Savor Chicago: Unique Burgers You Must Try

While some people argue that the hamburger originated in Germany, there is no doubt that in the United States it has been perfected. A simple dish to prepare but very hard to master; getting that right combination of ingredients with a flavorful patty that will make people come back again and again is not an easy feat. Since arriving to Chicago this summer, we have taken the opportunity to explore the city and enjoy the many great places to eat including finding that perfect burger place.

Chicago is a cool city to explore, how the river blends into the city priceless

Before we talk burger shop, let me will put some spiciness on what a great burger should include. For some less is better just bun-patty-cheese will do the trick, others say that the more toppings the better. For me a great burger should have: bun-patty-cheese a good sauce (elevate the umami) plus a veggie (preferred onion). When going to a burger, try their signature as the chef intended it. However, it is your money, so order it the way you like it.

Finding a good place place that you can get by public transportation is a must… You get to enjoy all the nice things the city offer

After trying different places this 3 are currently at the top of the list, they food and service makes them unique and repeatable. All of them present unique proposals, with their own signature sauces, or caramelized onions with beer. One common denominator is the use of high quality ingredients, cooked the right way. On top of spot on service that will make you want go again.

Now here the top 3 places we have found…

BITTER POPS (OFF Paulina Station – Brown Line)

More than a burger shop, here you will find a great selection of Liquor and Beer on their shop. The bar has a nice selection of beer on tap to pair with their specialty burger called Pop’s Double Smash-burger. Ingredients for the burger are Courage Lager caramelized onions, American cheese, Honeycup dijonnaise, and house made pickles on the side. The burger brings the right level of messiness. When you top it with fries and beer, we have the BFF combination (Burger / Fries / Frosty Beer). Just take the brown line to Paulina Station and a 2 minute walk to land in Bitter Pops, surroundings are nice for taking a walk after your meal.

Great neighborhood place…Very nice surroundings

2. NADC Burger (OFF Grand Station – Blue Line)

What happens when a pro skater and a Michelin Chef get together to create the perfect burger… You get 720 of awesomeness. It took them 2 years to get to the right recipe and what a great product it is. A short 4-minute walk from Grand Station-Blue Line, the place has a nice selection of beers and monitors showing skating action. It is a small place, but when the only dish is their signature burger for sure the wait is worth it.

They made ordering food very simple, just one burger available the NADC burger and fries. If you dare and ask to make your own burger this will be the response “NADC” (Not A Damn Chance). The NADC is a Double patty of 100% Texan Ranch wagyu beef, American cheese, secret sauce, onions, pickles, slightly tamed jalapeños. The Smash-burger has the right level of messiness, with the selection of toppings delivering a huge Umami bomb of flavor. When your menu has only one main entree and the place is full, you found a winner place.

3. DIEGO (OFF Grand & Ogden Bus Stop)

Before Smash-burger was a thing, there was the big burger patty. Diego one of the best Bar and Restaurant in West Town has a good burger to offer. During the summer the place has a nice outdoor patio, where you can sip some good drinks while enjoying music. Easy to get there by Train or Bus. One nice feature is the great Chicago Skyline if you walk 5 minutes in Ogden.

Their burger is called the TJ, a good size single patty with melted onion, pickled jalapeños, white cheddar, and a mayo macha salsa. Diego gets this burger right with a nice combination of ingredients plus a nice seasoned patty. The meat is delicious and the melted onions really adds a good element to the dish. You will find a good selection of beer on tap plus some Mexican favorites like Cerveza Victoria. They also specialize in cocktails and one of the favorites is the Flor Morada a Mezcal based drink.

Will continue the search for other great burgers, but don’t miss any of these places. Try them and have a great food experience in Chicago. If you have a great place for burgers, please share…

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Just moved to Chicago… Uncovering some Food Treasures: Italian Beef, Deep Dish Pizza, and Puerto Rican Flavors

After almost 3 years living in Dubai, and exploring some of the best cities in that part of the world, we have now the opportunity to live in the continental USA. It is in the top 3 cities to live and the name is CHICAGO aka – The Windy City. Chicago a city that host more than 2.7 million people, making it one of the biggest in the USA after New York and Los Angeles.

