Brussels - Beer museum near Grote Market is utter crap, Belgium

This place charges €5 and it's basically five Euros too much. The place is small, with some vaguely brewery type decorations and some lame video which I didn't bother finishing. In fact, the video is like one of those internet sites that show useless shit to see how long dumb people stare at it for.

The beer at the end is lame and small, worth maybe €1.

As it turns out, we were lame too, because we didn't read some reviews ( http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188644-d245729-Reviews-Cantillon_Brewery-Brussels.html ) to check beforehand.

Score: -10 out of 10

DessertTruck Works, New York

A friend of mine suggested that I should have desserts here, so I come and try before I leave the City tomorrow!

I ordered 2 chocolate desserts: a bread pudding (on the left) which they renown for and a chocolate macaroon (on the right).


Chocolate pudding, US$5.97+tax, (recommended)
It is delicious and you can choose either bacon sauce or vanilla sauce. I picked bacon one as it's not very common.


Macaroon, US$4.97+tax, Not Recommended
Well, after eating the chocolate pudding, this one is a bit disappointing.
I love macaroons so much that I try whenever I see them. I don't rate this one caz the vanilla flavor is tooo strong which is a bit weird.

One good thing is that the macaroon is crispy though.

Overall, it's a nice place.

Maude's Liquor and Bar @ Chicago, Illinois

It was my second last night here in Chicago and I had reserved Moto for dinner.  I was accidently 2 hours late due to different time zone confusion, so I stumpled upon and had my dinner at Maude.

84W Randolph
Chicago, IIllinois
(312)243 9712
The area is full of different types of restaurants, bars and galleries, if you have spare time, it's a nice place to chill out. 

So I ordered a few dishes below (without main courses) for our dinner:

Shrimp cocktail, US$18, GOOD
7 medium size shrimps, pretty fresh with 3 sauces - ketchup, grounded pepper and a french sauce mixed with mayonnaise.

Tataie, US$17, RECOMMENDED
The tataie + pieces of crispy toast with butter, the best thing is that they're not hard that don't hurt your mouth. The aroma of butter mix with fresh beef and crisy toast are prefect match.  I am motuwatering now ;)

Lyonaisse, US$12, GOOD

A salad and 2 pieces + of smoked pork belly + an egg. The pork belly is pretty thick (unlike bacon) and it's excellent to eat with salad. It tastes a bit like Japaness black pig.

Escargot, US$9, FAIR
7 pieces, the sauce is mixed with herbs and lemon juice. The bread flavor tastes cool after dipping the sauce.

Chocolate Mousse, US$10, NOT RECOMMENDED
They have very limtied choices of desserts, only 2, and I pick chocolate mousse.  If you are a fan of dark chocolate, this might not be your cup of tea. This mousse is made with heavy milk chocolate and the chocolate flavor isn't very strong. I personally don't recommend ordering it.

Overall, it's a nice restaurant with good services and food. If you have time, you can explore other restaurants nearby!!

Deep dish in Chicago, The Loop

This restaurant is located at the CBD of Chicago so you can drop by and have a quick lunch before you go on your trip.

This is the only deep dish I have in Chicago, so its kinda my personal judgement. Deep dish here is good, the crust is crispy and you can pick your own size, 4/6/8 slices. I decided to have the smallest one so I can try some more different food in the rest of the day.

Staff here is nice and helpful and this pizza cost around US$10.

Overall, it's a nice place to have a break during a day.

After eating a deep dish, I don't really like it that much as it feels like I am eating a stuffed bread.  It's still a nice experience afterall.   

Breakfast in Chicago, Loop

My first stop this trip is in Chicago, will stay here for 1 more night then fly to
New York on this coming weekend.

Just want to do a quick blog to share my trip with you.

Woke up early at 7 this morning and had a nice breakfast at Toni Patisserie and Cafe. 
65 E. Washington St. Chicago IL 60602
312‑726‑2020
7am to 7pm (M-F); Saturday 8am to 8pm; Sunday 8am to 5pm

Its a nice small cafe where work people drop by and grab a quick breakfast.  It locataed near most of the tourist destinations

I rate the double chocolate cookie and the quiche. If you have to choose between them, go for the quiche ;).  Everything below costs US$16.

Will keep you guys posted.

Tea at Ritz Carlton, Toroto

It's just a friends gathering, so we pick a comfortable place to have our high tea and we randomly pick Ritz Carlton in downtown, Toronto.

I swear that I would never go there again!!!!!!! SUCKS!!!!!!

Summary
Cost -$50/person; it's totally not worth it at all!!!!
Food - bad!!!! We left more
than half of the food there
Service - it's fine.
Environment - comfortable, not too noisy.

Food

Oh my god!! I don't know where to start, the whole set is crap.
I will start from drinks first, they only offer tea, coffee is not available at all. This is the first time that I couldn't get a coffee for my high tea.  Next, the sandwiches taste bad, they taste like homemade ones, the bread is actually a bit hard.

Cakes, I would say the Opera is the best and others are just normal. The macaroon is just horrible, instead of crispy, it's sticky. I gotta take a sip of water after eating it to get rid of the stickness in my mouth.

Scones are horrible. They are the worst in the set. They are not soft nor buttery.
It's just soggy.

Last, croissants are relatively better among them all. I am not saying that it's flaky or crispy, just that they taste a bit better with a piece of smoke salmon in each. 

Environment

It's good to have a chill with you friends, a confortable and quite place to spend an afternoon there. Other than that, I believe the Ritz Carlton in Asia is better than this one, including services.


Afterall, I am just enjoying an afternoon there with friends. 

Ramen in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles

Came to Daikokuya Original Noodle & Rice Bowl because the long queue here attracted my attention.

I was there at 9, but there was still a long queue!! So, I waited for 15-20mins. This restaurant closes at 12am, try to go there later at 11 and see if there is a queue;)

I am happy with the ramen there as it tastes similar to some random ramen places in Tokyo.

Environment - "eat-and-go" restaurant, where is not good for friends gathering.
Service - not bad
Price - around $15/person

Food

1) Tsukemen, $8.95 - cold noodles + hot soup + pan fried chashu

I like this one more as the noodles are chewy and the chashu smells and taste better after slightly pan fried it.

2) Daikoku Romen, $8.50 - noodles in hot soup with chashu

This one tastes good as well, just that the noodles are less chewy than the one above. Other than that, the two are pretty much the same.

Don't forget to bring cash, they don't accept credit card.

I will visit this restaurant again if I come to LA next time. ;)