Hot Chocolate



Medium Hot Chocolate

We haven't been to Hot Chocolate in a while for a sit down meal so we decided it was time again to do so.  Actually we didn't eat a whole meal here - just dessert!  We had already eaten a small dinner before coming because if we had eaten there we wouldn't have had room for the rich and amazing desserts at all.  We have learned this from past experience.

Chocolate "souffled" tart

Chocolate "Souffled Tart" - with salted caramel ice cream and house made pretzels. Excellent, decadent and awesome. It was uber-rich.

Peanut Butter and Jelly - Peanut Butter mousse with honeycomb, chocolate chip shortbread and peanut brittle on top and strawberry preserves and cream as an accompaniment   Nick was a little hesitant to order this but was wowed by it.  The peanut butter mousse had a light and airy texture.  It was a fun play on the PB&J concept.

We also had hot chocolate with our meal which made everything all the sweeter. You can't go to a restaurant called Hot Chocolate and not order it.  All of their hot chocolate comes with a house made marshmallow and if you don't finish it all they have to go cups to take it home in.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Nick had his old standby of "medium" - milk chocolate with a touch of dark chocolate and caramel. Whenever we go here we order one of these because it is so great.

Natalie had a new one called Cocoa Nib - It was 2/3 Belgian white chocolate and 1/3 hazelnut infused milk chocolate with cocoa nibs in it.  Honestly this probably tops the "medium" flavor in her eyes.



Cocoa Nib Hot Chocolate

Final thoughts on Hot Chocolate:

Food - everything is always great here. We have been here several times and have not been disappointed.  We even have been here lots just to take out hot chocolate.

Service - great and very quick.  But granted we only ordered desserty type items. It was nice that they could accomodate us just for that.

Atmosphere - nice and high end in the fun and trendy Bucktown neighborhood.  We got there right when they opened on a Saturday night because otherwise we would have had to wait a long time for a table.

Ra

We had eaten at Ra a while ago (before we started the blog) and have wanted to return for some time now. When we moved back to the area a few years ago we made a list of all of the restaurants we wanted to eat at.  It was quite a long and extensive list, but we are happy to say that we have almost finished the list.  So we will go to the few remaining on the list, but now also sprinkle in some places we have tried in the past and have really enjoyed.

Ra has happy hours deals between 3-7pm every weekday where many sushi rolls and appetizers are 1/2 off.  Bascially everything we ordered was off of this happy hour menu.

Pineapple and cream cheese wontons

Viva Las Vegas Rolls

Viva Las Vegas Roll - we ordered 2 of these because we remember we enjoyed it so much last time and wanted one for each of us.  It was still great. Crab and cream cheese on top with a tempura fried roll.  We're not quite sure why they named it for Las Vegas though.

"Ra"ckin Shrimp

(Official description from menu - Kani kama crab & cream cheese rolled in rice & seaweed, lightly tempura battered & topped with spicy tuna, kani kama crab mix & sliced lotus root; finished with a sweet eel sauce & spinach tempura bits)

Spicy Shrimp roll - a good standard roll, nothing to fancy

Shishito Peppers

"Ra"ckin Shrimp - we were disappointed in this dish because it really was just fried shrimp over a bed of lettuce.  The best part of the dish was the dipping sauce (creamy ginger teriyaki).  We wouldn't lean in this direction in the future.

Shishito peppers - smoky but not hot peppers that were enjoyable. They were sauteed in an Asian seasoning with a hot sauce decoration around the bowl (too hot for Natalie).

Spicy Shrimp Roll

Pineapple and cream cheese wontons - these kind of reminded us of crab rangoon.  We really couldn't taste the pineapple too much inside the wonton but there was a pineapple dipping sauce that came with it that was enjoyable.

Final thoughts on Ra:
Food - We liked the sushi and the peppers; probably wouldn't order the shrimp or wontons again.  The prices at happy hour are great.
Service - pretty good; water didn't get refilled immediately thought
Atmosphere - Americanized Asian look

Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co

We had heard about Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co on the Travel Channel's Pot Pie Paradise show. It is located in Lincoln Park a few blocks from the zoo. We ended up parking by the zoo and walking over. This restaurant does not take reservations so we tried to get there as soon as we could on a week night.  We were still met with a wait - we were told 20 minutes but it probably was between 10-15 minutes.



Pizza Pot Pie

                              The only "pizza" they offer is called a pizza pot pie.  It is not really like any other pizza we've tried before. They have a dough crust with a meat bolognese sauce, whole button mushrooms and cheese.  It is baked and looks like a pot pie coming out of the oven and then is inverted onto your plate at your table. They offer a small and large size.  We were going to order the larger size and split it but the server encouraged us to order 2 smalls instead (it is the same price either way).  It is probably much easier to invert the small ones than the large. The pizza was good but not the best pizza we've ever had. 

Small Chef's Salad

Despite the fact that pizza is in the restaurant's name, honestly the salad and the Mediterranean bread were the stars. We ordered a small chef's salad and it was more than enough for the 2 of us.  You also can get other salads that have cheese and meats on them.  The salad ingredients were fresh, but the homemade salad dressings they bring out were amazing. For all salads they bring out 3 dressings - Italian, sour cream garlic and sweet and sour poppy seed  Our favorite was the poppy seed, it was just really unique tasting.

The Mediterranean bread was a heaping plate of bread with great spices.  It tasted best while still warm so we ate what we could before the pizza came out.



Mediterranean Bread

They also over several grinder sandwich options. But we were there for the pizza so we really didn't even look at them on the menu.

This place is also cash only. Most cash only places are really inexpensive so it is not a big issue, but if you are in a group you're probably going to be spending much more than $20 so plan to bring enough cash.

Final thoughts on Chicago Pizza and Grinder Co:

Food - great salad and bread, unique pizza experience

Service - We were seated quicker than the wait time we were told.  We were glad to have gotten there earlier in the evening because when we left there was a huge wait. The food was pretty quick to get to us.  The salad and bread came out first and then the pizza came out later.

Atmosphere - a fairly small restaurant. There are only windows in the front so it is very dark inside.

View across the street - actually where the St. Valentine's Massacre occurred