CHI Or Bust Part 1. The FOOD.

hey bloggies! I was debating on how to organize my CHI trip and debated between just doing the whole shibang, seperating it into days, doing a day a day, etc. Eventually I came to the decision to just bang out food in one and fun in another.

Ergo. You will be reading all about my Chicago food adventures. I mean this IS a food blog right. BUT if you're more interested in the fun then stay tuned because that will be another day this week!

note: this post is LONG and if you don't read the whole thing, welp I understanddddd.

While in CHI my travel bro Lauren and I experienced 5 awesome food adventures.

1. OYSY Sushi

Friday night after being delayed and getting into CHI town supah late, we couldn't think of anything else BUT food. We were late for our reservations but eventually made it to the most amazing sushi restaurant in the history of sushi. Recommended by a pair of lucky taste buds we hailed a cab and made it over to OYSY sushi

I instantly loved the place. It had such an awesome vibe and we got seated right by the window so I could stare out into a park of which I wasn't sure which one it was at the time, and I'm still not quite sure. maybe Grant?

We DOVE into our menus. food couldn't come fast enough.

We both started off with the seaweed salad

We both agreed that this seaweed salad was AMAZING. so fresh and so big. Ugh thinking about it makes me drool

The service here was amazing. They refilled our tea and water as soon as they were half empty and almost immediately after seaweed salad they came around the corner with our dinner.

one track mind = FOOD.

I enjoyed a Veggie roll, a Veggie Futomaki hand roll and Lauren and I split a California Roll

O.M.F.G. this was BY FAR the best sushi I've ever had in my entire life. In all realness I never want to order sush on Long Island again. It was incredibly fresh, incredibly delicious and the price was not expensive at all! We couldn't stop talking about this sushi the entire weekend. I would have went back in a second if there weren't so many other places to get my snags on.

. Foodlife, Water Tower Place
Saturday involved a RIDICULOUS amount of physical activity one of them being a nice walk, post bike ride up Magnificent Mile to enjoy lunch at Foodlife in Water Tower Place

At first impression I was very impressed with the creativeness of this. NY has nothing that I know of like this and the idea of getting a "debit card" having it swiped at the 'country' you decide and then paying on your way out.

Another thing NY doesn't have: sinks in the middle of restuarants. I was utterly floored by this. Literally there was a sink around every corner in Foodlife just in case you forgot to wash your hands. This was amazing. Preventative healthcare? I think so!

There was ALOT to decide between and it's a shame my brain was fried because in the end I choose the salad selection. I went with a nice fresh salad made with spinach and romaine with LOTS of delicious toppings including some fresh tofu.

It came with a Lime-Cilantro vinnegrette on the side which I decided to leave on the side, being that it didn't seem to vinegretty. Instead I squeezed fresh lemon over my salad and enjoyed the natural flavors. mmm!

Lauren on the other hand was feelin Mexicany and decided on the Mexican station. She said later that rice and beans just sounded good in a major way.

Yo quiero Foodlife.

It was neccessary to leave room in my belly for some fro yo.

3. Berry Chill

Even though by the time we got to Berry Chill (an all natural fro-yo joint), Chicago had decided to drop the December wind chills on us. We manned up and grabbed a table inside to enjoy some sweet treats.

It was too cute inside and the first thing I noticed again was the ultimate goal for recycling and staying so fresh and clean.

The SECOND and more important thing I noticed (clearly) was the fact that Kashi Crunch was a topping choice. duh. Now this place was already at the top of my charts.

I was feeling tropical islandy trying to rebel against the freezing weather and went with a small Pina Colada with Kashi Crunch and pineapple.

While enjoying our fro yo I texted Deej my excitement about the Kashi Crunch and was very excited to see that my phone understood the time change between Chicago and NY.

And then expressed my sadness to the camera when Lauren dropped some of her yogurt. She choose the Passion Fruit with mochi, mango, and something else I just can't remember.

I was also in amazement that the spoons were temperature sensitive! You know this girl traveled home with a spoon souviner! it's still in my bag. fail.

After scaling the city for HOURS, we made it back to our hotel room with about 20 minutes to get ready for dinner. my legs were begging for rest but I had dinner on the mind. duh!

4. Hub51

A good friend of Lauren's recommended Hub51 as a great place to have dinner. Very modern with a twist on an American cusine menu. The first thing I noticed when we arrived was besides it being very clean and swanky was that everyone inside was really really good looking! I declared it then that I know my husband is somewhere in Chicago.

After an entire day of scaling the city of Chicago about 5 times we both agreed that we deserved some tasty drinks.

Enter most amazing and delicious part of Chicago.

Hub Punch part deux is a mystery. No seriously the ingredients are a secret. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing? But the drink was an amazing thing and by the taste and effect of it I'm pretty sure it was 99% alcohol, 1% other stuff.

We enjoyed a nice hummus platter for an appetizer and the thought of every consuming another brand of hummus went out the window. Together with the pine nuts and pita bread I was in Hub Punch & Hub Hummus heaven.

For my entree I ordered the "Green" Veggie tacos with a side salad instead of rice & beans. I'm pretty sure I just should have ordered another punch and plate of hummus and I would have been a happy camper, but the veggie tacos did just fine.

Lauren ordered the Really Good Ahi Tuna Burger and generously gave me a bite. Survey says? really good tuna burger!

I still think we should have drank our dinner in Hub Punch and hummus, but the recommendation like all the others followed through with greatness and we were 4 for 4 with Chicago meals.

5. The Bongo Room South Loop

Apparently Brunch is a big to-do in Chi on Sundays. After walking for miles to find a nice place to enjoy a post boat cruise brunch, we finally came across The Bongo Room. We left another place when the told us the wait for 2 people was going to be an hour only to arrive at The Bongo Room to find the wait being 55 minutes. The idea of walking around more sans food was no mas so we waited.

and SO happy we did.

Inside The Bongo Room was super cute and they kept this a mystery while waiting outside. No sign, no decor, so the inside was quite a suprise.

I immediately ordered a coffee and dove into the menu

Before arriving anywhere for breakfast I knew what I was in the mood for. A BIG fatty fat omlette. And you know that's what this girl did.

I ordered an egg white omlette with spinach, yellow bell peppers & chives. With a side of wheat toast and salsa I was in heaven. I'm pretty sure the eggs were so fresh that they had a farm in the bag and as the eggs came out of the chickens they cracked them on the pan.

Lauren ordered the steak and eggs benedict and said that hers was too good to be true as well.

Brunch success! We were officially Chicagoians, brunch and all.

Important Things I Learned/Love About Chicago Food:

1. everything is SO fresh and clean.

2. brunch is a HUGE deal

3. service is amazing AND fast.

4. their food is REALLY REALLY good.

5. Chi-ians like to eat and drink.

6. waitstaff is nice.

7. people love coffee there. More Starbucks in Chicago then in NY and a 7-11 on every corner.

8. They have a Trader Joe's

9. The ALSO have Whole Foods but it's in Wicker Park

10. I love Chicago.