The Gage & Chicago’s Loop

The Gage is a really cool restaurant across the street from the Bean.  The decor is very Chicago and reminds me of old Chicago gangster movies.  There was a fire-place right next to our booth which was very handy for the Chicago Wind Chill. 

It’s lively and the place was packed during lunch.  The waiters are all friendly and full of recommendations, which is a step above the typical Chinese service where they curse at you for taking too long to order.  The bar is gorgeous and looks like its made of Mahogany wood.  Well, I think it was a reddish color but then again I’m color blind.

Anyway, I’m kind of on the fence about the Gage like an overweight Humpty Dumpty.  The decor and ambiance of the restaurant is very nice and what I imagined Chicago would be similar to old movies like the Dark Knight.  However, the food wasn’t very impressive as I would have hoped like buying a crappy bag of weed.  I had the following:

1. Poutine Fries – The poutine fries was topped with cider braised pork shoulder, pork gravy and cheese curd.  The cheese curd and pork gravy made the dish extremely rich in flavor on top of starch heavy fries.  The pork gravy made it very creamy but didn’t overdo it in saltiness department.  It was kind of a disappointment cause I like sodium rich artery clogging food.  It’s total comfort food and it was definitely made to share.  This dish was a starter, but after eating it I was finished.  The food coma started to overwhelm my consciousness, I started to get drowsy and I could feel my blood pressure double.

   

2. Lobster Roll – There’s this great debate about whether it should be served cold or warm.  It’s like beer or liquor first.  The chicken or the egg.  Lick it or stick it.  Now, I like my Lobster rolls to be warm.  I like the lobster warm with freshly toasted brioche.  It provides a better flavor and texture to the roll.  Guess what?  That’s how the Gage serves it.  The roll comes with fried onions, a buttery toasted brioche, a grilled lemon and a side of chips. The warm buttery toasted brioche blended very well with the warm lobster like how butter and grease fill my arteries.

   

3. Venison Burger – The burger came with smoked gouda, fried jalapeno, woodland mushroom, pickled onions, a mustard Aioli spread, fries and ketchup.  Yeah I know.  I thought Chicagoans hated ketchup but I guess it’s okay when it’s eaten with a burger and fries since they’re Nazis about it when it comes to hot dogs.  The burger was cooked to medium rare as I specified and a decent size burger.  The venison didn’t taste as fatty or juicy as a beef patty but the texture was similar to beef.  The toppings did make the burger a little better but the burger wasn’t too impressive like Kanye West’s fashion line.

   

Overall, the Gage has one major thing going for them, which is the decor and ambiance of the restaurant.  They get an 7.5 out of 10 in that department.  However, I didn’t think the food was too impressive.  The other major plus is that they’re located in the middle of the loop and a great place to stop by for lunch between sight-seeing.

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