Sushi in Japan.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Roots

Roots
Milwaukee, WI

Even though I'd love to eat at a fancy expensive places a lot, I usually don't get the chance to. A couple months ago I got a chance to try out a place that I've never heard of before called Roots. Located on Hubbard street in Milwaukee, it was located in an area that I never really was around before. It was also one of the first place besides Bean and Barley that I've been to that was mostly for people who were vegan or vegetarians.



The area that Roots was located was spectacular. Overlooking some streets of Milwaukee and a huge garden, it gave off a very good feel to it, almost like you were at a winery, but with a big city right next door. The inside wasn't anything super special but had a good amount of tables, although they were quite small, and a huge bench thing against a wall with more tables set up against it. It also had a nice bar set up and the windows allowed for plenty of sunlight to get in. One of the nicest attributes to the place was the little patio they had outside that overlooked there garden. I must also add in that I ate on the lower part of the restaurant, while the upper part was either full or they weren't seating up there at that time, so I didn't get a good look at it. I could go on about how clean the place was and how great the building looked but I'm going to go into the food now.





Although the dinner menu wasn't huge, it did contain some very interesting options that I've never heard of before. The reason I didn't hear of a lot of them is because of their large amount of vegan foods that they offered there. Items such as sesame mock duck and Grilled Seitan were brand new to me but if you are a vegan they probably aren't. The prices were more than I could usually spend on my own, which is why I was with my family here. With salads and starters beginning around $6-$9 and going to as high as $18, there was a wide variety of items to choose from such as crab cakes ($14), Shrimp Taco salad ($10-Small, $20-Large), a cheese plate ($18), a mussel and clam hot pot ($10) or just a normal house salad ($6). When you got the entrees though that's when the prices went up a bit. If you come here, look to spend no less than $20 on an entree. With items truffle seared tenderloin ($36), Sauteed King Salmon ($30), Grilled Seitan Cutlets ($22) and Sesa
me Mock Duck ($20), you will be spending a good amount on a meal. The one thing that stuck out on the menu for me that I had to try was the soy grilled tilapia.


Upon getting my meal I thought to myself, this is far to small for a big guy like me. While it looked appetizing, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. Upon my first bite I fell in love. At $27 I would of ordered a couple of these and not cared about the cost. The tilapia was very fresh and had a nice soy sauce on it that gave it little saltiness to it. Around it was a coconut curry sauce that was by far one of the better things I've tasted. It was more sweet than I was expecting it to be with none of the spice that I was expecting. The sweetness of the coconut sauce and the soy sauce went great with the fish. Almost better than the fish itself was the cashew sticky rice that was placed underneath it. It was also a little sweet and was probably one of the best rice dishes I've ever had. I liked how it was put together in a square and was a bit hard around it but soft on the inside, it was a new experience of eating rice for me. It also went great with the coconut curry just like the fish did. The whole meal was filled with a lot of different flavors that all went together incredibly well and made this a great meal. Although I was afraid of how small it looked it surprisingly filled me up, so I was incredibly satisfied with what I ordered.

If you have a good amount of cash in your wallet or want to impress a vegan lady (or man) in your life this is a place to check out. I tried a lot of other peoples food that day and none of it was a disappointment, even though weird vegan meat that I tried. If you plan on coming here, remember that you will probably be spending more than $50 for 2 people. They are also supposed to have an amazing wine selection if that's your thing. I don't drink so I'm not quite sure about it but I think they have the Roots Cellular area for a reason, so check that out if you are interested. Overall I really enjoyed this place. The waiter was patient of our requests the place was clean and the food was delicious. Check this place out! Even if it doesn't suit you, they do have burgers so maybe even give that a shot!


Friday, September 9, 2011

Barnacle Bud's

Barnacle Bud's
Milwaukee, WI

I really wish I would of done this review sooner but I've been quite busy lately, but for those of you who can still find a nice day to do some outdoor dining, this is the place for you. Barnacle Bud's is a place that I think gets it's name around from word of mouth because before I came here, I've never heard of it before or saw anything about it. The even more interesting about it is that driving there makes you feel like your going to a back alley drug deal. Getting there involves driving down a street that is surrounded by what looks like warehouses and an area that you wouldn't think would even hold a place to eat. After driving some distance through this abandoned looking area, you finally come to a sign that says Barnacle Bud's. This place is actually pretty difficult to find, but I would say worth the search.

When you enter, you are taken to an area that looks like a large dock covered with tables, which makes sense since people with boats can drive up right to the place and dock for something to eat. I don't know if it's as busy now since Summer is almost over but when I went, this place was packed. There were a lot of tables to sit at but almost no room to move around. If you do happen to get a seat outside, you get a nice view of the river and all of the boats that go by, which makes for a really perfect summer view. The environment is a fun one and the people who work here are quite friendly also. While I liked what I saw around me, the food is what is really important here.