It is the food, culture, sports, parks, and architecture offers that makes this place a great tourist attraction and more important a great place to live. Situated in the midwest in front of Lake Michigan on 1871 the city had the great fire a tragic event that left more than 100,000 residents homeless and 17,000 structure destroyed; but after the event Chicago literally rise from the ashes and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone including the world’s first skyscraper in 1885 using steel-skeleton.

Architecture in Chicago is truly amazing, so many buildings with their own story… Also lots of landmarks

Got transferred here in early June a good time to enjoy the Chicago summer at its fullest, the offer available is huge and you can do something different every day of the season. Landing in June presented the opportunity to explore the city and making it our new home, one key decision has been moving downtown to take advantage of living close to my work and to some of the best attractions the city has to offer.

Chicago a great city for sports and music fans…

In this post will share some of the best finds from a culinary offering the city has to offer, this places are must do in my opinion to get a local food experience. You will find many other places that offer similar food, for us this 3 have make a difference in get us to connect with the city quicker.

Portillo’s Italian Beef

This Roast Beef sandwich dipped in their gravy and served in a Turano French Bread is sooooo goood. When you order it, include the giardiniera peppers and dipped in the gravy while eating. There are many locations to go, but be prepared to make a big line to order since is always full. Maybe they were not the first, to do the Italian Beef but they sure have cracked the Italian Beef recipe.

Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Chicago Classic

The founder started working in 1940 at Pizzeria Uno, where story says he invented the original Deep Dish Recipe, in 1971 Lou opened his first store and now it has more than 60 stores across 4 states. They have many varieties of their deep dish but my recommendation is to go with the Malnati Chicago Classic, this pie has their own Sausage recipe covering the entirety of the pizza with a great sauce and cheese. When you order is important to tell them to make it just right, the additional time is worth it, the crust and the mix of ingredients where you will have a mix of all the ingredient is a superb experience.

Lou Malnati Pizza ingredients including the sauce makes it a winner

Janellie’s Kitchen – Puerto Rican Food

After 10 years of living outside Puerto Rico finding a place to have home food was not easy; first finding your at home ingredients and second you don’t find big Puerto Rican population in Queretaro and Dubai. Settling in Chicago we are now living in one of the cities with the biggest communities of Puerto Ricans in the USA, currently Puerto Ricans is the second biggest latino group in Chicago after Mexicans. People have come from our beautiful island to Chicago since 1950 and the owner of this place landed here after the 2017 big hurricane that impacted the totality of the island generating a crisis that as of today we have not fully recovered.

THis tasted like home!!!! Very good food…

Found the place while talking with someone in a store, this person was a Puerto Rican that move here more than 15 years ago and of course we started having the new kid on the block conversation, We started talking about our stories and how we both landed here in Chicago, then I asked him where he goes to eat and feel back home and luck struck with the answer being Janellie´s kitchen. The following day we went looking for a good lunch but our surprise wads that we were transported HOME; My wife ordered Serenata de Bacalao (Codfish with Root Vegetables) and I got Rice and Beans with beefsteak, as an appetizer we got alcapurrias (fritter with green plantain, pork) and it was AWESOME, my wife described the experience as going back to her grandma house for a friday early dinner with family!!!

Don’t miss any of these places, they will be a great stop in your visit to Chicago and will add to the experience of this incredible city. We are shifting now to autumn, but there is still time to enjoy Chicago weather and will continue sharing some of the best things to do in Chicago. Thanks for reading the post, please share it with your friends and sign in to receive our updates; also follow us on Instagram, and Facebook search for #BORICUASLIVINGABROAD. Until next time….

Istanbul the city across two continents and one big heart…

Our first visit to Istanbul the most populous city in Europe was a great opportunity to understand better some of the greatest chapters of world history, I remember in school talking about the Roman Empire, Constantinople, the crusades and never imagine having the opportunity to visit and explore where history happened.

Some of the views of the Galata Towers are impressive, the Basilica cistern is an engineer marvel

When you visit Istanbul and walk the streets, you witness how great a city can balance between the old and historic, with the new and modern aspects of urban life. A city that have traces of civilization of more than 8,000 thousand years is a city that can definitely share a story or two about world civilization. Is an awesome pedestrian city with lots of connectivity (Walking, Metro, Bus, Tram, Taxi, Boat) to go and visit the multiple historic sites that the city offers to share their story.

