authentic Chinese resturant, but for fast food potstickers you cannot go far wrong with the offerings at Wow Bao. I have enjoyed every bowlful that I have ever eaten here, and that is a lot more bowl fulls than I have often eaten while on my El Stop Food Hunt adventures.

 

For the loop location on West Wacker drive get off at the State and Lake El Stop it is right there, for the Water Tower location get off at the Chicago stop on the red line and walk towards the lake to the Water Tower shopping mall

La Boulangerie in Belmont… ‘a little bit of what you fancy…’

La Boulangerie bakery and cafe is on the row of shops and cafes that run towards the lake from the Belmont El Stop in Lakeview. It is one of two, the older and original location is in Logan Square at 2569 N Milwaukee Ave. They bake their own bread and have a really good selection of pasties and small cakes, plus the odd savoury item such as a slice of quiche. They are also open quite late until 10pm mid week so great for picking up a snack on your way home via the el.

In amongst the pastry section is the rather good ‘Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Tart’. This is addictively tasty, and probably should be sold with some sort of culinary government warning. It has a rich chocolate topping with a filling of soft creamy caramel and peanut butter, all encased on a crisp chocalate biscuity crust. I am not one for posting pictures of half eaten cakes, not because I don’t like to show half eaten food, not for the more honest reason that there is very rarely any opportunity for photographs once that first bite has been had. The exposure to my mouth is often quicker that the exposure setting on the camera. I did it on this occasion just to give you a cross section of the cake to show the fillings. It may be a slightly extravagent purchase at $3.50 for a small tart, but it is worth every cent.

If savoury is more your thing, and to be honest it is more mine, then you can get a nice slice of quiche for $4, or the whole pie for $15. They describe their Quiche as ‘Gourmet, savoury pies, buttery, flaky crust filled with cheese, egg, meat or veggies’ quite a mouthwatering description I think, when I have been in it was pretty much ‘bacon and swiss’ or ‘goats cheese with some tomato’. The slices are just about the right size to take home and pair up with some leafy salad and a jacket potato for a lighter tea.

This Lakeview cafe is at 915 W Belmont and as I noted the closest El Stop in that one at Belmont serviced by the red, brown, and purple lines

The Fudge Pot in Old Town – anything you can think of made out of chocolate

 

I was over in Old Town around the Christmas holidays and I passed the Fudge Pot I looked down through the window to see them rolling out some fudge and making something sugary. I like watching them make stuff and even if though I am not that keen on American chocolate this seems to be the time of year when one finds oneself looking through the window of all those chocolate and sweet shops debating which treats I need to be eating while slumped on the sofa watching those appallingly bad christmas television options. Something has to help me get through it.

 

On their leaflet they note “We’ll do just about anything in chocolate”. Looking through the display cabinets lining the windows and walls of the shop I can well believe that. They also say that ‘if it’s not listed just ask..we’ll get it!’  On the list the items that I was more drawn too were the ‘bacon and eggs’ and the ‘hamburger’ but then such is my antipathy towards objects made out of chocolate that to be honest I would have rather had actual bacon and eggs or a hamburger. Perhaps I should ask for a ‘bah humbug’ chocolate shape (they don’t make those)

I do however like chocolate shaped chocolates and they do a very nice ‘turtle’ with pecan nuts here, milk chocolate mixed with caramel toffee and nuts. It is both chewy and chocolatey and has the added bonus of some saltiness from the nuts as well. Interestingly if I wanted a turtle shaped chocolate I could choose from small, large, or ninja.

If you really like chocolate shaped things then this is the place for you. In their own words “The Dattalo family has been making Chicago a sweeter place to be since 1963″. They picture three generations of candymakers on their leaflet, and there is nothing better than a good family run establishment.

You can check the out at their website and find them at 1532 N Wells Street in Old Town. The nearest El stop is at Sedgwick

Fuddruckers Hamburgers

The sign at Fuddruckers claims to serve the ‘Worlds greatest hamburgers’, I am not certain how true that is, but I do quite like eating here even though it is a chain resturant. Their slogan is after all a registered trademark, I wonder if those trademark approval people get a pile of hamburgers to sample for verification purposes? In Fuddruckers own words from their website “Some people are driven to create the world’s fastest cars or the world’s tallest buildings.  Our calling is only slightly less glamorous but a whole lot tastier.  We were born to create the World’s Greatest Hamburgers®.”

Sounds like quite a mission.

One of the things I do like about Fuddruckers is the build your own option, and I do like that you can choose some different types of meats for you hamburger.

  

Once you have selected your Fuddrucker combinations, you can then choose from a 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 or 1 lb patties and get it grilled to order. I have never tried anything larger than the 1/2 lb burger and usually find that the 1/3rd lb is plenty. I do usually get one of the exotic options as this always make me imagine that I getting something slighlty healthier or of better quality, and when I am in a chain style resturant that sometimes makes me feel slightly better about stuffing my face with one of these hamburgers. In Fuddruckers I do tend to lean towards the Buffalo or the Boar option, both are quite good and not as greasy as the basic hamburger options.

I have tried many of the combinations, I like the “Swiss Melt” which is “Sauteed mushrooms, grilled onions and Swiss cheese” and I also quite like the “The Works” which is “Smokehouse bacon, American cheese and grilled mushrooms”. On this occasion though I just got the basic “Bacon Cheddar” burger which is topped with “Smokehouse bacon and cheddar cheese”. I chose to have the  Buffalo patty and to substitute onion rings for fries. They do have pretty good inion rings here, all thing considered. They have a fair range of sauces to dip them in too, I tend to favour the sweet honey mustard.