The menu had a great selection of different seafood's, such as a poboy, oysters and different seafood baskets. They also had 2 different kinds of burgers along with a pork and chicken sandwich and a few other choices. They even have different special's for all the different days of the week. What I was most surprised about were the prices. For being a place in Milwaukee it's usually tough to find something for less than $10 but at Bud's, I don't think there was one thing that was more than $10 (except a few of the specials.) I was with my family so they decided to get an appetizer which happened to be the Barnacle Bud Wings.

While I usually wouldn't order wings at a seafood place, I would have to say that I must change that policy after trying these. While not the best wings I've ever had, they were up there for sure. They only had 1 flavor of wings but that is perfectly fine in this case. They weren't very spicy but had a little bite to them, which makes sense because I believe that they used jerk sauce for the wings. They also had a sweetness to them and the jerk flavoring is always something that never fails to taste good. The amount of meat on them wasn't anything spectacular, but it gave you enough food to hold you over for your next meal. For being $8.95 and getting 10-12 wings its a little pricey but what you'd find at most places I guess, but these are worth checking out if you have the chance. For the main course though, since it was a Friday, there was only 1 thing that I could get.


Nothing is usually better than a good Wisconsin Friday Fish fry, and Bud's was great because you didn't just have to order cod like at most places. You got the choice of 4 different types of fish! There are not many places I've been to where you can do that. The choices for the fish included cod, cat fish, smelt and grouper and being that cat fish is one of my favorites, it was an easy choice. As for the price, it was pretty normal for what you'd find at most places for a fish fry, $9.95 and it also included bread, fries and coleslaw. One thing that made it a little different though is that it also included clam chowder. As you can see in the picture, you get 2 pieces of cat fish, which are a pretty decent size and a good amount of fries. While the cat fish tasted alright I have to say that I was still a little disappointed. I just think that there wasn't enough flavor in the fish, you could tell that they put some seasoning and such into the batter and everything but it ended up being more of a bland seasoned bready flavor than fish flavor. There were moments when the cat fish came through quite nicely but it was drowned out by the batter. I tried the grouper I believe and that was quite tasty and had more fish than breading so you could taste the fish a lot more. The same thing went with the cod, which was also very good. Lastly, while clam chowder is one of my favorite soups, I don't really know what they did with there's here. While most clam chowders are nice and creamy, they replaced this creamy with a thick potato soup that had small bits of clam in it. While I've had other clam chowders like this, I think this one was the thickest but if you don't let that bother you, it was still really good. Overall the meal was decent but I was a little saddened by the flavor of my cat fish but all the other fish I tried was delicious.

I have to say that this place is worth going to just because it's a perfect example of a summer restaurant. Watching the boats and the river on a sunny day just gives off a perfect summer atmosphere. If you are one for fried seafood or your basic sandwiches for a good price, this is the place for you. Be it a grouper Reuben ($9.95,) a brat ($6.95,) a 10 oz Big Bud Burger ($8.95) or some Kinnickinnic Chicken ($7.95) there's something for everyone to try for a good price. This is for sure a place to check out if your looking for a fish fry or just a good place to sit outside and eat on a nice day.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

John's Root Beer


John's Root Beer
(Waukesha, WI)



One place that I've heard about the past couple years is a little place in Waukesha called John's root beer, which is supposed to have the greatest root beer in the world. For a little birthday celebration a week ago I decided that I would finally check it out and see what this place is all about.


When I first saw what the place looked like I already knew it would be worth the trip. What you get at John's is that awesome drive up restaurant that you don't get to see very often. Sure you can go to Sonic or something but they don't give that nice retro feel and that's what I enjoyed about John's. With it's florescent orange building to it's florescent orange garbage can and even tables it just gave off a very fun and old school vibe to it. Since you can't go inside the place, all the eating can take place inside your car or one of the many picnic tables that are on the side or in back of the building. As for the menu it has what you'd expect from a little place like this.


John's had all the fried food favorites and American classics that almost anyone can enjoy. With different variety's of hot dogs, a chicken sandwich, bratwurst, ice cream, french fries,mozzarella sticks, and of course root beer. As you can see there are a lot of different items to choose from and you are bound to find something you enjoy. I decided to try one of my favorite kind of sandwiches which is the pulled pork.


A pulled pork sandwich isn't a difficult sandwich to ruin, it had few ingredients and if you put them together right and have a good bun, then your good to go. For the price $3.57 I wasn't expecting a great amazing professional grade pulled pork sandwich and I didn't get that. What I did get though was just a good straight forward pulled pork sandwich. With a slightly sweet bbq and decent tasting pork you couldn't really go wro
ng for the price. They put a good amount of meat on it but not a lot to make it super messy. The sandwich isn't a big one, I think a finished it in a few bites but that doesn't bring the quality down at all. Overall the taste wasn't anything amazing and it didn't have a strong flavor but I still enjoyed it and would probably get it again.


