Go Take a Nap! (the Blog)

The crew wanted one last meal and I wanted more meat, so we went to Masala (advertising vegetarian specialties).

NAAN.

It’s a bit of a no-frills joint, but the service is friendly and the place is clean enough. The hand soap in the men’s bathroom was a Dial foam soap refilled with regular hand soap, so it oozed out and squirted with little farting noises. That was fun to do.

Eponymous dish.

With a name like Masala, I felt obligated to get the Chicken Tikka Masala. It was a little creamier and less spiced than I was hoping for, but they have a shaker of what seemed to be cayenne/paprika, so that helped quite a bit. The rice was good and everyone seemed to enjoy their respective entrees, mostly vegetarian choices.

Posted in On Food

I fondly remembered the lentil soup, and Ripshaw was kvetching that the meat wave had conquered him, so how about lentil soup and falafel?

Non-meat wave.

The lentil soup is Quite Nice and comes with a lemon wedge which I think is a sine qua non for lentil soup. I’ve generally assumed lentil soup was vegetarian (vegan, even), but I’m pretty sure the broth is chicken-based. I could be wrong about that point.

The pita bread is super-fresh and I believe it’s made at a bakery in town. Prices are affordable and the staff is friendly. I’ve never really had anything but the soup and falafel, so I can’t speak for the meat dishes. If you’re feeling over-meated, this could be the cure.

Posted in On Food

Time to make that meat wave more interesting, make it . . . more Asian. I’ve had difficulty finding any good Thai in downtown Chicago, but Ravenswood has some good spots like Aroy Thai, Siam Country, and Royal Thai. This night, it was Aroy Thai (we were headed to Royal Thai on Montrose, but it’s closed on Tuesdays).

Egg roll and papaya salad.

The egg rolls were crispy and hot, and although I was suspicious of the papaya salad (it has no meat in it), I really liked it. Beware: the papaya salad is mofo hot. Well, not quite mofo hot. Pretty hot, though, enough to make the next morning a bit of a gastrointestinal struggle.

Chicken meat.

Chicken satay is something I can fully endorse as part of a meat wave. Peanut sauce and cucumber salad and chicken, that could make a good sandwich. It’s also good to put it all in your mouth as not part of a sandwich.

Basil meat.

We had a green curry (pork) and a beef basil (beef). The basil beef was pretty spicy-hot, but not as hot as the papaya salad. The green curry was well balanced and I really liked both dishes. Highly recommended, and BYOB.

Posted in On Food

Just a quick note about Downtown Dogs. They make a good, representative Chicago dog.

A lot like itself.

I had the char dog (the only way to go, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION), and it’s got all the stuff on it. It tastes just like it should. The fries are good. I even don’t mind that damn sweet relish but I did take off the tomato which was obviously not in season and looked like something they make astronauts eat in space. The main problem is that all those toppings are wet and make the bun mealy by halftime.

Whatever. It’s good. It’s part of the meat wave.

Posted in On Food

I loved my first visit to Big Star, even though it was only for some side-window tacos outside on the picnic benches. I was excited to go back and continue to surf the meat wave.

Chippies.

We started with chips and guacamole, both of which were very good. The avocados were fresh and you don’t need to mess much with good avocados. We also dove into a side of frijoles charros, which feature bacon, so that’s a good idea. Another good idea is to get a chip, get some guacamole on it, squirt some of the red salsa and green salsa on it, and then get a piece of the bacon from the beans on that, too, and then you’ve really got something.

Fish, a-fish, a-fishy fish, ooooh!

I normally hide and run from seafood in the Midwest, but breaded and fried fish has got to be good, and so it was in the taco de pescado (“fish taco”). This was my favorite taco, even though I had previously raved about the taco al pastor (“Pope’s taco”). This may sound small, but tacos at Big Star have one good tortilla instead of two crappy ones. That’s a good idea. I’d rather eat one good tortilla than two crappy ones, and I don’t like the filler feel of the extra tortilla. Everything that comes on the taco de pescado is a great mix: cabbage, cilantro, lime, chipotle mayo. I added some salsa roja (“red soss”).

Tri-meat!

Of particular sadness was the taco al pastor, which when I had the first time, was a tender, lovely delight. I love the grilled pineapple and onion combo, but this time the pork was simply overdone. It was dry, chewy, and hard to eat.

But I’ll forgive them, this time.

Posted in On Food

I know there’s some kind of Italian beef war going on, but I say “What’s the big beef?” I’m riding a meat wave to love. I’ve always been a Mr. Beef kinda guy, but Al’s Beef is all over Chicago, so they must be doing something right.

I had amazingly never hit up Al’s Beef for an Italian beef, and the one in River North was, as they say, at hand. I noticed they sell a lot of stuff besides Italian beefs at Al’s beef, which begs the question: “Why?” Also, the River North spot has table seating, so you aren’t expected to do “the stance” over a ledge.

I had mine dipped, which is plenty juicy for me (there are other options, like “juicy” and “soaked,” which sound like real commitments), and hot, with the giardiniera.

A meaty treaty delight.

