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Nightwood is supposedly to be another amazing restaurant in Chicago. The restaurant is located in a somewhat shady neighbourhood, but because of its existence, there would constantly be limo pulling up near the building.
Some of their very famous dishes include the deep fried smelt, the sweetbread, and trout. However, unfortunately, I found most of them to be largely disappointing. Plus, the service really sucked, and I would probably never return. Comparatively, the Girl and the Goat was infinitely better (see previous blog).
Deep fried smelt:
This was supposedly one of the best things Chicago had to offer, and I was deeply disappointed. Maybe, just maybe, for someone who has never had fresh seafood, this dish may be interesting, but overall, I found it to be extremely boring and uninspired. Also, my fish was under-seasoned, and I had to repeatedly add salt from the shaker.
Sweetbread:
The sweetbread was slightly better than the smelt, but I did not love it either. While the slightly spicy batter was an absolutely delight, its ratio to sweetbread ratio was way too low, perhaps it would have been a better dish had they flatter out the sweetbread for more surface area. The sweetbread was juicy and moist, but I think it would really go well with a sauce of some kind.
Whole trout:
I was really looking forward to the trout, but unfortunately, it was, by far, the worst dish of the night. Generally speaking, I love a runny egg on anything, but I found it really hard to eat raw yolk with fish, when combined, both the texture and the taste were completely off. The fish was cooked rather nicely, and I commend the restaurant for boning the fish, but again, it was missing a sauce! It's incredibly difficult to just eat plain grilled fish with olive oil. I honestly had trouble finishing this dish.
Polenta:
This was by far my favourite dish of the night. The ground polenta was cooked very nicely, and the mushroom really added essential flavour and textural contrast. Compared to the fish, this dish was really comforting, and I just wanted to keep on eating it.
Dessert: fig cake with goat cheese
I really liked the dessert, and it was somewhat of a saving grace for this restaurant. The dessert was very well thought out, the warm fig cake went extremely well with the goat cheese topping, and it was as if I was eating cheese and crackers.
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*drool* Any sort of food that I can't afford is good enough for me. College diets: 
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I LOVE food blogs!!! Especially the deep fried smelt, oh man that looks mouth-watering!
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Sounds like your taste is ruined.
You needed extra salt -- probably have been adding too much salt all your life.
You cannot eat grilled fish without sauce? What the hell? When food is bad, you add sauce to disguise that and make something of it anyway. The best fish is eaten with nothing or a drop of good olive oil.
Sweetbread -- not the sauce again?
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On February 21 2011 06:47 Navane wrote:
Sounds like your taste is ruined.
You needed extra salt -- probably have been adding too much salt all your life.
Then I would have found all other dishes under seasoned as well? I only added salt to the smelt.
You cannot eat grilled fish without sauce? What the hell? When food is bad, you add sauce to disguise that and make something of it anyway. The best fish is eaten with nothing or a drop of good olive oil.
Sweetbread -- not the sauce again?
The sauce is an essential part of a dish. The point of the sauce is not to cover up bad taste but to add another layer of depth, provide contrast and/or to act as a binding agent. The making of the sauce is often much more complex than cooking the food.
I generally agree that exceedingly fine ingredients need very little seasoning (this point is particularly exemplified in classic Italian cuisines and perhaps even more so in Japanese cooking), but the trout was actually rather flavourless, and therefore hard to eat without something that excites the palate.
I'm glad that you challenge my reviews as I find talking about food and its executions very interesting 
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He's just trolling. Or just just doesn't have a clear idea about fine dining.
You should really try out Alinea, Charlie Trotter's, or L20. I know they can be a bit on expensive side, but I personally think it's worth it.
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Man, I want to join in on the next TL Chicago dinner night!
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On February 21 2011 07:51 Shinshin wrote:
He's just trolling. Or just just doesn't have a clear idea about fine dining.
You should really try out Alinea, Charlie Trotter's, or L20. I know they can be a bit on expensive side, but I personally think it's worth it.
I would really love to dine at Alinea, next time for sure. This time, I don't have a lot of time to spend in Chicago, and I have nothing to wear
I'm focusing mostly on bib gourmand (michelin) restaurants and well-known local eats like Kuma's.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20968/photos/2011.02.18.Nightwood/IMG_1944 (Small).JPG)
![[image loading]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20968/photos/2011.02.18.Nightwood/IMG_1935 (Small).JPG)
![[image loading]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20968/photos/2011.02.18.Nightwood/IMG_1956 (Small).JPG)
![[image loading]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20968/photos/2011.02.18.Nightwood/IMG_1951 (Small).JPG)
![[image loading]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20968/photos/2011.02.18.Nightwood/IMG_1961 (Small).JPG)