While choosing my sandwich wasn't a difficult decision, choosing the size of my root beer was. With sizes starting at small for .71 and going to a large for $1.67. I ended up going with the large because it felt like the right thing to do. After hearing so much about this root beer, I was really excited to see what the hype was all about and I must say that it does deserve all of it's hype. While I can't say it's the best root beer I can say that is one of the more different ones that I've tried. While a lot of root beers are heavily carbonated, John's root beer is more flat and doesn't have much carbonation to it at all. It also has a nice real sugar taste to it (I'm not sure if it uses real sugar, but it sure tastes like it) which makes it a little sweeter than other root beers. It also seems a bit thicker than a normal root beer. Overall, I loved it and even though I was a little sad I wasn't offered a chilled mug with mine, I still thought it was a great root beer, and trust me I've drank a lot of root
beer.


If your looking for a fun and cheap place to eat, John's is a place you should check out. With sandwiches starting at $2.14 and not getting anymore expensive than $4.84, it is a good cheap date place. If you are a big root beer fan like I am I would also say to check it out. If you like their root beer you are able to buy some to take home in a quart ($2.14,) a half gallon ($3.33) or a gallon ($5.23.) You can also get huge frosted mugs full of root beer that I believe are about a quart or so. If you like old school drive in's and good simple American and fried food, John's is a great place to check out. If you read people's comments about this place and all the memories they've made here you can tell that there's a reason that it's been open since 1937. If you are in the Waukesha area do yourself a favor and stop by, you won't be disappointed.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Black Rose

The Black Rose
(Milwaukee, WI)



The only Irish pub's I've ever stopped into in Milwaukee are Trinity and The Harp and my experiences at those have mostly been surrounded by drunken people and drinking Sprite, so when I had some coupons to actually get some food at a Milwaukee Irish Pub I took my chance. The Black Rose has a great location, being located right on Oakland next to Solo pizza, the Miramar Theater and right across the street from Oakland gyros, it's a very easy to find spot. It is also attached to Solo pizza, which I wrote a review about before.


I think the atmosphere of the place was one of the better ones I've had in a bar. It was very super clean and wasn't packed, but it was an afternoon. It had lot's of sunlight coming in through the large front windows and they had plenty of big booths to sit in that were kind of similar to the ones at trinity but not as decorated. The bar was also very nicely set up with some packer decorations and a good amount of alcohol against the wall. If you get bored there they also do have a deer hunting arcade game! The bartender we had was also super friendly and made the experience there even better. Now that the atmosphere of the place is done with, let's go to the food.

While being a bar, an Irish place and a pizza place, there is a lot to offer on the menu from each of these of these categories. In the bar food category the menu offered burgers, starting at $6.95 for a plain cheeseburger and to $9.95 for the ultimate cheeseburger, and also nachos for $8.95, chicken tenders for $6.95, and Fish and Chips for $11.95. For the Irish options you got to choose from stuff like Shepherds pie for $10.95, Irish Stew for $11.95, and many peoples favorite the reuben for $8.95. As for the pizza it's the pizza from Solo, so if you wanna know pricing just read my last review for it. So even though the menu wasn't huge, it offered a lot of different things. As for what I ordered, I usually don't get burgers but I had a coupon for one so I went with it.


My coupon was that for $6.95 I could get any burger, fries, and a drink so I decided to try the most expensive burger, the Ultimate Cheeseburger. The burger was Angus beef topped with Cheddar, Jack, Swiss, and American cheese with some bacon and scallions also included. If you wanted you could get sauteed mushrooms, but those aren't for me. It also came with some bbq dipping sauce, which I actually didn't notice and I wish I would of. One of the most interesting things about this burger that made it different from most places is that it was on normal sourdough toast, no bun here, which was one thing I enjoyed about it, even though I couldn't really tell that it was sour dough. The burger itself was well made and very flavorful, thick, and juicy. I haven't had a burger in a long time so I'm not sure what qualifies as a great burger but I think this qualifies for one. All the cheeses were packed on nicely, and as a cheese lover, I couldn't of asked for more. As always though, bacon always goes well with anything and it went perfectly well with this burger. The fries that you got were your average fries, nothing special but still tasted good. The burger was a bit sloppy an wasn't presented amazingly but I won't knock it down for that because it still tasted good.

If your ever in the mood for a drink or a bite to eat I would for sure check this place out. With items starting out about $7.95 for appetizers and meals going up to about $14.95, for the Chicken Broccoli Alfredo, the prices are about what you'd find all around Milwaukee. With a unique menu featuring mac and cheese to reuben rolls, there is a good amount to choose from. Also with the friendly and clean atmosphere, it is a place to check out during an afternoon and probably even during the night. So if your on the Eastside and not near the bars on Water, check this place out, you may even like it more than Trinity.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Summerfest Round 3:

Pitch's/Miss Katie's Diner

This is one of the few places on the Summerfest grounds that I've never heard of before, and the fact that they had something called a fried Frito Pie makes me kind of upset that I never have. Located near the
Chipotle and JoJos Martini Bar, it's pretty easy to find if you are heading over to the Marcus or the Classic Rock Stage.