To be honest with you I am quite surprised that I managed to write this much about eating at a chain, having said that it is one of those resturants that I quite like. Although I have only eaten at this one in the Chicago suburbs, if I was elsewhere on a cross couuntry journey and stuck for somewhere more unique to eat, if I chanced upon a Fuddruckers I would probably not be too unhappy.

Penzey’s Spice at Oak Park

 

Penzey’s spice shop is at Oak Park towards the end of the Green Line near Harlem. It is a big store filled with rows and rows, of spice bottles and shelf after shelf containing spices grouped by type. I liked the layout as it is clean and easy to navigate around.

Each spice or spice mix section has sample bottles that you can smell or taste the mixes from. In the Indian Spice section was a bottle of “Maharajah Style Curry Mix”. This had the best aroma and smell of all the mixes so I had to get a small bottle to try this one out in some home cooking recipe.

This spice mix was described as being “Hand-mixed from: turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, fenugreek, ginger,nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, white pepper, black pepper, cloves, red pepper and saffron”

and as “The highest quality curry powder, perfect for special meals. Maharajah is sweet, but not hot, with fragrant cardamom and a full pound of the rare jewel of all spices, saffron, in every 100 lbs. of curry powder. Maharajah adds glorious color and incomparable flavor to chicken and seafood curries”

I will let you know if it lives up to expectations once I have used it. Going completely off track with this, it reminded me of one of my early days in India when we ended up in a Western food court and outside a McDonalds, where they were selling a Chicken Mharaja Mac, which was like their equivalent of a Big Mac for about 60 rupees. I did wonder as I stood at Penzey’s sniffing the bottle if this was the same curry mix as was in that Indian food court offering.

“Just for Kris I am posting a picture of that first meal he ate in Hyderabad”

OK so back to Penzey’s. It transpires that they have shops all over the country, these can be located via their website: http://www.penzeys.com. This particular one was up at Oak Street / Harlem at the end of the Green Line

Etno Grill – The day I met the “Spicy Balkan”

 

I very rarely have the time to go back to many of the places that I have written about on the El Stop Project, which is a little bit sad in some ways as there are some really great places that I could easily eat at every day. The Etno Grill is one of those places. I was on the Brown Line just before Christmas and a little lad was looking out of the window and shouted out “I can see a cow”. His mum began to chide him for being silly “There are no cows out there dear”. I was about to pipe up and tell her that it was the cow on top of Etno Grill that he had seen, but then she remembered . You see everyone sees that Cow as they ride past, but I wonder how many have sought it out to find out what lays beneath? I hope that it is lots of you.

 

I have had the hamburgers and the pork sandwiches here on a number of occasions and if you have been here I probably don’t need to tell you that they are excellent. If you have not then I am telling you now. Today though I was finally getting my hands or was it my mouth on one of their “Spicy Balkan” sandwiches. This is one of the sandwiches on their ‘build your own’ menu described as a “Pleska Patty (ground beef & pork) stuffed w/asiago cheese, bacon, onion & crushed red pepper”. I did not add to much to mine, I just had some of the Etno Spread, which is a mix of feta, sour cream, and chili peppers, some ‘spring mix’ salad leaves, and some red onion. I did not want to detract from the flavour of the patty, so was quite frugal with my selections. The patty is really delightful, there are small bacon chunks, and flecks of pepper throughout, it is mildy spicy, but the addition of the etno sauce also gave it an added kick. The addition of the crispy salad and onion was also borderline genius (can I really say that seeing as how it was my selection? probably not, but I just did) giving a nice fresh crisp bite to contrast the patty and also to help cool from the hit of spice that you get with each bite.

I am really glad that I took the time to try the Spicy Balkan, and If it was not for the fact that I really like their burgers, I would get this again, but if you have not tried it then I most certainly recommend it.

Thinking about it while I was sitting there eating my sandwich, I wish that I had been able to make Bourdain’s itinary when he did his recent ‘Layover’ program to Chicago as I would have sent him here. Maybe that would be too far fetched but how about you?

If you have not tried Etno Grill then I emplore you to do so, as soon as possible. You can read all about them on their webiste at http://etnogrill.com/ you can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook, and I believe that you can even get their burgers delivered or even better get them to cater your office.

Provenance Food and Wine – stocking local artisan foods and more

Provenance food and wine store is a little shop just on the outskirts of the main pedestrian section of Lincoln Square, it is easy to find but also easy to miss as it just has a tiny sign hanging up above the door. If you come out of the Western El station it is right across the road sandwiched in between the Thai shop and the Art shop and school.

Provenance is filled with all those jars and bottles of sauces, pastes, spread, pickles, chutneys that you don’t know that you need unto you see them. It is hard not to walk out of there with some newly found treat to enhance some meal, sandwich or salad.

 

I first came in when I found out that they stocked the bacon from Jolly Spencers Foods, but more recently I have been going in as they stock the Royal Pies made by Pleasant House Bakery. They have three varieties hidden away in their freezers; the  Steak and Ale Pie (All-natural beef, ale, carrots, and herbs), the Chicken Balti Pie (All-natural chicken in fresh-ground curry spices with tomato and Nigella seeds), and the Mushroom and Kale Pie (Assorted mushrooms, kale, scallions, white wine, herbs, and Parmesan) each for $9.

The freezers are also full of many other goodies from local artisan food producers. Apart from that there is a small selection of cheeses and charcuterie items in the chilled cabinets.  They also do wine tastings on a reasonably regular basis and stock a pretty decent selection.

You can check them out on their website at http://www.provenancefoodandwine.com/ and if you want to know when those wine tastings are I suggest following them on Facebook or Twitter

Located at  2312 W. Leland Avenue adajacent to the Western CTA station car park on the Brown Line