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

Neo Coffee Bar :: Waiting for Departure

Kyoto Matcha Latte (~$6 with tax)

I've been meaning to visit NEO COFFEE BAR for quite some time and finally had a chance to do so when I was downtown exceptionally early for my flight back to Chicago. While my visit was a very quick detour to the airport, I did enjoy my time there and would definitely return. I absolutely adore matcha green tea lattes and it's no secret that it's my staple order for Starbucks (ask my fellow team mates at my office!). However, NEO COFFEE BAR does matcha lattes traditionally. It's not some sweetened powder that's prepackaged and mixed such that one or two scoops added to steamed milk and it's good (like Starbucks) but the baristas here take their time to make a quality matcha latte by properly whisking the Kyoto matcha powder with the bamboo matcha whisk and slowly steaming the milk to the correct temperature. The Kyoto Matcha Latte was very smooth and didn't have any matcha powder clumps. I look forward in returning to try it again, along with the cafe's assortment of sandwiches and Japanese inspired desserts.

NEO COFFEE BAR

Unit 100-161 Frederick Street 

Toronto ON M5A 4P3

647.348.8811

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