You can travel in the second oldest railway in the world.. also you can use taxi and ferry

Because of work we stayed in both the European and Asian side, but after doing it I would recommend staying in both sides: in the Asian you find good places to enjoy awesome food, great sea views, and hip neighborhoods and in the European side there are tons of places to stay with great collective transportation options to the many tourist attractions. I was happy with our selections, here are links to 2 of the hotels we stayed at during our visit. First one is called The Marmara Pera with a very nice rooftop and a top restaurant is a good alternative to use as home base, the second one is called Fer Hotel, the location and their employees are very good.

This hotels are so close to the sights, easy to explore

We were only in Istanbul a total of 4 nights; it is not enough for sure but with a combination of tours and going by ourselves we were able to really see most of the top things you need to see and also taste some of the best food Istanbul has to offer. My recommendation to maximize your time is to do: 1 private city tour and explore the city with a local, this helps you when you are on your own / 1 food tour with a small group because food taste better when is shared with people / the rest of the time do some research and go explore by yourselves enjoy at your pace what the city has to offer.

Istanbul is a walkable city… enjoy fully

There are too many things to do in Istanbul and I could put a long list of things for you to do, but for me when you travel part of the fun is to create your own memories; let me just share 5 things you could that will help create and awesome Turkish experience:

Taste of 2 Continents Food Tour, for a gastro-cultural experience: You can find this tour in TripAdvisor, for me one of the best I had since they have a good blend of food and sightseeing.

Food tours wirth a group are the best… truly enjoy meeting new people, while having great food

Night dinner in one of the many fine restaurants Istanbul Offers: We had many good meals, one of them was at Mikla one of the top restaurants in the city with many recognitions. I did the tasting menu and was phenomenal.

Do a Turkish breakfast and eat all the sweets they offer: Turkish breakfast is very different from the western world with the mix of sweet and salty, but once you try it you will love it. Also, the Turkish sweets are out of this world and a must in Istanbul

Remember sweets and the Turkish breakfast… Don´t miss it

Go to one of the many rooftops, have a drink and enjoy the view: Finding a place where you can see 2 continents at the same time is rather unique in the world, if you throw a good drink and some music it makes for a wonderful time.

The city provides great places to relax and enjoy the view

By some good walking shoes and explore the many historic sites: Spend the time walking and exploring the city, you never know when you will find a 400/800/1,000+ years old structure with tons of history. Really cool!!!

So many great sights to see and explore… walk,walk,walk

Exploring Istanbul, plus doing Cappadocia was a great way to learn a bit of Turkey history, their gastronomy, and their people. Turkey will be one experience we will always cherish; the people are incredible with good attention and true desire that your time is well spent. Thanks for reading the post, please share it and sign in to receive our updates; also follow us on Instagram, or Facebook look for #BORICUASLIVINGABROAD. Until next time….

Hanoi: Vietnam capital delivers great energy from their people, alongside some impressive sights and food…

Southeast Asia has many great countries to visit and explore; Vietnam is clearly atop of the list offering tons of history, great sights, energetic people, and delicious food that will satisfy all travelers. To fully explore Vietnam you will need a good 3-4 weeks, since the country offers many things from north to south. From my research the best way to plan is to divide Vietnam in 3 parts and plan around this: North (Hanoi), Central (Da Nang), South (Ho Chi Minh). For us we only had one week and needed to make choices of the places to see.

Active train line, with cafes and shops alongside

I am starting where we first landed in our Vietnam journey and is Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam located in the north part of the country. Hanoi is the second biggest city in Vietnam with more than 8 million people living in and around the city, one of the first things I want to highlight is how welcoming the people were during our stay; everywhere we went people were happy to greet you and have a few words with you making the trip even more enjoyable.

It was great meeting many people in our trip

Hanoi is divided into districts and this important to understand before you select where you want to stay; some of the famous areas of Hanoi include the french quarter, old quarter, Tay Ho, Ba Dinh. Every area has pros and cons, we decided to stay in the Old Quarter and was a great decisions based on location and how we were able to move easy my walking or taxi. The hotel we stayed was La Sinfonia Citadel hotel and spa, it is located at the Old Quarter very close from many attractions. Not only the location was good but the employees were phenomenal, did an awesome job in making us very welcomed. I would recommend the hotel and go back if planning to go again.

