Category Archives: Mediterranean

Ella Elli

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Interior
Interior
Interior
Interior
Exterior
Exterior
Mushroom Toast
Mushroom Toast
Bar
Bar
Cheese plate
Cheese plate
Confit potatoes
Confit potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
Brussels Sprouts
Spagettone
Spagettone
Profiteroles
Profiteroles
Cheesecake
Cheesecake

***** (5 stars)

This is one of my favorite Chicago restaurant interior designs. It's spacious, elegant without being stuffy, not too brightly lit, not too noisy, and all around simply comforting and welcoming.

We tried several cocktails, and all were very nicely done. My favorite was the Rosemary Gimlet. It was terrific with the Mushroom Toast.

The food is top notch, with most items designed for sharing. We adored the mustard that came on the cheese plate and even asked for a to-go container of it! It was also fantastic on the scrumptious mushroom toast.

Confit Potatoes and Crispy Brussels sprouts were also both delicious. Spagettone Carbonara was cooked too far past al dente for my taste, and lacked the usual carbonara ingredients behond the speck.

We didn't make it to any meat or fish course, but we did try both the desserts, and loved the ice cream and chocolate sauce in the Profiteroles. The Pink Squirrel and Brandy Alexander were also two good ice cream based dessert beverages.

The wine list is eclectic, and well-chosen to match the food.

Service was very friendly.

Ella Elli
1349 W Cornelia Ave
Chicago, IL 60657

https://www.yelp.com/biz/ella-elli-chicago

IDOF Fresh Mediterranean

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Interior
Interior
Pita with hummus and falafel
Pita with hummus and falafel

***** (5 stars)

I love the way you can specify your pita sandwich here, ingredient by ingredient. I was first introduced to falafel pitas many (many) years ago, and there's a certain way I like them, and IDOF lets me design mine just the way I prefer. The falafel and hummus are both top notch, and the other ingredients are fresh.

Of course they have a whole array of other items that come in pitas or platters.

Service was fast and friendly.

IDOF Fresh Mediterranean
851 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 672-2780
https://www.yelp.com/biz/idof-fresh-mediterranean-chicago-12

Roti Modern Mediterranean

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Exterior
Counter

**** (4 stars)

This is essentially the Chipotle of Mediterranean food. Choose you bowl, salad or pita, your protein, and the toppings. The only thing I found odd was the absence of taboule, which seems like such an essential part of, say, a falafel pita.

Service at this location is very fast and friendly.

Roti Modern Mediterranean
200 W Randolph St
Chicago, IL
60606
(312) 332-6013
https://www.yelp.com/biz/roti-modern-mediterranean-chicago-5

Fig & Olive

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Exterior

Bar

Interior

Assorted crostini

Olive oil tasting

Hamachi crudo

Roasted cauliflower

Lamb

Cafe Gourmand with pot de creme

**** (4 stars)

Pros and cons, but my experience was at least three and a half stars.

First, this is a gorgeous room. It’s much nicer than the website photos suggest. It has a great central bar and some cozy corners.

When I arrived there was a DJ playing loud rap. Uh oh, I thought, not my style. But then a foursome sat near me and asked them to turn it down. Bless them! The DJ must have been about to go off shift (it was before 5pm on a Saturday), so they just put on some chill music and left. What an improvement in the place’s ambiance!

The wine list has some very well thought out selections, by the bottle and the glass. They even have Dom Perignon by the glass at a reasonable price! I haven’t seen that before.

I started with three crostini, and all were excellent I also tried them on different “platforms” to compare, and those were good, too. My favorite was the salmon on traditional toast.

The complimentary olive oil tasting was also nice. I loved the blood orange olive oil and bought a bottle to go.

Hamachi crudo was disappointing. There was nothing wrong with the hamachi, but it had been so thoroughly buried in a variety of sauce that the fish was lost.

Roasted cauliflower was a delicate preparation that works best as a starter, because it would be too subtle as a side dish.

The highlight of my meal was the rack of lamb. It was perfectly cooked medium rare with a great char on the bones, and served with a wonderful rosemary and garlic oil.

I finished with the cafe gourmand, a nice idea that combines a cup of coffee with your choice of mini dessert (I chose the pot de creme) and a bit of praline.

Excellent professional service was provided by Danilo.

Fig & Olive –
104 East Oak St
Chicago, IL
60611
(312) 445-0060
https://www.yelp.com/biz/fig-and-olive-chicago-chicago-5

Taza Cafe

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Gyro Plate

Falafel Sandwich

Interior

Exterior

***** (5 stars)

Extremely friendly staff in this counter service restaurant make it special.

I tried the gyro platter, which came with lentil rice, hummus, a falafel, salad, and pitas. It was very good, especially the gyro meat coated in tzatziki and spicy sauce.

Even better was the falafel sandwich, a generous serving of falafel, lettuce, tahini, spicy and a very fresh pita pocket to hold it all.

Definitely one of the best choices for fast Middle Eastern food in Chicago.

Taza Cafe
176 N Franklin St
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 201-9885
https://www.yelp.com/biz/taza-cafe-chicago

Honey’s

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Exterior

Bar

Dining Room

Cauliflower

Caesar salad

Squid ink cavatelli

Satsuma mandarin

*** (3 stars)

While this meal had its ups and downs, let me start by saying that the service was superb. It seemed as if everyone in the restaurant, from the hostess to the bussing staff, the kitchen staff, my waiter Alexis and the manager all personally greeted me and wished me a good meal. And this was before it became evident that I’d been “outed” (the manager stopped by to compliment me on my photos, and I hadn’t yet posted and from Honey’s.)

