Way overdue post...Taste of Chicago Critique

The Taste only comes once a year.  There is a reason why you spend over $100 on tickets, right?

These are the places that I have visited at the Taste with critiques and how much each item (cost):

Soul Vegetarian East - BBQ Twist (4)
This was surprisingly good.  At first I thought I was eating a big chunk of tofu slathered in BBQ, but it is actually wheat gluten, better tasting than tofu.  The twist had a texture almost like real meat!

Chicago Joe's - Battered Butterfly Coconut Shrimp (10) 
Only 5 shrimp :(, but delicious!  I expected the breading to have coconut in it, but it is served with coconut sauce.  It was a different take on coconut shrimp.  I think it should have have been a taste portion though.

Vermillion Latin American Cuisine - Chargrilled Tandoori Chicken with Mango (8) 
Nah, it wasn't that great.  All I tasted was smoked/blackened chicken with mango sauce that did not compliment the chicken.

Chipotle Madras Turkey Burger (8)
Yummy!  Great seasoning and juicy.  This one saved my disappointment with the chicken.

Grazie! Ristorante - BBQ Buffalo Burger (4)

I never tasted buffalo before and was surprised on how it tasted - delicious and fresh!  The folks at Grazie! were telling me that buffalo meat has about 80% less fat and has more protein and less calories that beef.  I got the full burger after I finished the taste portion.

Canady Le Chocolatier - Mascarpone Gelato (4)

It tasted like cheesecake!  Awesome.

The Noodle Vietnamese Cuisine - Shrimp Cake (9)

The Shrimp CAKES were as big as pancakes.  I did not expect to receive 3 cakes - I didn't care!  It tasted so good - it was worth the 9 tickets.

Vee Vee's African Cuisine  - Jerk Chicken w/Red Beans and Rice (4)

I was disappointed with this sample.  I felt as if they somehow watered down the chicken, beans and rice.  It tasted bland.

Bella Luna Café - Shrimp Diablo (8)

In the taste program, I was excited to eat this dish when I read it, "Shrimp Diablo (shrimp with spicy tomato sauce)".  When I got it, it looked like tater tots with ketchup (and kinda tasted like it too).  It reminded me of my elementary school days.  Poorly executed Bella Luna.

Helen's Restaurant - BBQ Turkey Leg (10)

This was always and will be the crowd pleaser.  I did not have lunch and dinner because of this - that was ok with me.  Always delicious.

Polo and Café Catering  - Oven Baked crab cake nuggets (7)

After following the disappointment with the Bella Luna Café, I thought I was going to be disappointed again because the crab cake nuggets also looked like tater tots.  Looks can be deceiving, and Polo put me to shame.  These little nuggets were soft and scrumptious.  Yum.

Dominick's - 1/2 Watermelon Slice (2)

You can never go wrong with an almost FULL slice of watermelon.  I don't know what Dominick's definition of "half" is, but this watermelon chunk was almost as big as my head.  It cooled me off.

B.J.'s Market and Bakery - Mustard Fried Catfish (3)

WOW!  This was the winner for me at the taste.  Every time I came back, I always got a taste of the catfish.  The combination of the honey-mustard sauce made it even better.  I plan to go to the restaurant soon!

Oak Street Beach Café - Grilled shrimp on skewer with Garlic Potato (10)

This would be worth 10 tickets if the shrimp was thicker than a sheet of paper.  It was good, but not worth 10 tickets.

Chant - Orange Duck (8)

It was ok.  Nothing really special.  I expected something extravagant, but all I saw was a stir fry dish with a lot, A LOT of white rice.

Bobtail Ice Cream Co. - Merlot Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (7)

It was smooth and different.  The taste of merlot was faint, but it made itself up with the dark chocolate chunks.  

Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream cake on the stick (4)

Holy!  4 tickets almost got me that whole cake!  It was so good I promised myself to get one to conclude my day every time I visited the Taste (it never happened, but the intention was there).

Franco's Ristorante - Lemon and Watermelon Italian Ice (4/4)

I knew the lemon ice was good, until I tried the watermelon ice.  OMG (I don't use language often) it was so good.  It was sweet and satisfying.

