B. J. Wentkers - Burlington, WI

We have been here many times, usually on Mondays when they offer 1/2 price bottles of wine.

Tonight we were very happy to see some new items on the menu; however, I feel they are a little expensive. Not to say that the food isn't good, because it really is, but in this economy when everyone else is lowering prices or running specials, their prices seem high.

We started with the appetizer special, which were two lobster crepes covered in a cream sauce. The price was $13, but crepes were pretty big. In fact, it could be an entree. I would like to see it permanently on the menu.

I skipped the soup/salad, but my husband had the soup, which was a tomato soup with pastrami. He thought it was just okay.

For my entree I had the Shrimp, which was prosciutto and sage wrapped shrimp on mushroom ravioli, with balsamic beurre noisette for $24. We were told that this used to be on the menu (I had never seen it before) and the chef brought it back. It was very good. The ravioli was al dente, which I am just coming to appreciate. I really could not taste the mushrooms inside, though. The sauce was also excellent. I was not familar with the term noisette, but have looked it up. I think there are a couple meanings, but I'm going to assume the definition of hazelnut is correct. I did not notice a hazelnut flavor though. I am not a big prosciutto fan, so after eating a few shrimps it became too much, so I started removing it. It was just a good without it. I would definitely order this again.

My husband had the Drunken Ribeye, which is marinated in beer and brown sugar, grilled, with caramelized onions, on a beer mustard sauce and served with Rofumo mashed potatoes, also for $24. The meat was very chewy. This is unusual, because I have ordered this before and it was never chewy. Very disappointing.

Nevertheless, we have had many good meals here and will definitely come back.

http://www.foodspot.com/bjwentkers/menu.html

Chez Jacques - Milwaukee, WI

This restaurant came recommended to us by a friend who knows we like French style cooking, so we decided to give it a try.

I'm only familar with certain areas of downtown Milwaukee and assumed that's where this place was. When we pulled up to the front, it just didn't seem like it was where a restaurant should be, but I got over it once we walked in. They are located on South First St., one block north of teh Allen-Bradley clock)

It's a cute little place, nothing fancy on the inside, but you feel comfortable right away, which is important. They have all the typical items you would expect to find - Steak frites, Boeuf Bourguignon, Bouillabaisse and even Croque-Monsieur.

We started with Bouchee a la reine (puffed pastry filled w/Crepes, veal and cream sauce). Very good.

I had Coquille Saint-Jacques, which is sea scallops in a vermouth sauce. This is actually the first time I had Coquille Saint-Jacques, so I don't know how to compare it, but it was good.

My husband had the rabbit special, which was also very good. Plus, it was a treat for him, because not a lot of places serve rabbit.

This place is very reasonably priced. My only complaint is that it went too fast. I know it's a fine line between too fast and too slow, but some places just know how to get it right.

http://chezjacques.com/

Pierrot Gourmet - Peninsula Hotel, Chicago, Illinois

We have been to this restaurant many times, but only for breakfast. It is located at the Peninsula Hotel and we discovered it when we stayed there because the price is very reasonable compared to the main restaurant. You actually do have to go outside the hotel and walk a few steps to get there.

This is a cafe style restaurant, similar to what you would find in Paris. If you are a social person you might want to share one of the large family style tables with strangers. Not us, we always get a table for two.

Today we both ordered the Breakfast Bread Pudding. They have two kinds and we both got the one with ham, leeks and gruyere cheese. It is really good! The other bread pudding is made with bacon, potato and cheddar cheese. That one is good too (we've had it in the past), but we are both fans of gruyere cheese. It is similar to a regular bread pudding, but it's savory rather than sweet. It is served with a light salad on the side.

My wife is a tea drinker and whenever she has ordered milk on the side for her tea, they bring it heated. She loved that small touch, however, this time they did not do that. They were too busy to ask for it to be heated. That bring up the subject of service. It's not the greatest; it too reminds you of a Paris cafe. No one is in any big hurry.

Anyway, this is a great place to get a creative, inexpensive breakfast.

Pierrot Gourmet

Umami Moto - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This was our first visit to this restaurant and we were very satisfied with our choice of the evening.

We'll start off talking about the decor; someone went to a lot of trouble. It reminded us of many restaurants we have eaten at in Japan. Our only issue we have is with how they seat tables of two. They are all right next to each other. We have complained about this in other posts. We know they are trying to put as many people into the space, but if we got stuck at a table like that, we would walk out. Fortunately this night we were given a booth. If you make reservations here, request a booth or a table near the window.

Okay, the important part, the food. We have absolutely nothing to say but good things; this place is terrific. We started with their Strauss Veal Wonton, which comes with wild plum gastrique and parsnips. The flavors were perfect and complemented each other. My wife is not a big fan of veal and she loved it.

For the main course my wife had Sea Bass prepared with a tangy miso and served on top of bamboo rice and yuzu. The bamboo rice was very much like a risotto. This really was a wonderful dish.

I had the Diver Scallops which came with a cauliflower puree and a lobster salad. If we go back I would hate to not have this again; that is how much I liked it.

There are many more dishes to try, so we will be for sure going back.

There is one strange thing, though. Along the back wall, where our booth was, is a huge screen. At the time we were there, they were playing the movie, Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee. Well, this movie has a few breast shots. So I don't know how you would feel about bringing kids. Otherwise the experience was great!

http://www.umamimoto.com/milwaukee/

Avenues at the Peninsula Hotel - Chicago, IL

This restaurant is located in the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago and has had a new chef for about a year, Curtis Duffy. He replaced Graham Elliot Bowles and comes to Avenues from Alinea. Previous to Alinea he worked at Trio and Charlie Trotter's.