And it was a good meal, just not a great one. The restaurant certainly is aspiring to greatness, and the classy dining room and chic bar are a good start. The food is just a bit uneven.

The meal begins with complimentary bread service, and the bread was hot, crusty and excellent.

I started with the spit roasted cauliflower, which was an interesting consistency because of the accompanying puree and bread crumbs.

The Caesar salad is a bizarre take on a classic. Grilled romaine is chopped, and tossed with a good Caesar dressing. I’ve enjoyed grilled romaine before, but this seemed more like it was wilted rather than charred. But it was the additional ingredients that went off the rails. Sliced cheese is a trend I can live with, but the pickled shallots and crackers took it too far afield to be called a Caesar. and three large dollops of egg yolk sabayon were about as appetizing as if someone had dumped a jar of mayonnaise on it. In short, don’t order this.

Things got back on track with the squid ink cavatelli. Although the pasta was a bit overcooked, the braised octopus, calamari and shrimp were tender and flavorful, and the mint pesto had a wonderful acidity that elevated the whole dish.

I finished with the satsuma mandarin, a nice light dessert with earl grey cake and mandarin orange sorbet. The double decaf espresso I had was noteworthy only in that it was the single most bitter espresso I’ve every been served!

Prices are okay, but be aware that portions are on the small side, so you will want several courses.

There is an extensive list of eclectic wines, including some thoughtful by-the-glass selections. The rosés go particularly well with most of this menu.

Honey’s
1111 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 877-5929
http://www.yelp.com/biz/honeys-chicago

Ema

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***** (5 stars)

We couldn’t believe how well run this place was on its opening night. The space is open, attractive, not too noisy, and has a great soundtrack. There’s a bar at the front and the rear.

Food is served tapas style, and is mostly Middle Eastern influenced.

We started with the avocado and sweet pea spread, which had wonderful flavors of cilantro and mint, and came with some nicely warmed pitas. It seemed a small portion for $9.

We loved the lamb kefta kebabs and the crispy potatoes.

The pan roasted romanesco was also excellent.

We were slightly less impressed by the crispy broccoli, which were served with a dashi that didn’t have a lot of added flavor. I personally liked the tuna crudo (which was more like hamachi sashimi), but my companion didn’t; it was very lemony and the crispy lentils added a nice texture, but the avocado and tomato didn’t add much.

For dessert we had the honey pie and the frozen greek yogurt. The former was quite sweet, the later fairly tart, but combined they were heaven.

Service was amazing, not just from our server, but everyone who delivered food, cleared the food, welcomed us at the front desk–all incredibly friendly and organized for a restaurant on its first day.

The wine list is also excellent with most wines available by the glass, and nearly all selections from Mediterranean producers. Usually this means lots of mediocre wines, but the selections here are absolutely stellar, and the waiters have been carefully trained in the nuances of the list.

Although some portions seems a bit small and pricey, when the final bill came we thought it was excellent value for the quality received.

Really an impressive debut, and we’ll be back soon.

A picture from lunch, a year later:

Spread sampler

At lunch we had the spicy hummus, garlic almond, and avocado pea spreads, and all were excellent. The salmon tartare was unique, with rhubarb and lemon, and also very good. The green falafel sandwich was the best falafel I’ve had, with a subtle cinnamon flavor and the pita nicely charred.

Ema
74 W Illinois St
Chicago, IL 60654

http://www.yelp.com/biz/%C4%93ma-chicago-2

Zoës Kitchen

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***** (5 stars)

This might be my new favorite quick serve restaurant. It’s amazing that this store has only been open a short time, because they really have their act together. Both the service and the food are exemplary.

I had the salmon kebabs, which were extremely high quality, and served with a large Greek salad, some hummus and a few pita wedges. Everything was freshly prepared and delicious.

Each member of our party tried something different, and we all enjoyed our food, but I think I made the best choice–although slightly more expensive, it was a lot of very high quality food for the money.

The interior decor is quite pleasant, and the staff is really engaged with their guests. My only negative comment is that parking is extremely difficult; it was a problem even before they built this new building, so I’m not sure what the plan was, but I suggest you arrive before lunch time.

Zoës Kitchen
7341 W Sand Lake Rd
Ste 1081
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 730-5022
http://www.yelp.com/biz/zo%C3%ABs-kitchen-orlando-2

ABA Turkish Restaurant

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**** (4 stars)

This Turkish restaurant is bustling with locals, so it’s definitely got the stamp of authenticity.

We tried the cold appetizer sample, which was a great assortment. Favorites were the eggplant and the tomato and vegetable mixture. Interestingly, they were served with crusty bread rather than the traditional puffy Lava? Turkish bread.

The hot appetizers we tried included falafel, which was crispier and a different shape that we were used to, and some excellent zucchini pancakes.

We also shared one entree that was an assortment of all the meats, and thought each was very well prepared. The lamb chop was my favorite, as it had a nice char.

Service was friendly and efficient, especially considering the restaurant was completely full.

ABA Turkish Restaurant
325 W 57th St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 655-9368
http://www.yelp.com/biz/aba-turkish-restaurant-new-york