Junior Dessert Bakery - Cheesecake (4)

Generic cheese still tastes like generic cheese cake.  Nothing special.

Kasia's Deli - Grilled Polish Sausage Sandwich with sautéed onions (8)

You can never wrong with a Polish sausage.  It was huge...Well portioned and delicious.  

Lagniappe-Creole Cajun Joynt - Crawfish Boil (10)

This was my first time venturing into the crawfish section of the seafood.  I enjoyed shell cracking, juice sucking minute of it.  I am thankful for Lagniappe to give me a tupperware bowl with instructions on how to eat crawfish.  I will use it to my full advantage.  

Sabor Latino - Steak and Onion Sandwich (8)

Yummy.  The steak was well spiced, and the bread was nice and fluffy.  It was a huge sandwich.  I had to split it with my friend.

A Natural Harvest - Roasted Corn on the Cob with Soy Butter and Cajun/Creole spice (5)

Doesn't that item sound good to you?  It caught my eye, but not my taste buds.  It was just corn dipped in butter and sprinkled with spice.  I could have done that at home.  It was ok, not great.

Tamarind - Thai Red Curry with Chicken (8)

There was more white rice than chicken.  I didn't taste the curry at all.  It felt like I was eating chinese buffet food.

Costa's - Loukaniko (Greek sausage) (4)

A sausage wrapped in a pita with some onions.  Very simple, yet delicious.  I was surprised that they offered this amount as a taste portion.  I was sure to go back.

Heaven on Seven - Gumbo (8)

I love gumbo, but was disappointed with Seven's version.  It was bland.  It tasted good, but it wasn't spicy - like most of Heaven on Seven food.  I tasted the Orzolaya and it was much better and spicy!

Bolat African Cuisine - Grilled plantain with spicy peanut sauce (3)

Surprisingly delicious.  I never expected peanut sauce to reach plantains, but what do I know about African cuisine?  

Ricobene's - Italian Breaded Steak Sandwich (4)

My intention to eat at the taste was to eat food that I do not know how to make or avoid foods that are familiar with me.  I know what breaded steak tastes like, but when I saw how big the taste portion was - the sandwich was already in my mouth.  It was that good.

Hashbrowns - Sweet Potato hash brown/the grossest thing at the Taste (3)

I won't be surprised to see if Hashbrowns is missing from next year's roster.  A hash brown is suppose to be crunchy, not soft and gooey.  Does sweet potato fry well?  Yes!  It was more like an ice cream scoop of mashed sweet potato.  

The Parrot Cage - North African spiced chicken skewers on herbed couscous (7)

I love couscous, chicken, and African spices.  It was very good, but the chicken was a tad tough.  The grapes on the skewers were a surprise and kind of good too.  The combination of both chicken and grape was awesome.

Guey Lon/Star of Siam - Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura (8)

I wanted to compare the tempura from Guey Lon and Star of Siam.  Star won the competition - it was scrumptious, better tasting and bigger portions.

Celebration Creamery - Funnel cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate topping (10)

Magnificent!  You need to share this with two people or you will go into a sugar-induced coma.  everything about it was so good.  No wonder I saw people with this everywhere (along with the home made chips from Harry Caray's).

Les Nomades - Shrimp and remoulade sandwich with heirloom tomato soup (9)

The sandwich was great!  The soup was so-so.  I'm not into chilled soups - this soup tasted like any commercial tomato soup.  Nothing special at all.  The sandwich was the winner though!  

Art Smith Company - Pistachio Chicken (8)

Almost my second favorite at the taste (cannot decide between the crawfish boil or the Turkey Burger from Vermillion).  Everything about the chicken was perfect.  It was seasoned and the pistachio gave it a nice crunch.  

Arya Bhavan - Samosa (4)

I love samosa's but I think Arya messed up on this one.  They over-fried them!  It was hard and burnt in some places. :(.

I visited over half of the booths at the taste!  34 to be exact (there are 65 booths at the taste).  Next year, I am going to visit every booth!  I'm saving up right now.