Restaurant review - Gumrai Thai Arlington Heights, Illinois

This is a easy place for our family to go for lunch.  Our middle kid loves the fried rice here - check.  Our oldest daughter likes thai food - check.  Our youngest is adventurous in his eating - check.  Phew...all three are happy.....rare.  And it is reasonably priced.  Service is good, but parking can be a bit of a headache.  Don't let that stop you.....just be patient.

 These are the potstickers we had.  Crunchy and flavorful.  And their dipping sauce is good too.

 This comes with all lunch ordered - 2 sticks of chicken satay with peanut sauce.  Cucumber salad and a sweet and sour like soup.  All tasty and makes your dollar stretch even further.

This is the pad se-ew our oldest had.  The noddles were so soft and there was a good amount of broccoli and chicken - which at some places it is mainly broccoli and noodles with a tiny bit of chicken.  Not here....

I had three maki rolls for $9 - coming with miso soup.  Good price.  I had (going clockwise) california, sweet potato and shitake mushroom. Not too much rice (again a pitfull of some places that make sushi), and all tasty.  You are thinking - sushi at a thai place.  I know, weird, but it works for me.

Restaurant review - 2nd Street Bistro Highland Park, IL - 2ND REVIEW

We went with some friends to Second Street Bistro in Highland Park, IL.  We had been there before - and loved the food.  They had never been there. Our complaints the first time around were our water was frequently empty and the tables/chairs not being so comfortable.  Well...they definitely took care of the water issue - which was a pleasure!  We never needed more water and at our table that is not easy to do.  But, the chairs and table, still not so good.  Oh well.....worth it a bit discomfort, if you ask the four of us that night.  It is also a BYOB (which I mentioned before when I reviewed this restaurant, but it is worth mentioning again).  Saves A LOT of money and I think makes for a better experience because you know what wine you are drinking and not guessing what you will like from their choices.

Our waitress was great - she knew a lot about the food and was willing to give her opinions - which I appreciate. And she was spot on with her comments and recommendations.

I shared this with my husband.  The mussels were perfectly cooked.  Nice and tender.  The sauce had a nice level of spiciness to it = kept you wanting to eat more without dieing for a drink of water.

 This was a great, unique dish.  It was SO different and tasty.  Shaved raw brussel sprouts with a vinaigrette and golden raisins, with a parmessan crisp on the top.  It was like a ultra fine coleslaw (which makes sense since brussel sprouts are like mini cabbages).  I crumbled the crisp into the salad.  So the bitter of the brussel sprouts, with the acid of the dressing with the sweet raisins and crunch of the crisp creates total harmony.  I must try to make this at home.

This was my main dish. Roasted acorn squash with broccoli rabe and roasted cherry tomatoes on pureed cauliflower and smoked paprika oil.  Fresh and full of different textures and flavors.  And just look at it....you eat as much as your eye as your mouth and my eyes were as happy as my mouth with this one.  Really great dish - if you want an alternative to a meat.  Meals like this one make me SO excited for my garden!!!

Dinner - Grilled salmon, Kraft chicken and steamed artichokes

Made a delicious supper the other night.

Quick side note.....What is supper?  I have been asked before. Well, supper is the evening meal. I tend to use it interchangeably with dinner.  I lived in the South for about 9 years - hence supper.  Supper/dinner, tag/license plate, put things up/put things away.....I love the different words used between regions.

Anyways....made a yummy supper the other night.  I grilled salmon and made chicken breasts using the Kraft Fresh Take product.  I have made both of these before, so I won't repeat it.  If you want to see more about these, you can search each dish using the search bar on the right of my blog page.

But artichokes.....'tis the season.  They are SOOOO delicious and all our kids like them.  Our oldest daughter even had a friend over (Hi Emily!) who ate them for the first time and said they were weird, but ok, as she pulled and scraped off a few more leafs.  I'll take that.  I love introducing kids to new foods!!!

Easy to make....you want to buy artichokes whose leafs are compact (not spread out).  Use a serrated knife to cut it.  Cut off the stem and the bottom few leaves with it.  Then cut off about the top 1 inch of the globe (round part).  In a steamer pan (you know....that insert with all the holes in it that came in the pot you just bought) - put about 3 inches of water in the pan, and the artichokes in the steamer pan. Cover and boil/steam. Watch the water to make sure it doesn't all boil off and burn the bottom of the pan and ruining your artichokes with the burned smoke.  Gross.....

You know when your artichokes are ready when the leaves can pull off easily and a knife goes through the stem (heart) part easily. Just pull of the leave, scrape it between your teeth and yum.  Then the gold at the end of the rainbow....the heart.  When the leaves get too thin, pull them off the heart and use a spoon to pull off the thistley/hairy part.  Then (the lights are shining and angels are singing) the heart is ready to eat.

The kids like to dip the leaves and heart into melted butter....I like it with nothing.  Just pure artichoke.....pure pleasure with no guilt.

Worth it all....absolutely!!!  Even our kids agree.....