Our second team dinner was at Ditka’s Restaurant. Yes, that Ditka.
It’s primarily a steak spot. Also, there’s lots of drinking. And plenty of TV’s for sports watching.
We ordered a bunch of oysters to start. These suckers were huge, like they were on steroids!
The angus prime rib. It is heavy aged and slow roasted, served with burgundy mushrooms, horseradish cream, and au jus.


The tomahawk! It was a special that night and beyond expensive. Look how caveman this thing is!
The filet, 8 oz. of center cut prime.
The Filet Medallions – 3 Ways. We have horseradish, blue cheese, and oscar styles.
I was the lone weirdo who did not get a steak. Yeah, at a steak house. Whatever. I got the Blackened Mahi Mahi. There were two healthy sized hunks of grilled fish with two different sauces – cilantro pesto and smoked tomato. Oh, and a bunch of mixed rice. I loved this! I liked both sauces but definitely preferred the smoked tomato. The rice was also a winner.
We also got a few sides to share. The truffle fries were kind of amazing! The sweet corn dish with cheese was even better. It was sweet, it was sour, it was awesome.
The smashed sweet potatoes with bacon was also good. I am a huge fan of all their sides!
Last but not least, we all ended up sharing this giant piece of chocolate cake. Oh, it was delicious, and there was still some left over.
Also, earlier in the trip, I went and had some pierogi at Pierogi Heaven. These were, by far, the best pierogi I’ve ever had. I tried potato with cheese and sauerkraut. They’re served with bacon and lovely sweet caramelized onions. I imagine they’re just like your polish grandmother would make!

When it comes to an easy meal out near home, SangKee is always one of the top choices. The last time my mom and I stopped by, they had brand new menus with a fancy and colorful cover. It doesn’t matter what day or what time I go to this place. It’s always busy! And it makes sense, because their food is always consistently good.
Here’s something I’d never tried before in all of my previous visits – the fried shrimp dumplings. These suckers are hot, stuffed with yummy shrimp, and serviced with a sweet and savory dipping sauce.
My mom got the whole bronzino with ginger and soy sauce. This was a huge whole fish! Neither of us expected it to be this big. It was light and flaky and fresh. The sauce was a little boring and bland, they certainly could have kicked it up a notch. But it was well worth it. My mom got several more meals out of the leftovers!
I always like their big broth noodles bowls, so I mixed it up from my usual and got the stewed beef with udon noodles. The meat was tender and strong with 5-spice flavor, and I’m a total sucker for thick udon noodles. Service here is always good.

I had just gone to Little Fish not too long ago, but I loved it so much I wanted to try their sunday night 5-course tasting. Here is the menu for that night on the adorable chalkboard. I like this handwriting. It’s slightly unsure what to do with itself. As usual, this place was packed. While waiting for our courses, they came around with complimentary bread. Some of the bread was a bit burnt, surprisingly. I still ate it anyway, just ignoring the burnt crust.

We started with raw tuna with thinly sliced jalapeno, jicama, and watermelon. This tuna was crazy fresh and just melted in my mouth. All the other ingredients worked really well with the tuna, especially the watermelon! Have you ever had jicama? Don’t be afraid. It’s so light!
Next up was a salad with burrata, thick bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Burrata is a fresh soft cheese made from mozzarella and cream. It actually ends up with a slightly sticky texture. I really like mild cheeses like this, so I quite enjoyed this dish.
Next up was the halibut with roasted eggplant, shredded carrot, cucumber, mint, and peanuts. This was a healthy heaping of halibut, perfectly pan-fried. It was so light, flaky, and perfect.
Then we completely switched it up and moved to the gumbo! It was a traditional louisiana style gumbo, with shrimp, andouille, and even okra. This was some good gumbo!
Lastly, dessert was a plum tart with basil sorbet. The tart was crispity with not overly sweet plums. The sorbet was obviously homemade and delicious. It was another fantastic meal here. Every dish worked. Because it was a set meal, everything came out fairly quickly and the service was fast and efficient. I love this place! And the sunday tasting is definitely worth it. Be sure to get a reservation!