While I have been taking a picture of the menu at
these places, I have failed and didn't at this place, but from what I can remember there were ribs and a few other classic diner foods. The ribs were quite expensive, if I'm remembering correctly, but those didn't interest me as much as the fried Frito pie. The fried Frito pie is basically deep fried chili with Frito chips around it. They give you 4 decent sized little pies along with some salsa and some sour cream for $5.


I'm not going to lie to you and say that these things look appetizing, they actually looked like really weird chicken nuggets. I really didn't know what to expect or what these things really were. I was super surprised when I finally took a bite and found out that they were pretty delicious. The chili inside wasn't a spicy chili, it was more of a sweet chili with lots of beans in it. The Frito crust went quite nicely with it and added a little crunch to the soft center. Even though I didn't try the salsa that came with, they went really well with the sour cream. There's not much else to explain about it. If you like chili, and you don't mind having a nice crunchy layer around it then you'll probably enjoy this. I loved the beans and I loved the crust, and even though it wasn't very filling, I didn't feel to bad parting with $5 to try these things out.


If your super hungry, this may not be the thing to get because you do only get 4 of them but if you want a little snack, I'd say go for it. This is one of the more unique things you'll find at the fest and a surprisingly good one.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Summerfest Food Round 2:

Trinity
(Briggs and Stratton
Stage)



My goal this time around at Summerfest was t
o find something that could top the amazingness that was my tamales the last time I was there. I looked far and wide and found something that sounded good enough that it just might be the one. When I think of Trinity, I think of a bunch of drunk people standing around in a crowded bar, because that's all I've experience there, but I guess they actually have food also! One of their items that I found interested enough to try was the Irish Nachos.


Homemade potato chips are always a good choice in most dining situations, and having them covered in cheese and corned beef sounded like heaven to me. While for $6.50 the portion wasn't as big as I'd liked it to be but it's Summerfest and that's what happens. The potato chips were probably the best part of the nachos. They were salty and crunchy and overall everything you want in a potato chip. As for the toppings, I can't say that they were amazing. The cheese sauce was your average cheese sauce, plain and only slightly cheesy. One of the most important parts, the corned beef, wasn't as good I thought it would be. While it had a nice salty meaty flavor, it wasn't a strong one. They did put a good amount of the corned beef on it, which I enjoyed, but it was not the best that I've had. One last problem with it was that there was just a little to much cilantro on the nachos and they kind of got in the way of the other flavors. It also came with a thing of thousand island dressing but that's not something I enjoy, so I left it out.



While it may seem like I hated these, I really didn't dislike them at all, it just didn't meet my expectations. The potato chips were great, and it was a nice, but expensive, little snack for me. If you like homemade potato chips I'd give this a try, but it shouldn't be high up on your priority list. Most of the other things on the menu were also $6.50, while some were $5. You can also see from the menu I posted above what other items you can get here, things such as shepherds pie and the popular Reuben roles, which from my experience are quite tasty. So if your hungry at the fest, this is a place to check out if your looking to get a little more interesting in food selection.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Summerfest Food:



Botanas
(Ethnic Village, Summerfest Grounds)


Everyone knows that the big part of Summerfest is the music but
one of the other big aspects of it is trying foods from all over the Milwaukee area. One of the not so fun things about this is that they charge you way over the price they would just going to the restaurant, and in smaller portions. Besides this though, trying different foods is a great thing to do while your at Summerfest, so maybe while your out there, try something other than the Mozzarella sticks at Saz's. Located across from the US Cellular stage is where you will find the Ethnic Village and that is where Botana's is located.



They had your usual's such as burritos and tacos but they also had my favorite Mexican dish on there which is a pork tamale. You could either get 1 tamale for $2.50, or 3 tamales with rice and beans for $7, so I decided to get the $7 deal. I must tell you, this was the most food I ever received for the price at the fest. The tamales were pretty big and the portions of rice and beans were pretty average. As for the taste they were pretty good for things being made in the back of a small building. They didn't have the fullest flavor of many of the tamales that I've had and the lack of pork was a little saddening. I would also say the pork was a little blah with the flavor but even with these negatives, they were still delicious. I couldn't stop eating them even though they were quite filling and I was full after my 2nd one. I can say that this is the first time that I've been truly full after eating 1 thing at Summerfest because usually they give you so little that you have to go out and buy more food. The rice was also really delicious, even though it was pretty basic it still hit the spot, while the beans were about the same.


