Visiting from Netherlands Need Advice

Thank you for posting these pictures. I'll be in Chicago area in a couple of weeks and found this site by "googling" for places to eat in Chicago area. Any other places I should check out? Elephant Thai looks very interesting also. I also like seafood and recently been introduced to Sushi.

Kind regards,
Darly

I like Elephant Thai just fine but it's not very easy to get to by bus or subway, assuming you're staying downtown. If you want interesting Thai I'd consider TAC Quick, which is very easy to reach by the subway (CTA red line, just around the corner from the Sheridan stop).

I agree with Mike. Although I am a big fan of Elephant Thai, it's really out of the way unless you have a car and know your way around the Northwest Side. I would add Spoon Thai to Mike's recommendation of TAC. Spoon Thai is just off the brown line "L" stop at Western Avenue.

Darly wrote:I also like seafood and recently been introduced to Sushi.

Kind regards,
Darly

One of my favorite seafood places (somewhat French) is just off the Main St. El stop (purple line):

Oceanique
505 Main Street
Evanston, Illinois

Here's the Chicago Tribune's review.

If French isn't to your taste, there's an excellent sushi bar next door, Kuni's.

Darly wrote:... I also like seafood and recently been introduced to Sushi.

Kind regards,
Darly

Darly,

For an approach to seafood that you most likely can't find anywhere in the Netherlands, there is the Mexican seafood specialist, Islas Marias, a local Chicago mini-chain... Hmmm... 'chain' sounds bad and not appropriate for this place... A local restaurant with a few different branches around town... Check out the reviews of the newest branch in this thread:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3216

Can I get you to smuggle me in some extra young Goudse kaas, a bottle of Corenwijn and a pack of Van Nelle zware shag?

Antonius

Antonius wrote:For an approach to seafood that you most likely can't find anywhere in the Netherlands, there is the Mexican seafood specialist, Islas Marias, a local Chicago mini-chain... Hmmm... 'chain' sounds bad and not appropriate for this place... A local restaurant with a few different branches around town...

A similar place, non-chain, near the Clark St. location of Islas Marias is La Cazuela Mariscos, 6922 N. Clark St., Chicago. I've found the seafood there very good, and it's BYOB (BTW, I think Chicago might be one of the best cities for BYOB in the country.)

BYOB explained: Bring Your Own Bottle (of wine, beer or stronger) with little to no charges, which allows drinking in restaurants with no liquor license.

If the restaurant has its' own liquor license, then their preference is to order from their bar. Some will grant permission to bring a bottle and will charge corkage fees.

Mike G wrote:I like Elephant Thai just fine but it's not very easy to get to by bus or subway, assuming you're staying downtown. If you want interesting Thai I'd consider TAC Quick, which is very easy to reach by the subway (CTA red line, just around the corner from the Sheridan stop).

Thank you kindly Mike G. I won't be staying in downtown Chicago, more like in Rosemont which is not too far from downtown by train I hope. I made reservation for the hotel last night and picked the place closet to the airport. I guess I better learn to read the map of Chicago and not get lost?

Rosemont is just off the Blue Line, so you'll have easy access to much of the city.

nr706 wrote:One of my favorite seafood places (somewhat French) is just off the Main St. El stop (purple line):

Oceanique
505 Main Street
Evanston, Illinois

Here's the Chicago Tribune's review.

If French isn't to your taste, there's an excellent sushi bar next door, Kuni's.

I have never eaten at a French restaurant by myself before. I think it's best to dine with two? But I'm willing to try Kuni since I have never been to a sushi bar before.

Darly,.

We are real people behind the keyboards. If you needed company, I doubt you would have any problems finding some here. All you have to do is ask.

Regards,

Antonius wrote:For an approach to seafood that you most likely can't find anywhere in the Netherlands, there is the Mexican seafood specialist, Islas Marias, a local Chicago mini-chain... Hmmm... 'chain' sounds bad and not appropriate for this place... A local restaurant with a few different branches around town... Check out the reviews of the newest branch in this thread:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3216

Can I get you to smuggle me in some extra young Goudse kaas, a bottle of Corenwijn and a pack of Van Nelle zware shag?

Antonius

What is Mexican seafood specialist may I ask? That doesn't sound too good, LOL.

You like Dutch cheese? Last summer when I went through O'Hare, I saw quite a few people with big round Goudse Kaas. I have never eaten this particular cheese. Not wanting to sound like a snob, I have tried only French cheese and American cheese from Wisconsin. You should visit the cheese market when visiting the Netherlands.

