Sunday, April 26, 2009

Trattoria Trullo Review

4767 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625


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Quick Review:
One of the best non-pasta Italian restaurants I've been to- if not the best I've ever had.

Long Review: We braved the rain storm and went to Trattoria Trullo for my birthday. It was one of the greatest birthday dinner I've had in a while. I originally saw the restaurant on Check Please and thought it looked like a nice place to go for upscale Italian restaurant in Chicago.

We the main dinning room decor and setting are very nice and relaxing. A high, lofty ceiling and soft lighting and candles on every table I recognized the owner walking back and fourth making sure everything and everyone is OK. The owner is from Sicily and the restaurant focuses on serving dishes from that region.

We started out with an appetizer of grilled Octopus and Calamari. Both were great, and my first taste of octopus was better than I thought.

For my main course I had the veal. It was very good, but the best dish on the table was my father's Sea Bass, it was the best Sea Bass I ever had and the seasonings and sauce made it unbelively good. It was also the first time I said "oh my god" at a restaurant and for a very good reason. My sister ordered the stuffed steak with Blue Cheese and that was extremely good also. Everything we had was extremely good. It was like culinary bliss.

For desert I had the Tarimissu and that was also well made, not too much liquor and not too much Marzipanne cheese either. Just right, some restaurants make their Tarmissu too sweet and mess up the meal. Trattoria has desserts that end the meal well.

Everything is extremely good here and I'll definitely be back to my new found favorite Italian Restaurant in Chicago.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Kamehachi Review

1400 N Wells St
(between Burton Pl & Schiller St)
Chicago, IL 60610


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Quick Review: On a cold rainy day we stopped in to Kamehaci, I knew it was good when we received the aromatic hot towels but I knew it was even better when I took a bite of the Dragon Roll.

Long Review: On a cold winter afternoon the Chicago restaurant reviewers and I set out for Old Town. We were heading to Kamehachi for some sushi, I love sushi so I was really looking forward to Kamehachi.

The owners say this is the oldest sushi bar in Chicago and has been on the corner of Shiller and Wells since 1967. The restaurant was smaller than I expected but that was fine as I've been in some sushi places which are too big and you need to wave an enormous flag to get your waiters attention from across the room (at some
particularly bad places I wave a white flag)

We were seated immediately (it was a Sunday at 4pm though) and were given hot wet towels which smelled like almonds. Very refreshing and especially good after a cold blustery walk from the El stop. They were already getting points in my book.

I we ordered soft shell crab as an appetizer. It was pretty good, but slightly overpriced. Next I had the
Kamehachi combo which comes with: yellowtail tuna, whitefish, shrimp, mackerel, salmon, fish roe & octopus with a California roll, and of course it's served with miso soup. It was good but not the best sushi I've had.

My dining companion had the Firecracker roll and the Dragon roll. It was pretty good also. The Dragon roll comes artfully prepared in the shape of a Dragon and was good, not the best but alright.

The Firecracker roll is named after it's crunchy center. It was pretty good also.

Had it been summer we would have sat outside on the patio with its mini waterfall and Japanese garden ambiance but unfortunately we went during the dead of winter. Next time. The bill came out to about $50 dollars for the two of us. A bit overpriced. But the prices are a little high because of the Old Town address (and rent).

Kamehachi is a pretty good sushi place in Old Town but I wouldn't make a special trip out there. All in all pretty good sushi place but I would only go there in summer and if I'm in the area.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars