Monday, December 12, 2011

Bona Fide Thai - CLOSED

Last Friday evening, me and Greedy Eater 2 went to Bona Fide Thai for the first time. I read about its opening in the newspaper and figured that since we are both frequent customers of the Thai House, and the owner was the daughter of the Thai House's owner, the food should be excellent. Well, I have to say, the food was awesome! We weren't disappointed at all.

We arrived around 4:30 and we were the only ones there. We were promptly seated. The decor is nice and clean. Looking at the menu we noticed that some of the dishes were the same as the Thai House, which was expected, but there were also some new dishes. We decided to try some of the new dishes. The plan was to order an appetizer, each of us order an entree.

The appetizer we chose was the Bona Fide Sampler. For our entrees, I ordered the Bona Fide Curry Fried Rice and Greedy Eater 2 ordered the Bona Fide Golden Basket. The appetizer and the entrees were new and sounded very appealing.

Bona Fide Sampler:
This consisted of 1 egg roll, 2 crab rangoons, 2 vegetable rolls, 2 chicken gyozas, 2 su-mais, and 1 thai curry puff. We've had a few of the items on the sampler from the Thai House, but there were a few that were new, such as the thai curry puff. All items on the sampler were really good. I really liked the thai curry puff. There were two sauces served with the appetizer. One was the pink sauce that is normally provided with crab rangoon. The other sauce was a sweet & sour sauce with crushed peanuts. This sauce complemented the items on the sampler very well. This is a must try!



Bona Fide Curry Fried Rice:
For this dish I had the choice of pork, chicken, beef, tofu, shrimp or combo. Of course, being the greedy eater that I am, I chose the combo. This dish consisted of pork, chicken, beef, shrimp, curry powder, bell pepper, carrot, peas and egg. The waitress asked what spice level I wanted and I told her mild. There was barely any heat with the mild, so the next time I try the dish, I will go for the medium spice level. The dish was cooked perfectly. When I took the first bite of this dish, I was like "Wow!" It was light and very flavorful. I could taste the curry and the bell peppers were a nice addition.


Bona Fide Golden Basket:
This was a very good dish. I liked the fact that I have tried something different and incredible. The dish consisted of water chestnuts, onions, green bell peppers, zucchini, tempura chicken, and topped with whole cashews. The portion size was enough for two people or two days of leftovers. The dish was served in a noodle bowl that consisted of fried egg noodles, hence, the "golden basket". The special sauce is something you just have to taste. The sauce is delicious! Rice is served with this dish but not necessary because the noodles taste great with each bite.




Sunday, November 6, 2011

Battle of the Indian Cuisine Restaurants....Kind of

I had this idea almost two months ago that I wanted to do a comparison of the only two Indian cuisine restaurants in Bloomington, Puran Indian restaurant and Little India restaurant. I would order the same appetizer and dish at both places and do a comparison of the taste. So I decided to order Paneer Pakora for the appetizer and Chicken Curry as the main dish at both places. So here are the results:

Puran Indian Restaurant
On October 15, Greedy Eater 2 and I ate at Puran for dinner. Puran is located in Bloomington on Eastland Dr., in the same strip mall as Great Harvest Bread and Taqueria El Merendon. I've had different dishes at Puran in the past and thought they tasted good.

As part of my comparison, I ordered the Paneer Pakora for the appetizer and Chicken Curry as my main dish. Puran's menu describes the Paneer Pakora as "Homemade cheese cubes lightly spiced and batter fried." The look of the appetizer reminded me of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, except with cheese in the middle. The texture of the cheese was a little firm. Also, the batter tasted a little bland. That's not a bad thing, but I needed some chutney to add some flavor.


The Chicken Curry is described in the menu as "Mildly spiced with lots of sauce." It's not the greatest description, but I do know that the sauce consists of at least curry powder, onions, and bay leaves. I ordered the spice level to be #2, which I think is regular. The spice level was just right. I've tried spice level #1 in the past and thought I could handle going up a level. The pieces of chicken were thick and there wasn't that many. I had to go hunting for the pieces of chicken. Overall the dish tasted fine; however, there wasn't enough spices to cause a party in my mouth.

