Cafe Central!

I recorded this years ago with my good buddies Masahiro and Sung Hoon (Sonny). Here I am pluggin one of my all time favorites, Cafe Central! This is some of the most amazing Puerto Rican food, right here in Chicago! It is also the first place I ever took my wife to eat and we have been inseparable ever since! Enjoy!

Bang Bang Pie-Biscuit-Coffee, where everything you put in yer mouth feels like a hug.

Bang Bang Pie Coffee and Biscuits at 2051 N. California in Chicago's very own Logan Square. Bang Bang is one of Chicago's many pie shops that have been cropping up in the city throughout the past few years. Which I freakin love!! You can never get enough pie! I really dig this spot and feel it is definitely worth the time to swing by and check it out. Now let's get to the food/pie & biscuits!

The chocolate coconut pie. Ridiculous!! Worthy of shoving in yer face!! I did.

Banana, toffee, and i think walnut?? pie. This was also completely Monte-licious!!

First I am shoving the chocolate coconut pie in my face.

as soon as the creamy, smooth whip cream hits my mouth my taste buds lit up!! The chocolate is silky, sweet and mild. Not to rich and overpowering. Just right!

Btw, I loved the crust, but only ate a bite. As much as love a good crust, I feel it is filler, and I am mostly interested in the filling. Plus I am trying to watch my figure currently.

They weigh the each biscuit to the exact same size. I love this, I hate anyone gettin over on me and would be pissed if one of my friends had a larger biscuit than I. Very pissed!!

some behind the scenes action of the chocolate pie bein made

Looks like graham cracker, crumble crust is bein prepped. I hope I am correct, I didn't double check. Meh... They didn't seem interested in speaking with me for to long anyway. But they did let me take these pics.

After you get yer biscuit you have yer choice of fresh butters and fresh jam. How freakin cool is that??! Super cool.

Behold..... The BISCUIT. I would love this f*cker with some sausage gravy!! The biscuit is perfectly crunchy on the outside

...and soft and doughy on the inside. Absorbent too! It is made to accept butter! Like my gut.

Salted butter

Blueberry Jam

This, or make sweet love Pamela Anderson??

Biscuit wins this time, Pamela!

Takin it down

So damn good!

I am lovin it.

Yes. Bottom gone first.

Look at the crunchy top. In my opinion Bang Bang is totally one of the best spots to get a biscuit in Chicago. If you love biscuits, you will love em here.

Eggs, pourable and shredded cheese atoppa fries?? What? Oh yes!

Does this look prettier than yer baby? If yer answer is No, leave me, my page, my life, everything... Stat!

This is a divine meal, a meal meant to be enjoyed by royalty! Luckily I found it in a somewhat dumpyish bar.

What is it all? If ya can't tell, it's 2 sunny side up eggs atop pourable& shredded cheese, atop french fries! So freakin' Monte-licious!! Unfortunately I had to share these with my wife, but I ate the lions share. It's how I roll! All class!

Look at me go!

I always do it right!

I am proud to be yer hero.

Here is the place... The Irish Mill! 26592 N Il Rt 83
Mundelein, IL 60060 It's a drive, but it is worth it. Plus there is good hiking in the area. Bring the kids out, make it a day.

Outside seating on a huge wrap around deck. I didn't take any interior pics. but it's yer basic bar with T.V's and they smoke indoors still. That stinks, but ya go outside is all. Unless it's winter, then ya just call the cops. ; ) Just kidding.

You can play bags!

Look at yer surroundings if you weer to sit and eat or drink outside. Beautiful!

Bacon, Bacon, and Meatloaf!

This place does not need my support, they do well on their own. But this one is for my moms, and all my bacon lovers out there. I am at Publican in Chicago. Publican is located at 837 W. Fulton Market, and is way over priced, but delicious. But waaaaaay over priced. But extremely Monte-licious! The bacon alone is so good I would go back just for that. Pictured above is the Meatloaf sandwich topped with an egg and a side of beans. The meatloaf was tender, juicy, and flavorful. It had a nice meaty, generously spiced flavor. It was really terrific! The side of beans was nothing special, and I finished them because they were more expensive than several cans of beans alone. I felt obligated. And they're meats come from locally sourced butchers, which I love! But hate paying a high tax because of it.

This is the bacon at Publican. Look at that! Seriously, just stare at it for a while. Back? Good. It's about an inch thick or so, and tender as a piece of warm butter. This bacon was meaty, a pinch sweet, and ridiculously Monte-licious! I have never had bacon this good anywhere in my life, from anywhere on this great big green and blue planet of ours! If I had an opportunity to try an make love to a super model, I would try to appease her with this bacon. It is that freakin good!

My wife got a waste of calories salad. It looked and smelled good, but c'mon! Look at that bacon again.

It is all about the bacon my friends. And yer hero knows how to do it right! I love you!

Go just for the bacon. Just for the BACON!

My new favorite salad, and it's topped with grilled beef!

This is the Papaya Salad with Grilled Beef from Hoanh Long at 6144 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago. This a Vietnamese, Seafood, and Pho spot. Seafood is their specialty, and they also have Chinese, and some Thai food on the menu. I have eatin a lot of stuff from here, and this is easily my favorite meal from Hoanh Long so far, the Papya Salad with grilled beef. This has a nice mix of a cool sweet and savory papaya salad, topped off with a blast of grilled meat! Monte-licious!

