The Purple Pig – Chicago

The Purple Pig is one of the most hyped and highly rated restaurants in Chicago.

The location is hard to beat.. right on the Magnificent Mile! They don’t take reservations and lineups are usually 2 hours during peak dining hours… so we went there for a late lunch at 3pm… and no lineup!

The restaurant is a gastropub that specializes in cheese, swine and wine.. We were seated at the communal table and we got real close to the adjacent diners.  Mom got nearly whacked in the face many times!

Pork Fried Almonds with Rosemary & Garlic… nothing special.. tasted like regular almonds but with rosemary and garlic…

salad…

Deviled Egg with Arugula & Capers…

a close up.. this is made by draining out the yolk, mixing it with cheese, and stuffing it back into the egg… it’s a pretty interesting concept.. but doesn’t taste spectacular…

Milk Braised Pork Shoulder with Mashed Potatoes…the meat was tender but it was EXTREMELY SALTY…even when paired with the mashed potatoes

Chicken Thigh Kebabs, Fried Smashed Potatoes & Tzatziki.. nothing special.. the chicken skin was slightly burned…

The Purple Pig is seriously over hyped.. there’s not a single dish that is outstanding…

FAIM? NON NON..

The Purple Pig

500 N Michigan Ave  Chicago, IL 60611, United States
+1 312-464-1744

Casa Rubio – Cordoba, Spain

We went to Cordoba to visit the Mezquita, a former Visigothic Christian church turned mosque and which is now a Catholic Cathedral!

<inside the Mezquita>

After visiting the Mezquita, our guide recommended Casa Rubo.. which is a Michelin Guide – recommended restaurant!

salmorejo

croquettes

huevo con pisto (fried egg with vegetables)…  the vegetables are like the veggies from minestrone soup…

grilled squid…

japuta adobo (fried marinated fish)…. we didn’t like this dish because the batter was so thick and the fish was tasteless..

rabo toro (braised oxtail with potatoes)… Cordoba is in a region of Spain called Andalusia and oxtail is a specialty in their cuisine.  The oxtail is marinated and then cooked till the meat falls off the bone! Delicious!

Casa Rubio

C/ Puerta de Almodóvar, 3
14003 Cordoba, Spain
957 420 853

Bilbao-Berria – Barcelona, Spain

The highlight of our trip was watching Barça take on Napoli for the Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou!

The atmosphere at the game was electrifying! Most of the 90,000 seats were filled …people wore Barça jerseys.. trumpets were blasting..endless body waves.. everyone singing along to the Barça song…

And Barça won 5-0! After the game, we had a late dinner (11:30pm) at Bilbao-Berria.

I passed by it a couple times before and it always seemed to be packed… so we decided to give it a try (and most other places were closed)..

clockwise from top: imitation crab with roe; BBQ chicken; shrimp; egg, pepper and anchovy

anchovy, pepper, onion and olive…

the chocolate drizzled creme puff was ok.. the dark chocolate ball had a ganache filling inside!

FAIM? OUI OUI!!

Bilbao Berria 

Plaça Nova 3, El Barri Gòtic

Tel: + 34 933 170 124

open till midnight

Ciudad Condal – Barcelona, Spain

It was Sunday night and even those restaurants which are opened in August are mostly closed.  We decided to try Ciudad Condal, of the same family as Cervecería Catalana.  It’s due to the success of Ciudad Condal that Cervecería Catalana was opened.

This place was also packed when we arrived!

Unlike the sleek modern interior design of Cervecería Catalana, Ciudad Condal’s design is more rustic and homey.

more potato bravas! I’m totally addicted!

huevos cabreaos…this is even better than potato bravas!  Poached eggs and spicy mayo on top of fried potato sticks! The potato sticks are like Hickory Sticks (my favourite childhood snack!) but minus the BBQ flavour!  You mix everything together and you get a delicious gooey crunchy bite!

grilled mushrooms and asparagus… quite tasty but a bit salty..

fried calamari… not good.. tasteless and has a thick batter

mini hamburger with cheese and sweetened onions… the onions were too sweet!

grilled prawns… they were smaller than El Quim’s but it tasted fresh and sweet!

croquette..this was was fried in a batch of used oil… and it was overfried too….

tortilla!

Crema catalana… they included walnut cookies too!

The food’s the same quality at both places but the service was better at Cervecería Catalana.  Another difference is that Cervecería Catalana has a hipper and more local clientele while Ciudad Condal seems to serve more tourists.

FAIM? OUI OUI!!

Ciudad Condal

Rambla de Catalunya, 18
Barcelona, Spain
933 181 997

Euskal Etxea – Barcelona, Spain

It was Sunday and the Picasso Museum has free admission every Sunday after 3pm! We decided to have a late lunch before going because just a few door down from the museum is Euskal Etxea.

Euskal Etxea was one of the first places to introduce the tapas culture in Barcelona and it serves Basque food.. so it’s called pinxtos instead of tapas.

Displayed throughout the bar are all sorts of bread with toppings on top, held together by a toothpick. You get a plate and just pick whatever catches your eye! You don’t need to pay yet cause when you’re done, the waiter will count your toothpicks and total up the amount.

1st round (clockwise from top): jamón serrano; anchovy, pepper and some thing mixed with mayo; smoked salmon; imitation crab with mayo

I forgot what these were…

grilled squid… it just came out of the kitchen and the servers went around asking if we wanted something hot from the kitchen!

the anchovy, pepper and some thing mixed with mayo bread and imitation crab with mayo were so good we had to get seconds!

and thirds!

I like this type of self-serve tapas bar cause it’s more laid back and there was a huge variety of different bread! We kept on eating and eating and ended up with 24 toothpicks! Each toothpick is 1.8 euros and the bill came up to nearly 40 euros!  However, dad was grumbling afterwards that this was such an expensive meal and all he ate was bread!

FAIM? OUI OUI!!

Euskal Etxea

Placeta de Montcada, 1-3 (Barcelona).

Tel: 933 300 303