Greedy Eater 2 Review:
I ordered the Lamb Curry. It was okay. I was a little disappointed that there was not more flavor, or fresh vegetables in the dish. In my opinion, it just seemed bland. I would have liked a little more freshness in the dish. There was a lot of sauce and not a lot of meat. That would have been okay if I had ordered soup. Don't get me wrong I like sopping the sauce up with the Naan just as much as the next person, but this was a little too much for me.

I agree with Greedy Eater 1 about the Paneer Pakora. It seemed to be frozen and then fried like chicken nuggets. There was no spice at all in the breading or cheese. Chutney was definitely needed to help with the flavor. 

The one on the left is the Lamb Curry and the one on the right is the Chicken Curry.


Little India Restaurant
On November 4, Greedy Eater 2 and I went to Little India for dinner. An earlier post provided the location of Little India. We got there around 5:15. We were one of the first customers there. The table settings are more formal than during the lunch buffet. The menu was quite impressive because it gave the history of different types of Indian cuisine. I've eaten at Little India before, but it was mainly their lunch buffet. This was the first time I've eaten a main dish there.

Of course I ordered the Paneer Pakora as an appetizer and the Chicken Curry for my main dish. While we were waiting on our food, I overheard the waiter tell a carryout customer that all of the food is prepared with fresh ingredients. I thought that was good to know. I'm a fan of fresh ingredients and freshly made dishes.

Little India describes the Paneer Pakora as "Seasoned cottage cheese, dipped in gram flour & deep fried." To me that sounds more appetizing than Puran's description. When the appetizer was served, right off the bat there was a visible difference between Puran's Paneer Pakora and Little India's. The pictures of the two says it all. Once I took my first bite, there was also a huge difference in taste. I could see and taste the use of more spices in Little India's Paneer Pakora. The pieces were thinner and the cheese was smoother. We forgot to ask the waiter what the green sauce was that was served with it, but it tasted pretty good. It was fresh and married well with the Paneer Pakora.


The Chicken Curry was described as "fresh ingredients in an onion and tomato sauce, flavored with ginger, garlic, chillies and a variety of spices."  I also noticed a difference in appearance and taste between Little India's and Puran's Chicken Curry. The meat was very tender and the meat wasn't as thick, but it also had more pieces compared to Puran. Every bite I took had a piece of chicken.The spices were popping in my mouth, which was a good thing. Also, my mouth wasn't on fire since I had ordered the dish mildly spiced. Overall I thought the dish was great. It had fresh ingredients and the spices used really added to the dish. One thing to note for this dish, Little India gives you a choice between boneless or bone-in chicken, where Puran, it is only boneless.

Greedy Eater 2 Review:
I ordered the Dal Gosht. It consists of "A fine blend of yellow dal and roasted lamb infused with rich whole ground spices, onions, tomatoes, fresh ginger & garlic." This dish was off the charts! The flavor was lively and the freshness of the spices really came through. The abundance of meat was greatly appreciated. The dish was plentiful, enough for two or three meals.  

The Chicken Curry is the closest dish.


Close picture of the Dal Gosht.


So based on this comparison of Paneer Pakora and Chicken Curry, I thought Little India's dishes tasted better than Puran's. Greedy Eater 2 also preferred Little India over Puran.

Puran's food tastes good. We've never had a bad experience there, but it appears to lack additional spices within their dishes for us. Little India, on the other hand, we could tell that they really use a lot of spices, and can taste the fresh ingredients. Whenever we eat, we eat with our eyes first, our noses second, and our taste third. If any one of these senses are not satisfied at first, then our food experience probably will not be an enjoyable one. Both places provide good Indian cuisine, but our favorite is Little India for this battle. 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Little India

This past Saturday, Greedy Eater 2 and I had the buffet at Little India. We've been to Little India in the past and have had good experiences before. We can't compare it to Puran's buffet since we haven't tried Puran's, but we hope to do a comparison in the future. Little India is located on Prospect St. in Bloomington, in the strip mall area where Ride the Nine is. It is definitely smaller than Puran, but the atmosphere is good.

