A Fancy Japanese Lunch

"Well that was an expensive lunch," Erik and I say every time we go to Slurping Turtle. This time though, we reevaluated the $18 bento box.  

It is the perfect amount of food, flavors, textures, and temperatures. The short ribs warrant gnawing to the bone and the sashimi was exactly what I wanted. Neal's Tan Tan Men Ramen was well balanced, meaty, and spicy, but too many noodles were taking up prime real estate in the bowl.(Don't worry they are now in my work fridge and will be a perfect evening snack.) 

As the most fun-looking building on the block Slurping Turtle begs you to come inside, even though the ultra-modern door makes you feel like an idiot. 

Another fun building- a remnant of old Hubbard street from the seedy 70s and 80s still resides across the street in case you need to pick up any adult novelties on your lunch break.  

Links: http://slurpingturtle.com/, Yelp

Rating, each category out of 5:
Taste              * * * *  
Value              * * * 
Atmosphere     * * * *
Service            * * * * *

Fish Tacos at Flaco's

Get the fish tacos. DO IT. 

They're dressed with a chipotle crema sauce and if I were you, I'd get extra on the side.  Between Erik, Benet and I, we've tried almost everything on the menu. 

Today we discovered they have pizzole. NOM. (It was almost too spicy for me. Almost.)  

HA! I just found Erik's Yelp review from our first time at Flaco's in '08. Here's a highlight: 

The chips did not disappoint and reminded me of the first Mexican 'restaurant' food I ever had as a kid. Sampled a nibble of the al Pastor and it was excellent. Will definitely be back to try the tamales and the picadillo made correctly (IMHO) with potato.


Links: http://flacostacosonline.com, Yelp

Rating, each category out of 5:
Taste              * * * *  
Value              * * * 
Atmosphere      * * * 
Service            * * * *

This is Pastrami Heaven

Erik and I have a system at Perry's Deli.  First, we show up before or after lemming hour (11:50-12:50). Next, we get two trays at the counter. Then I order.
     
"We'd like to split a Perry's Favorite with Pastrami, please...Yes, two sides of macaroni salad, please...Aw two pickles each? Thank you so much!"

 Note: half the meat previously fell to my plate.

Perry's Favorite usually comes with corned beef, but we love the slightly less salty, sweeter, smokier pastrami. I still smell like it as I type. Mmmmmmm. The Russian dressing and slaw soak through the rye pretty quickly so once you pick your sandwich up, have no illusions about setting it back down again. 

Links: http://www.perrysdeli.com/, Yelp

Rating, each category out of 5:
Taste              * * * * *  
Value              * * * * *
Atmosphere      * * * * *
Service            * * * * *

When You Need Some F'n Curry (CLOSED)

When you're craving Saag Paneer, any place that promises "Indian spices" will be entertained.  Aaaaaand that's how we ended up at Curried.  It may be on par with a microwave pouch from the Always Open, but wait, what am I sayin? I love those.   

"That was a long time to wait for your chicken biryani. But, now you know it's fresh."

Erik - "All this shit is off the back of a truck."

"Well, at least it's hot."

Links: http://www.curried.com/, Yelp

Rating, each category out of 5:
Taste              * * 1/2 
Value              * * *
Atmosphere      * (though you can catch up on Bollywood music videos on tv)
Service            * * * * *

This nan tasted like a flattened frozen dinner roll, but it's exactly what I wanted.

To the Dragon Ranch... for Carrots!

(CLOSED DUE TO FIRE, should re-open, but it's been months) Well, carrots and pork of course. Erik and I split an order the wonderfully smokey pulled pork steam buns, and it's a good thing we did. These portions are massive. The side of pickled daikon adds a tangy palate cleanser and the buns act as magic sponges for sopping up BBQ sauce. The brown sugar/bourbon/fish sauce carrots could have used more of the latter two ingredients, but were cooked to crunchy perfection. I'm going to ignore the terrible name and the hit-you-over-the-head "hip" decor and highly recommend this North Loop spot.

Next time we WILL get the cornbread.

Links: www.dragonranch.com(watch out it's bouncy), Yelp


Rating, each category out of 5:
Taste              * * * * *
Value              * * *
Atmosphere     * * *
Service            * * * *