Do-Rite Donuts

Today we are reviewing Do-Rite Donuts, on W Randolph St. in downtown.

Ruben:
Do-Rite Donuts! Let me say Do-Rite Donuts did it right. This was my first time going to Do-Rite. I have heard many good things about it. I think my favorite thing about this place is that they serve vegan donuts. I don't know any other donut shop in Chicago that has vegan donuts. There are a ton of people out there that are lactose intolerant, milk free and vegan. That is one of the things that really stands out about Do-Rite. The shop is very small. I'm talking so small that people have bigger closets then their whole space. But there is an advantage to being small. Everything has its place and really makes it have a cute atmosphere. All they have at Do-Rite is donuts and Dark Matter Coffee, which is actually brewed right near my house. I tried the Butter Milk Old Fashioned Donut because I wanted to see if something so simple could be so good. And it was. The cake donut was perfectly baked. Moist on the inside, crunchy on the outside. Just how I like it. I also had a little bit of the Vegan Chai Donut. It was okay, but if you go here, get a cake donut. If you want a good yeast donut head up North to the Donut Vault. I give Do-Rite 4.0 plates.

Otto:
Do-Rite Donuts is really small, with no inside seating. But they have tables outside. I got the Buttermilk Old Fashioned and the Vanilla Bean Glazed. Both were delicious. They have a limited amount of donuts each day, and when they sell out, they are gone. But the times we have gone there have both been in the afternoon, and they still had donuts, just not much of a selection. I like the more basic donuts anyway, and they had those on both visits. I give them 4 plates.

Max:
Do-Rite Donuts kind of reminds me of Doughnut Vault. Because they are both very small. I've been to Do-Rite once before and their donuts are really good. Today, I got the Chocolate Glazed and the Vegan Chai. The Chocolate Glazed is a classic cake donut dipped in valrhona chocolate. It was awesome! It tasted like a high quality and gourmet donut. The Vegan Chai was a little disappointing. I have had better vegan donuts in my life (from West Town Bakery, for instance), and the chai just tasted weird with the rest of the donut. I wish I had liked it better but it just wasn't that good of a donut. The atmosphere is pretty cool. It totally captures an old fashioned bakery kind of look. And like I said earlier in the post, Do-Rite is very small so they don't have any indoor seating. You can either take your donut to go, or you can eat it outside, were they have a few tables and chairs. We all ate ours outside, and it was a pretty cold day out so we were a bit chilly, but that was okay. Do-Rite donuts was pretty good so I give them 3.5 plates.

Outside

Big Donut

Max's Chocolate Glazed

Max's Vegan Chai

Ruben's Buttermilk Old Fashioned 

Pączki Day

Happy Pączki Day! Hope you enjoy some fried, filled dough today too!

!Bang Bang! Pie & Biscuits

Today we are reviewing !Bang Bang! Pie & Biscuits in Logan Square.

Ruben:
So after years of hearing about how awesome Bang bang! pie was i finally got there on a cloudy january day. Max and Otto since they live right by Bang bang go there regularly but i have never been. I really liked the atmosphere of the place it felt very nice and small with a rustic feel with red picnic tables and stringed lights in the back yard. I actually can't wait to go back here in the summer cause of the yard also they have garden in the summer which they grow fresh veggies. I asked max and Otto what i should get? they recommended the scratch biscuit which is just a homemade fresh biscuit with honey mustard butter and fresh made jam. I would say the biscuit was okay but it had way to much lard and butter for my taste. It was so moist and basically  was almost falling apart. The jam did balanced it out but the butter just added to the fat so it just made it worse. Although there are biscuit sandwiches on the menu so that might balance it out so i have to try that. The pie is good. It was good it was fresh but i don't really think it was amazing a lot of people think it is. Maybe i'm missing something or the flavor we got was not the best thing on the menu or something like that. We got the raspberry jam tart and the blood orange meringue. I thought the meringue was really amazing and the rassberry filling in the raspberry pie was really good. I have to try some more things at Bang bang pie but for now i'm giving 3 plates i will do a another review in the future so stay tuned. Keep on tasting, Ruben.

