Ginza Japanese Restaurant: Neil Continues to Turn Japanese

Those of you who know Neil know that he has some unique interests and hobbies.  Of course he loves puttering around in his aquariums and jogging, and a podcast and food blog aren't uncommon at all these days, either.  But once you get into the tiki and Elvis, some people might start to wonder.  And that doesn't even touch on his fandom of pro wrestling, the greatest of sports, and how it has introduced him to his love of Japanese culture (now even Beth is starting to wonder).  Yes, Japanese wrestling is one of his favorites (and the root of his wish to visit Japan for his 40th birthday) and this love of the land of the rising sun extends to the food.  From eating udon at Tokyo Box Lunch to munching on delicious rice cake with bean paste candies, he has a definite fondness for Japan. So when Beth suggested some hole in the wall Japanese restaurant not far from the Magnificent Mile (aka Michigan Avenue), there wasn't much convincing required.  Ginza is a place you've probably walked by a bunch if you live in Chicago, and you might have even wandered by as a tourist due to the proximity to a number of tourist favorites and hotels.  From the outside, it and the attached Tokyo Hotel aren't much to look at.  The terms "hole in the wall" and "dive" may come to mind, as this place sticks out a bit amongst the shiny newness of much of the River North neighborhood.  However, once you get past the front door and pass through the curtains, you're transported to what I imagine (and many Yelp reviewers confirm) a small restaurant in Tokyo might look like.  Buy the ticket, take the ride, and off to Japan we go!

Jin: Chicago Thai That Escaped Argyle

Chicago is not short on places to find Thai cuisine, and our neighborhood is no exception, but we have the added cultural center of Argyle Street, a enclave of Vietnamese and Thai.  On Argyle, you'll find a dozen different restaurants from that corner of the world, offering a number of different variations.  We’ve enjoyed meals at Thai Pastry and many others on different occasions, but for the blog, we wanted to try something new.  Enter Jin, a new Thai place in Edgewater (livin' on the edge!) on Broadway.  It had been open for a few months, so this seemed like as good a time as any to try it, because it was a really hot day and we didn't have enough energy to venture very far from home.

Hing Kee: Not Your Average Ramen Noodles

While we are both big fans of the many delicacies that ballparks, stadiums and arenas have to offer, sometimes it's good to mix it up a little.  So, a couple of weekends ago we decided to get some lunch in Chinatown before heading to the Sox game.  We briefly discussed trying a new place, but quickly settled on Hing Kee, because it's hard to pass up a big bowl of soup with their homemade, hand-pulled noodles and a free floor show.  Chef Chang Ming Liu stands at a table in the front of the restaurant and makes the noodles while diners watch.  Best of all, he does it with the detached air of someone whose mastered this skill to the point where his hands just go through the motions while his brain is writing the next great American novel or unraveling the mysteries of black holes. As a side note, since this guy spends his days reducing enormous hunks of dough into miles of delicate noodles with nothing but his bare hands, his arms and upper body resemble Popeye's after he's had his can of spinach (tattoos included).  So, with visions of ramen noodles dancing in our heads (and hopes for a Sox win), we headed south on the Red Line.