Restaurant #1: Mings BBQ

First up, Mings BBQ.

First Impression: A little nervous, especially when we first sat down and saw some very different items on the menu (pigs blood rice congee or the fried intestine).

Overall Thoughts: The menu was really large and offered a lot of choices. There were several items that looked really good that I wanted to order.

The Blissful Glutton recommended the Honey Roast BBQ Pork Fried Noodles and that is exactly what I ordered. I thought the pork was really good and the portion of noodles that came with it was huge. Shrimp fried rice was ordered for the table and this may have been the best dish of the night. I would definitely make a repeat appearance at Mings again.

Round One was a success. (At least for me)

The Blissful Challenge

The Challenge:

To get together a few times a month (even weekly, depending on schedules of course) and try out some of the Blissful Glutton’s best restaurants of 2008. (Yes, I realize that it is 2009 but this list was released in January of this year, so the 2009 doesn’t even exist yet.) I know that eating out all the time is not always pretty on the wallet, so we can weed out any restaurants that we have been to already or are just too much of a schlep to get to. Maybe we can pick 10 and our goal would be to eat at all of them within a 3-month period. (That is an average of less than one per week.)

The List:

Here is the link to the page to see a better view of the Top 30:

http://blissfulglutton.blogspot.com/2009/01/bliss-list-2008.html

1) The Korean gluttony at Honey Pig;

2) The wings at Jamal's Buffalo Wings;

3) Freshly-fried churros at La Churreria;

4) Chef Liu's new menu at Tasty China;

5) Pristine sushi and just plain awesome homestyle dishes at Sushi House Hayakawa;

6) The burger, drinks, folks and everything else at Holeman and Finch Public House;

7) Weekend tacos at Chicago Supermarket; (Completed)

8) New York-style pizza at Verra-Zanno Pizzeria;

9) Korean BBQ and bibimbap at Hanil Kwan;

10) The massive and delicious sandwiches at Muss and Turners;

11) The fried green tomato BLT at Parish Market;

12) The fruit cups, paletas and pressed sandwiches at Lottafrutta;

13) A dirty martini and ground-to-order ribeye burger at Kevin Rathbun Steak;

14) The fried pies at the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House;

15) A hot dog and freshly made sweet onion rings at Barker's Red Hots;

16) Kamal Grant's craveable doughnut creations at Sublime Doughnuts;

17) Chef Bruce Logue's La Pietra Cucina;

18) The meat pies at Australian Bakery & Cafe;

19) Anything with barbecue at Ming's; (Completed)

20) The comforting cuisine of Cakes & Ale;

21) A big greasy cheesesteak at Roys' Cheesesteaks;

22) Shabu Shabu at Nakato;

23) Bagels, breads and more at H&F Bread Company;

24) The yakitori and ramen at Yakitori Jinbei;

25) The dan-dan noodles and fish with tofu at Cafe 101;

26) The consistently good Italian cuisine at Sotto Sotto;

27) The classics at Canton Cooks;

28) The gorgeous Indian vegetarian fare at Udipi Cafe; (Completed)

29) Afternoon tea at Park 75 Terrace and Lounge;

30) Tlayudas, tacos and more at Taqueria Oaxaqueña

The Participants:

Ryan, Jennifer, Mark, Stacey, Michael S, Gaby, Michael M, Lindsay, Brian, Sarah, Ori, and Jessica... and anyone else that loves to eat as much as we do.

Who’s in?