Max:
I have been going to !Bang Bang! Pie since they first opened. And we have always tried to convince Ruben to try them, but we never did...until now. Their biscuits are maybe the best in Chicago. I'm seriously not joking. I have never tried a biscuit as good as theirs. My mom tried to make a biscuit as good as theirs, but she wasn't even close. (She's actually a good baker, but that's how good these biscuits are.) We all started with some Scratch Biscuits. They come with seasonal jam and honey butter. I also added a poached egg to it. Like I said, the biscuit is amazing, and one of the reasons that makes it taste so good is the lard and butter inside of it. The seasonal jam was blueberry. It was very good. The honey butter was delicious, although the biscuit is already so buttery that I don't completely see why you should put it on. The poached egg was also delicious. It was served with salt, pepper and chives. The egg was perfectly done. The yolk was runny, but I like it like that. The chives went amazingly well with the egg, and it inspires me to do the same next time I make a poached egg. After that, we ordered the Blood Orange Meringue. I actually didn't try any of it because I was so full after the biscuit, but I've had it on a previous visit. I also want to talk about their pie. They change their pie menu frequently and seasonally. So they don't always have the same pie on the menu. But they usually have at least one custard pie, one fruit pie, and than also a sweet pie, like chocolate. The Key Lime pie is my favorite pie on the menu. It's sour, but it's so good. And this time when we went they didn't have the key lime pie on the menu, but that was fine because we didn't order it. I actually think that their biscuits are a little better than their pie, but I still like them both a lot. They also have fresh squeezed orange juice and hot cider. Today I got the fresh squeezed orange juice. The atmosphere is really rustic and cool. It's a little small, and it was crowded when we came, so it took a little while before we got a seat, but that was fine. They also have a patio in their backyard, so you can sit outside when it's warm out. I think that !Bang Bang! Pie & Biscuits is one of my favorite bakeries in at Chicago so I give !Bang Bang! 5 plates.

Otto:
I love !Bang Bang! Pie Shop. They have the best biscuits I have ever had. I got the Scratch Biscuit, which automatically comes with jam and butter, but I just eat it plain. It's so good it doesn't need anything else anyway. I also like their sweet and custard pies. I usually get either a chocolate or a lemon or lime one. This time they didn't have either of those, so I tried the Blood Orange Meringue. I didn't like it as much. It tasted too strongly of the blood orange for me. I guess I don't like orange as much as lemon or lime, as least not in pie. I also got a cup of hot cider, which was really good (especially on such a cold and rainy day). I really like going there when it is warm enough to sit outside. They have a really nice patio. I give them 5 plates.

Waiting for biscuits.

Group shot.

Biscuits and pie.

Backyard.

Oiistar

Happy Anniversary to us! Chicago Food Boys is now 1 year old! For our celebratory lunch, we were trying to decide if we should revisit a place we had all loved, or if we should try something new. Two of our favorite meals were the ramen at Urban Belly and at Slurping Turtle, so we decided maybe we should try another ramen place. We went to Oiistar in Wicker Park, another ramen place which has gotten good reviews.

Max:
Oiistar is an Asian Fushion/Japanese restaurant. It is located on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park. They are known for their ramen and steamed buns. First let me start with the atmosphere. It's kinda dark and modern. Definitely an asian fusion looking place. But of course, it's really cool looking. Now, let me talk about the food. We started with some steamed buns. I got the Tempura Shrimp. it comes with tiger shrimp, thai chili mayo, fennel slaw, and roasted sesame seeds. The tiger shrimp is amazing. It's perfectly cooked and delicious. The thai chili mayo really complements the tiger shrimp. The fennel slaw is about average, but goes well with the sesame seeds. After that, we all ordered ramen. I got the Musclemen ramen. It comes with mussels, onions, chili peppers, scallions, and bonito miso. The broth was a little spicy, but still tasty. I feel that they didn't need to put so much chili peppers in it though. The noodles were really good. I don't know what kind of ramen noodles they were but they were great. The overall ramen was pretty good. The service isn't the best. One of us ordered the Pozolmen. And our waiter said that it was his favorite ramen if you like it spicy. But he didn't say that it was going to be PIPING SPICY! Seriously, I tried it and it was like eating a ghost pepper fresh off the vine. And when he came back and asked us how much we like the ramen, we said that one of us got the Pozolmen and it was way too spicy. And he said - well I warned you it was going to be spicy. But that wasn't true. All he said is that it was spicy and that it was his favorite ramen. He didn't warn us about it like it was going to be REALLY spicy. But anyway, back to the review. Oiistar is overall a good restaurant, so I give 4 plates to Oiistar.

