Mezza Mediterranean Grill

We went to dinner at Mezza Mediterranean Grill in downtown La Grange.  They have 4 other locations all in Chicago and one more coming soon to the Merchandise Mart. They have Mediterranean/Middle eastern fare - including pita and wrap sandwiches, salads, traditional sides and kabob plates.

Tunisian Chicken Pita

Unlike the two other Middle eastern\Mediterranean food establishments we have recently visited, this restaurant was the most westernized. Also this meat was tender but not as moist as the other restaurants. We both ordered sandwiches and them come either in pita bread or a wrap (this was not clear from the menu); we liked the thick and hearty pita to hold all the meat in.

Here is specifically what we ordered:
We both ordered Mezza meals - a sandwich with a side and a drink.
Tunisian Chicken pita sandwich - spicy chicken, harissa mayo, red onion, avocado - again not as moist as the meat at other restaurants, but tasty

Beef Tenderloin Pita

side of falafel - 3 falafel (garbanzo beans) with sauce, served to us hot and fresh, Nick enjoyed probably better than any other falafels he has had (not too crunchy on the outside, and a warm moister center)
Beef Tenderloin Kabob pita sandwich - skewered cuts of beef and veggies, tahina sauce - better than the chicken sandwich; but probably not a classic Middle Eastern dish
side of red pepper hummus with pita - creamier (instead of thick) than the consistency of most hummus. Natalie found it mundane compared to the flare and freshness of the past two Middle Eastern restaurants.

Red Pepper Hummus

We went at 5pm on a weekday.  Not sure when they get their rush because there weren't many people there at the time.  The location is right next to the La Grange train station so they are probably trying to capitalize on the train traffic but we didn't see that happening from the trains that stopped while we were there. Unfortunate, because it seems like a nice place.  But perhaps better suited for a lunch crowd which is perfect for their 4 other locations in Chicago.

Falafel

Final Thoughts on Mezza:
Food - Good place for a lunch.  A good light summer meal. Nick was a little sad that there was no baba ganoush. We would go again but probably not dine in.
Service - order at a counter up front and get your food as you are paying - not quite fast food, but pretty close.  The falafel wasn't quite done when we paid so an employee brought it to our table.
Atmosphere - very nice decore, quite fancy looking actually for such a casual place.

Crisp and clean interior

Prasino

Warm Olives

To celebrate Natalie's grandmother's birthday we decided not to go into Chicago in case we would have any NATO related traffic or disruptions.  Instead we decided to stay close to home and go to Prasino in La Grange.  Natalie had been there twice before but Nick had never been there. Since we came with a group of 5 we were able to sample a few more things than we would have otherwise

Appetizers:

Mushroom Bruschetta

Warm Olives with piquillo pepper, sun-dried tomato, herbs, feta and grilled bread.  They were a little salty and much spicier than we had anticipated.  We enjoyed the olives at Girl and the Goat better - less spicy and oily.
Creamy mushroom bruschetta with grilled bread, Parmesan, tomato and basil.  The waiter recommended this and it was really good. It had a creamy sauce instead of a more traditional tomato sauce, but sauce made the mushroom flavor pop.

Entrees & Sides:

Braised Short Ribs

Grilled Thai Curry Pork Loin

Grilled Thai Curry Pork Loin with  brown rice, mango salad and coconut cashew sauce.  This was definitely spicier than we thought it would be; maybe it would have been a little better if it were sweeter, i.e. a few more mangoes to offset the heat of the curry.
Braised beef short ribs with cauliflower cheddar gratin (roasted cauliflowers, sharp cheddar, bechamel sauce) greens, truffle mushroom Cabernet sauce.  The short ribs were very tender and definitely the best entree.  The cauliflower gratin was really good and came in an interesting shape like it had been cooked in a muffin tin.

Turkey Blue Burger

Taste of Turkey Blue burger with caramelized onions, sauteed apples, spinach, and bleu cheese on a multigrain bun.  Definitely an interesting combination of ingredients, especially apples on a burger.
Taste of Vegetable flat bread (pizza) with corn, tomato, onion, pesto, mozzarella and balsamic.  It tasted really good.  If we were returning to the restaurant we would order one of the flat breads.
Chilled Beets with goat cheese, candied pecans, balsamic glaze.  We must need to eat more beets in our lives because whenever we go out we like to order them and they are super tasty. This was a good light dish.

