elfin

When I lived in Japan I did not like the various curry dishes but I do like Indian curries. Could never figure out what made the difference.

Being a product of my parents' cocktail parties in the late fifties and early sixties (Martinis and Manhattens were the drinks dejour) my mom made appetizers that focused on salt, salt and more salt. What better excuse to drink another! The easiest but always the first to go was green olives wrapped in bacon (fresh from the broiler). It is a fav at my parties now. Also, anchovy brochettes made on flat bread with onion, tomato and a dash of fresh oragano (or basil).

Looked on Metromix.com and the place has been written up twice with favorable reviews. River Kwai Seafood II is located at 1650 W. Belmont. (773) 472-1013

Over the years it seems that I just can not find a decent chinese egg roll anywhere. In Chicago, we have most of the Chinese cuisines covered and have a decent Chinatown. But the egg rolls of my childhood-crammed with good sized pieces of pork, shrimp, green onion and other goodies are MIA. Now all I get is a greasy wrapped tube filled only with cabbage, a few bean sprouts and shredded carrots and onions. Maybe my past memory is not acurate or my youthful palate was not discerning to know any better but my complaint seems to be shared by many of my friends. I am not complaining about Vietnamese or Thai spring rolls which are delicious. I know egg rolls are a means to use kitchen scraps to small for the wok but can the kitchen add more than just cabbage and carrots?

There are two types of burgers -big fat juicy char burgers and the flat greasy griddle fried burgers. Depending on my mood, both can hit the mark. For the flat variety I like Top Notch in Beverly and the double steak burger at Steak N Shake (a great excuse to get their fab fries). A taste of WC if I pass one on the way. Still looking for the perfect char burger-Hackney's bread too funky for me-I want a toasted bun. 'Beinlacks' overrated. I Remember a great char burger at (don't laugh) Ponderosa years ago.

Still a huge fan of Produce World's prices (french feta-$5.99/lb) and selection. On the same trip I also hit the Black Forest Butcher shop a few doors down for meat, the frozen goulash and rouladen and german potato salad. But will try the new place most definately. Not a fan of Sunset but will catch a leader sale and fill my gas tank across the street to avoid Cook County tax. Will try out the new place it must be huge since it took over the Linens and Things space. Lakeside Foods is a wonderful place-friendly folks. Hate Grand in Winnetka-makes Sunset and Carrot Top look cheap. Treasure Island has tarmosalata is the deli and some nice produce.

We were VERY well received-even in light of the Iraqi prisoner photo release during our visit. The people are very warm and friendly. The pan-african food was evident in the Moroccan restaurants. One restaurant served a choice of tunisian or moroccan coucous. The difference was the presence of chick peas-according to our waiter. Shwarma was either chicken or Lamb variety with a terrible mayo-like sauce. Most of these places were very casual and frequented nearly only by men There was a ground red pepper dipping sauce that was served cold with bread at nearly every place we ate. It was not too spicey. We had better shwarma in Lebanon and in Cote d Ivoire. Libyan soup was served everywhere. One neighborhood-Gargaresh-had most of the places to eat. New ones were sprouting up. I regret not trying the Chinese restaurant but we just could not swing it on our busy schedule.

Just returned from Libya after a two week vacation. We were primarily based in Tripoli with a side trip into the Sahara near the Algerian border. One of the best places we have been in the world. Private e-mail me if you want travel info or names of restaurants. Food was plentiful in Tripoli but actual restaurants were not so many. New ones sprouted up everyday-there is now a Chinese restaurant. The food choices are basically Moroccan/ Tunisian (coucous/tangines) and grilled kebobs or machine chicken. Plenty of hummos, baba ganoush, and french fries. The only Libyan dish I saw offered was the soup. At some places it was a spicey minnestrone with mint leaves and chickpeas- and others it was a tomato based rice soup. Cappaccinos made with old Italian machines are about 30 cents and are everywhere. Coffee is sold with or without cardamon. The tea is the ultra sweet minty tea favored in north africa. There is little demand for fresh milk so the long life milk with a forever freshness date is all you can get. Bananas from Equador, apples and iceberg lettuce and red tomatos are common. Did not see any fresh squeezed juices. The butcher shops (did not see an open air meat markets) sell beef, chicken, lamb and camel meats. Our driver loved to hunt rabbit and porcupine in the desert. All sorts of soda pop (every American brand-even Diet Coke) is sold everywhere and they have their own varietys-stick with the known brands. Candy bars are mostly Cadbury with plenty of other chocolate bars available-remember Zero Bars? Pringles and breakfast cereals are sold everywhere too. The spice markets were nothing special-but the vats of black and green olives were delicious. Libya is dry but alcohol is available for those who seek it out. Mostly Scotches or home made hooch. However a multitude of stemware was set on every table. Despite its seaside location fish and fish restaurants are not so common. One fish restaurant was way over priced and seemed to only serve German tourist groups. Typical pasta dishes appear on every menu . Had a good anchovy pizza with thin crust. The most expensive place to eat is atop the tallest building. It suppose to revolve but we never saw it move. Did not eat the the tourist hotel. It is a terrific place and it is nearly imposible to break the bank when dining.

