We may not do reviews at MenuPages, but our legions of users are all over that. Here are four of interest.
Opinion Polls & Market Research
This week, we’ve rounded up what we believe to be the top reviews of the week, and we’re going to leave it to you, dear readers, to decide which one is the very best. They’re quite different from each other - some are positive and some are negative, some are servicey and some are glowing and some are critical and some are well-written and some are verbose. It’s hard to dictate the metrics by which you should determine the best review of the four - probably whichever one gives you the best sense of the restaurant, good, bad or ugly. Alternatively, choose the review that you most enjoyed reading, whether you learned anything or not - at MP:Chicago, we are not slaves to the functional. Okay, here they are, presented without commentary:
1) Semiramis | “brett” | 10/17:
I love this place. We usually have it delivered so don’t take my service and atomosphere rating too seriously. I gave the service a 5 b/c they deliver quickly and the dude is really nice. I just went to place my order and was dissapointed that they took off the Lubeeh Bel Zeit which was super sick (in a good way). Apparently nobody was ordering it which is a shame. Anyway, their menu is small but everything is really, really tasty. Everything is really reasonalby priced and it’s BYOB to boot. Those wo things in tandem add up to a cheap date. If your in the neighborhood, or even if you’re not, make sure you give this place a try! It’s the goodness.
2) Bridgeport Coffee House | “Zellah60609” | 10/17:
I was so happy when the B-port Coffee House opened a few years ago. I am a huge supporter of small, mom and pop establishments, so I really want to support them. The cookies, sandwiches and tea are all good. The coffee, well…in my opinion is bitter and not so good. I know the owner roasts his own beans, but I have tried it several times and it never gets any better. Another unfortunate thing is that , they keep a TV on the whole time they are open and when they have satellite radio on the music is HORRIBLE. If you go to a coffee house on the north side, there isn’t a TV set, but in B-port there is TV…how annoying! I really want to like this place because it’s really cute, the people are nice, it’s close to my house and I want to support local business. However, I LOVE coffee and the coffee must be good. Mike, please reconsider your roasting and offer a less bitter blend, shut off the damn TV set and play some decent music. Thank you!
3) Ping Pong | “Boy7” | 10/19:
Ok. So after reading all the reviews online, me and my friend who just arrived from San Francisco decided to check this place out. I regret we did.
Pros: Great atmosphere. We tried the calamari appetizer which was great too. Very less quantity though. The wine was ok. Standard Californian white wine which you can buy for 4$ at Jewel Osco or Trader Joes.
cons: Average Food. You can get much better food for the same price or even cheaper price. If you know what real asian food is, there are better places to go to in the city.
We ordered Singaporean street noodles and spicy beef for our main course. First of all we had to wait for 20 minutes and I had to remind the waitress twice about our food.
Second, when the food did come out, we had shrimp and chow fun ou our table which WE DID NOT order. We anyway decided to go ahead and eat since we didn’t want to wait for another 20 minutes.
The waitress later came and apologized for messing up the order and told us that the food we were eating was meant for the table next to us. She also asked us if we still wanted our orginal food after we were almost done.
We did not get any discounts or apology from the management for messing up our evening.
I am surely not going there ever again. And we paid $60 for food which wasn’t worth more then $12.
Verdict: There are tons of other great places for much better Asian food with good atmosphere and same prices.
If you do decide to go here, make sure you get what you order. And certainly avoid their shrimp with peanuts. Its just boiled shrimp with too much peanuts and oyster sauce.
4) Smak-Tak | “Joe” | 10/21:
I was in town on business and heard about the Polish section of Chicago from my sister in Florida. I searched the web and took a chance on Smak Tak. What a find!!! I was pleasantly surprised how quaint and authentic the decor was, it reminded me of Zakopane in Poland. I started with a bowl of borszt which was really good and then couldn’t decide between the pork cutlet or the pierogi so I got them both. They first brought out the pork cutlet which looked wonderful. It was huge and covered with mushrooms. It was accompanied with real mashed potatoes covered with dill, a nice portion of marinated carrots and a delicious cucumber/sour cream salad. About half way through that I was already stuffed but they brought out the pierogi, 13 of them! I asked for an assortment and they delivered. First one was blueberry, then plum, then cherry, then cheese, then meat…I had to stop before I burst! They were delicious!!! I had to pack up leftovers. The best part…the whole thing with a drink was just around $20. I HIGHLY recommend this palce and will definitely go back next time I’m in Chicago. Na Zdrowie!
So the plan is, we will reveal the results of the poll next Tuesday; hopefully, people will have voted by then. Maybe we’ll remind you later this week, depending on how depressing the numbers are. This is exciting! And it paves the way for other polls, and maybe even contests. With prizes! (The kind that don’t cost money though.)
Semiramis [MenuPages]
Bridgeport Coffee House [MenuPages]
Bridgeport Coffee House [Official Site]
Ping Pong [MenuPages]
Ping Pong [Official Site]
Smak-Tak [MenuPages]
Smak-Tak [Official Site]
