This is an ever changing post (to match this ever changing world) where I, sizzlenuts, just write a few lines on some places at which I ate sans the Chittlins related fan fare. Figure it's a good way to keep a running tally.
Pho 777/Tank Noodle- I ate at both of these places awhile back, so don't remember the names of what I had, but I had a similar dish at both. Each had some collection of unidentifiable pork parts over some sort of rice product, all covered in fish sauce. This style of dish is pretty good, but would be better served as one of many dishes one was trying with a group than as the entire meal for someone eating alone, as they both were for me. (side note: I'm alone a lot. If you are a sexy lady reading this, please call)
Tank Noodle- Yeah, I just reviewed Tank noodle, but it was easier to group the two other dish reviews together because they were so similar. This other time I ate tank noodle I had the pho with a variety of meat parts. The broth was way too salty. The soft tendon however, was awesome, uniquely huge pieces, unlike any other tendon I've had (of course, it's possible this was something else, it didn't come labeled, regardless, it was bomb).
Pho 888- I had the analogous mixed cow part pho to the Tank version, but this one was much better. The broth was very interestingly flavored, you could really taste the nutmeg, which I just learned, all pho is supposed to have. Most places however, the salt really overpowers this flavor (see Tank Noodle). The nutmeg complimented the beef broth flavor exquisitely. All the meat in it was also quite good. The well done beef was fatty and tasty and succulent.
Ba Le Bakery- I've eaten here a number of times. I really enjoy the Ba Le special: a collection of various hams, including head cheese (a pers fave). The veggie avocado is much better than you'd expect, given the emphasis on meat in Banh Mi. However, unlike other banh mi places, they don't have the oily red pepper flake sauce at the table, which is really necessary for shredded pork skin sandwich.
What the food?- This place is the only legit asian place in Evanston as far as I can tell (but, I haven't explore much). Get the ja jang mien. It's this fermented black bean sauce noodle dish that has an interesting history of influence by both Chinese and Korean. Also, the owner is a nut. He's got about 4 teeth, but they look pretty sharp, so I think he's doing good. (Also, am I a racist because I think the number of teeth negatively correlates with food quality for Asian chefs, but positively for European?)
San Chae - Holy fuckshit am I glad I went to this place (accompanied by the lovely Chlodnik). The banchan was very nice. We got a soodubu soup. I don't think I've ever met a soondubu I didn't love, and this was no exception. We also ordered the stir-fried octopus with spicy sauce. This was very good, but it came with this sour beef broth soup that knocked my dick in the dirt (it also explained why a stir fried dish was listed in the soups part of the menu). The combination of the strong beef broth with some sort of sourness agent with some nice greens, just
wow.
The Dragon Lady Lounge - Every Thursday the dragon lady cooks up a buffet of vegan korean food. It's pretty good, a nice variety of veggie dishes, I'd recommend it, but mainly on the first Thursday of the month when it is 8 bucks, not 12 (Chlodnik fucking loves it, she doesn't see the 4 bucks as significant. I do, which may or may not be related to my being a Jew). Also, the dragon lady is quite nice and has created a terrible shooter called "the dragon slayer", two of which she gave us for free. Also it's a pretty hip scene, full of attractive youngsters, if you're into that sort of thing.
Sticky Rice- Chlodnik and I went back on a Thursday to avoid the Friday wait that prevented us from dining before (see the post about neighboring Spoon Thai). The meal was awesome. We split one of the appetizer specials, steamed oysters on the half shell, with this spicy lime garlic sauce. Awesome. I ordered from the Northern Thai part of the menu, as this seemed to be where the unique dishes lived. I got the noodle curry soup thing with the ground pork and cubed pork blood. The broth was a very spicy curry, but also had a very sour, I assume from lemongrass (unlisted), flavor. Naturally, I thought this was awesome. I would say though, eat the blood cubes just with your chopsticks. If you eat them with a spoonful of broth, their visceral yet subtle meat taste gets overpowered. I am going back to Sticky Rice very soon.
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