We arrived around 1:30 and all but one table was taken. We sat down and a waitress came to give us lukewarm glasses of water. It wasn't too appealing, but I was more focused on the buffet. We didn't know that the buffet was the only thing that was available. We were thinking that ordering off of the menu was an option too, but apparently not, particularly between 11:00am - 3:00pm.

The food from the buffet smelled really good. It took a while for our basket of Naan to be served, but when it finally was, it was nice and hot. I got Shahi Paneer, Punjabi Kadi, Chili Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, Dhabha Chicken. I liked everything I had except for the Chili Chicken which I thought was just okay. All of the food had the right amount of spiciness and was flavorful. The Tandoori Chicken tasted better than Puran's. I liked it so much I had two pieces.



Greedy Eater 2 got the same as me, plus Jamun Carrot and Matter Makhana.  For dessert, Greedy Eater 2 had Kheer, Mango Melody, and Gulab.

This buffet was really good and we would highly recommend it.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Dinner

Tonight I made Salsa Chicken. I got this from a recipe website. This was my first time making it. It's a pretty simple recipe with simple ingredients: boneless skinless chicken breasts, taco seasoning, salsa, shredded cheese, and the sour cream is optional. I cut the chicken breast into pieces since I'm not a fan of the big pieces of chicken breasts. You can also add other toppings too.

The pictures don't really do it justice. I would definitely make this again.



Saturday, September 17, 2011

Love of Food

This post is a just hodge-podge of stuff I have eaten at different places and bought at the store. Enjoy!


Denny's: Maple Bacon Sundae. It may sound like a strange combination (vanilla ice cream, bacon, and maple syrup), but it was good.



Illinois State Fair: Fried Pickles. Need I say more.


Illinois State Fair: Chocolate Covered Bacon. Yes, that's right. It was good too.


Wal-Mart: I had to get this and try it. Not bad.


Wal-Mart (again): I saw this on a website and wanted to try it. Glad that the Wal-Mart here carried it. Pretty good popcorn.

Pub II

Today Greedy Eater 2 and I went to Pub II. This was my first time going there; Greedy Eater 2 had been there before. Pub II has been around for quite a while. I was told by a couple of people to try Pub II for their cheese balls. Greedy Eater 2 and I ordered the Fried Cheese Balls, Buffalo Chicken Wings, and a half order of Mini Tacos. I thought the mini tacos were good. The cheese balls were okay; Green Gables' cheese balls taste better. The buffalo chicken wings were really good. I thought they tasted better than Mugsy's. I wouldn't say Pub II is an awesome restaurant, but it is a good place to get deep fried bar food. I would definitely order the wings and mini tacos again, but not the cheese balls. I would also try some of their other deep fried appetizers.




Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Big Bowl

This past Saturday, Greedy Eater 2 and I ate at Big Bowl restaurant. Big Bowl has multiple locations in Chicago and the suburbs. I like Big Bowl because it is one of the very few chain restaurants that serves good, fresh Chinese/Thai cuisine. We arrived a few minutes after 12:15pm for lunch. It was a great time to go because it had just opened at 12:00.

We ordered chicken dumplings as an appetizer. There were 5 steamed chicken dumplings in a bowl with soy-ginger sauce in the bottom of the bowl.  The dumplings were cooked perfectly. The sauce had a nice, sweet, light kick to it. The dumplings and the sauce were really good.

For our meals, I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken and Greedy Eater 2 ordered the Clay Pot Shrimp Panang. Both dishes were served with Thai Jasmine Rice. The portions at Big Bowl are a decent size, so you won't be leaving hungry.

