Nick's Fishmarket

We went to Nick's Fishmarket in Rosemont a few years ago for our anniversary before we started the blog.  They went over the top with lavishing us with stuff last time - they gave us a balloon, a picture and a comp'd dessert so we wanted to go back again to get the royal treatment.  But this time they had toned it down and just comp'd us a dessert, which was fine but less impressive. But we ate some good seafood so that made up for it.

Black and Blue Seared Ahi

Black and Blue seared Ahi tuna appetizer - Cajun dusted with soy mustard sauce - this was really good quality tuna.  The spices weren't too overwhelming. It had a very beautiful plating presentation with the sauce swirled around the tuna itself.

Lobster Bisque - pretty typical lobster bisque, but lobster bisque is good overall so that is always a winner for us.

Lobster Bisque 

Chopped Salad

Chopped Salad - arugala, currants, tomatoes, smoked salmon, pumpkin seeds, roasted corn, couscous, Asiago cheese, pesto buttermilk dressing.  Natalie likes salad that have a lot of things in them that are not lettuce so this is the perfect choice for her.  All the ingredients were great together and it was an elevated form of a chopped salad.  This is totally something that would be great to make at home and people could choose to add all the ingredients or not.

Chilean Sea Bass

Chilean Sea Bass - with Asian Slaw, sweet soy sauce and garlic mashed potatoes. Several years ago when we were in Las Vegas we had some amazing Chilean Sea Bass at Tao at the Venetian and we have been searching for similar sea bass ever since. This wasn't quite at that level but it was Chilean Sea Bass so once again how can you go wrong.  The fish itself was buttery and flavorful and surprisingly the stacked slaw, sauce and potatoes paired very well together.

Grouper - macadamia encrusted, with asparagus and saffron rice, Natalie would have preferred a bit more sauce with the grouper.  The grouper had a light crust of macadamia nuts so it wasn't too heavy and the rice was amazing. We usually love asparagus these large stalks were a bit woody.

Macadamia Crusted Grouper 

Meringue topped key lime pie - they gave us this dessert for free for our anniversary celebration. We're starting to get a little sick of key lime pies since ever since we had fantastic key lime pie in the Florida Keys.  The meringue made this one a little different but it otherwise it was pretty standard key lime pie.

Final thoughts on Nick's Fishmarket:
Food - Great seafood. A nice place to celebrate.

Service - It wasn't nearly as stellar as the previous visit. They didn't keep the water glasses filled promptly.  Even though there were lots of open tables they sat us next to a very loud set of people.  It took a long time before they took our order.

Atmosphere - there weren't nearly as many people dining there as the last time we went.  Maybe because of where it is located near O'Hare airport and Rosemont it is more of a lunch place. The chatter of the table next to us was quite distracting and took away from the romantic ambiance we were going for by picking this restaurant.

Key Lime Pie

Hofbrauhaus

Maypole

We have both been to the original Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany, so we wanted to try the Hofbrauhaus at its newest location in Rosemont.  We have driven past over the past few months and have seen they it was close to opening.  Their soft opening was January 21 (and their grand opening will be March 18).  You could tell they were still figuring out the kinks in some places - especially at the hostess stand.  Otherwise the service was attentive.

Inside the restaurant is a super large space with plenty of large tables to accommodate large groups.  There are communal tables just like in Munich.  Be advised this is not the place for a quiet, intimate dinner.

Weisswurste

Munchner Weisswurste - 2 of Munich's famous white sausages (veal and pork) grilled with freshly baked pretzel and sweet mustard imported from Munich.  The sausages had a good snap and were a nice and smooth texture.  They were juicy and packed with flavor.

Jagerschnitzel

Jagerschnitzel - pork cutlet topped with creamy mushroom sauce, bacon, onions and served with spaetzle and cranberries.  It was tender enough to cut with a fork - moist and tasty.  A good balance of a schnitzel with some other fun stuff.  The sauce and spaetzle (German noodles) were tasty accompaniments to the schnitzel.

We also ordered a side of spaetzle so Nick could have his own.  Nick felt the spaetzle were a little dry but tasty none the less.

Apple strudel - traditional homemade Bavarian Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce, a la mode.  It was nice and warm.  We didn't need the ice cream; it was definitely better with the vanilla sauce.   

Apple Strudel

Final thoughts on Hofbrauhaus:
Food - The food was tastier than some of the other recent German fare we have had.  It was probably not as good as in Germany but definitely a closer distance.

Service - Because they hadn't been open that long, you could tell they were still figuring out the kinks in some places - especially at the hostess stand.  Otherwise the service was attentive.

Atmosphere - fun atmosphere with a live polka/southern German music style. The crowd wasn't getting into it that much with the songs and cheers, but it was reminiscent of the way they do it in Munich.