Veggie Flatbread

Chilled Beets

Fish Tacos

Chocolate Molten Cake

Gooey Butter Cake

Dessert: 

Chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and blueberry compote - true molten with gooey chocolate inside.  The blueberries were really tasty and went well with chocolate.

Taste of Gooey butter cake (for the birthday girl) - it definitely lived up to its name - warm and gooey, slight crust.  Would order this again.

Final Thoughts on Prasino:
Food - Nick would like to come back and try their summer menu.  We should mention that they try to locally source their ingredients and offer many vegetarian and gluten free menu items.
Service - very good, the waiter was willing to give his opinions and recommendations.  Grandma ordered the fish tacos and they made sure to put the hot sauce on the side.
Atmosphere - casual, located right on La Grange Road in downtown La Grange, lots of seating both indoors and outdoors.

Aripo's

Cheese Empanada

We met each other for dinner in Oak Park at a place called Aripo's Venezuelan Arepa House. It was recommended to us by a friend. They serve mostly empanadas and arepas. We have had empanadas at many restaurants but we have only had arepas once or twice before.  An arepa is a dish customary to Venezuela or Columbia and consists of corn or flour dough stuffed with ingredients, like a sandwich.  We thought they were a bit similar to tortas, but smaller.

What we ordered:
White cheese empanada - good, but a little boring with just cheese in it, we put hot sauce on it to pep it up a bit.  In comparison to other places we enjoyed the empanadas at El Nandu and 90 Miles Cuban much better.

Conuquera Arepa

La Nuestra Arepa - shredded beef, black beans, fried plantain and white cheese. From the reviews we read this seemed to be their signature arepa. We felt there was too large of a ratio of beans to other ingredients and it wasn't all mixed together to get a bite of everything at once.  It was a little hard to eat because it was messy. It tasted okay but just not our favorite.
Conuquera Arepa - sauteed red peppers and onions, with plantains, black beans and white cheese.  Same comments as La Nuestra - too many black beans.

La Nuestra Arepa

We actually had ordered 2 empanadas but they messed up the ordering so we only go the one.  We liked the food but really not enough to order more.  We knew we had the option of dessert at home so we didn't order any more food at the restaurant.

Final thoughts on Aripo's:
Food - okay to try once, not sure we would go back.  Where else are there arepas?
Service - messed up the order and then were a bit slow to get our food so we didn't have the best experience
Atmosphere - a big positive; the interior of the restaurant is really cute. There are lots of nice details to make it feel you are in a space in central or south America. You order your food at a counter and it is brought to your table.

The Nile

Went for more Middle Eastern fare at The Nile in Hyde Park.  We had heard about this restaurant a while ago on Check Please and it was "kind of" on our way home this particular night.  It supposedly was a favorite of President Obama's when he lived in Hyde Park.

What we ordered: 

Baba ghannoj

Hummus

small appetizer of hummus (they spell in hummos on their menu) - pretty good hummus, we heard comments all around us at other tables that people loved the hummus.  But it isn't hard to mess up hummus?

Side salad - came with entree

large appetizer of baba ghannooj - eggplant puree, tahini and lemon juice.  This is slowly becoming Nick's new favorite food.  In fact he just looked at a cookbook to see if it is something he could make himself. Natalie liked the baba ghannooj at Al Bawadi (from a few weeks ago) a little bit better because of the Mesquite fire roasted eggplants there. 

Lamb Shawerma wrap sandwich - thin pita bread rolled and stuffed with lamb shawerma, onions, tomato, pickle and tahini sauce.  Nice, warm and filling without leaving you overstuffed.  Good lunch option.  Great value meal.

Combination Plate

Combination plate - Shish kabab beef (filet mignon), Chicken shawerma (slow rotisserie marinated chicken), Shish Tauouk (marinated charbroiled chicken), kifta kabab (blend of ground lamb and beef), served with sauteed vegetables and Middle Eastern rice. Each of the meats were tasty and displayed the authenticity of the restaurant. The next time we go to a Middle Eastern we'll probably just stick to one meat to get more of it, but if you are new to the cuisine, it's a good way to get a few of more of the dishes.

