S A M S H I M I: Dessert

Showing posts with label Dessert. Show all posts

Saturday, 3 September 2016

Lago :: Valerie's Bachelorette Dinner

Saturday, 27 August 2016

Fugo :: Cookie Monster Ice Cream!

Sunday, 21 August 2016

Boiler Room :: Vanilla Jameson Infused Soft Serve

Monday, 7 March 2016

Sawada Coffee :: Monday Grind

Military Latte ($5.50)

Doughnut Vault Poppyseed Doughnut

Green Tea Latte ($5)

Doughnut Vault Strawberry Vanilla Doughnut

I'm always on the hunt for green tea lattes and Sawada makes the mark in my books.

I ordered a regular matcha green tea latte and it was good. Wasn't bad but nothing extraordinary - would have preferred if the green tea taste came through more (personally, felt the milk was a little overpowering). It only comes in 12oz which was $5. Personally, I feel like this is on the pricier side, but not completely unexpected.

I don't drink coffee/expressos but if I did, I would definitely try the military matcha green tea latte! The military matcha green tea latte is a combination of a green tea latte with and expresso shot. It looks super unique and I haven't seen anything quite like it anywhere else.

I came with a group of 4 girls to study for school and during the day it is very spacious and I wouldn't imagine you having any difficulty finding seating since the bottom floor is also opened up (but at night, it's a smoked meat place). They also offer free wifi (password: ilikecoffee). Downside is that there is limited daylight and is only available near the coffee bar and entrance (where it's usually filled first).

Sawada Coffee also carries Doughnut Vault doughnuts. I tried the vanilla strawberry doughnut and couldn't eat it fast enough!

Sawada Coffee

112 N. Green Street

Chicago, IL 60607

312.754.0431

website

Friday, 26 February 2016

Jamie's Italian Yorkdale :: GNO Dinner with Tiffany, Taylor, and Nina

Jamie's Mojito ($9.95)

bacardi superior rum, martini bianco, fresh mint, lime & sugar, topped with prosecco (2.5oz)

Ginger Mojito ($4.95)

mint leaves, lime, sugar syrup & ginger beer

Cured Meats ($11.95/person)

fennel salami, pistachio mortadella, prosciutto & schiacciata piccante served with mini buffalo mozzarella, pecorino & chilli jam, a selection of pickles, olives & crunchy slaw

Prosciutto & Pear Salad ($14.95)

with pecorino, honey, arugula, herbs & toasted pine nuts

Arancini Margherita ($8.50)

stuffed risotto rice balls with pickled piri piri chillies, mozzarella, spicy arrabbiata sauce & parmigiano reggiano

Fresh Crab Spaghetti ($19.95)

with garlic, capers, chilli, fennel, parsley, anchovies, lemon & olive oil

Proscuitto & Arugula ($18.95)

sicilian tomato base, San Daniele prosciutto, arugula & Parmigiano Reggiano

Amalfi Lemon Meringue Cheesecake ($9.25)

velvety mascarpone & lemon cheesecake topped with Italian meringue, served with lemon curd & seasonal fruit compote

Jamie's Italian

Yorkdale Shopping Centre

3401 Dufferin Street, off Allen Road, near 401 Entrance through north parking lot

416.23.7450

website

Friday, 22 January 2016

Mindy's Hot Chocolate :: Hello Weekend

peppermint ($7) :: peppermint hot chocolate

black & tan ($7) :: 1/3 hot fudge, 2/3 medium hot chocolate

the “o.g.” doughnuts ($13) :: brioche doughnuts, hot fudge, caramel corn

Came here for after dinner desserts and despite not being a huge chocolate fan, left pretty happy! Been wanting to visit for quite some time and came at around 8pm. There was 20 minute wait and the restaurant was pretty busy.

Ordered the peppermint hot chocolate and the OG doughnuts to share with my friend who ordered the black and tan hot chocolate.

Our waitress was super friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. Prior to coming, my friends warned me that the hot chocolates ran on the sweet side so I narrowed down my choices between the dark and the peppermint hot chocolate. I told the waitress my dilemma and she recommended the peppermint hot chocolate since it was less 'heavy' despite the dark hot chocolate being more popular. Glad I took her advice. I was pretty impressed when I saw one of the guests at the table next to me accidentally drop his two marshmallows and our waitress appeared with two new ones saying that he shouldn't miss out on them despite them falling on the floor.

