Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Fox & Obel Cafe

After receiving a rave review from a friend, Nick & I decided we wanted to try out the Fox & Obel Cafe just 2 blocks down the street from us on 411 E Illinois for Sunday brunch.

Overall impression? We weren't impressed, but it "wasn't bad"

Here, I want to introduce the new Lucky Taste Buds rating system. As most of us have learned from the current economy - numbers matter. Inspired by Iron Chef's rating system, I've added "value" and "ambiance." Rated on a scale from 1-5 with 5 being highest, 3 would be considered average.

Taste: 3
Plating: 3
Originality: 3 (no surprises here)
Value: 2 (you could find better deals for sure)
Ambiance: 3

Grilled Flank Steak Salad $11.99
Cooked to medium rare and chilled, roasted poblano, grilled corn, black beans,
queso fresco, red onion, tortilla strips, tomato and cilantro lime dressing
Pros: The light and refreshing lime dressing
Cons: Mainly a giant bowl of leaves. Very little corn & bean mix. Mainly tortilla strips that dominated the bowl. Poor value for money I would say.

Salmon Burger $11.99
Soy glazed Atlantic salmon, mizuna lettuce, red and yellow bell pepper, red
onion and wasabi mayonnaise on sesame brioche
Pros: The yummy soy glaze & buttery toasted bun. Nick liked the fries, apparently it tasted like the fries they serve over at McD's.
Cons: Sadly, the salmon patty was disappointing. Not only was it dry on the inside and rather flavorless, the outside was strangely crunchy (i.e. Drying out after being pan-fried). Nick and I felt like we could make a better salmon patty using canned salmon, which we're positive was what Fox & Obel used to create our burger.

For the menu, hit up: http://www.fox-obel.com/cafe/fo_webmenu_june08.pdf

Fox & Obel Cafe
401 E Illinois
Chicago, IL 60611
Tel: 312 410 7301

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

can you believe i've lived in the chicagoland area for almost six years and still haven't gone to fox & obel? i'm hoping to check this place out soon. love your rating system!

on another note, thanks for the comment about my marinara sauce! and if you try out those corn muffins, let me know how it goes! :)