Otto:
I started with the BBQ Beef steam bun as an appetizer. I asked for it to be plain (just the meat and the bun). It was the best steam bun I have had yet. I got the Chadolemen Ramen, which was also beef and normally comes with vegetables too, but I asked for it to be just the meat and noodles and broth, which they said was no problem. It was really really good. The broth was really good, and after a while, it got to be a bit too spicy for me, but it was still amazing. It was a gigantic bowl of ramen, and I only eat a little bit of it, so we took a lot home. I would give it 4 plates.

Ruben:
It's been one whole year folks of Chicago Food Boys. hard to believe right?

So for our blogaversery lunch we went to a ramen place in wicker park called Oiistar. You might ask why ramen for our blogversery. well, we we're just in the mood for some ramen thats it. Everybody walked in with excitement. we sat down at our table not knowing what to expect. The menu i thought was very interesting they had a wide variety of buns, ramen, and some American Japanese appetizers. We all decided to get one bun and one ramen cause that's what the waiter recommended. I ordered the goki bun a barbecue beef bun. I thought it was very good the beef was a little to chewy for my taste but it was still okay. The garnish on the bun, i liked it. it went well with the beef but i would have to say my favorite part of the bun was the creme fraiche which was very sweet but not so sweet and the bun also had hot sauce so both the sauces really complimented each other very well. The ramen i ordered the chadolemen which is not on their online menu. for some reason so i had to look on yelp to see what it was called which is very weird to have a item on your physical menu but not your digital. It actually had a mix of beef brisket and ground beef which i thought was pretty good. I think i liked the broth the best, though it was spicy and had a lot of flavors that you could smell and taste. There was some bean sprouts and kimchi in the ramen to which were okay to but nothing special. I give oiistar 4 plates.

The Food Boys

Inside

Cod Steam Bun.

Max's Tempura Shrimp Steam Bun.

Ruben's Goki bun

Otto's Ramen.

Max's Musclemen Ramen.

Ruben's  Ramen

Max and Musclemen.

Slurping Ramen.

Otto and noodles.

La Creperie

Today we will be reviewing La Creperie on Clark and Diversey.

Otto:
It was a very nice evening when we went here, and the outside seating in the back was very pretty with all the string lights and the rest of the decorations. For my entree crepe, I got the very plain crepe with butter and sugar because I was just in the mood for a simple crepe. I've tried many crepes like this, and this was one of the best I've had. There's not much to explain, though, about a plain butter and sugar crepe. For dessert, I chose the caramel and salted butter crepe, and that was very good and very very caramel-y. It was sitting in a puddle of caramel when it arrived. But it was a delicious puddle. I loved it. We spent kind of a long time having dinner here, and for some reason, toward the end, we sang a couple of rounds of Row Row Row Your Boat. At the end of our meal, a man came over to us and told us how nice it was listening to us singing. It was the kind of place and the kind of night that this seemed like the right thing to do, and it was a very fun night. I would rate this place 4 plates.

Ruben:
I am always up for a good Crepe, this was my first time at La Creperie. The atmosphere of the place feels very french with little golden LED'S all over, we got a table outside on their awesome patio which is basically a back yard cause it has a garage and everything but they made it look awesome. There menu has a very wide selection of Sweet and Savory Crepes. One thing that was not so great about La Creperie is that they have very slow service probably took 40 minuets for our food to come but on the bright side our server was very nice. I got the Boeuf bourguignon which is a beef crepe with a sauce and carrots and celery. I thought my crepe was a little too saucy and heavy the sauce was so thick almost the density of Gravy, personally if my crepe has a sauce i like it to be thin. The reason why i got this crepe is that they didn't have a lot crepes that were low on dairy except the plain crepe. For desert we got a Banana Nutella and the Salted caramel. Out of the two i preferred the salted caramel it was salty it was sweet the caramel was homemade and full of flavor one of the best sweet crepes i have had. On the other hand the banana Nutella was just average. Also here is some history about La Creperie it actually burned down once and closed once in the years it's been open. La Creperie is a nice place although it is not my favorite crepe place i would go there if i was in the neighborhood i give 3.5 plates.

