CHI - Joy Yee Plus

Clearly, I love ice cream. This isn't a surprising thing or a new discovery. Combine ice cream with the childhood treat of a warm street bubble waffle and I'm sold. 

LOCATION: 2159 S CHINA PL, CHICAGO, IL 60616

I've seen this combination around recently but I've never had a bubble waffle with ice cream. Growing up, we would drive to Toronto during the summers and bubble waffles were one of the best treats to get on the street. Blocks away you could smell the warm waffle baking, by the time you got close enough to buy it, out would pop these cute little bite-sized bubbles ready to eat.

This was a great treat for me. I ended up sharing a strawberry festival with Christel because she shares my love of strawberry and we were both pretty happy in the end. Joy Yee plus has an odd set up and we were able to sit at a table and eat most of our ice cream before they asked us to move because of a reservation. While we were there we got lots of looks from incoming customers asking us what we ordered. Some were surprised at the size of the dish but a full waffle wrapped around a scoop of ice cream will do that. 

Strawberry Festival comes with fresh strawberries and kiwi as well as whipped cream, a chocolate drizzle, and two pocky sticks (we got chocolate and matcha but another order at a table next to ours had matcha and strawberry). The bubble waffle was seriously perfect. It had the right amount of crispiness and pop while still being a little soft on the inside. The part that was a little more saturated near the bottom from the ice cream still held up and didn't get overly soggy. All in all I'd say this treat was a perfect as it gets. Great for sharing because I couldn't finish it on my own but perfectly balanced as well.    

CHI - Kimski!

Kimski is a Korean Polish fusion place connected to Maria's Packaged Goods which is a pretty cool speakeasy type bar that we went to for Halloween. Kimski was started by Maria's very own son chef Won Kim so this whole place is a family business that works well together. Not only can you get into Kimski from Maria's but when you're drinking late and want a cool bite to eat, Kimski is right there basically in the bar. 

I've been told about Kimski from one of the guys in the program with me, Kaleb. He was telling me about them more to check out the branding (very cool and totally my aesthetic) but he said it was an interesting fusion to check out too since he knows I like trying new food too. Since some of us in the program went for Halloween I tasted some food that others shared with me and after Typeforce we decided to go for some late night snacks again. 

LOCATION: 954-960 W 31ST ST., CHICAGO, IL 60608

It was super fun the first time around because of Halloween and we went to celebrate someone's birthday, but this time was more relaxed which I enjoyed. I went with Alex and Nina, both designers in the program and we grabbed a drink at the bar in Maria's then went into Kimski and luckily found a table to eat. It was for sure my lucky night because the bar ran out of coke for my rum and coke and gave me an extra drink to make up for it so I was already pretty content there. 

For food, Nina and I decided to share a little and we ordered the Scallion Potato Pancakes and Sausage plate which were both really filling and super tasty. The potato pancakes have smoked pork shoulder, scallions, kimchi of the day, soy cream, sesame seeds, and sesame leaves. This is a pretty great dish, heavy but so good while you're drinking and makes you feel grounded. The same goes for the sausage plate. This dish comes with their signature sausage plated with three small polish/Korean inspired sides, mustard, and 'kraut chi'. Not as beautiful to look at but still tasty and flavorful. All this food is weighty which I kinda like when I'm at a bar because it doesn't leave me feeling hungry and makes me feel like the alcohol is being soaked up well aka lets me drink more.

I like Kimski as an addition to Maria's for sure. I don't know that I would go just to eat food but if it was a casual drinks and snacks type of outing, Kimski doesn't let down.   

CHI - Au Cheval (FINALLY)

I'VE MADE IT!!

LOCATION: 800 W RANDOLPH ST., CHICAGO, IL. 60607

I've finally made it to Au Cheval and let me tell you, it lived up to all the hype I've heard about it. Christel and I decided to go one day after a couple hours of bouldering nearby for a late lunch and I'm so happy we did. Our wait was only 5 or 10mins (as opposed to the 3 or 4 hours I've gotten before when I've tried to go for dinner) and we were seated in the back in a nice booth with the perfect spotlight for food.

She and I weren't sure how hungry we were so we just decided to share everything and started off with crispy fries with a mornay sauce, garlic aioli, and one fried farm egg. Christel loves eggs so we find any opportunity to put an egg on top of our food if it makes sense. These fries were great with an egg on top and that garlic aioli was fantastic. I love garlic aioli and while I'm not a dip kinda person, it's always a fantastic sauce to me that can't go wrong.     

As a main dish we shared the single cheeseburger with bacon and an egg and while I'm not much of a burger person, I would love to have this burger again. This bacon is clearly more like a slab of pork belly which is one of my favorite things to eat. Christel was a fan of the egg on top which was cooked perfectly runny and packed all together, this burger couldn't be more perfect.

As we waited for our burger we could hear the couple next to us talk about their amazing burger and how they would love to cuddle up with this burger and order it again if they weren't so stuffed. They also mentioned that they read it was the best burger in Chicago and I wouldn't try to argue with this because this really was an amazing burger. 

CHI - Meet Fresh Love

LOCATION: 2026 S CLARK ST. UNIT A, CHICAGO, IL., 60616

I've never been to meet fresh before but I've been missing out on this chain and I'm pretty happy it's in my life right now. Meet Fresh just opened up here in Chicago and my friends brought up that we needed to go especially since I've never been before. So one night after dinner, we headed over. A little out of the way from the rest of Chinatown visually, this sweet spot is just around the corner from Chinatown square and right next to the L train. 

We walked in to a semi long line but still out of the cold to order our dessert. I shared the iced meet fresh signature with Christel and it's a bowl of herbal blended shaved ice with herbal jelly, taro and sweet potato balls, and creamer on top.

These taro/sweet potato balls are the best with amazing chewy texture and a subtle flavor. The grass jelly and the shaved ice were a great soft textural balance and the creamer gave the whole bowl a light sweetness. I love asian desserts because they tend not to be overly sweet and have a fun texture to them, though possibly odd for people unfamiliar with the components. 

The price of these desserts is a little high so it's not a regular place to go especially since it's super busy and it's hard to find a table but when I'm craving some dessert, this is the place to be. I'm already excited to go back.   

BUFF - Fuji

Cousin time continues with the family in buffalo and some quality sushi.

LOCATION: 736 MAPLE RD., BUFFALO, NY. 14221

Cousins Kim and Charlie both work at a sushi restaurant in Buffalo during weekends when they're not in school and they totally gave me the hookup with a full sushi meal (which we brought back to their house) including salad and some soup (for their dad). The best part of cousin sushi is the discounted price and no judgment for not eating raw.

I've eaten at fuji before but it's been awhile and we got all the works this time around. I love family time and when it includes cheap quality sushi it just gets better but when it comes to my dad's side of the family, food is always on point.