If you like Mexican food and wanna get full for probably the cheapest you can at Summefest, this is a place to go. While not the greatest Tamales I've ever had, they were still delicious and did a good job with something that they probably have to make thousands of in a day. If your down there at all the next 9 days, go check this place out.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Solo Pizza

Solo Pizza
(Milwaukee, WI
)

If you know me at all, you know that pizza isn't one of my favorite things in the world unless you add something a little different to it. This is why my only pizza destination is usually Ian's but hey I'm always up for something new. If you've never been to Solo, it is pretty
easy to find, located right across from Oakland Gyros and between Goodwill and the Miramar Theater located on Oakland Ave. While my first experience there wasn't the best, which I will get to later, lets begin!



When entering the place you can tell that they really went
with a color pattern and stuck with it. I guess it represents the fire used to cook their pizza because their logo is a flame and the whole place is covered with orange and red, which I guess is a pretty creative idea. It's also not the biggest place in the world but it has a good amount of seating, with tables and booths, and also large windows that look out onto Oakland. It is also attached to an Irish bar called the Black Rose if that is more of an interest to you but I didn't get to check that out at all. Even though I liked the atmosphere, did I enjoy the food?

While looking through the menu you see your normal pizza place staples along with some Italian favorites such as ravioli and chicken Alfredo but at the top is their main focus, the pizza. Having three different sizes to choose from you have your personal pizza, which is called a Solo for $4.95, a Mezzo which is $7.95, and Doppio which is $12.95. You can also get a lot of different t
oppings added to your pizza such as pineapple, pesto, goat cheese, Gouda, Prosciutto, peppers, and a bunch of other stuff. They also have a pizza of the week, which just so happened to be chicken bacon ranch, and that is something you can't pass up. We asked the waitress if the Solo price for $4.95 worked for the special pizza and she said yes so we went for it and let me tell you, it was amazing.

The first thing I must bring up is the crust, it was perfect! It was crunchy and thin, but not super thin, and had a nice freshly cooked flavor to it. The toppings themselves were great also. Having a ranch based sauce on a pizza is new to me and I must say that it worked very well. It wasn't a super strong ranch flavor but it added so much to the pizza. The amount of cheese put on was also gre
at. I'm a huge cheese fan and they put on enough to satisfy me and the bacon mixed into the melted cheese made it even more delicious. I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes though, and they piled them on like crazy, but the pizza was so good that they tasted perfectly fine with it. They did add a little to much of the green stuff, I forgot exactly what it was, but it had a little bit of an overpowering flavor over the other toppings but didn't impact my decision over how good the pizza was. Overall, besides Ian's, this was one of the better pizzas I've ever had in my life. For a personal pizza, it was huge and left me full and satisfied, that is until I got my bill.

Sadly, the $4.95 price tag was to good to be true and when I got the bill it ended up being $9.50, a little more than I wanted to spend. We clearly asked the waitress if this pizza was $4.95 and she told us it was. What we didn't know is that they charge you $.50 for extra toppings they put on the Solo pizzas. Which I guess is better than the $.75 they charge for the Mezzo and the $1.50 they charge for the Doppio. I was very upset that this wasn't mentioned when we asked the waitress, which kind of upset me but didn't take away that I still got a good pizza, just a little more expensive than I wanted. I will say that it was a large amount of food for under $10, and that's sometimes hard to come by in Milwaukee. If you do plan on going here, plan on spending a little over $10 for anything else, except the sandwiches starting off at $8.95, and most of their pasta starting off at $10.95.
Even though I'm still a little upset about the price situation, I would recommend checking this place out because it really was one of the better pizzas I've ever had.



Saturday, June 25, 2011

Hi Hat Lounge


Hi Hat Lounge
(Milwaukee, WI)

Located on Brady and Arlington is a place that I often wondered about but never actually stopped to check it out. Yesterday I got my chance, and I must say it went quite well. The Hi Hat Lounge is one of the many little "hipster" kind of places to eat/drink on Brady St. Walking inside, it was nothing like I expected it to be. From the old brick walls of the outside, I didn't expect the inside to be this huge almost fancy looking place. Everything was super clean and had kind of an old fashioned look to it, which I guess is why they call it the Lounge. When you enter the building, you are taken to the top floor, which is mostly a small eating area. While your up there you can view the downstairs over the railings, which gives you a perfect look at the bar that they have. Another interesting thing that I found about this place is that they have a hall upstairs that leads to a place called the Garage. Which has the same menu and everything as the side I was on, but gives up a more loud bar feel, with louder music and not as much of a old school fancy look to it as the other side. If you end up sitting in the lounge, you will get a nice little view of Brady St, and the outside dining there, which is always a nice little way to people watch. While the look of the place interested me, the food is the important part.