I had ordered the Kung Pao Chicken the last time I was there and I made the mistake of not telling them to withhold the blackened chilies. I couldn't get through a fourth of the dish because it was so hot. My mouth was on fire for hours. So this time, I told the waiter to withhold the blackened chilies. Even though the dish was still spicy, I was able to eat at least half of it. The dish had a great flavor to it because it has roasted peanuts, sweet spicy sauce, spinach, onions, and green onions in addition to the chicken.





The Clay Pot Shrimp Panang contained shrimp in peanut-coconut curry sauce with sweet peas, grape tomatoes, and thai basil. Greedy Eater 2 thought this was an excellent dish! All the spices came together perfectly giving a sweet and spicy flavor. The sweetness from the coconut milk and the spices from the curry married well together. The flavor was wonderful. There was also plenty of shrimp in the dish. Greedy Eater 2 would definitely order this again. 




We would highly recommend Big Bowl for Chinese/Thai cuisine in Northern IL. The spices, and the meats and vegetables used in the dishes are fresh and you can tell by the smell and taste of the flavors. Also, be prepared to bring home leftovers.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Green Gables

For dinner today, Greedy Eater 2 and I went to Green Gables (Lake Bloomington). If you've been following the blog, you will remember that we have been on a quest to find the best non-chain cheeseburger in Central IL. Green Gables has achieved this spot, which isn't really a surprise to Central IL natives. Everyone that I have talked to prior to going to Green Gables has told me that they have the best cheeseburgers and even cheese balls. For Greedy Eater 2, it had been 20 years since she had eaten at Green Gables, and it was just like she remembered it 20 years ago. It was my first time eating at Green Gables, and I was looking forward to getting a good, greasy cheeseburger.
 
Greedy Eater 2 and I both ordered a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it and an order of cheese balls. You know a burger is good when you don't have to put ketchup or mustard on it. The juiciness of the patty took care of any need to put anything else on it. The cheeseburgers were hot and super greasy. The bacon was actually real bacon, which is the only way to go for any burger. I'm a fan of greasy cheeseburgers, so I was in heaven. The cheese balls were really good. They're just deep-fried balls of cheddar, and  we just popped them in our mouths like tic tacs.

I have tried cheeseburgers at many places, and I have my favorites for different locations, but I have to say that Green Gables is my favorite in Central IL. For me, Green Gables is tied with The Spot when it comes to the best cheeseburgers I've had so far in the Midwest.




Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Red Oak Comfort Food & Pie Co. - CLOSED

This past Tuesday for lunch, two co-workers and I went to The Red Oak Comfort Food & Pie Co. I remember reading an article about The Red Oak opening a restaurant in downtown Bloomington. It is located on Main St. across from Reality Bites.

The menu was full of Swedish "comfort food" dishes. We each decided to order a sandwich which came with a choice of salad, applesauce, or cottage cheese for a side.

I ordered Linnea's Delight which consisted of sliced turkey, lingonberries, dilled cream cheese, and candied pecans served on a croissant. I never had lingonberries before, and neither had my co-workers, but I have to say the sweet taste of the lingonberries with the other ingredients on the sandwich meshed very well. To me, lingonberries are a cross between raspberry, cranberry, and strawberry. It has a sweet jam/preserve taste. I chose a salad as my side and got Creamy Bacon (Yummy!) for the dressing.



One co-worker ordered The Biff, an open faced sandwich, that consisted of slices of roast beef topped with cucumber salad, and mayo-mustard sauce. The other co-worker ordered the Chicken Salad, another open faced sandwich, that consisted of chunks of chicken, crunchy almonds, celery, and cucumber and tomato slices. Both co-workers also chose a salad as their side and selected the house dressing.

All three of us really enjoyed our lunch. While we were waiting for our food to come out, we looked at the pie menu and decided to each get a slice. One co-worker ordered a slice of Dutch Apple and the other co-worker and I ordered a slice of Cherry. We all agreed that the pies were very good and that we would be back to take a whole one home.




We definitely recommend this place for lunch. The prices are reasonable and the service is good. They are open M-F from 11am-3pm and will be open in the fall for breakfast on Saturdays.

