Chicago : Chicago Cupcakes

These posts are not in order chronologically, sorry. Technically the first cupcakes we ate were from Chicago Cupcakes. The name of the place might actually just be "Cupcakes," but that's just too confusing. All of the cupcakes we tried there were good. Several of them were fantastic, but overall I think they weren't quite as good as the cupcakes from Molly's Cupcakes. Also, I took these photos on the table at the front of the (tiny) shop and just as I was snapping the last one they told me I couldn't take pictures in there. Luckily I was pretty much finished because, although the to go boxes do a good job of protecting the cupcakes, the frosting definitely wasn't as pretty when we got the them home.

Chicago : Molly's Cupcakes

Last weekend Christine, Mariann, and I were in Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival. Well, Mariann was already there but Christine (plus Ginny and Jocelyn!) and I were just visiting. In between the music we ate some yummy food and LOTS of cupcakes. We loved Molly's Cupcakes so much that we visited twice in one day. The cupcakes are that good. Seriously.

Mikado

Of all the Japanese restaurants in Bloomington, Mikado is probably the nicest. And by nicest I mean most expensive. The decor isn't particularly fancy or trendy, like Japanee or Sushi Bar, but Mikado has an air of classiness that the other restaurants don't have. But it's not so fancy that you can't wear jeans and a tee shirt. The wait staff wear dress shirts and are usually quite professional and attentive. The best thing about Mikado is their huge selection of creative and delicious specialty rolls. These tend to run anywhere from $7-$18 per roll, so I usually end up spending more at Mikado then at Japanee or Sushi Bar.

Olive Garden

Whenever I'm in the mood for giant portions of sodium+butter+cream laden pasta, naturally, I head for Olive Garden. This time, Mariann was down from Chicago for the weekend so we had a mini girls night out. Lots of people think Olive Garden is evil, and it probably is, but Bloomington is surprisingly deficient in Italian Restaurants.

Japanee

Japanee was pretty much my first Japanese food experience. Although my family has always been big on ethnic food, Japanese was never on our radar. Maybe because it tends to be pricier than Chinese, Thai, etc. Anyway, for our first few visits Japanee was called Japonais. They eventually changed their name because of the much more famous Japonais which totally had dibs. The restaurant is decorated in a sort of contemporary trendy style, with flat screen tvs and electro-indie music playing. The tables and chairs that are all just a tad too low or high to be comfortable. If you're going with a group, there are private karaoke rooms that you can reserve

Restaurant Tallent

Reviewed by Christine and Aubrey

Aubrey, Mariann and I dined at Tallent a few weeks ago with our friend Stephanie. We were celebrating Mariann's awesome new internship and sending her off to Chicago. Restaurant Tallent, near the downtown square in Bloomington, is one of best places to eat in town. Part of the slow food movement, Tallent uses locally grown produce and locally raised meat whenever possible. Their seasonal menu is always full of creative and delicious combinations of ingredients. From that description you know it's going to be pretty pricey. The entrées range from $21 for the veggie, to $35 for local elk. Appetizers aren't cheap either, with only the soup under $10 (barely).

Ireland Part 1 : Traditional Irish Breakfast

In April, Aubrey and I travelled to Ireland. In addition to seeing many wonderful sites like Blarney Castle and the Cliffs of Moher, we ate delicious food every day.

We stayed in B&Bs every day, which meant delicious home-cooked and traditional Irish Breakfasts. A traditional Irish breakfast includes black and white pudding (blood and liver sausage), Irish sausage, Irish bacon, fried eggs, and tomatoes. Pretty much everywhere we ate also provided a nice sideboard of fresh fruit, cereal, yogurts, and soda bread with jam.

Clare Inn : Our first breakfast was served at the Clare Inn. We incorrectly assumed it was buffet style, when in fact, it was actually a serving line. We were intimidated and only ended up trying sausage, fried eggs, bacon, and potatoes. There was also a cold buffet which included fruit, granola, and juices. The food was okay, but it definitely had a mass produced feel to it. (Aubrey: We had to get used to how different things tasted. Irish bacon is sort of like a cross between American Bacon and "Canadian Bacon". Also the eggs tasted funny, but maybe that was just cause they had been sitting around under a heat lamp.)

Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast : Our next stop was An Daingean, Dingle Town, where we stayed at a really nice B&B. There was a breakfast menu with several options. Aubrey chose the full Irish breakfast, while I selected smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Salmon in Ireland is amazing. This was also our first sample of black and white pudding. While Aubrey could not get over the thought of congealed blood and liver, I was able to put it out of my mind and I thought it was delicious. (Aubrey: I ate half of each before passing them off to Christine. I thought they both tasted pretty good, I just couldn't make my brain NOT think about the ingredients. I think this was probably the nicest breakfast we had. It's also where I became addicted to Irish bread and butter, SO good).

Seagull house : The Seagull house is a quaint bed and breakfast in the middle of Kinsale. The owner, Mary, cooked us a nice, though standard, Irish breakfast. The meal felt the most home-cooked and personal. (Aubrey: No pics, I forgot!)

Fern Hill : Our host in Tramore, Mary, was most accommodating and served us a full Irish breakfast, which we enjoyed on the sun patio. Delicious and filling. Also included were an assortment of goat cheeses. (Aubrey: IMO not quite as good as some of the other breakfasts, yummy bread though.)

Cornerville : We stayed two nights at the Cornerville in Sutton, just outside of Dublin. Our host, Andy, was very hospitable, and even offered to cook us breakfast at 7 am the last day so that we could catch our flight back home. His breakfasts were delicious and included all the traditional options. Surprisingly, this was the only breakfast (besides the buffet style of the Clare Inn) that included potatoes. They were served in the form of a tasty hashbrown, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Andy also treated us to baked beans, which were to be eaten on top of toast. Simple, but surprisingly delicious. (Aubrey: these weren't the most photogenic breakfasts but they were probably the most satisfying. Especially after a night out at Temple Bar...)

Aubrey: Since we've been back I've definitely missed having a full breakfast every morning. I've tried to cook my own fried eggs, but so far haven't been particularly successful. Sure they're edible, but they don't even compare to what we were served in Ireland. Sigh.