Radina's Bakehouse

If you are in Manhattan, Kansas (MHK), one of the things you need to try is Radina's coffee and bake food. The Radina's family have been operating in Manhattan since 2001, and currently, there are seven Radina's coffee house in Manhattan. It is always nicer to support local companies 😁.  We went to the Radina's Bakehouse, where the bread are baked! We really love the hand pies, but the croissant is superb as well. Coffee is nice - unlike the super-sweet coffee you get at Starbucks. Here at Radina's, the coffee beans are locally roasted, making the coffee nice and fresh!

The location (Radina's Bakehouse) is nice - good for a Sunday morning relaxing breakfast and chat. The other locations are great as well, and the ambience in each shop is always simple and cozy. Coffee and bake food at Radina's are extremely affordable. Hannah and I got two large coffee, a hand pie and two croissant, and it costed us $9.85 (including taxes).

Here is the main website for Radina's, and you can find the locations of all their shops.

https://www.radinascoffee.com/ 

Maxwell Flea Market

On Sunday, Hannah and I joined Candace and Rosco at the Maxwell Flea Market. It is a Sunday-only outdoor market featuring food and merchandise vendors, and sometimes there are live performances and events. The merchandise wasn't impressive, but the food was authentic and delicious. Candace had mentioned to me about great reviews she read about the tacos at Rubi's. When we arrived at the market, Candace and Rosco were already enjoying their tacos. Fortunately, the queue at Rubi's this Sunday was not too bad, and I jumped at the opportunity to join the long line of people queuing for delicious tacos while Hannah sat and talked to Candace and Rosco. Both Hannah and I ordered the Al Pastor (Marinated Pork), and we can only say "WOW"! 

If you are free on Sunday, and if you love authentic Mexican food, make a point to visit Rubi's at Maxwell Market. And since it is "street food" it is very affordable - the Al Pastor is $3.50 each!

Maxwell Market

800 S Desplaines St
Chicago, IL 60607

b/t Polk St & Cabrini St

Opens only on Sunday 7am - 3pm

https://www.yelp.com/biz/maxwell-street-market-chicago

Drive-in A&W Iron Mountain

Post # 500! And nothing could be better than a post on visiting good old American Food Outlet A&W on July 4th :)

Following the "tradition" of what we have been doing since we were back in USA, Hannah and I visited her parents on July 4th (Independence Day). We would usually spend the days on the farm, have BBQ by the lake, watch the parade and fireworks, and light off some fireworks at the farm! 

I always love to visit the A&W when we are home (Iron Mountain). The A&W here is closed during the winter, and thus, it is always crowded the rest of the year when it is open. Another appealing thing about this restaurant is the drive-ins, and waiters/ waitress on roller-skates delivering your orders to you while you are sitting comfortable in your car! 

Hannah and I took the opportunity of a down-time, and sneaked off to A&W drive-in for lunch. Unfortunately, the waitress wasn't on roller skates, but the whole experience was still fun. I loved the burgers and onion rings, while Hannah ordered a chili corn dog and onion rings. And of course, both of us had root-beer float. The drink comes in a huge chilled mug, and it was awesome on a hot summer day! 

One of the unique feature of this A&W is that it still retains the pilgrim hat roof. Hannah told me that the interior of the restaurant has a very classic American feel to it. Unfortunately, we did not want to get out of the car in the 90degF heat to check it out :)

Here is a link to some other classic A&W restaurants in USA (And the one in Iron Mountain is also featured on the website).

A&W restaurants in USA

Pollyanna brewery

It was a cold and rainy day, Hannah and I just finished a 10-mile 16-mile run. We were hungry and thirsty, and thus, it sounded like a great idea when Hannah suggested that we go to Pollyanna Brewery for lunch. 

When we arrived there, the place was packed! It happened to be the Chicago Brew weekend Illinois Craft Beer Week, and they were running a promotion. It also didn't help that it was cold outside, and most of the sittings in Pollyanna were outdoors. They do not serve food as well - just beer. However, there is a food truck by the brewery (Wooden Paddles) that sells very delicious pizza. We ordered a couple of pizza, and I grabbed a seat outside, while Hannah ordered us a couple of beer. Maybe they didn't expect such a huge crowd (+ cold weather), I didn't think that the waiter/manager was particularly friendly nor patient. Anyway, Hannah and I enjoyed the pizza and our beer. After the delicious pizza, we decided to head into the brewery to share a table with another couple (because it was too cold out to be comfortable, especially when our shirts were slight damp from all the running in the rain).

All in all, pizza was good, beer wasn't too shabby and we even got a growler to bring home. The interior/atmosphere was very well-done, with a good glimpse of the brewery. I assume this would be a great place if the weather was cooperating, and we can sit outdoors enjoying beer in the sun.

