The Other Critics

Tamarkin Finds ‘Seriously Good Food’ at Fish Bar; Antico Surprises Ted Cox

Choose wisely at Fish Bar
Choose wisely at Fish Bar Photo: Huge Galdones/Galdones Photograpy

• Though David Tamarkin can’t decide whether Fish Bar is “a joke,” the food can also be “seriously good.” It’s best to stick to the grilled items like a “perfect piece of trout” and “three sweet, buttery shrimp.” Unfortunately the soups are “lackluster” and the fried items are inconsistent. Luckily, you can end with “Mindy Segal’s marvelous key lime pie.” [TOC]

• Ted Cox thinks that while Antico looks like a regular neighborhood restaurant from the outside, it has “NASCAR engine under the hood.” The servers “purred on without a hiccup,” and nearly every dish worked. The cuttlefish fritti “beat any calamari I’d ever had,” and the sauteed mushrooms served over polenta was a “knockout.” Best of all were the gnocchi with sage, which “melted in the mouth.” [Chicago Reader]

• Heather Shouse thinks that when Lure Izakaya sticks “to the idea of an izakaya,” it does “a bang-up job.” Basically, you should “avoid anything listed as having more than two components.” A dish of clams and fettucine was “disastrous,” while “underripe tomatoes” ruined two other dishes. Luckily, “the simplest of the snacky Japanese small plates…nail it.” The grilled seafood was “excellent,” and poached mackerel was “delicious in its simplicity and quality.” [TOC]

• Pat Bruno found Three Aces to be a “trifecta of bar/lounge/restaurant.” It’s “noisy” and about as “comfortable as the middle seat in coach on a flight to Las Vegas,” but the food is “quite good.” The grilled romaine salad “held me in thrall.” And the steak sandwich was “was an Italian beef sandwich taken to another level.” [Sun Times]

Tamarkin Finds ‘Seriously Good Food’ at Fish Bar; Antico Surprises