We stayed 3 nights in Hanoi with lots of activities to see and food to taste, you could tell that 3 days is not that much but the way we structured the calendar was enough to enjoy the highlights and also experience some great food. When on leisure travel I like to blend guided visits with locals and some alone time to get “lost” in the city in this way you have free time to spend as you like giving the opportunity to find your own highlights.

In our guided tour in Hanoi, we got the opportunity to learn more about Vietnam and Hanoi history; I was impressed with how much heavy stuff the people have faced, but most important how they used past experience and look into working to build a better country for them and the next generations present and future; also interesting to see how Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism beliefs play an important part in the everyday life of the people.

Hanoi is an easy city to explore, here you can fins some of the most go places to go in Hanoi and learn more about the history of the city.

1. Temple Literature: 1,000 year old Confucian Temple and the first university in Vietnam

2. Tran Quoc Pagoda & One Pillar Pagoda: Buddhist Temples where you can see locals expressing their beliefs

3. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum: Resting Place of Ho Chi Minh, 1,000’s of people visit every day to pay respect, also they have a museum

4. Hoa Lo Prison: Also known as the Hanoi Hilton, it served as prison during the multiple conflicts in Vietnam a. US Senator John McCain was prisoner here during Vietnam war

5. Thang Long Water Puppet Show: Vietnamese tradition, originated in the Red River Delta. Cool to see the live show at the theater

6. Walk around French and Old Quarter: Set time to get “lost” in the city and find unique sights and stories like Ngoc Son Temple or B52 remains in a small pond in the middle of the city

Hanoi traffic is impressive, mainly because the number of motorbikes is crazy. Vietnam is one of the countries with highest penetration of motorbikes in the world (65 million registered for 100 million population), you need to be careful when walking and crossing the street since they are coming from every place like mosquitoes. You can do lots of walking in the city and mixed with Grab (moto or car) getting across is very easy.

Vietnamese food is very tasty and fresh, is crazy the amount of noodles the people eat here in Vietnam but also they have other dishes that take advantage of the great local produce, fish and meats. I do strongly recommend you do a Food Tour at night where you will be able to have some great foodie experience with of course local beer. Here some of the things you most try in Vietnam and specially in Hanoi.

Pho: Probably the most well known Vietnamese dish consisting of Broth, rice noodles, herbs and meat (Ususally Chicken or Beef). This one is a must and not to be missed.
Ca Phe Trung or Egg Coffe: Its main ingredients are egg yolk, coffee, and condensed milk. Vietnam is the second biggest export country for coofee, and their coofee is really top quality. Egg coffee is served in cafes all over Hanoi, cold or hot.
Banh Xeo – Vietnamese Crepe: Is made out of flour and turmeric while it is filled with pork, bean sprouts, and shrimp. This savory dish is a very popular street food in Vietnam.
Bun Cha – Grilled Pork and Noodles: Consists of a soup bowl of diluted fish sauce that is filled with grilled pork, meat balls, rice noodles and fresh herbs. Let me tell you fish sauce here is the king of ingredients.
Bahn Mi – Baguette with pate: Bread in Vietnam is delicious, they really know how to do it, some people say is the best place to find bread in Southeast Asia. A combination of meat, coriander, cucumber, pickeled carrots, mayonnaise and pate all inside a baguette make a great combination.

This was our first stop in Vietnam, and let me tell you that Hanoi was a great introduction to an awesome country that has learned from the past and are focused to shine in the world defined by great people; when you add the incredible sights and their awesome food it is a must go place that you need to include on your travel plans.

Be ready to enjoy the rest of Vietnam posts in the near future. Thanks for reading the post, please share it and sign in to receive our updates; also follow us on Instagram, or Facebook look for #BORICUASLIVINGABROAD. Until next time….

