chicago day 3

Day three in Chicago was full of heavy-duty eating. It was a good day.

Lunch at Hot Doug's. Getting to Hot Doug's from downtown is quite the trek (two subway lines, plus a bus ride), but well worth it. We were here on a Tuesday so the line wasn't too bad (but still out the door). The corndog (my first, ever!) was delicious and the ribeye sausage was amazing. Actually, everything was really tasty and I've been craving hot dogs ever since.

* the line & menu wall

* our spread

* the dog (original Chicago style)

Grilled dog topped with tomatoes, onions, relish, pickle.

* ribeye sausage topped with black garlic aioli and brie

* the teuben

Corned beef sausage topped with sauerkraut, swiss cheese and Russian dressing.

* corn dog

* cheese fries

* Hot Doug's

3324 N. California

Chicago, IL.

Spontaneous dessert at iCream. We came across this new ice cream shop while walking through Wicker Park and decided to give it a try. You basically get to create your own ice cream on the spot. Pick your base, mix-ins and toppings and watch as it all gets ice cream-ified in a stand mixer using liquid nitrogen. The resulting ice cream was pretty good, but not mind blowing. The texture was a bit weird: kinda lumpy, not totally smooth and not really that creamy as the name suggests.

* cream soda flavoured ice cream with cherries

This didn't really taste like cream soda, but it was still alright.

* vanilla ice cream with fresh pineapple, graham cracker

crust and caramel topping

This tasted like pineapple cream pie. Which means it tasted awesome.

*iCream

1537 N. Milwaukee Ave

Chicago, IL.

Dessert #2 at Hoosier Mama. We didn't really need to eat pie after the ice cream, but I had heard good things about this place and we were kind of in the neighbourhood so we stopped in for a couple slices of their famous pie. I'm glad we did. This was some of the best pie I have ever had. The fillings were so fresh and the crust, oh man the crust! Perfectly flaky and with just the right amount of salt (so important!)

* banana cream pie

* cherry berry pie

* Hoosier Mama

1618 W. Chicago Ave.

Chicago, IL.

I was really looking forward to our dinner at The Publican and it started off great and ended, well, less great. I'd still go back sometime to try some of their other dishes.

* pork rinds

Spiced and with a hint of malt vinegar these were addictive.

* daily pickles (bread & butters, squash, tomatoes,

watermelon rind & cabbage)

I love pickles and these were very tasty.

* yellowtail crudo

Light, fresh and melt in your mouth good.

* oysters (chef selection)

* octopus with sungold tomatoes, capers and beans

Nicely charred octopus, sweet tomatoes and perfectly cooked beans. We both enjoyed this one.

* fried clams with okra and remoulade

Heavily crusted and fried, I could barely taste the clams. The okra was flavourless. And the remoulade unmemorable. Not a fan of this one.

* flank steak with mustard spaetzle, artichokes and tapenade

The steak was ok, but so salty. I think it was crusted in the tapenade too which made it even saltier. The spaetzle and artichokes were unimpressive too. Thumbs down.

* The Publican

837 W. Fulton Market

Chicago, IL.