Final Thoughts on The Nile:

Lamb Shawerma Sandwich Wrap

Food - good Middle Eastern food, I think we may have enjoyed Al Bawadi slightly better (from a few weeks ago) due to their mesquite grilling techniques.  The Nile is also a lot further from our house so it would be hard to repeat.
Service - very prompt, we were in and out in about 40 minutes.  We lots of carry out orders as well.
Atmosphere - in Hyde Park by University of Chicago so lots of college students (they asked it we would need to split the bill because they are used to catering to college students), casual sit down, minimal decore, found a parking spot right in front of the restaurant

Ditka's

We had been to Ditka's two years ago for a full dinner. At that time we went all out with steak dinners and side dishes, but of course that means that there is never room for dessert.  We remembered that Ditka's had homemade desserts including ice cream so we knew we wanted to come back and specifically get the ice cream. So this time we only ordered smaller dishes to save room.

Crab Bisque

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup - very rich, a bit heavy on the white wine, but tasty
Crab Bisque - a bit heavy on the sherry (I guess at a place like Ditka's there into the liquor), good but nothing outstanding

Crispy Tuna Avocado Roll

Crispy Tuna Avocado Roll - tempura battered, yuzu ponzu sauce - we weren't sure if this was going to be a sushi roll or a type of southwestern egg roll thing; it was in fact a sushi roll that was tempura battered; it was okay but just not as good as sushi we have had in the past; guess we should stick to sushi at sushi places

Spicy Shrimp Flatbread

Spicy Shrimp Flatbread with pineapple, poblano peppers, cilantro, mozzarella and bang bang sauce. This was the best savory dish of the evening. In Nick's book, you can't go wrong with poblanos and pineapple.

Butter Pecan & Toffee Crunch Ice Cream

For dessert we each ordered 2 scoops of ice cream so all together we had toffee crunch, butter pecan, valrhona chocolate and mint chocolate chip.  The ice cream was really good and could rival ice cream shops like Oberweis.  It was rich, sweet and smooth, almost to the consistency of a gelato. So the wait for the ice cream was worth it.

Final thoughts on Ditka's:
Food - stick to the steaks and other entrees, otherwise the flatbread was good and the ice cream was great.
Service - good service; we were there near the end of the evening so you could tell things were winding down a bit.  Nick felt we waited a while for the ice cream.
Atmosphere - we went later at night because we had a late lunch and that way we didn't have to wait to be seated.  It still was hopping when we got there but we really didn't see anyone come in after us.  There is a fancier sit down area and a large bar for people to watch sports on various TV's, because after all you are at Ditka's. Casual environment, but at the same time we saw 2 Maserati's in the parking lot.

Valrhona Chocolate & Mint Chocolate Chip

Frontera Grill

Ceviche Trio

We had to make our patronage to what some may say is one of Chicago's world renowned restaurants, Frontera Grill. It is one of three restaurants in Chicago run by Celebrity chef Rick Bayless of "Mexico: One plate at a time" and Top Chef Masters fame. The restaurant is so famous we made reservations almost 3 months in advance. For such a renowned place and higher priced resturant it was suprisingly casual and it's decore is much like any moderately priced Mexican resturant. That aside our dinner (i.e. food) was great.

Appetizers:

Meatballs a la Mexicana

Ceviche Trio: the trio included Frontera Ceviche (albacore, tomato, olive), Yucatecan Ceviche (shrimp, squid, orange, cucumber), Tropical Tuna Cocktail (big eye, avoado-tomatillo, mango salsa).  All served with tortilla chips.

- Frontera Ceviche: Hawaiian albacore, lime, tomatoes, olives, cilantro & green chile on tostaditas. 

Most traditional ceviche; the lime and cilanto made the tuna flavors dance on your tongue. This was Nick's favorite of the three ceviches.

- Tropical Tuna Cocktail: Sashimi-grade Hawaiian big eye tuna, tomatillo guacamole, honey Manila mango salsa. Also good. A little less traditional than most ceviches. The guacomole was on the bottom and you really needed a taste of the tuna, mango and guacamole all at once to get the dish - you really need all parts of the ceviche for the combination to hit the wow factor.   