Let's take a look inside; shostring papaya, onion, carrot, mint, in a sweet and spicy sauce. It is then topped off with thin, tender, grilled pieces of beef, topped with peanuts and fried garlic. It comes with a few fish flavored rice cakes, but I don't touch those. This is an appetizer, and I order it as my meal, it is that freakin good! Also, there is a similar meal on the menu, it is the Sweet n Sour Papaya Salad, do not get that, the beef is not grilled in that dish.

Yer hero about to enjoy his dominant ordering decision while his friend still awaits his meal. Yes, I eat as soon as my meal comes. No manners!

Savagery at it's best!

So not handsome, nor sexy while I eat. Yet I have a wife. Who knew??

This is a hot pot. Another smart order. They have beef, pork, and fish hot pots. combo pots are also available. A pot has a burner brought to yer table, and then it comes with a pot of soup. The soup is huge and filled with tons of "Asian style" veggies, and yer meat choice. When you get beef, you get everything. Brain, tripe, etc. They serve it all! And it's the good stuff, the soup gelatinizes. If the used a beef stock, it would remain a liquid when cool. The fact that it turns to a gelatin is really good, yer getting the collagen and that is really good for you!

Check out Hoanh Long when you get a chance, you will love it. And the service is good, which I love! They always have somewhat inappropriate movies playing on the T.V. which I enjoy. This hot pot is filled with seafood, which is actually what they are none for, seafood is their specialty!

Ras Dashen for Ethiopian, where the food comes fresh! Not from a freakin in house Buffet in the kitchen!

Ras Dashen is easily one of the nations greatest Ethiopian spots you can dine in. They are Monte, and Michelin Recommended. Ras Dashen is located in the Edgewater neighborhood at 5846 N. Broadway. And no matter where you live, it's worth the drive/visit. First let me say that everything comes fresh!! It's not out in 3 minutes like most every other freakin Ethiopian restaurant in the city. And if you go for Ethiopian, you know what I am saying. The food is prepared fresh per order. So you will wait, but it is worth it!

From the oven to the table, fresh! Look at how damn delicious it all looks!!!! And the waitresses are hot!! They make their own Injera bread, fresh, every day!! FRESH!! Not ordered in from somewhere else, product control! Helps keep the consistency.

Ethiopian food is eaten with Injera bread, and placed atop of the Injera bread as well. Injera bread by definition; (taken from wikipedia, thanks!)
Injera (Amharic, Tigrinya: እንጀራ, pronounced [ɨndʒəra], sometimes transliterated enjera; Oromo: budenaa; Somali: canjeero) is a yeast-risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture. Traditionally made out of teff flour,^[1] it is a national dish in Ethiopia and Eritrea. A similar variant is eaten in Somalia (where it is called canjeero or lahooh) and Yemen (where it is known as lahoh).

You eat with yer hands! Fun!

The purple stuff is cabbage, the yellow stuff is split pea, the red to the right of the yellow stuff are red lentils. The white stuff is a very soft and fluffy goat cheese. The red stuff in the center is a stewed lamb steak in strips, and little chunks. And the brown stuff is a mushroom thingy, I don't like shrooms so I skipped em. Everything is exceptionally flavorful, slightly spicy, and will give ya the sh*ts. But is so freakin Monte-licious it is worth it! Here is a link to their web page for all and any other information you may need, or want http://www.rasdashenchicago.com/

Street side Tacos!!! Eat on, or in yer car. Only!!!

Isabelles Streetside Tacos, located roughly at 3600 S. Kedzie. I say roughly cause she is on the street, in a parking lot, selling tacos. Some of the best I have had in a long time too! And they're only $1.50 a piece!

She even makes the corn taco shells by hand!! While you wait! You barely see that in brick and mortar taco spots!! These are awesome taco shells! Nothing beats hand made food items. No machine will do it better than this lady right here.

Look at Isabelle preppin the shells, not only with her hands, but with love. That is why she wears all red, love.

Flattening the shell for yer pleasure

Removing the shell

Then cooking the shell! These are some of the tastiest corn shells you can ever put into yer mouth. Monte-licious with every bite!

Steamy steak goodness. Oh, she uses styrofoam plates, ask her to put napkins on the plate first, you don't want hot, melty styrofoam on yer taco.

Steamy chicken goodness. Look at that...... ahhhhhh. It's like meditating.

Servin it up like a proper waitress would, and you don't even have to tip! But I do!

Isabelle also has homemade spicy salsa. The salsa is robust, has a kick, and full of flavor! You will want to try it!

Spicin up the steak taco! I should mention she has onions, cilantro, sour cream, tomatoes, and another salsa for you to use/choose from. I skipped all the other stuff, and just did cheese and salsa. I hate cilantro, and raw white or yellow onions. Only cooked, or raw red onions will do for the Mont Man!

Since it is street side, the only place to eat is going to be on, or in yer car. I chose on my trunk!

Look at the view from the trunk of my car. That is the Sears Tower in the background, behind the chain-wire fence, to the left of the smoke stacks. You will pay big bucks for a view of the skyline anywhere else. At Isabelles, I paid $3.00!!!! Or you may get a similar view of the city from a prison, where every view is from behind chain-wire fences.

Chicken taco goodness about to be gone-ness!

Look at that cheesy goodness! You gotta go and try em for yerself. And tell her Monte sent ya. She will be befuddled either by who I am, or her lack of understanding english. Either way, tell her I sent ya!