Max:
La Creperie is a French restaurant that is well known for their delicious crepes. La Creperie has been around since 1972. And they burned down once. But then they reopened. And last year, the chef closed the restaurant and planned to retire, but then he decided to reopen it. We came here for dinner and we thought we should go here because me and my brother Otto went here a while ago and we liked it. Though I can barely remember it, because it was such a long time ago. But let's talk about the food. We started with some escargot. It was delicious, and went really well with the bread that came with it. After that, we ordered some crepes. I got the Poulet et fromage de chèvre. It comes with     chicken, roasted tomatoes and goat cheese. The chicken was a little too dry. The roasted tomatoes were pretty good. But the goat cheese was delicious. It went very well with the roasted tomatoes. I guess all of the crepe was good except for the chicken. Also, something funny happened. For some reason we started singing Row Row Row Your Boat, and after we stopped, this older guy came up to us and told us that he was delighted to hear us sing that. It was a pretty funny experience, so I give La Creperie 4 plates.

Escargot appetizer. 

Dessert crepe.

 

Essence of India

Today Otto is reviewing Essence of India in Lincoln Square.

Otto:
We have been wanting to go here for a long time, but they are usually not open for lunch. We finally made it for dinner, and I am so glad we did, because this was pretty good Indian (although I don't know that many Indian restaurants, even though I really like it, because we usually go to the same couple of places). Everyone there was extremely nice. We got the Murg Tikka Masala (skewered boneless marinated chicken cooked with Indian spices and herbs in a cream sauce). I absolutely loved this. (I always love chicken tikka masala, and this was some of the best I've had, but once again, I haven't had it from that many places.) We also got Achari Gosh (lamb with ground cumin, rye, fennel and fenugreek).  The lamb was too tough or chewy for me, so I didn't eat very much of it. For me, it wasn't nearly as good as the chicken tikka masala. Their naan was warm and buttery and amazing, and I loved it and dipped it in my chicken tikka masala sauce, which I think is the best way to eat naan. I give them 4 plates for the food, but 5 plates for their service (they were just so very nice, they even tried to figure out a dish we had liked from another place and wrote it down for us so we can get it next time we are on Devon Avenue).

Slurping Turtle

Konnichiwa, everyone! Today we will be reviewing Hubbard Street's Slurping Turtle.

Ruben:
 I have been wanting to try this place basically since we started Chicago Food Boys. We went here for  Max's 13th birthday dinner, and let me say thank you to Max for picking this place. I walked into Slurping Turtle with high expectations and when I walked out my expectations had been delivered. Let me start off with the wonderful atmosphere and location of this place, right on Hubbard street in the north loop. What could be a better location for a ramen place than that? The decor of Slurping Turtle fits it very well, it was modern and it was just the right amount of fanciness of a ramen joint I would say. They had beautiful Japanese paintings on the wall and hanging lights above with long tables to seat a big party. Another thing that I really liked about the atmosphere of the restaurant is that you can see the kitchen, you get that aroma blasting through the restaurant and you can see that beautiful dish being formed right there in front of your eyes. Now let me talk about the food what you have all been waiting for. We decided on some appetizers. They were Fried Brussels sprouts, fried chicken fried in duck fat and a beautiful selection of steam buns. Let me start with the fried brussel sprouts. they were the best sprouts I have ever had! They were so flavorful. I don't know what kind of seasoning they use but let me say it tastes like heaven. The fried chicken fried in duck fat was also amazing. I love things fried in duck fat think about what are belgian fries fried in Duck fat anyway there was also a salad with the chicken that was great. Now what you have all been waiting for the Steam Buns the things that are so soft that you could sleep on them. I got the pork belly steam bun it was amazing anytime I have a steam bun  I just close my eyes and enjoy the moment of the soft bun filled with delicious pork and onion seriously Trader Joe's where are the frozen steam buns?.
okay enough about the appetizers now the Ramen! oh yeah I'm talking about the real stuff here not the thing the college students eat with chicken powder and noodles i'm talking real ramen with a spicy broth with amazing noodles pork shoulder bok choy and a asian meatball. I got the Tan Tan Spicy Ramen. The broth was great very spicy though it was literally red! That's how spicy it was, but it was very good well seasoned and so flavorful. The pork shoulder just melts in your mouth, the meatball was pretty good i thought it was just okay also it fell apart  and it got kinda all in the broth, the bok choy was bok choy but i liked how there were some greens in the ramen. I loved Slurping Turtle and I will be back soon. Keep it up Slurping Turtle and compliments to the Chef or Chef's and Happy Birthday Max! I give 4.5 plates.