The menu at Hi Hat was very bizarre to me and I had to have it explained to me but in reality, it's not that difficult to understand. Basically you get to choose from 2 different kinds of sandwiches, either a burger or chicken. If you just want the plain burger or chicken, it's $9 and extras such as cheese can be added for another $1. If just a plain sandwich doesn't interest you,
there are different options to choose from at the bottom the menu that can be added to your sandwich. They give you options such as The Knot, The Wisconsin, The Cowboy, The California, and the Rockefeller. Each of these has it's own little thing going on, such as the Wisconsin having apple, chedder and bacon, while the Knot has mayo, brie, apples and bacon. So you choose your meat, then choose which one of these you would like, or don't. Each of these is served with fries or a noodle salad. It was a tough choice for me but I wasn't upset with my choice.


I'm not a burger fan so I chose the chicken right way, the real debate came between the Knot and the California. In the end though, I chose the California which was a grilled chicken breast topped with avocado, a crab cake, bacon, and pesto for the price of $11.75. While I found the price to be a little much, when I took my first bite I know that it was worth it. The first bite was a little intense, there was so much flavor going on that I didn't really know what I was eating and I had to take a second bite to figure it out. As weird as the combination of these things sound, it was delicious! The crab cake was very soft and mushy, which was weird, but it had a good amount of crab meat in it and had a really great flavor to it. The bacon was done perfectly and added a nice crunch and saltyness to the sandwich, while the chicken was grilled to perfection. The avocado didn't really add much to it, but added a little texture while the pesto wasn't that noticeable, but when it was it added a nice little garlic, oily taste to everything. Af
ter I took my first bite, I couldn't put it down and I was finished within a few minutes. I must also mention that I went with the noodles instead of the fries, which were good and tasted like a basic noodle salad. The fries the I did try were also really good with a nice crunch to them and your normal french fry flavor. These two didn't really matter though because the sandwich really took the cake in this meal.

While my original concern of this place was the price, with everything basically starting at $9 and going up to about $12 for just a sandwich. It was really well worth it and I'd gladly pay the price again to get another one. If none of the things I mentioned really interested you, they have a few other things such appetizers that include chicken wings, fries, crab cakes, and cheese stuffed mushrooms, which range from $6 to $9. They also have a Friday Fish Fry which has your normal fried cod, or you can choose 3 fish tacos, which I found interesting, for around $10. The Hi Hat is also known for their Brunch, which is served on the weekend and has your normal breakfast items such as omelets, french toast and sandwiches. If food doesn't interest you, there are also the 2 bars I mentioned before, and it seems like they also have Djs that come in on Fridays. While the only negative thing I'll say is that the service was a little slow, but very nice, I would say that this is a place that is worth taking the time to check out if you are ever hungry out on Brady st.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Miller Park

Miller Park: Triple Play Sliders
(Milwaukee, WI)

Normally I wouldn't consider a ball park a normal food place, but lately ball parks have been getting quite creative with their food options. While this won't be a long review, I must talk about something I ate yesterday at the Brewer game.

While eating a hot dog, a brat and some peanuts are always classic normal ways to go when going to a baseball game, I can tell you one thing that isn't normal, and that's a pulled pork parfait. Now you maybe saying to yourself, what is that? Well it's exactly what it sounds like. I
t's a parfait class with mashed potatoes on the bottom, then some pulled pork over that, then more mashed potatoes, then more pulled pork, then more mashed potatoes topped with some bbq sauce and chives.


Being as this item is very strange, I just had to try it at the game I went to. With a price tag of $7, it's not the cheapest, but don't except a good price for anything at a ball park. First I'll hit you with the positives starting with the bbq sauce on top. The sauce was delicious, it had
a nice spice to it that wasn't strong enough to knock me off my feet and had a really nice flavor to it. The mashed potatoes were also really good, they were nice and fluffy and tasted almost homemade. There might have been a little seasoning in the potatoes, but I'm not quite sure. The meat was also well cooked and was your average pulled pork. Now that the positives are done with, let's get to the negatives.

Starting off, they barely put any meat into this thing. I watched the lady pick small pieces of meat and slowly put them in. She took a few big pieces, but nothing really spectacular. I was really disappointed by how little the amount of meat you get is, you couldn't even cover a piece of bread with the amount that they give you. While the flavor of the potatoes and the bbq sauce are qu
ite good, the pulled pork leaves you a little less satisfied. I've had many pulled pork sandwiches in my life and it's usually an easy thing to make delicious. While the meat was fine, and the flavor was ok, it wasn't enough. There wasn't a strong flavor at all and I could barely tell if there was even sauce on the pork. It was such a little flavor for something that usually has a lot of flavor to it. It wasn't bad tasting or anything, don't get me wrong, it just didn't have the flavor that was I was expecting. This was the real downfall of the parfait. It could of also used a bit more bbq sauce on the top, because there wasn't a lot, and it was delicious so I wanted more.

