CHIGuide
The Best Things We Ate This Week
We eat a lot while researching the various guides and reviews you see on our site. And we want to share some of that food with you, at least digitally. This guide is where we’ll be putting some of our favorite things we tried recently - the dishes that made us give a creepy smile to our plates. Hopefully it serves as a source of inspiration the next time you’re deciding what to order.
The Dishes
Konbujime Medai
We recently went to 312 Fish Market, a sushi restaurant located in the 88 Marketplace on the border of Chinatown and Pilsen. There are several restaurants inside this giant supermarket, but 312 is the only one that has its own seating, which includes a sushi counter. Considering that this spot is from a former chef of Sushi-san, it’s not surprising that all our bites of nigiri were really good. But our favorite was the konbujime medai - the snapper had a ton of rich flavor from the curing, and the fish was topped with a pop of citrus to round the bite out.
Minced Pork And Beef Hot Dog Jiangbing
While we were in Chinatown, we decided to check out another new place we heard good things about. Monkey King is a carryout-only spot that specializes in jiangbing. We ordered the minced pork version, a thin pancake wrapped around pork, a hot dog, pork floss, pickles, and crunchy wonton strips. It was absolutely delicious, and filled a meaty crepe-sized hole in our heart that we didn’t know needed filling. Plus, it came with plastic gloves which came in handy for eating this wonderfully messy sandwich in the car.
Birria Pizzadilla
This food truck recently opened a casual brick and mortar space in Lincoln Square, so we swung by to check it out. The quesabirria was fantastic, but we want to take a moment to call out their birria pizzadilla. If you ever find yourself hungover (or just in the mood for something cheesy and delicious) the double-decker quesabirria filled with tender beef and topped with a layer of caramelized panela cheese will save you.
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
Burger Bible
We’re doing a big overhaul on our Burger Power Rankings, which means we’ve been eating a lot of burgers lately. One of these was the Burger Bible at Little Victories in Wicker Park. If you’re a fan of crunchy stuff in your burgers, you’ll love this thing. The smash patty is topped with garden salsa Sun Chips, along with goat cheese, pickled bacon jam, arugula, and ranch. And while that might sound like an overly complicated burger, it’s not. All the components are very well balanced, so the flavors end up working together harmoniously. And this is coming from someone who normally considers Sun Chips to be a crime against humanity.