- Yucatecan Ceviche: Steamed Mexican blue shrimp & calamari, lime, orange, habanero, avocado, jicama, cucumber & cilantro. Another more traditional ceviche. But due to the small size in the appetizer trio we only got two shrimp and a lot of thinly sliced calamari - which was ok but we were looking forward to more shrimp.

Meatballs a la Mexicana: Classic little Mexican pork meatballs, smoky tomato sauce, braised kale, poblano rajas, Kaskaskia cheese, served with corn tortillas (to make the dish into small tacos).  The meatballs had a great smoky flavor.  There was also a dash of sweetness.  It was a good starter for the two of us.

Entrees:

Mole Trio - pork (L), enchiladas, vegetables (R)

Mole Trio: 2 Mole poblano enchiladas, grill-seared pork in manchamanteles (chorizo, almond), roasted vegetables in green pumpkinseed mole (epazote).  

- Mole Poblano Enchiladas: Gunthorp free-range chicken, grill-roasted red onions.  

This was by far the spiciest dish of the night.  There was a hint of sweet with the chocolate in the traditional (albeit spicy) mole sauce.  The combination with the spice was amazing but be warned the dish is aggressive 

- Pork in Manchamanteles: Red chile-marinated Gunthorp pork loin, fruit-studded ancho-almond mole, sweet potato mash (ancho, bacon), braised kale, spicy chipotle pineapple, homemade chorizo.

This was definitely favorite dish of the whole night.  We would recommend to any one going to this restaurant to get this mole only instead of trio - especially since we really wanted to have more of it to eat.  The grilling of the pineapple brought out a lot of natural sugars.  The chipotle flavor wasn't that spicy but overall a great balance of flavors.
- Roasted Vegetables in green pumpkinseed mole.  The vegetables were asparagus and potatoes and it was a much milder mole sauce, to balance out the spicy mole enchiladas. On its own it might have been a little boring but it was nice presented with the other two mole dishes.  

Oaxacan-Style Carne Asada: Red chile-marinated Creekstone Natural Black Angus rib steak. Black beans, sweet plantains with homemade crema and guacamole

Carne Asada with sweet plantains

We heard about this dish from the Food Network show "The best thing I ever ate" (filled with envy episode)  It didn't disappoint.  The sauce with had a medium spicy flavor through the meat. The carne asada was wonderful in a corn tortilla with the gucamole and beans.  The fried plaintains came with homemade sour cream and fresh cheese.  The were definitely the best side dish of the night.  Not too thinly cut and not over cooked - the insides were warm with a light cruch on the outside

Dessert: 

Duo de Flanes: A duo of caramel custards: cream cheese-cajeta (goat milk caramel) & classic Mexican vanilla. Pecan polvoron cookies, cajeta drizzle. Both were great and wonderful sweet gooey custards.  Those that don't like flan don't know what they are missing.

Duo of flans

Final thoughts on Frontera Grill:

Food -  great! probably each dish can be found at the same qaulity at other authentic places here and there but not like Frontera all under one roof. We really enjoyed the pork mole, sweet plaintains and albacore and big eye ceviches (in that order).

Service - It was definitely slower than we were expecting.  Frontera Grill is not that large of a restaurant and there were a lot of servers so it was surprising that it took so long to get service sometimes.  We waited at least 10 minutes initially for a waiter to come to our table - so good thing we had an idea of what we wanted to order.  After that the service had spurts of being good and then spurts of no service - we would be checked in on by three people and then our water glasses would be empty for 10 minutes.  Now granted we seemed to have been seated by a wall so it was not easy for wait staff to check in or fill water.  But for a restaurant of this caliber we really had been expecting a lot more; so it really is a disappointment.  We heard that Frontera's sister restaurant Topolobampo just won the James Beard award for service so I guess we'll have to try that one sometime in the future.
Atmosphere - Frontera is much smaller than we envisoned and very casual; some people were in jeans and T-shirts and others were there for work dinners.  It is very difficult to get a reservation here so plan way in advance.