If you are ever at Miller Park and want to try something different than your usual brat, then this maybe something to check out. If you are interested when you

are there, you can find them at the little Triple Play Sliders stands located in sections 127, 214, and 417. For $7, it maybe a hit or miss for you but I think it is something worth checking out, and doesn't taste as bad as it looks and sounds.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Molly Cool's Seafood Tavern

Molly Cool's Seafood Tavern
(Milwaukee, WI)



Over the past few years seafood has become one of my favorite things to go out to eat for. Although I haven't been out to very many seafood places in Milwaukee, Molly Cool's was one of the first ones I tried. Located on North Old 3rd Street, near places such as Lucilles, Maders, and Turner Hall, it's a great place to stop by before a concert or an event at the Bradley Center. It is also located right on the river, so if you are lucky you may get a seat with a good view of the boats and the water. One thing I really like about this place is that there is plenty of seating. When I went, the place was packed and we still got a seat very quickly. It's also nice because it has very nice fancy atmosphere, but doesn't come off as a fancy dress up restaurant. Enough with all that though, lets get to the food.

I went out for lunch yesterday so I only really got to view that menu but from what I saw no one should be disappointed by the selection. This place offers one of the biggest seafood menu's I've ever seen with ton's of great options. With clam chowder, 1 1/4 live lobsters, crab legs, po boys, to seafood pastas, there is plenty to choose from. They also have their fair share of specials to choose from, such as $19.95 lobsters on Sundays and from 3-6 pm every Friday they have a "oyster orgy," where you can get $.69 oysters. If you're not a fan of oysters like me, they also offer $3.99 shrimp and $1 tacos. Like a lot of other seafood places, you will pay a little bit more for a meal. At Molly's the wraps are usually the cheapest, starting around $9.50, but as you go on to the other stuff you won't find much under $11.95. If you're looking to try some of the signature meals or pastas, be looking to spend more than $16.95. Which actually a pretty tame and average price for seafood. I was lucky the day that I went in they were having a special Milwaukee Dining week where I got to indulge in a $10 3 course meal.

There were a few options that could be chosen from the 3 course menu, and for my appetizer I chose the crab cake. Crab cakes are one of those items that are really hit or miss, some people can do them to perfection and some don't know what they are doing. In this case it was a mixture of both. Like a lot of places that sell crab cakes, they really jip you on the amount of crab in the cake and pile in the breading, thinking maybe it will cover up the lack of crab. At Molly's, had a decent amount of crab in it but not enough to overpower the taste of the breading. It had a good flavor to it, don't get me wrong, and the parts where there was crab were delicious. I won't really hold it against them though because the only time I've ever had a crab cake with a good amount of crab in it was a homemade one, and maybe 1 other place. The other thing that was kind of a turn off was that it felt a little to deep fried. Usually crab cakes are nice and soft as you cut them with your fork. This one was kind of crunchy on the outside, but had the soft inside that I'm used to. Besides these 2 little things, it was a tasty item and the coleslaw that came with it was quite delicious, and I don't even like coleslaw. If you're one for a dipping sauce, the crab cake with a thousand island like dressing, which I'm not a huge fan of. Since the eating of the crab cake was over quickly, I waited for the next part of my meal.



Originally I wanted the crab wrap as my entree, but I found out that it had olives in it and you couldn't get substitutions, so I decided on the walleye fish fry instead. When I got my basket, I wasn't really surprised by what I got. It looked like fish and french fries in a basket, which is basic for a fish fry. I tried the fries first, which were actually really good. They were soft, and not to salty. It's tough to win me over on fries since I'm not the biggest fan, but these were worth eating. As for the walleye, there is not much I can say. Do you like fried fish? Have you had a cod fish fry before? Or any kind of fish fry? That's what you got here. The walleye was in a kind of long stick form and tasted like fried fish. The breading didn't have any overwhelming flavor to it so it was nice to get a good taste of the fish over the breading, which some places have an issue with. It's tough to go into detail on the walleye because it wasn't anything breathtaking, just a bit of an above average fish fry. I couldn't tell the difference between the walleye or your average cod fry, but hey I like fish fries and it did it's job to fill me up. One of the reasons I wanted the crab wrap originally is that it came with a bowl of crab bisque, which I really wanted to try. Since the walleye basket didn't come with it, I just decided to order a bowl.

One of the best parts of my meal was the crab bisque. I have never had a better seafood soup in my life. Some people might be a little turned off by the little more intense seafood flavor and the thickness of the, but I couldn't of asked for anything better. Every bite had loads of crab meat in it and at some points I even got big chunks of meat, which I was impressed with. The slightly tomato like flavor of the soup added nicely to the to it also. My father said that it was a little to salty for his taste, but I didn't really notice because I thought whatever they added to give the soup it's flavor was perfect. For $5.95, you get a good sized bowl for an amazing soup. If you are a fan of crab and soup, come here just to get this. It was for sure the highlight of my meal.

