Chicago and Kansas City Eats

Aaaand last post of our epic trip of the US of A with Helen and Lex! I’m combining our eats from Chicago and Kansas City in the same post because I was a tad fooded out and stopped taking photos of everything haha can you believe it? The above Hadouken pic at Cloudgate aka the shiny jellybean in Chicago was the worst one we took thanks to many uncoordinated jumps in epic 35C weather which actually led to me on the verge of heat exhaustion looool not fun.

There were heaps of donut places I’d wanted to visit in Chicago but sadly all the good ones were closed on Mondays so we headed to Nightwood Restaurant (2119 S Halsted St, Chicago) for brunch. This my friends, is the Bacon Butterscotch Donut (US$5), gaze at it in all its glistening beauty! Chortle at the trio of super cute sugar crusted donuts on the side! Weep at its perfect balance of sweet glaze and salty bacon nubbin deliciousness!

And then there was the pretty in pink Vanilla Custard, Strawberry Rhubarb Glaze Donut (US$5) which was a bit on the too sweet side but still, tasty.

We were curious to try the crazy dipped Italian Beef sandwich from Al’s Beef (1079 W Taylor Street, Chicago), a mound of beef nestled in an Italian bread roll, a couple of slices of Provolone cheese and peppers, and then the whole shebang is dunked into gravy aka the beef juices. Not sure if I was the biggest fan of this because I generally have issues with all things soggy…

Of course we had to try a Chicago style deep dish pizza! Unfortunately we arrived at Gino’s East (162 E Superior St, Chicago) smack bang in the middle of the dinner rush and were put on an hour long waiting list. We ate buffalo wings and dip at the nearby bar and returned later only to realise we’d have to wait another 45mins for the pizza to be cooked. So by the time our Cheese and Sausage Deep Dish Pizza (US$17/small) arrived we were pretty over it haha it was cheesy and there was slices of sausage layered within and a bready crust to hold everything together.

Sustenance was required after a massive shopping spree at Oak Brook Shopping Mall (875 North Michigan Ave, Chicago) so dessert was had at the Cheesecake Factory. The Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake is pretty intense and the whipped cream doesn’t do much to cut the richness but instead adds another layer of… richness.

Another visit to Whole Foods to stock up on summer fruits in the hopes of feeling slightly more healthy.

But then we’re off to Kansas City and Helen decides we need to try cheese in a can. Because we’re in the land of gluttony apparently. It tasted like the cheese from a Le Snack. But more artificial if that is at all possible.

Oh and there was more barbecue to be had! Kansas City bbq was not as awesome as Texas, everything was still tasty but the meats were leaner and drier. The trick at Gates Bar-B-Q (3205 Main Street, Kansas City) was to order the ‘Burnt Ends’ which is basically the rendered down charcoaly fatty ends of the brisket. The burnt ends were smothered in a lip smacking sauce and held in pillow soft bread with slices of pickles on the side. For the first time in my life I chose vegetables over fries. Oh and the ginormous size lemonade was ridiculous but oh so refreshing.

At Arthur Bryant’s BBQ (1727 Brooklyn Ave, Kansas City) I’ve decided to try the short end ribs (US$12.95) and boy the ease at which the meat just pulls away from the bone! Amazing. Oh and that lemonade is a small. Kansas small = Aus large.

There wasn’t much to do in Kansas City. We ended up buying tix to see Superman (I don’t rate it compared to Batman) and bummed around in the arcade playing old school games like Mortal Kombat, Pac Man and Tron.

And then flew back to LA for one night stay to hit all the sales at the outlet mall! Had to get one last shot in front of the Hollywood sign which turned out fail after I said ‘everyone do a ninja kick shot’ haha

Fell in love with Carl’s Jnr bacon and the ability to buy rashers and eat them like fries.

Ate our weight in crab legs at The Boiling Crab (3377 Wilshire Blvd. #115 Los Angeles) while watching the NBA finals.

Then a looooong and restless flight back to Oz. Normally people begin and end a holiday post with photos of the wing of the plane with the usual fluffy clouds but I choose to end my post with this shot of my Kids Meal Dinner. That’s right I specified kids meal just to see if it was more fun than a normal meal. I think I had more fun watching the stewardess walk up and down the aisle trying to find a kid to give my meal to haha anywhos America was amazing, I’m several kilos heavier and I can’t stop dreaming about brisket! Will definitely have to save up a bit so I can go again soon!