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Spot

The Spot is an old-time favorite in Kenosha, WI. Back in the day, I went to high school in Kenosha, and The Spot was the number one place to get a good greasy burger. It's been a long time since I've ate at The Spot. This weekend, I thought it would be a good place to stop to grab something to eat since: 1) I wanted to see if they still served the same greasy burger I remember and 2) I wanted to get their Root Beer Float (oh so good).

The Spot isn't anything fancy. It's on the corner of 75th and 22nd St. It's like Sonic, but it isn't bright and colorful. You pull up into a spot that's open, the waitress comes and takes your order, and then brings it out to you when it's ready. You just sit there in your car and marvel at the masterpiece (i.e. a sloppy greasy cheeseburger) that is in front of you and the Root Beer Float you have to wash it down with.

The order consisted of a double cheeseburger with bacon, an order of breaded mushrooms and a root beer float. The patties on the burger was nice and flat. I could tell these were not the frozen patties you get at a McDonald's or even a place like Copper Top. Normally I'm not a fan of American cheese, but the cheese on the burger was awesome, but it should be expected since Wisconsin is known for producing good cheese. The bacon was thick and flavorful. It wasn't the thin pieces that you get on a Culver's bacon cheeseburger. I requested that everything be put on the burger, which consisted of ketchup, mustard, and onions. There was no lettuce, which I think gets in the way of a burger anyway. As you can tell from the pictures below, the badness in between the bun was thicker than the bun itself, which is a good thing. The breaded mushrooms were good. They were a good size so you could pop them in your mouth like tic tacs. The root beer float was just like I remember it. The root beer soda by itself was strong, which makes for good belching, but with the vanilla ice cream, it just creates a nice cold float. Overall, the meal didn't disappoint.

For me, The Spot has the best greasy cheeseburger in the Midwest. I've been told that Green Gables is the best, but I have not tried their burger yet (I will soon).

So if you're ever close to Kenosha, WI, check out The Spot. You will not be disappointed.






Monday, July 4, 2011

Bacon Meatballs

This holiday weekend, Greedy Eater 2 and I have wanted to try this recipe I ran across from an Allbacon tweet that had a link to the following: http://www.evilshenanigans.com/2011/03/super-evil-bacon-meatballs/

I have to say, even though it was quite a process, the meatballs turned out AWESOME! My house smelled like bacon all day, which was fine with me. The recipe was tweaked a little. The recipe called for fennel, but we didn't have any so we just added chopped onions instead. The flavor of the meatballs was great. Combining bacon, ground beef, and ground pork to form a meatball is just deadly...in a good way.

If you love meat and meatballs, we would highly recommend this recipe. Here are some pics.

Before the skillet:


In the skillet:


After the skillet and before the oven:


After the oven:



Sandwich:


Sunday, June 26, 2011

D'Arcy's Pint

D'Arcy's Pint is located in Springfield IL. I heard about this place on Man vs Food, so of course I wanted to go there. Greedy Eater 2 came along for this new food experience. D'Arcy's Pint is known for its horseshoes. I've never had a horseshoe before, but they sounded and looked good. A horseshoe consists of a Texas Toast base, with your choice of meat or vegetable to put on top, then fries are placed on top of that, and then covered with a white homemade cheese sauce.

We got there around 3:00 on Saturday. The hostess told us that it would be 15 minutes for a table, so we decided to sit at the bar instead. I ordered a half pint horseshoe with Italian Sausage and Greedy Eater 2 ordered a half pint horseshoe with Bacon. When I first ate some of the fries with the cheese sauce, I was taken aback. It was shamefully good. The fries were cooked perfectly and matched with the cheese sauce just made it taste really good. The texas toast and italian sausage just adds to the overall experience. Honestly, I would have been as happy with just the fries and cheese sauce. I was not able to finish all of my half pint, but it warmed up nicely for leftovers. We would definitely recommend trying a horseshoe at this restaurant. Apparently there is a place in Normal called Nate's Diner that may also serve horseshoes. Not sure if it would be worth trying. D'Arcy's would be difficult to top.

Italian Sausage:



Bacon: