Tag: Pork Buns

Food Alert: Chicago, Illinois.

food, Food, FOOD!
Today’s food adventures are in the lovely city of Chicago! On the way to Wisconsin for my move a few weeks ago, the boyfriend and I decided to take some time to spend in Chicago to celebrate. There’s so many places that I’ve eaten at before that I can write about, but I’ll just start writing about the places I go to from now on. This definitely won’t be the only Chicago foodie blog since it’s so close to me and on my way back to both my homes. Let’s get into the food though!

What’s perfect about Chicago is that if you get a hotel downtown, you can walk to pretty much anywhere and you have so many different options to choose from. What’s a celebration without some BBQ though? We were able to walk over to Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ and it was so worth it. I would have taken more photos and videos, but I was so busy stuffing my face and cooking the meats! My boyfriend and I ordered the Chef’s Favorite to share since it serves 2 people and would be a better price than ordering individually with one side order of their Spicy Shrimp marinated in a spicy jalapeño miso.

The Chef’s Favorite came with so much food. We for sure had leftovers, but you really get everything besides ramen and dessert which was totally fine with us. Everything was yummy though and I don’t think there was anything that I didn’t like. I do have to say that even the broccoli with cheese hit the spot. Get ready for your mouth to water cause sheeeeeeeeeeh, here we go. The Chef’s Favorite includes:

STARTERS
Miso Soup ×2
Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap
Gyu- Sushi 4 pcs
Napa Kimchi
Gyu-Kaku Salad

BBQ ITEMS
Prime Kalbi Short Rib – (Sweet Soy Tare Marinade)
Harami Skirt Steak – (Miso Marinade)
Filet Mignon – (Salt & Pepper Marinade)
Umakara Ribeye
Garlic Shio Cabbage
Pork Belly – (Shio Marinade)
Shrimp Garlic
Broccoli w/ Cheese

The price of all that food is also pretty affordable, $80. PLUS, it’s not all you can eat, so you can take all the leftovers home without a fee or problem. My top 5 favorite items from all of that was the Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap, Napa Kimchi, Prime Kalbi Short Rib, Shrimp Garlic, and Harami Skirt Steak. 10/10 would recommend to others and come back. Plus Gyu-Kaku has a pretty good Lychee Lemonade drink.

The next day we walked to RAMEN-SAN, the River North location for lunch. The place was small, but the food did not disappoint and they had the cutest and coolest wall decor and figurines everywhere. They played good hip-hop music, it was great! For appetizer, we ordered the Pork Belly Mantou Buns, which had a really nice crisp on the pork belly. Then both my boyfriend and I got the Sumo Ramen. Super good, but if you have leftovers make sure to refrigerate it ASAP or the broth will go very bad. I learned that the hard way lol.

Pork Belly Mantou Buns
Spicy mayo, kimchi, cucumber, crispy pork belly, tobanjan mayo and spicy pickles on a steamed bun

Sumo Ramen
Chashu, xo wontons, spicy crushed egg, a fully loaded ramen with pork broth, extra tokyo wavy noodles, green onion, 4 XO shrimp & pork dumplings, spicy bean sprouts, chashu pork, buttered corn, wakame seaweed, bamboo shoots, spicy crushed egg, fried garlic and sesame

I think one of my goals is to try out every ramen place there is in Chicago. I’ve tried about 4 of them now and not once have I been disappointed, RAMEN-SAN included. How does it feel to have so many good food places around you??

I got this cute little drink from Te’Amo Boba Bar. I’ve never seen a memo bottle before, so me being extra af decided to get one instead of the original cup. Definitely my aesthetic. The drink I got is called Te’amo O2. It has a floral rose and vanilla lemonade, sparkling water, crystal boba and strawberry jelly, topped with butterfly pea tea. Then if you stir it up the drink is suppose to change into a cute different color, but the water bottle did not allow use to do that. It was still very good though! I just would suggest getting this drink in a regular cup to have ice to water down the drink a little, it was a little sour to me at first.

I cannot wait for my next food adventure in Chicago. There’s so many more places to try and I keep hearing about new food places that just opened up. I really need to train myself to have a bigger appetite! Must be so blessed to have so many options like that. Like I said this is the first of many Food Alerts: Chicago blogs. Comment any places to try out below!
Until next time, STAY HUNGRY!

SALLY ♡ T

Food Alert: Madison, Wisconsin

Are you ready for more food and drink boomerangs? It’s probably my favorite thing to do haha. Today’s city is Madison, Wisconsin and you’ll notice that I’ll be writing a lot about here or already have, but the answer for that is because my boyfriend lives in Wisconsin. So I do spend a good amount of time here and you guys already know that we both like to eat. Let’s jump into the food though!

When I arrived into town, our first food stop was to the new asian market that just opened called Global Market and Hall. It is a market, but it also has a food court inside with many different stands to choose from. I can’t remember the name of the food stand that I ordered from (oops), but I got a bowl of Beef Brisket Pho and a side of Barbecue Pork Buns. The Pho broth wasn’t as flavorful like how Pho usually is, but the beef brisket was really good, tender and just melts in your mouth. I was pretty disappointed with how dry the pork buns were, but I’m the type of person to give places a second chance, so hopefully next time it will be better!

If you guys follow me on snapchat, then you know my new favorite thing to eat are seafood boils in a bag. I can eat these forever! I usually get full quick, but when it comes to these, I will sit there for hours eating everything like I have a bottomless stomach. This one is from Ragin Cajun Seafood. You always have to get the House Special flavor, which is all the flavors combined. They have a good variety of seafoods in their combos compared to other seafood boil places that I’ve been to as well. So far King Cajun Crawfish in Orlando is my #1, but Ragin Cajun Seafood is pretty good if you find yourself in Madison, Wisconsin!

You can’t enjoy all these yummy entrees and big meals without some desserts. Treat yourself and top it off with some sweets! The boyfriend has a bigger sweet tooth than I do, but it’s starting to rub off on me. I do have a soft spot for boba and pleasing pretty looking drinks. We had to go get some drinks and dessert from Le C’s Patisserie & Tea House! Ugh, I wish we had places this like in Grand Rapids. Pretty tea drinks are so pleasing. We got the Flamingo Boba and the Peach Green Tea with Rose Flower and Lemon. Both are very delicious!

The dessert that we picked to try was the Caramel Coconut Custard Cake. It tasted so much like Flan, but with a soft custard/pudding like texture. It was really good! I wanted to get about 5 more just to eat. The desserts come in such cute boxes, white all over and gold on the inside. Felt like I was about to eat a million dollar cake. Both yummy and satisfying!
If you guys were wondering, my favorite thing is to make my boyfriend make boomerangs with me and he probably gets so annoyed with it hahah.

There’s so many other locations to eat at and a couple more seafood boils to try over in Wisconsin, so I’m ready for all of that. Don’t worry, these Food Alert post won’t be going away anytime soon. I think these are my favorite to write about and share. Recommendation for other food places are always welcomed, you can post them in the comments below or on the contact page!

SALLY ♡ T