I thoroughly enjoyed my hot chocolate and the housemade marshmallows. As per the recommendation of my friends, I ate one and put one in the hot chocolate (as putting both may make the hot chocolate too sweet). The doughnuts were pretty good but not amazing/memorable. I did enjoy the presentation of the doughnuts on the cutting board.

Despite Mindy's being on the pricier side (especially for a single hot chocolate for $7-10), I would definitely return for desserts and possibly dinner! I saw another table order the burger and it looked delicious. For those who love online reservations, Mindy's also has OpenTable.

Mindy's Hot Chocolate
1747 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
773.489.1747
website

Izakaya Mita :: Restaurant Week #1

RainbowSashimi Avocado Salad

tuna, yellowtail, salmon over avocado and spring greens in a special wafu dressing

I enjoyed this dish but it was quite small and on the salty side.

Kani Ankake Tofu

blue crab in a thick wafu-chuka sauce with carrots, onions, kale and shiitake mushrooms served over silken tofu

I personally didn't care of this. It was small and soup like. Didn't taste the blue crab and the sauce was too overwhelming. Considering it was a tofu dish, there wasn't much tofu.

Niku Katsu Panko

breaded beef sirloin served deep fried with special ponzu dressing

I liked this despite it being very oily and not very crunchy. Note ponzu sauce was had hints of wasabi.

Kamo Misozuke

cold smoked duck breast marinated in a miso and ginger sauce served with a special ume pickled plum puree

Pretty disappointed with this as it was pretty bland and the meat was very chewy.

Robusuta Slider

rice slider topped with deep fried lobster and drizzled with spicy mayo

Was also disappointed by this. The slider was soggy and couldn't taste much of the lobster as the batter was overwhelming.

Mama Mita’s Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake

the owner’s homemade matcha green tea cheesecake steamed in a custard bowl, topped with whipped cream and served with 2 green tea chocolate pocky biscuits

I really enjoyed the green tea cheesecake but wished it was bigger!

Came here for the first time during Restaurant Week. As an izakaya aficionado, I was pretty excited to try it after looking at the Restaurant Week menu and the 4 star ratings on yelp. Unfortunately, Izakaya Mita didn't meet my expectations and left underwhelmed. Despite arriving for the Restaurant Week menu, I also looked/considered the restaurant's regular menu. Despite the numerous menu items, I didn't find anything that caught my interest and I noticed it was slightly on the pricy side. As such, I stuck with my choice in trying the Restaurant Week Menu. One of the deciding factors in choosing Izakaya Mita over any other Japanese establishment for Restaurant Week was that there was more courses than the others (6 courses for $44). Don't let this fool you! The portions for each course was quite small and I left the restaurant pretty hungry. Since the portions were small, I was planning to split a ramen with my friend but the waitress never came back so we never ordered it. In terms of the food taste and quality, I was a little disappointed. Ingredients are good but average. Taste missed the mark as some items were either overly salty, overly bland, or overly fried. The one thing I did really enjoy was the matcha green tea cheesecake! Service is prompt and friendly, but not very attentive. We initially ordered the Restaurant Week menu to get the food order started and told the waitress to comeback after we decided on some additional dishes from the regular menu and she never came back. I also asked for some hot water in addition to my friend's beer, but only the beer came. Overall, I wouldn't say Izakaya Mita is a bad restaurant, but I've definitely had better experiences elsewhere.

Izakaya Mita

1960 N. Damen Ave

Chicago, IL 60647

773.799.8677

website

restaurant week link :: menu

Friday, 27 November 2015

Snow Dragon Shavery :: Post Zoolights Snack!

Blueberry Merlot Loose Leaf Tea ($3.49)

Green Tea Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich ($5.49)

Loved the fact that you can get more hot water to fill the kettle - even the refills had good tea flavour so definitely make use of the refills!

Mango Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich ($5.49)

Tip: Eat your macaron ice cream sandwich as soon as you get it! Once it has a chance to sit and warm up, it makes it difficult and very messy to eat... Which is what happened to me after I took numerous pictures of mine...