I finally got a chance to get some sushi again yesterday. My good friend, Martin, who pretty much introduced me to sushi many years ago, invited me to check out Hakuya in Buffalo Grove.

It was lunchtime, so we started off with two combo plates and some ala carte unagi. They brought out complimentary miso soup and ginger house salad. The soup was standard, but the salad offered a nice variety. My plate was a four piece nigiri and spicy salmon roll. Martin had the six piece with a spicy tuna roll and a shrimp tempura roll. All the nigiri was flavorful and tender, the white tuna was especially delicate, while the red snapper was a bit chewy for my tastes. The unagi was great, nicely prepared and topped with just a smidge of scallions.

After that, we ordered two signature rolls. One was the house signature Hakuya roll, which was excellent, packed with flavor and generously portioned. The citrus vinaigrette added a nice creaminess. The other roll was a new one, called the Valentine. This one came out with each pair of nigiri prepared in such a way so that the two halves formed a heart. The flavors on this one were exceptional as well, and the presentation was better, but the cilantro was a bit dominant on the Valentine, so it didn’t have as diverse a flavor profile. I was still torn as to which roll to make my last bite but settled on the Hakuya to finish out an awesome and reasonably priced meal.

So if you’re looking for a new sushi place to try, Hakuya is worth the trip. Enjoy!

I made a new discovery recently. I have experienced, for the first time, the delightful combination of cole slaw and pulled pork.

It started with a trip to the Naperville Wine Festival yesterday. I was working at the Cooper’s Hawk booth and ventured over to the “food court”, a section where several food vendors had set up shop for the day. Three of the restaurants represented were all neighbors in the nearby buildings, Sugartoad, Tap In Pub and Citygate Grille. They were holding a slider contest, with each kitchen creating a signature pork slider. Texting in my vote for my favorite got me entered into a contest to win dinner for two. The best in my opinion was Citygate, as it had the right balance of sweet, savory, salty and tangy. Although Tap In put up some strong competition with balsamic-marinated cabbage.

There were two constants among all three sliders, pulled pork, and coleslaw. Each one was considerably different from the others, with different sauces and toppings, but the cool crunch of the cabbage was a superb complement to the warm chew of the pork. Why had I never seen this before? Was this a new trend? I had no idea.

Today, I attended my second company picnic. There, at the buffet area, was pulled pork to make my own sandwich. Down the line by the garnishes, lay a big bowl of cole slaw. That simple sandwich was the highlight of the meal. As we sat down, I told my wife how this combination seemed new to me, but she was quite familiar with the idea. It just goes to show me that there is still so much out there to experience. Which, for a foodie like me, is an extremely exciting prospect. Enjoy!

Update 08/27/13: I just stopped in at Firehoue Subs and discovered I’d already experienced slaw on pork at least once before, when I tried their King’s Hawaiian Sandwich. I don’t think I’d paid enough attention last time to register what I’d eaten. I’ll have be more aware in the future.