Max:
So before I say anything, I should let you know that my birthday is actually in October. And we went here on my birthday, but we never had time to publish the review. So I'm glad I'm writing this right now. So! We have been wanting to review this place since we first started our blog. We had always imagined that it would be delicious, but it was in the middle of downtown so it was far away, and very expensive, but since it was my birthday we decided to go. The atmosphere was awesome, fancy, and cool. It feels like the perfect place to eat a bowl of Ramen in. We started off with some drinks. We all got Ramuné. It is a Japanese drink where there is this ball of glass that you push down into the drink to give the water below fizz. That was very good. Then, we got appetizers. We ordered Fried Brussel Spouts. They were Great! Some very tasty sprouts. Second, we got some Bao. (If you don't know what Bao is, they're kinda like dumplings). I have not had that much Bao in my life, but it's sooooo good! There were four different kinds of Bao on the menu. They had Roasted Chicken Bao, Pork Belly Bao, Shrimp Tempura Bao, and Vegetarian Bao. All of them were good but I liked the Shrimp Tempura Bao the most. After that, we got our food! I got the Tonkotsu Ramen. It has thin homemade ramen noodles, silky pork broth, pork chasu, bok choy, pickled mustard greens, braised woodear mushrooms, and chili oil. It was delicious!!! Especially the pork chasu, I ate all of that first. The broth of the Ramen was also delicious! It had quite a good aftertaste and flavor. The bok choy went great with the Ramen broth. I didn't love the braised woodear mushrooms, and I normally like mushrooms. I just didn't like them that much. But everything else was great. Also, before I end the review, I want to mention that my waitress overheard that it was my bithday so when we all finished our meals she gave me a free cream puff!! It was amazing! This place has GREAT service and food and atmosphere, so I give Slurping Turtle Ramen 5 plates.

Otto:
As already mentioned, we were here for Max's birthday because we have been wanting to try it for a long time. For appetizers, I kind of liked the Bao, but it was hard to eat around the condiments in it, which I did not really love. But the duck fat fried chicken was really really good. For my entree, I got the Red Miso Ramen, which comes with homemade ramen noodles, chicken, bok choy, scallions and sweet corn. I just ate around the bok choy, scallions and sweet corn to get the noodles, the chicken and the broth, but the part I ate was amazing. Mine also had an egg that had a little swirly red detail on it, and it was really good. I think the broth here was the best Ramen broth I have ever had. Actually, the thing I ended up liking best in the whole experience was actually the broth, but from what I understand that is actually the key to making a really good Ramen. The broth is pretty hard to make, and it was so interesting that all of the broths for our bowls were different. Our server was really really nice. I give it 5 plates.

Menu

Logo

Ramuné

Otto

Ruben

Ramuné! Cheers

The adults at the table got a wine called Otto's Constant Dream.

Fried Brussels Sprouts

Duck Fat Fried Chicken

Bao

Tonkotsu Ramen

Spicy Tan Tan Ramen

Red Miso Ramen

Surprise dessert, a vanilla cream puff.

We all shared it.

Max at 13!