Hi all-
As you know, Devour Downtown is going on through February 6th, where you can enjoy three course meals at many of our downtown restaurants for just $30.00. It is often a nice way to try restaurants that you might otherwise think are too pricey. At the request of a reader, I am making this post, asking you guys to post a comment about your devour downtown meals so that others might see some good options (and maybe some not so good ones too) for these weeks. If you have already been to a few, let us know if they were good or bad...and maybe we can all help each other out!
Cheers!
Erin
I went to the Oceanaire as part of the devour downtown event with my family. They have three options for the main course and each of us chose a different dish. I had the bouillabaise. It was ok. Some of the seafood was a bit "fishy" but some was rather good as well. My mother had the whitefish "ritzy" which was very good, but a bit "rich" with all the buttered ritz crackers on the breading. My father had the crab cakes which were outstanding.
ReplyDeleteOverall, a pleasant dining experience...and if I were to go again, I would get those crabcakes. Enjoy!
I went to Dunaway's on Wednesday. I had to ask for the Devour Downtown menu. While I was there none of the servers offered the menu Overall the food was average and the service lacked. Certainly, the experience did nothing to encourage a return visit.
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday evening, we went to Rbistro for dinner. The Devour Downtown menu was provide with the regular menu. The servers were promoting Devour Downtown explaining the menu and the event to customers who were unfamiliar with the event.
ReplyDeleteThe first course of roasted root vegetable salad with broiled goat cheese was very good. The main course of chicken legs & sausage braised in red wine over creamy polenta was very hearty and excellent. The dessert course is coffee cardamom crème caramel. It is an excellent finish to the meal.
As always, the service was spot-on.
All in all, a great experience.
We went to Ambrosia Centro and it was fantastic! They actually give you four courses for the $30. An appetizer, salad, main course and dessert, the nice thing is they didn't skimp on any of the courses. The salad and dessert were okay but the appetizer and main course were wonderful, I ahd the proscuttio and then the veal. I tried a bit of the other appetizers and they were both equally good, as was the bit I had of the beef tenderloin and the pasta dish. I plan on going back soon because there was a ton of other stuff on the regular menu that looked great as well. Oh, and our server was wonderful, he admitted to having been there only a week but he was great!
ReplyDeleteI went to Dunaways on Friday evening with three others. The service was incredibly lacking. We had to request both the wine menu and devour downtown menu, which was not offered to our table (though indicated on our reservation.) It took a full hour for us to order, receive drinks, and the first course.
ReplyDeleteThe first course (Oysters Rockefeller) was good, as the house salad was average. The bleu cheese sirloin was fantastic, as my steak was perfect and the red wine reduction matched perfectly with the spicy horseradish/bleu cheese mixture on top. And the creme brulee was absolutely amazing, with a layer of chocolate and pistachio.
I can't stress how slow the service was, as we left the establishment 3 hours later. I wouldn't return due to the service.
Looking forward to the 14 West reservation this Friday with friends.
I went to Adobo Grill on Friday. I was glad I had made a reservation, because the place filled up. They gave you the Devour Downtown menu with the regular menu, and were promoting DD. For DD, my husband and I got the tables side guac (SO good!), a margarita each, and we each also got an appetizer, entree, and dessert. For appetizer, he got the ceviche and I the plaintains--he wasn't crazy abt his, and I liked my plantains (stuffed w/black beans), but was already getting full. For entree, I got the carne asada (pretty good, but I didn't even eat quite half b/c I was so full--took it to go) and he got the Chile en nogada (poblano stuffed w/veal & pork) and he liked it. We both got the chocolate tamal for dessert, which was amazing and decadent, so I didn't quite make it all the way through mine (but sure tried).
ReplyDeleteWe'd been to Adobo before, but only for $1 tacos (which are great). It was an overall good dining experience (much better than last year @ Columbia Club, but that's a different story), we both really enjoyed our food and the atmosphere, and could see ourselves going back again. Yay for Devour Downtown!
I also went to Adobo Grill (last Thursday) and had a good experience. The tableside guac was superb, my tamal de cazuela was the epitome of wintertime comfort food, my enchiladas were eh but my dining companion's stuffed pepper was interesting, and the cazuela de manzana and the chocolate tamale were great. The margaritas were good (and they are also half price on Thursday). All in all, a good experience.
ReplyDeleteI hit up Agio with a friend on Sunday. We both had the Devour special.
ReplyDeleteThe kitchen fired on all cylinders across all three courses.
Spinach/date empanada with a strawberry balsamic had an intensely interesting mix of sweet and savory.
Beef cutlet in crab/brie/white wine sauce was nothing short of succulent. The asparagus and bean paste were delicious as well. I would eat the sauce as a stew, it was so good.
Dessert was a chocolate cheesecake with bananas in a dark rum sauce. Not sure if the cake was housemade, but the bananas and rum sauce complemented it perfectly.
Killer meal and an absolute steal at $30.
We ate at St. Elmos last night. The service and food were fantastic. It was nice because they didn't try to hide the Devour Downtown special - it was right on the back of the normal menu. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that wants to try a steak place.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I went to Oceanaire tonight. I ordered off the Devour Downtown menu, which was featured on the same page as their regular menu. The appetizer of bourbon cured salmon was delightful, smoky with a silky feel. The entree of whitefish "ritzy" was a good but basic fish filet with a buttery rich ritz cracker crust - could've benefited from a citrus sauce. And we both loved the warm chocolate chip cookies with milk for dessert, there was something very tasty about the chocolate they used.
ReplyDeleteI also had 3 oysters before the dinner, and they were so good and fresh. We shared an appetizer of ahi tuna tartare served with fried wontons and kimchee. The separate elements of this dish were all good on their own, but when put together the tuna was lost - and that's a darn shame when it's such great tuna. My husband ordered from the regular menu the "east meets west" crab cakes, two different styles representing the two US coasts. East coast definitely won the night with large pieces of sweet crab. The west coast was over-cooked and over-seasoned for our liking.
All in all, an excellent meal and great excuse to head downtown (for a couple of northsiders like us).