Lastly, I must mention the dessert, because that's usually the best part of the meal. For the 3rd course you got to choose from key lime pie, cheesecake, or a chocolate mousse. I ended up going for the cheesecake, since it's one of my favorites, while my dad got the key lime pie. Even though the cheesecake was a small portion, I still got the full flavor of it. It was sweet, creamy, thick, and overall delicious. It was one of the better cheesecakes I've had. It tasted how you imagine cheesecake tasting and the texture was perfect and soft. While my cheesecake was good, the bite of my Dad's key lime pie was on a whole other level. I've never really had key lime pie before so I decided to try a little and I'm glad I did. Like the cheesecake, it had a nice creamy texture and the flavor was super intense, but in a good way. It was tart, sweet, and one of the better thing's I've ever tasted in my life. Our waiter said that people will order a piece, go for a walk, and then come back and order another. While I think some waiters make up stories to make their products seem better, I would have to believe his story upon trying this pie.

If you like seafood and looking for a place to try in Milwaukee, stop by Molly's. There selection is top notch, if your looking for sashimi, lobster, crab, burgers, oysters, a fish fry, they have it all. I've had some of their other items here in the past and wasn't let down. You maybe paying a bit more but you are getting a good quality meal out of it. If you are interested in checking out what they have to offer, all of their specials and menus are on their website, so you can check out what they have for dinner, or lunch. So if you're ever out for a concert at Turner Hall or a Bucks game at the Bradley Center and you're feeling a bit hungry, check this place out, I don't think you'll be disappointed.


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Hooligans

Hooligans
(Milwaukee, WI)


If you've been on the East Side of Milwaukee, I'm sure you've been to all the bars that it has to offer. One bar that I don't hear about a lot of people going to on a busy Friday night is Hooligans. While I'm not much a bar goer, I've been here a good amount of times with my Dad because it's one that he enjoys, so I've tagged along a few times. When you walk in, it's a old style bar that doesn't have a huge first floor but had a large bar and a good amount of seats to dine in. It also has a second floor but I have never been up there before. One thing that I like about Hooligans more than most bar restaurants is the menu. It has so much more for someone to choose from than just your normal burgers and chicken sandwiches. They offer mac and cheese, cat fish, Quesadillas, wraps, catfish and all sorts of different foods. Today my Dad called me randomly and wanted to go out for lunch and we decided to go to Hooligans because they have a nice outdoor seating area which is really nice on a hot day.

I usually just get a simple chicken sandwich from Hooligans because they are simple and always taste pretty good but when I was looking at their Wednesday specials, their mac and cheese caught my eye. While I haven't ordered mac and cheese and to many places (except for the Comet Cafe because it's delicious,) I had a craving for that so I thought why not. They had three difference choices, a normal mac and cheese, a chicken, mac and cheese, and blue cheese with buffalo chicken mac and cheese. The normal one you could add bacon on to the $8, or for just $9 already you could get the chicken one with the bacon already in it. I thought that was the better deal with the chicken so I decided to get that. My fa
ther ended up getting the blue cheese once since blue cheese is his favorite. I had a nice Sprecher Root Beer while waiting for my meal, which didn't take to long to come out. The set up of it was very nice, you got 4 pieces of garlic bread and a nice little bowl of the mac and cheese. From the looks of it, it seemed delicious. I took a bite of the garlic bread first, which was done perfectly. I'm not a big fan of garlic bread but the garlic wasn't strong, and the bread was toasted so it was soft but still had a crunch to it. Sadly I must say, that was the highlight of the meal.



While the mac and cheese looked delicious, it was sadly a disguise. The cheese sauce tasted nothing like cheese. I don't know exactly how to describe it but it had a very off taste to it, maybe like an old cheese or something along those lines. Even that flavor wasn't very strong, and didn't add much but that off taste to my mouth. The chicken was very plain and had almost no flavor to it at all, even with the added bread crumbs on top, it didn't do much to enhance the flavor. The only thing that give this meal any sort of taste to it was the bacon, which well...tasted like bacon, which made the weird cheese sauce a little bit better. It was a very good portion of food though, and even though I didn't enjoy it, I still ate every bite. It wasn't a pleasant dish but I was hungry. The buffalo blue cheese one on the other hand was bursting with flavor. I can't stand blue cheese so it wasn't a flavor I enjoyed, but if you like spicy buffalo chicken and blue cheese, then this dish is for you. The buffalo chicken was spicy but not spicy enough to destroy the flavor of everything. Even though the blue cheese wasn't for me, I know for those of you who like it would love this.


While my experience this time at Hooligans wasn't my favorite, I must say that I'm usually not very disappointed in their food. They make good burgers and their chicken sandwiches aren't bad either. The prices are what you'll find at almost any bar restaurant in the area with items usually starting around $7.50 and not much of anything really going over the $10 mark. So if your looking for a burger or other good bar food, check Hooligans out but if you wanna get some mac and cheese, stay far far away and just get some at the Comet Cafe.