Hong Kong, Finally!

So I have finally arrived in the motherland with my good friends Carm and Mal. Hong Kong is ultra hot and humid and even for this tropical lover, it is a bit of an adjustment. There are tons of people around, shops opening until midnight, and best of all rows upon rows of restaurants.

What would three girls possibly do in a place like this?? Well, shop and eat, eat and shop. It is truly my version of paradise. Restaurants line the streets like Starbucks line the streets of America. There is not one block where you cannot get food. So far, I've been stuffing myself at Hong Kong Style cafes and Noodle and Congee places. I mean, this is what Hong Kong is about, cheap and tasty eats. True, it is more eat to life style where you have to share a table with strangers while shamelessly slurping your noodles. But the noodle is just the right texture, and the broth is deliciously fragrant and the whole thing costs you $2 CDN. So what are you going to complain about?

The best thing is that I just met a new friend called Christina. She loves eating almost as much as I do. And she has been living and exploring all the eateries in HK all her life, so I cannot wait to hang out with her more and give you the insider info on the tastiest most econo way to eat through Hong Kong.

I love my life!!

Deep Dish Pizza

There are a couple things on this foodie's agenda when planning her trip to Chicago. One of this is.....tada......Deep Dish Pizza. Every one seems to know about Uno or Gino's. However, my good friends Peter and Vanessa recommended this place called Pequods. I was a bit skeptical at first because really, who has heard of Pequods? But I trust my friends and crammed an outing to Pequod's on our jammed packed restaurant itinerary.

Pequod's is the typical Chicagon pizza joint where it is dimly lit with booths and wait staff running around with deep dish pizzas they carry around with clamps. I checked out the other tables, and they all have gigantic pan pizzas that looked quite promising, with loads of cheese and meat on them. I don't think vegetarianism is big in a place like Chicago.

Anyways, we ordered Deep fried zucchini for appies and Peter convinced me to have some Cheese Garlic Bread as well. I normally don't want to get filled up with bread before devouring more carbs. But that garlic bread was just too delicious to have only two bites.

Next came the pizzas. Basically, you can pick any toppings you want for a deep dish pan pizza or a thin crust. Pequods are famous for their caramelized cheese crust on their pan pizzas, so we got one with sausage, spinach, and mushrooms. We also got a thin crust one with ground beef, and half with pineapple and half with anchovies. Oh man, they were great. Especially when washed down with a couple pints of cold beer.

So if you are ever in the Chicago area.....

Pequods Pizza
2207 N. Clybourn Ave.
(773) 327-1512

Taste of Chicago

It's true, everything is bigger in America. They even have one of the biggest food festivals around: Taste of Chicago. I first heard of this momentous event way back when I was studying abroad for a semester in Denmark. Back then, my interest in food only lay in cheap and tasty eats, so I didn't have to literally be a "starving student". Imagine my delight when I met a girl named Karen, who loves to cook for friends, and I was an eager recipient of her generosity.

Karen also au paired in Chicago, and told me that for once in my life, I have to go to this crazy food frenzy called the Taste of Chicago where there are aisles and aisles of food for you to sample. I listened, mesmorized, and imagined that is heaven must be like for foodies.

So I took advantage of my summer holiday and the fact that one of my best friends now lives there. It was really my duty to go see her before I took off to HK, so I decided to coincide my visit with this yearly event which takes place around the July 4th weekend. This year, 70 restaurants had a booth there and you can buy 11 tickets for $7. Most entrees cost around 9 tickets. There are also "Tastes", which are samples of a chosen dish for 3 tickets.

And I was not disappointed. We went on July 3rd, which is a big event at the Taste because there is also a firework show for all to enjoy after a nice big dinner. It seemed like every Chicagon and their dogs are here. The only downside is that the crazy crowds really make it difficult for you to enjoy your food without beer being spilt on you, or bbq sauce smeared by the people pushing through the crowd with their newly procured dinner.

Here's what we ate: Robinson's Ribs, Ellie's Cheesecake, BJ's Mustard Crusted Catfish, and Bacino's Stuffed Pizza. And if I had more room, I would also have gotten the bbq turkey legs from Helen's and also this freshly fried chips everyone seemed to have a plate of.

We went back on weekday around noon, and the crowds were much more manageable. So I would go then if I were you. And try the Robinson boneless rib sandwich. It was DELICIOUS.

www.tasteofchicago.us