Eat through Chicago: Carnivale

This past weekend Kelsey and I headed to Chicago to meet her parents and celebrate her birthday, which was officially yesterday but she insists on a whole week of celebration. :)

On Saturday night her parents were kind enough to take us out to dinner. They had been in town much earlier than us and had scouted out some locations that had been suggested by the hotel concierge, the Hyatt Magnificent Mile. They wanted it to be a surprise so we had no idea where we were going when we hopped on a CTA bus headed toward the river.

We finally got off at at West Lake Street and Fulton Market and saw Carnivale:

View from the outside 

The restaurant describes its self as a place "Featuring energetic colors, glamor, photography and wild design,Carnivale engages all of the senses with global flavors, Latin music, savory aromas and luxurious comfort. 

When you first enter you go into a large bar space that would be a great area to hang out and grab a cocktail and an appetizer.

Bar Area

Then you pass through a curtain into a HUGE open space that is the main dining room. On the ceiling (as you will see below) are really cool and funky colored lamps and stained glass. The areas to the sides of the dining rooms and above the dining room contain more private areas that can be reserved for private parties.

Main Dining Room

Their menu is truly a mixture of tons of latin flavors. I love latin food and was really eager to try just about everything on the menu. We started off with drinks and I got a raspberry mojito, Kelsey got the frozen white wine sangria, her dad got the coconut mojito and her mom ordered the Carnivale martini. The drinks were very fresh and tasted great. Kelsey's frozen white wine sangria packed a huge punch, but was delicious. 

The waiter was great about walking us through the menu and explaining ingredients we did not recognize and helping us pick what we wanted. 

We ordered two appetizers, the Arepas which features Maple Creek Farm pork belly, corn cheese cakes, plantains, black beans, jicama, avocado, aji limo puree; and Garlic Shrimp which features Sautéed shrimp, sourdough croutons, pepper escabeche, garlic lemon butter minus the garlic as Kelsey's mom is allergic (more on that later).

Arepas 

The Arepas were AMAZING...I mean it's pork belly, so it has to be amazing. But this dish was brilliant. The pork belly was so good and the corn cheese cake blended the flavors so well. The jicama had been infused with the aji limo puree and was tart but also a little spicy. Just an overall brilliant dish.

Kelsey's parents said that the shrimp dish was also very good (sorry forgot to take a picture...was too busy eating the pork belly and having a moment....droolllll...sorry sorry) 

Next we ordered our mains. Kelsey went for the Pollo which was Peruvian style chicken, potatoes, olives, queso fresco, escabeche, aji amarillo sauce. Her dad went with the Costilla de Res which featured Braised short rib, Three Sisters Farm cheese polenta, carrot escabeche, candied pepitas. I went with the Pernil which was Braised Maple Creek Farm braised pork shoulder, aji panca garlic potato puree, roasted carrots, snap peas. Finally, her mom went with the Pappardelle which featured Wide pasta noodles, poached tomatoes, sweet corn puree, sofrito, parmigiano, lemon basil, capers.

The problems started when our meals arrived. Kelsey, her dad and my meal all arrived without any problems. But her moms meal arrived and it was simply just plain pasta noodles. When we finally flagged the waiter he indicated that all of the ingredients in the dish were pre mixed and contained garlic so Kelsey's mom could not eat it. Kelsey's mom was a little shocked to see just plain noodles and asked if anything else could be done to add to the dish a little bit and the waiter brought out some butter to add to the dish. Finally after a little more prodding he said he could get a mix of vegetables to add to it. 

When the veggies came out we were all able to enjoy our meals. The food was excellent, the chefs did a brilliant job of blending the flavors together to create a symphony in your mouth (Yeah I went there). My braised pork shoulder was tender and full of flavor. The potatoes and veggies were perfectly seasoned and I was stuffed by the end of the meal! 

Pernil 

Pollo 

After dinner was cleared the waiter brought out a special surprise for Kelsey to help her celebrate her birthday. It was a dessert flan with caramel popcorn and whipped cream. The flan was so so good, not flat in flavor like most flans, but think with hints of cinnamon and caramel.

Birthday girl with her dessert 

But then when the check came another problem arose. The waiter had charged Kelsey's mom $6 for the vegetable plate and $18 for the plain noodles. After talking to him the vegetable charge was removed and he felt really bad about the whole ordeal and apologize profusely. 

We headed out into the beautiful Chicago night and walked along the river to work off some of the calories. 

Despite the few hiccups I would definitely recommend Carnivale if you are in Chicago and looking for a fun place to eat.