The "Beef Tornado". Not something you're familiar with?
You should be.
A new restaurant opened up nearby my place in Wicker Park. MC Restaurant and Lounge.
Good gosh. You don't need to read the rest of this blog. Just go get you some Beef Tornado.
It had been a rainy month, but the sun was out and it is al fresco season. So I ate outside. We were greeted by a server right away who seemed to have no affiliation with the culture(s) of the food, she seemed neither French nor Vietnamese.
She was not exceptionally knowledgeable in the menu either. She gave a shot at saying some of the authentic names for the dishes, but you could tell they weren't under her control yet. Not that my tries would have been any better! She mentioned that she was new here.
I settled on the recommendation that she gave saying that the "Beef Tornado"($13) was very popular. I was interested.
I settled on Crab Rangoon(one of my faves, $5) for an appetizer.
I tried to order a drink, but I had forgot my ID, so like a good new server, she didn't let me order from the bar. Although I did note that they have inexpensive domestics and a small assortment of imports and specialty beers.
I kind of expected a nice place like this to have a specialty cocktail page, but was disappointed when a small section of the menu was dedicated to telling me that "MC Restaurant & Lounge offers a wide variety of exceptional mixed drink and fine wine. Ask your server or bartender for details."
I personally don't take issue with asking for a more exotic offerings, but I(and most patrons) would like to know what the appropriate options would be. That what the menu selections should be, an "appropriate to the cuisine" selection of drinks.
If you went to a japanese restaurant you would expect to see sake on the menu. Korean restaurant, soju. I would like to know what the cuisine calls for.
/rant
So the crab rangoon comes. Not the best version of it. The shell was ok, very little crab, very little cream cheese. Meh.
So right after I'm finished with that comes the big guns.
BEEF TORNADO!!!!
This dish hit me right in the mouth with flavor. I'm not exactly a foodie, but this was just rich in delicious seasonings. Plenty of beef fillet, side of white rice. Awesome sauce.
As I was finishing up, the rain started coming down, hard. We were under an umbrella and the rain wasn't hitting us at all, so we just took it in. A guy came out smoking, and insisted on saying how good the restaurant was and mispronouncing "Vietnamese" 14 times. Guh.
Go here. Try the Tornado.
I'm sure I'll be back, and when I go, I'll report on the bar situation.
~Josh~
You should be.
A new restaurant opened up nearby my place in Wicker Park. MC Restaurant and Lounge.
Good gosh. You don't need to read the rest of this blog. Just go get you some Beef Tornado.
It had been a rainy month, but the sun was out and it is al fresco season. So I ate outside. We were greeted by a server right away who seemed to have no affiliation with the culture(s) of the food, she seemed neither French nor Vietnamese.
She was not exceptionally knowledgeable in the menu either. She gave a shot at saying some of the authentic names for the dishes, but you could tell they weren't under her control yet. Not that my tries would have been any better! She mentioned that she was new here.
I settled on the recommendation that she gave saying that the "Beef Tornado"($13) was very popular. I was interested.
I settled on Crab Rangoon(one of my faves, $5) for an appetizer.
I tried to order a drink, but I had forgot my ID, so like a good new server, she didn't let me order from the bar. Although I did note that they have inexpensive domestics and a small assortment of imports and specialty beers.
I kind of expected a nice place like this to have a specialty cocktail page, but was disappointed when a small section of the menu was dedicated to telling me that "MC Restaurant & Lounge offers a wide variety of exceptional mixed drink and fine wine. Ask your server or bartender for details."
I personally don't take issue with asking for a more exotic offerings, but I(and most patrons) would like to know what the appropriate options would be. That what the menu selections should be, an "appropriate to the cuisine" selection of drinks.
If you went to a japanese restaurant you would expect to see sake on the menu. Korean restaurant, soju. I would like to know what the cuisine calls for.
/rant
So the crab rangoon comes. Not the best version of it. The shell was ok, very little crab, very little cream cheese. Meh.
So right after I'm finished with that comes the big guns.
BEEF TORNADO!!!!
This dish hit me right in the mouth with flavor. I'm not exactly a foodie, but this was just rich in delicious seasonings. Plenty of beef fillet, side of white rice. Awesome sauce.
As I was finishing up, the rain started coming down, hard. We were under an umbrella and the rain wasn't hitting us at all, so we just took it in. A guy came out smoking, and insisted on saying how good the restaurant was and mispronouncing "Vietnamese" 14 times. Guh.
Go here. Try the Tornado.
I'm sure I'll be back, and when I go, I'll report on the bar situation.
~Josh~
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