Thankyou for the info (and not for making fun of me watching an old Dallas rerun).

Saw an old Dallas reun and everyone seemed to order Bourbon and Branch. What is Branch?

Love Hema's but she again picks a place where parking is a nightmare.

Limonata!!! Also Schweppes Bitter Lemon. It might as well be foreign- It is really hard to find here in the states but readily available in Amsterdam-go figure!

Doesn't Milwaukee have some great eastern european food-sloviakian, check,yugoslavian etc? Would love a few recommends. I get my Polish fix in Chicago.

Same issue is being addresed in Chicago. Walmart wants to put up stores in two blighted /poor communities. Union forces say No and local aldermen say Yes-for the jobs and 'more'. Mayor Daley did not like the idea at first but now seems to be caving. Hope he reads e-gullet.

Thanks everyone! It is amazing how isolated the place actually is regarding information. I hit the Lonely Planet web site and have had one reply from a Libyian(I think) who said that we would not starve. You all are so supportive. Our colleagues, neighbors and friends think we are nuts. (Well we are, sort of.)

Not an expert on 'whisky'-I love Jack Daniels (sour mash) and Crown Royal. I do not like scotch (even the expensive ones). Have been burned trying to broaden my scope and have ended up with scotch type whiskies which I do not like. Any suggestions/recommendations? Is there a European equivelent that I can order when I am traveling abroad?

USA now allows its citizens to travel to Libya. We are going next month for two weeks. There is very little info-especially about the food. We have been through East, West and Northern Africa, and the Mideast etc. so we are familiar with the various cuisines. We have a baby who is still eating jar babyfood. Is it possible to buy babyfood (it does not have to be an American brand)? I hate to lug around all those jars. What are the restaurants like? I know the country is dry. Thanks!

Going to Newport Beach next week-will have wheels. Any recs for a place to eat for a Chicagoan who has been in the cold since October? Dining solo thus ultra trendy/fancy is out. Thanks.

Sakai's record with lobsters has not been good. Beef may be out due to the mad cow disease scare-unless the US Beef Council will be a sponsor. I would say the theme would be pork. Egg plant may be another. I am cheering for the Sakai team.

My boss is honeymooning in Napa in June and is a last minute guy. He wants to go to the French Laundry but has not made any reservations to date. How far in advance must he book to secure a table for 2? Any inside tips regarding the place I can drop-best nights, best table etc. also if there are some other not to miss places -does not have to be expensive but good food, quaint/ charming etc. (Thanks-I need all the brown nose points I can get- I have a mortgage and two babies!).

Following another's recommendation is what we all do to some extent. Unless you are walking down a street and 'discovered' a place, dining choices are, pardon the pun, word of mouth. So you have to consider the source. You would not accept a rec from a colleague who you know has different tastes, tolerences and budget. But when dining in a foreign place, we typically consult guide books, newspaper articles/reviews and the conceirge-all sources that you frankly do not know (and perhaps question their loyalty). So, after following this board for some time, listening to the dialogue/banter, you do form an affinity/respect for the posters. Something just clicks. Bux and loufood are way out of my league in terms of food experiences and sophistication-so I really learn from their posts. My trip to Lyon last year was less stressful since their recs for dining with a baby in this food mecca saved me a lot of time in research which I would have done in a former life. Since the recs were spot on, I will rely again on these folks. Zagat's global recs are just that. Just because a place is popular does not mean that it will suit you.

Our firm holiday party was at Ruth Chris. I had a NY Strip. It was cooked perfectly but it just did not have that good ole grilled taste. Others who ordered their NY strips medium (and more) found that their steaks were butterflied-how strange. Had a steak down in Southern Illinois at some road house off the highway-it was delicious-that great char taste for a quarter of the price. Am I wrong for wanting a char taste at a top steak house?

More expensive but worth it are the individual serving packs of miso. I keep a bunch of packets in my drawer at work when I need a salt/protein rush. When cooking a miso rubbed fish, I just open up a few packets. Since they are already sealed, I do not worry about freshness. However I have noted that if they are old, the miso turns darker. But the miso packs had some sort of shell fish base added in addition to the seaweed.

Bux has been my "Zagat" when it comes to recommending places in France. We went to some of the places he recommeded in Lyon and they were wonderful. All too often a popular place is not the best. The Zagat may be useful in address, phone and cost info-but that is about it.

LOVE THE CHIX LIVER. We fill up on the chix liver and bialays (sp?) and take home the unfinished ribs. Went to the orininal Carsons downtown years ago and had a terrible meal. Went to the Carsons in Deerfield as well Skokie and was not disappointed. Hubby likes the chicken. Ribs are good but it is the most fancy 'rib joint' I know. The Little Ricky's (O'Neil owners) rib place that opened in Winnetka has received mixed reviews. Heckys is still good but no dining in or Chix livers.