We dined at this restaurant a couple years ago when Graham Elliot Bowles was the chef and to be quite honest, I did not see what the big deal was. Not impressed at all.

This was a totally different experience. Before the atmosphere did not seem fitting to a restaurant of its caliber, but now it does. The atmosphere was great and the service was unbelievable. I think I've only experienced service this excellent once before. We never wanted for anything.

There were three different choices on the menu based on the number of courses. We chose the largest degustation, which was 17 courses and $140 per person. Most of the courses were just a taste, but there were a couple courses that were a little larger than just a taste. Each course was very creative and absolutely delicious. A little of the Alinea style came through in a couple courses, but I would not say they are similar. This is a very different experience.

I won't go into all the courses (especially since I can't remember what they all were), but some favorites:

Dover Sole with caper berry seeds, apple milk, whipped chlorophyll (this was unbelievable)

Iberico Pork Belly made with cocoa, smoked bread, miner's lettuce (very creative, excellent flavors)

Wagyu Beef Cheek with black sesame, sudachi, shiso and blooms. (Sudachi is is a small, round, green citrus fruit that is relatively unknown outside Japan)

I wasn't overly impressed with the dessert courses, but they were very interesting. There were 5 dessert courses and it was the 4th one before we saw any chocolate!

During the meal they bring you different types of breads, which were really good (even though we really didn't need the bread, I can never pass it up. The bread was served with three types of butter - one was basil, regular butter and goat's milk butter. Warning to those who don't like goat cheese (me); the butter tastes exactly like goat cheese.

The dinner took about 2-1/2 hours and it flew by. What a great experience!

You can't see the menu online, but here's some info:
http://www.peninsula.com/Chicago/en/Dining/default.aspx#/Chicago/en/Dining/Avenues/

Ashling on the Lough - Kenosha, WI

This is the newest restaurant in Kenosha. It's a great location near the waterfront downtown. Apparently the bar opened in January and the restaurant a couple months later, so very recently. Service was only fair; which is expected of a new restaurant. I don't agree, but it's expected.

We started with Molly Malone Mussels, which were mussels steamed with tomoatoes, garlic, fennel, white wine and cream. I'm not a big mussel fan, like my husband is, but they tasted pretty good for mussels. He thought they were very good and the sauce was very good.

We then had a house salad, which was nothing special, but typical.

They have many traditional Irish choices for entrees, such as Corned Beef and Cabbage, Shepherd's Pie, Irish Stew and the list goes on and on.

I had the Gaelic Steak, which is a pan seared beef tenderloin with a honey mustard, mushroom cream sauce. The sauce was excellent! I only wish there were more mushrooms. The beef was very tender and for the price of $20, it was well worth it.

My husband had the Pot Roast which was served with fresh vegetables and mashed potatoes covered with Guinness gravy. He loved it and the price of $12.

My only complaint is the bar is very loud and the noise spills over into the restaurant as it's really not totally closed off. But the view is great and it was a great meal.

http://www.ashlingonthelough.com/

Country Squire - Grayslake, IL

We went to this restaurant on a Saturday night and it was the first time we had been there in a long time, maybe 10 years.



We had been there a few times for Mother's Day brunch over the years and a couple times for dinner. This particular day we happened to be done in the area around dinner time, so thought we would try it again (we had not been that impressed the last time).



They were very busy, but we managed to get a table right away, with a nice view of the garden.



We started with the Shrimp De Jonghe, which was very good. All entrees come with a choice of a spinach salad, specialty salad or caesar salad. We both had the spinach salad, which was also very good.

For entrees I had the special, which was scallops and shrimp served in a baking dish with carmelized onions. The taste was outstanding and really like nothing I'd ever had before. I love when there's something different to try!

My husband had the Maryland Crab Cake made with lump crab meat served with an orange marmalade horseradish sauce. You wouldn't think that sounds good, but it really was.

We were a little worried when we noticed that they had a wedding in their banquet room. We thought maybe service would suffer, but the service was exceptional. Apparently they can take care of both the dining room and the banquet room.

I'm glad we gave this place another try. We will definitely go back. It was a great value for what we paid, which was very reasonable.


http://www.csquire.com/

Eddie's Steakhouse & Bistro - Kenosha, WI

This restaurant is in the former Dakota Steakhouse location. This was our third trip to this restaurant since they opened. The first time we ate here was shortly after it opened. We liked it; they seemed more creative than the ususal. Then several months later we tried it again and were very disappointed and vowed never to return. At that time, the food did not seem fresh and the service was not great. Plus no one was there and you never feel good about eating at an empty restaurant.

So this week we had a coupon and like everyone else, we are looking for a good value in this economy. We don't want to give up eating out; we just have to carefully choose where we are going.

First, the bread was great, perfectly heated too. We did not have an appetizer as the selection is not the greatest. We both chose the house salad rather than the soup. As salads go, it was not great. I'm not a fan of the mix that comes in a bag and that's what this seemed like. Too much iceberg lettuce and shredded carrots.

I ordered the sauteed chicken with mushrooms in a wine sauce and chose risotto as my side. The chicken was lightly floured and satueed and tasted great. My only complaint is not enough mushrooms!

My husband ordered the ribeye, which was cooked to medium rare as requested, but the outside was very charred. He is not a sauce person, but asked for horseradish sauce to kill the taste of the charring.

They have a good size pour as far as wine goes, but I wish, as always, that there was more than one choice for Chardonnay. With all the people that drink wine these days, you would think there would be a couple choices.

So, with the coupon, this turned out to be a good value for the money paid.

http://www.eddiessteakhouse.com/