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken

We were on our way back to Chicago from a long weekend at the Lake of Ozarks. We just finished a "race" (which was free) at the Lake of Ozarks (Hannah promise to write a post about that!), and I had this craving for fried chicken. Thanks to Hannah (and Google!), we found Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken!

I had spicy chicken with mashed potatoes, while Hannah ordered the original honey-dipped flavored chicken and baked beans. The chicken was crispy and tasted great (I think this is what KFC secretly wants to be!), and Hannah loved the biscuits. The total cost was $12.91 which includes two drinks. THIS IS VERY CHEAP!

I realized while writing this post, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken is a chain restaurant with a number of locations through USA. We visited the one in Jefferson City, Missouri. You may be able to find one that is close to you if you like to try some great fried chicken :)

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken
https://www.leesfamousrecipe.com/

A Place by Damao

It was adventure food night again with Candace, Roscoe and Yeva! Last Sunday, we had Chengdu style food. Chengdu, just like its neighbor, Szechuan, are well-known for their spicy food. However, unlike Szechuan, Chengdu  has a slow burn in their chili/ spices. As usual during these adventure food nights, we ordered a bunch of different dishes:

- hot and sweet noodle

- spicy pig intestine vermicelli

This was the most spicy dishes of all the food we ordered! It was hardly a surprise when all the vermicelli and ingredients were soaking in reddish soup, with red peppers floating on the surface :O

(I stopped writing the word "spicy" to each dish, because there were no dishes here that are non-spicy!)

- pig feet

This was my favorite. I loved the gluey gelatin when the pig feet are cooked correctly. Together with the spicy peppers, and lots of peanuts, this was definitely my favorite dish of the night.

- rabbit meat

This was not bad as well, but there were surprising not much meat in rabbit!

- bell dumplings

Very delicious.. not your everyday dumpling.

- pork sausage

- duck's tongue

(There is a picture of Hannah enjoying her duck's tongue! :P)

- oh... the dessert are not spicy :)

Cost is very reasonable. There were five of us, and Hannah and I paid about $48 (for both of us, including tips) for the meal.  

2621 S Halsted St

Ste 1

Chicago, IL 60608

b/t 26th St & 27th St 
Bridgeport

tel. 630 793 6825

• Phone number

BBQ Supply Co

Hannah and I went to BBQ Supply Co two weeks ago for our Friday evening date :) She has been talking about this place for a while now, and had read great reviews about the food and service. The restaurant is located in Hyde Park, at the corner of 53rd Street, just opposite of CVS. It used to be a Japanese restaurant (which we had visited as well), but BBQ Supply Co took over the location about a year ago.

It served Texas style wood-fired BBQ, and there are four types of BBQ sauce on your table for you to choose. There wasn't a huge variety of beer, but we were there for their BBQ! Both of us ordered 2-meat meals - Hannah ordered pulled chicken and chopped brisket, and I ordered rib bones and chopped briskets. We sampled all the sauce, and it was good (but I do not remember what was our favorite). The service was prompt, and the waiter was friendly given that they seemed to be under-staffed. Oh, and don't forget to ask for the pickles in the jar (those tasted so good!).

The cost wasn't bad either - $48 for two meals and two beers.

Hyde Park

1301 E. 53rd St.

Chicago, IL 60615

tel. 773-675-1410

CLOSED MONDAYS

Tuesday - Friday: 11am - 9pm

Saturday: 11am - 9pm

Sunday: 11am - 9pm

Cai restaurant

Grace, Hannah and I went to Cai Restaurant for dim sum this morning. The Chinese name for the restaurant is definitely much nicer, but it is hard to translate that into English (I can't translate it as well ... I guess that's why it is just call Cai Restaurant). Candace and Yeva were supposed to join us initially, but had to miss out on the deliciousness due to other last minute events. 

We arrived at the restaurant around 10am, and was glad that we were early because there was a long line just pass 10.15am. We ordered eight different items on the menu, and one of them was chicken feet. The Chinese name is so much more elegant - claws of the phoenix, but they do look like your good old chicken feet from the farm 😛. All of us agreed that it tasted pretty good, especially the sauce, but Hannah and Grace weren't too thrilled with the texture and shape! All the food were great, and our favorite was the creamy egg yolk custard bun. The egg yolk custard was creamy, salty and sweet at the same time, and the bun was warm and soft. We even ordered an extra serving of buns!

It wasn't too costly. It was about the price you would be expecting for dim sum. For the nine-items, and a pot of hot tea, the total cost was around $48. There is clear indication of the cost of each item on the menu - it ranges from $4 for normal dim sum dishes to $8 for special dishes. 

** Remember to be there by 10am on weekends to ensure prompt seating. 

Cai Restaurant

http://www.cairestaurant.com/

2100 S. ARCHER AVE. 2FL. CHICAGO IL 60616 US
Tel. 312 326 6888