Chicago: Day 43 - 44

I met Steph for lunch on Friday. He picked me up from the Starbucks at a suburban mall near his workplace. We were heading to Six Flags that day, to Hurricane Harbour, the water theme park. Hence, I had followed him on his ride to work that morning so that we could cut down on travelling time. 

We had lunch at Pita Inn first, a simple mediterranean eatery that was surprisingly good, cheap and zagat-rated. It was one of Steph's favourite lunch places and he was eager to let me try it. 

Typical lunch crowd. 

The Business Lunch Set. The meat and sauces were really good :)

Thereafter, we headed straight for Six Flags. The weather was the hottest all week and the park was packed with people. We sat on almost all the rides, beginning with the milder ones and building up to the more thrilling ones. I found them all pretty enjoyable! :) Steph liked the Dive-Bomber and Mega Wedgie best though. It was the only one that really gave him a kick as it played with our minds - we had to stand in an enclosed single-person chamber and wait for the floor beneath us to give way and drop us on a long, looping gigantic water slide (for the former) or a near vertical five storey plunge (for the latter). It was one hell of a ride! And the most exciting of them all.  

We were famished after having gone on most of the attractions. Since we were in the suburbs, Steph suggested going to Bob Chinns Crab House. for dinner. He had gone there for lunch with his boss and colleagues once - and, according to him, the seafood there was just awesome! So we took a drive down. 

To my surprise, the establishment was not only huge but crowded with people! Both Asians and Caucasians alike. I was amazed at just how good it must be to have drawn such a vast and diverse crowd.

Bob met us at the end of our queue. He handed us our menus and directed us to a line to wait for our turn to be seated. He also recommended the lobsters and their signature mai tai. I was amazed to see him there in person. You would think with such a successful name, the boss would be shaking his leg elusively somewhere. Apparently not Bob.

Their display of fresh seafood offerings for that day.

Bob Chinns signature Mai Tai cocktail in a souvenir tikki cup! :) A must try. 

After a 15 - 20 minute wait (which is the average waiting time everywhere else as well), we were seated and quickly attended to. We decided to share 2 appetizers and an entree. We also got ourselves each a Mai Tai. According to Steph, the oysters here are fantastic. He has an amazing tastebud for fresh seafood, so I trust him when he says that the oysters here are fresh, especially coming from someone who doesn't like eating shellfish all that much. We got ourselves 1/2 a dozen - and my-oh-my! Were they really shell-suckingly good. 

We also got a plate of calamari. Now, most of the time, calamari is a really safe choice of appetizer - and overly common. Almost every menu in town has it. So you wouldn't really expect anything extraordinary about it. Here however, the calamari was definitely something worth raving about! It was surprisingly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The consistency was just so darn good that I could not help but muse on how Bob had successfully managed and trained his staff to cook such excellent seafood. The man was truly a leader and a forerunner in the field. (Did I mention? He's in his late eighties.) 

Our entree was pretty good too. We had a grouper cooked in one of 7 ways of our choice. We decided to have it stir fried with portobello mushroom, onions and asparagus, with a side dish of fried rice. The portion was generous and fresh but we managed finish it all up (for once!). Here are the pics:

Fried Garlic Bread. Done Bob Chinn's style. 

Oysters, Oysters and Oysters galore...

Sucking the juicy goodness (and entrails) from one.  

Gigantic glass bottles of Tabasco sauce.

Smiling Steph (Mai-Tai induced)

Spicy Calamari with Jalapeno peppers.

Grouper stir-fried with portobello mushrooms, aspargus and onions. 

A piece of our stir-fried grouper with asparagus. Best eaten with rice.

Smiling after a satisfied meal here:)

A word of caution on the Mai Tai. It's as potent as a glass of good Long Island Tea. Sweet and seemingly-harmless upon first sip. However, it hits you suddenly once you've had a few gulps too soon. So go slow on these exceptionally good but potent things. 

The next day was Saturday. We had breakfast at Elly's Pancake House, another place on my hit list. It definitely perked up my morning:) I had a Grasshopper shake - Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with chocolate sauce and whip cream - and some Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, while Steph ordered the breakfast special of Stuffed French Toast with apples. I must admit - the shake took up most of my stomach space. I coud barely finish my stack of four pancakes!

Steph eyeing my delicious milkshake. It was irresistible. 

I love the deco of brightly coloured plates on the wall!

Lovely, bright open space with bulbs dangling from the ceiling. 

Steph's Stuffed French Toast,
 filled with homemade cottage cheese and ricotta. Topped with apples.

My stack of apple cinnamon pancake. As recommended by the waitress.

Elly's Pancake House, open 24-hours.

Steph found the pancakes here better than IHOP's. He also liked how the cheese complemented the french toast. I, on the hand, was a little disappointed with the pancakes. The top pancake was really sweet, fluffy and crisp at the edge, but the following pancakes were disappointing as they had a bitter aftertaste. That being said, I'm still tempted to come back here again to try their Egg Skillets next!


Steph had rehearsal after that, so he dropped me off at home. Thereafter, we headed to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, followed by dinner at home and then social at the dance studio. It felt like a really long weekend, although it wasn't even Sunday yet! 

Here are some pictures from the Conservatory: