Kegon

About 90% of the time, I go to Japanese restaurants to have nothing but sushi. That’s usually what makes or breaks a Japanese place for me – whether their sushi is good. But since I’ve never been to a teppanyaki place before (“teppan” is an iron plate used for grilling, which translates to “yaki”), I decided to skip out on the sushi and go for the restaurant’s specialty. Besides, it makes more sense to order the restaurant’s “special” foods, since it should be what sets the particular restaurant apart from others.

So the place I went to is called Kegon, located in Northbrook. I know there are several branches of Kegon, including one in Hawaii, and this one was the first one I’ve been to. It’s quite dimly lit, which was probably for the best because the interior is clean, but tacky. There are plastic plates on plastic tables that are weirdly surfaced with a clashing colour scheme (ours was mainly purple with a pink and green triangle). Not only that, but they mixed too many different textures and materials – there are plastic tables, wooden pillars, carpeted and tiled floors, and metal grill plates. Not my cup of tea.

But the cooking performance, now that was something else. I’m pretty sure the chefs do the same routine at every table, every single day of the week, because the chef we got had a blank smiley face on all throughout his cooking. But I didn’t care. It was really fun watching him juggle his cooking utensils, set the oil on fire, make a volcano out of an onion half, and throw broccoli at my friend so she could try to catch it with her mouth. It might get old if you eat here every day, but for me, it was a novelty. As long as no one gets stabbed with a wayward fork, it’s all a very entertaining performance.

As for the food, I really enjoyed my swordfish teriyaki dish, which came with miso soup, salad, and rice. The miso soup was meh, salad was fresh (especially liked the homemade dressing), and the swordfish was perfectly cooked and seasoned. It also felt like I had the “true” teriyaki sauce with it, because instead of it being a really thick, gooey sweet sauce, their teriyaki sauce was light and not overly sweet or overpowering in taste. I could actually taste the fish underneath all the sauce! But above all these things, I think I loved the grilled veggies the most – they were very fresh and cooked just right, not like some of the soggy veggies you get as side dishes at other restaurants. Again, they were seasoned just right, so kudos to the blank-faced chef! He could probably do everything in his sleep!

The service was pretty fast, maybe because of the fact that we were the first customers for the dinner shift. Otherwise, I think I’d definitely want to return – this place satisfies all five senses in the most delightful way. 7.5/10.

Buffalo Wild Wings

Another one of those sports restaurant/bar places! Good for big parties, better for big parties who are also fans of major sports, and horrible for single people looking for good food. This time it’s Buffalo Wild Wings, a place that specialises in – you guessed it – buffalo wings. I never understood why they’re called “buffalo wings” when they’re clearly chicken wings. It’s not like buffaloes were ever able to fly, not even their first evolution species. Maybe these particular buffalo are of the Red Bull species.

You can find a Buffalo Wild Wings pretty much anywhere, since they’re a chain restaurant company, and the one I went to was in Vernon Hills. Quite a big space filled to the brim with sports paraphernalia and televisions with different sports channels playing, and they even had some arcade games tucked next to a pillar or two. My group was situated right next to one of those claw machines, so the place definitely had a very casual yet competitive atmosphere to it.

I had a half dozen of their traditional wings with spicy garlic sauce and carrots. It was meh. Nothing too special to it; the wings were cooked well, although the sauce was not garlicky at all, which was what they promised on their menu. I couldn’t taste any hint of garlic whatsoever, and this is coming from someone who cooks a lot with garlic (it’s pretty much a compulsory ingredient in Chinese food). In fact, BBW should have named it “Sour and spicy sauce”, because it was very sour, maybe only slightly less sour than eating a lemon. And it was quite spicy. How they determined the level of spiciness was pretty accurate – I’d expected a “medium spice” level to be a lot more mild, like most American cuisines (from what I’d experienced in the past, if a dish is labelled “spicy” at an American restaurant it’s usually extremely mild to nonexistent). I’m pretty glad I played it safe and got something a few levels lower than I’d originally planned. As for the carrots, well…they were raw carrots. Crunchy. Nothing to write home about.

Overall, a very average place that is more for watching sports communally, rather than a place to eat. The service was pretty quick, and our server was very accommodating with giving us all separate checks. But otherwise, like I said, nothing to write home about, unless you go with a daredevil friend who orders the spiciest sauce with his or her wings. Average price about $10, and 4/10 stars from me.

Magnolia Bakery

If food was part of the fashion world, then cupcakes are definitely “in” right now.

While there are certainly very mixed reviews for Magnolia Bakery on Yelp, that didn’t deter me from going, not when one of my friends told me to at least try their banana pudding. Anyway, although their main store is in New York, the company decided to branch out to the Windy City, and place themselves right smack-dab in the middle of the Loop on State street – a very prime location, among all the ritzy stores that are part of Block 37.

Magnolia seems to go for the whole pastel colour palette, which I thought looked a little out of place since I always associate pastel colours with baby things. But since most of their baked goods are decorated with pastel-coloured frosting, I suppose they might as well try to match the interior with their products. The layout of the place, though, could use some revision – it was quite confusing, such as hiding the utensils ledge behind a pillar and having different lanes for ordering drinks, baked goods, and paying. It also wasn’t very clear which direction the lanes were going in, especially if there’s a big crowd coming in from both entrances (there’s one leading outside to State street and one leading into the shopping complex).

Service-wise, I went in during a not-so-crowded time, so service was quick. The downside was that it felt more of a “I’ll fulfill your order quickly so please leave after you’re done” than a “I’ll serve you as quick as I can, and I hope you enjoy your day!”. Maybe I’m just nit-picking now.

Like I said before, I had the banana pudding, which was very good, like everyone says. Very fluffy with a smooth and creamy texture, with vanilla wafers and bits of banana scattered through, making the sweetness level just right (I hate sickeningly sweet foods). I don’t know why but I was half expecting the pudding to be served warm, but it was cold instead. It was the best banana pudding I’ve ever had, so it didn’t really matter whether it was cold or hot. I thought the banana was a little too ripe, although that’s my personal preference since I know some people who prefer their bananas very ripe. Otherwise, a very good pudding. Next time I’ll have to try the red velvet cheesecake, which is the other “must-eat” food at Magnolia.

The nice thing about it was that there was a space to sit down, eat, and chat with friends – something many bakeries don’t have on account of saving rental space. The decorators also frost the cakes out in the open for you to see, serving as entertainment for the curious. This is probably the extra that you pay for, though, because the price of each pudding and cake is quite hefty, with banana pudding at $4.75 apiece (small size) and cupcakes at $6.50 apiece. I say go here once to get a banana pudding and red velvet cheesecake, then never come back again. If you want their banana pudding again, you can make it yourself using this recipe and save yourself the trip and money. 5/10, with most of the points being for the banana pudding itself.