If we’re comparing to Mr. Beef, Al’s Beef is pretty similar, but I think the meat is slightly more tender at Al’s Beef. The only complaint I have is that I think the meat is soaked in spices for either too long or with too many spices (all-spice, specifically). I prefer a more vanilla approach to the meat (it’s meat, it’s good, no need to spice it, I have giardiniera, thanks). But Al’s Beef is a fantastic sandwich and I’d eat one right now and all day until I got sick and then I’d probably have one more.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

I prefer the fries at Mr. Beef, they being more shoestring in nature and with less skin, but Al’s Beef gets the fries good and crispy and they came out good and hot.

Logistics: even with just a dipped sandwich, it’s a mess. There’s no restroom at this location, and it would be nice just to have a bird bath somewhere to rinse. Otherwise, it’s a great crest of a meat wave.

Posted in On Food

It’s been awhile since I had Neapolitan pizza, and many years since I was last at Spacca Napoli. I have a confession to make: I prefer a good slice of New York pepperoni over Neapolitan pizzas. There, I said it. Now beat me with sticks at the public square or something.

Special salt.

We did a pretty poor job planning our meal because we were all pretty hungry and we chose a series of heavy items, like burrata, meatballs, and pizzas. I think we threw in a salad somewhere, but probably only for looks.

Meat-a balls-a.

The burrata was a first for me, a freshly imported pulled mozzarella. Mozzarella is one of my favorite cheeses, and to be able to taste it so fresh was a little treat. To follow it up with meatballs seemed like a good idea (it was), and while I don’t normally like sweet notes in anything but desserts, the couple of raisins in each one was fine, and the marinara is Really Quite Nice there.

As for the pizzas, we had a Margherita and a pizza bianche (without red sauce). For me, you’ve got to have marinara on the pizza, or else it seems like you forgot something. Thus, the Margherita was my favorite and I was sort of coming down from a meat high with the meatballs, so I wanted to get back on the meat wave and wish we would’ve had some sausage or salami on the pizza. The dough is perfect at Spacca Napoli, with good toothiness and excellent taste (although I don’t eat the corona (crust)).

Prices are reasonable, our service was great, and on the weekends you’ll definitely want to make a reservation. Just be sure to order more smartly than we did and avoid a lot of heavy foods before your pizzas.

Posted in On Food

[Note: Jack Jackson is away on vacation this week. In his place is Billy Halvorson, aged 9, a budding young gossip columnist.-- Eds.]

Hey guys, I’m supposed to write about Justin Bieber this week cuz I guess he smokes a lotta weed and he doesn’t listen to his parents and he gets mad when he can’t get his underage friends into clubs, but mom said he’s still a good role model and she’d like it if I could make her a bunch of money someday, but I don’t know how to sing and my dad says he’s probably gay even though he has sex with models all the time and I just want to get to the next level of Plants vs. Zombies.

I’m really worried worried that North Korea is gonna bomb my house because dad said they have a new rocket that can reach us but he’s not sure if they know where we live, but he’s been up on the roof adding foil and newspapers to get ready. He also bought some guns and he wants me to learn how to use them, but I already know how because I play Call of Duty all day and all my teachers bring their guns to school and let us play with them during Show and Tell.

My Adderall prescription is running low and my Ritalin doesn’t mix with it very well, so my pediatrician thinks I should start on Lithium and Xanax, but dad says those are for crazy people, and he’ll be damned if he has a crazy son. He told me I needed to learn how to fix the lawnmower because when the Chinese army invades, I won’t be able to take it to the store for repairs anymore and anyone who knows how to fix lawnmowers will get special treatment and get more rice from the new government.

Well, time to eat some chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs!

Posted in Go Take a Nap!

Carrie Fisher said she would be playing an older Princess Leia in the next Star Wars movie, but her representatives had no comment when asked for confirmation. Carrie, that’s Just Nice. I’m going to be playing an older Jack Jackson in the new Star Wars movies. [We'll play older editors.--Eds.]

Taylor Swift almost made $1million after flipping a house she bought to be closer to Connor Kennedy whom she was apparently dating last year. Taylor, that’s Quite Nice. It’s good to hear you’re doing alright with your investments. [We're happy for her, too.--Eds.]

And James Franco said he’d like to be in a musical. James, Go Take a Nap! You’ve done enough for now. How about leaving the public eye for a month? [Or two?--Eds.]

Posted in Go Take a Nap!

Seth MacFarlane said he had fun hosting the Oscars but he would not host again if asked. Seth, Go Take a Nap! Do you really think you’ll get asked to host the Oscars again? And if you somehow did, you always, always say yes to Oscar. [Yes.--Eds.]

Morrissey said there would be less war if more men were homosexual, because homosexual men don’t start wars to kill homosexual men. Morrissey, Go Take a Nap! Don’t you remember the Great Gay Wars of 1513? [It was a low point in gay war history.--Eds.]

And Richard Burton finally got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hollywood Walk of Fame, that’s Just Nice. Maybe you can dig up his corpse and put his hands in some wet cement for us, too. [Ew, gross.--Eds.]

Posted in Go Take a Nap!