Tokyo food capital of the world… If you are a foodie, you better not miss it…

When you live in America and you talk about Japanese food, you are often referring to Sushi and maybe a distant second would be Tempura that by the way would be done at the Sushi restaurant. Travel gives you the opportunity to not only explore new places but also taste it, in our trip to Tokyo we had the opportunity to go out and try many different foods for breakfast, dinner, and lunch. Now after exploring Tokyo food scene and being spoiled to really great food is tough to go back home and try Japanese food, since the bar is so high (LOL).

3 of the greatest foods we tried in Tokyo

While sharing some of the great food we had in Tokyo, there is also an important aspect that adds value to a great food experience, and this is having it with awesome people; the experience of sharing food, and stories is the perfect recipe for enjoying what the city you are traveling has to offer. Below you will see our team dinner where we had great food, but even better great stories were shared. I am thankful of these opportunities since makes travel even better.

Having food with friends is always great.

Let’s start with Sushi as is the most common dish in and outside Japan. Sushi places come in all size, shape, and form in Tokyo and would be very difficult to identify a good versus bad place since they are all full (I think they are all good), I was impressed by the variety of Sushi and the alternatives to select, like a set already defined or a la carte with as many as you want. All of them were great, but wanted to try ones that would be the first for me and in addition to the classic ones I had: Salmon Roe, Sea Urchin, Fatty Tuna. You can´t miss with your selection but would encourage to try any of the 3 that I mentioned earlier. If you are in Tokyo please try them, you will enjoy them and more important need to tell you that after going back home Sushi will never taste the same. Taste and flavor out of this world!!!!

With no Japanese, you use the simple pointing to the menu!!!

One of the places to go and eat Sushi is the Toyosu Market, with a train line that goes there is easy to land there, is one must do attraction in Tokyo. You need to go early and see the famous daily tuna auction that starts at 5:30 AM, this is an impressive place where thousands of fish are being sold every day, you can also find Fruit and Vegetable sections plus other comestibles. The market was opened in 2018, it had some pushback from the people that used to work in the old market, now that is finished is clear the great business development it is. Where you can find more fresh fish than the market, inside the big building you will see Sushi restaurants were in some case they have lines as early as 6AM to eat their Sushi. The experience is unique so be ready to have sushi for breakfast at the market. One important thing you will notice is the cleanliness of the place a clear signature of Japan culture.

Toyosu Market complex is Huge, also the Tuna Auction is packed with people

Second food that I would like to share is Yakitori, these small skewers that you can find most common made of chicken outside Japan. Here in Tokyo, you have full restaurants specializing in Yakitori made of many ingredients like Beef, Chicken, Pork, Shrimp, Vegetables also they sell Beers, Whisky, and Sake. These restaurants are very high on energy, the kitchen in the center makes it like a DJ spinning some music while everyone is dancing to their favorite tune. Like many restaurants in Japan, you take your shoes before you enter and get seated either on a table or in one of the sides of the kitchen (my favorite), then you start ordering from the menu the small portions while having a cold drink. If you like grilling on charcoal you will enjoy this place, the coal is named “binchotan” it gives a good smokiness and when they put the sauce you get a good amount of smoke that bring flavors to the skewers you ordered. Yakitori places can be a great way to start or end the night… Kanpai!!!

The last food I want to share on this post is called Okonomiyaki, a Savoury pancake that consist of: Wheat flour batter, cabbage, meat or seafood, sauce, and Japanese mayo. This tasty dish is done on a teppan (flat iron grill) in front of you, design to be shared by the group on the table with chopsticks. They have 2 versions wet or dry, we did the dry one and loved it, not only tasty but the combination of flavors and texture was out of this world. One thing that made the experience great was the location and that many locals eat there, for me when I travel is always cool to go and find the local jewels to spend time with locals. This dish was a complete surprise for me, I did not know it existed and was my colleague the person who told me to try it, for that Arigato gozaimasu Takada-san.

I am showing just a very small sample of the great food we tried during our visit to Tokyo, food is a great way to understand how rich a country is and what Japan showed to me is a truly rich and diverse palate of options. From hot to cold, rare to cooked, veggie to non-veggie you can get what you want in Tokyo.

There will be a future post on Tokyo food in the future, I hope this made you hungry to go and explore Japanese Cuisine. Thanks for reading the post, please share it and sign in to receive our updates; also follow us on Instagram, or Facebook look for #BORICUASLIVINGABROAD. Until next time….