Getting Goudse Kaas shouldn't be a problem. Is it legal to bring in Corenwijn and a pack of Van Nelle zware shag? If it is then no problem.

Darly,

I'm sure you'll get lots of great recommendations for your trip here. I'm going to throw in a somewhat general reference that may be of some help to you. If you go to this site...

http://centerstagechicago.com/virtual-el/

...you can get information on a number of restaurants, bars, and other attractions located near each stop of each of the El. If somebody suggests something interesting to you here, you can get an idea of what else might be around. It's not a perfect reference, but pretty good.

Happy travels,
Zee

nr706 wrote:A similar place, non-chain, near the Clark St. location of Islas Marias is La Cazuela Mariscos, 6922 N. Clark St., Chicago. I've found the seafood there very good, and it's BYOB (BTW, I think Chicago might be one of the best cities for BYOB in the country.)

Seafood with beer? That is new to me.

Cathy2 wrote:"BYOB explained: Bring Your Own Bottle (of wine, beer or stronger) with little to no charges, which allows drinking in restaurants with no liquor license.

If the restaurant has its' own liquor license, then their preference is to order from their bar. Some will grant permission to bring a bottle and will charge corkage fees.

Thanks Cathy2. I wonder how much they charge for corkage fees. Hopefully it's a standard fees and not base on the price of a bottle of wine for example.

Islas Marias is La Cazuela Mariscos on Clark does not yet have its' liquor license. So for now it is BYOB.

There is a liquor store within several store fronts where you can buy beer. Look at these pictures as a preview.

Regards,

Darly wrote:I wonder how much they charge for corkage fees. Hopefully it's a standard fees and not base on the price of a bottle of wine for example.

Most BYOBs here - like the ones mentioned - don't charge a corkage fee.

Cathy2 wrote:Darly,.

We are real people behind the keyboards. If you needed company, I doubt you would have any problems finding some here. All you have to do is ask.

Regards,

Cathy2, that is very kind of you to offer. When I found this forum this morning and browsed a few posts I noticed that most members know each other. You guys/gals even meet on a regular basis. Maybe we can have a meeting like at TAC Quick for example if you all are not fed up with the food there already. I'll do my best to be objective and maybe we'll have the first "slam" post about TAC Quick yet, lol.

Kind regards,
Darly

Good advice. For more info on linking Chicago geography with your dining destinations, try this link showing how to enage an overlaid map of the CTA on Google Maps when using Firefox:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3511

And of course this other stickied thread with the Chowmap:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=388

Zeeshan wrote:Darly,

I'm sure you'll get lots of great recommendations for your trip here. I'm going to throw in a somewhat general reference that may be of some help to you. If you go to this site...

http://centerstagechicago.com/virtual-el/

...you can get information on a number of restaurants, bars, and other attractions located near each stop of each of the El. If somebody suggests something interesting to you here, you can get an idea of what else might be around. It's not a perfect reference, but pretty good.

Happy travels,
Zee

Thank you so much Zeeshan and everyone for being so helpful. I don't feel so lost now and look foward to the adventure in Chicago.

Antonius wrote:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3216

Can I get you to smuggle me in some extra young Goudse kaas, a bottle of Corenwijn and a pack of Van Nelle zware shag?

Antonius

What is Mexican seafood specialist may I ask? That doesn't sound too good, LOL.

Darly:

Check out the the thread linked to in my post; there are lots of first hand descriptions of dishes and photos as well. Mexico has lots of coast and they have figured out lots of good things to do with seafood.

You like Dutch cheese? Last summer when I went through O'Hare, I saw quite a few people with big round Goudse Kaas. I have never eaten this particular cheese. Not wanting to sound like a snob, I have tried only French cheese and American cheese from Wisconsin. You should visit the cheese market when visiting the Netherlands.

Getting Goudse Kaas shouldn't be a problem. Is it legal to bring in Corenwijn and a pack of Van Nelle zware shag? If it is then no problem.

I've spent a lot of time in the Low Countries and mentioned specifically very young Goudse kaas because that is something which I've never come across here in the states. Even what is 'young' here is older and firmer than the really young, fresh stuff I could get from the kaasboer in Flanders and Holland. Aged Gouda, Leidse kaas, etc. etc., that can be got here in good condition from good stores.

Corenwijn is surely available somewhere in the states but I never see it here in Chicago; heck, when I was at Sam's last week, all they had were two brands of jenever, both in silly disigner bottles with the sort of prices one would expect for that.

The Van Nelle zware shag... well... I quit smoking some years back... but the Van Nelle zware shag... that's something I still sit back and daydream about...

goeie reis en welkomen..
Antonius