I woke up the week of my birthday with the WORST COLD TO EVER HIT CHICAGO. Body aches, throbbing headache, sore throat, sneezing, coughing, running nose…the sort of cold that you makes you wish you never would have left the 44C heat of Australia. I spent the better part of the week on the couch, and certainly wasn’t feeling in the “birthday” mood. On my actual day of birth, I woke up feeling a bit better, but still pretty crappy. Laying on the couch, covered in used Kleenex and cough syrup, I was so upset that I might have to miss my birthday dinner later that night. Just as I was lamenting to myself that there were no more club crackers to go with my reheated Chicken n Stars soup, the door buzzed. My friend was on the other side, with two different kinds of soup, deviled eggs with bacon, mini cupcakes and two homemade Twinkies from a local bakery. And a box of club crackers. Apparently, my husband had asked her to bring me some soup since he was at work. Then the door buzzed again, and the friend disappeared to answer it. She returned with a big bouquet of multi-colored daisies and a get-well/happy birthday note from the husband. Sigh. I am one lucky lady. One lucky THANKFUL lady. I would have to say one of my favorite reasons for being sick for a week is the weight loss with minimal effort. I had a few pounds to spare for my birthday dinner at Dorado! On the outside, Dorado looks like a hole in wall. A hole in the wall with a parking lot, a rare treat in Chicago. But upon entering, you have to blink a few time before realizing you are in a hip, colorful modern Mexican restaurant. It only seats 46, but the layout doesn’t make it feel cramped or overcrowded, even with a bar. Dorado is known for their French-influenced Mexican food, and had rave reviews all over the Internet, so I wanted to give it a try for my birthday dinner. These guys rock as far as service goes, and it deserves special attention. For my party of 15, they were happy to reserve a table in advance, even on a busy Friday night. When three extra guests showed up, they kindly asked the people next to us if they would like to move to a more private table so we could all sit together, and they obliged (we bought them a dessert as a thank you). The waitstaff was helpful with suggestions from the menu, and didn’t seem the least bit put out by my loud party of friends. They also managed to be attentive even as they tended to the rest of the dining room, and our appetizers and mains came quickly and at the proper temperature, which is difficult when serving food to large group. Usually my food is made first and served last to me in group situations, which never tastes good. It was BYOB with a mere $2 per bottle corkage fee. This was one of my favorites from the evening, a South Aussie grenache with a fun name.
I particularly loved the back label.
Some happy people waiting to eat:
For apps, we had guacamole and chips ($8.95 USD), mushroom quesadillas ($6.95 USD),
and their popular duck nachos ($8.95 USD). These bad boys were topped with smoked duck, melted chihuahua cheese, purple onion, guacamole pickled jalapenos, black beans & a lime cream sauce.
There are not enough words in the English language to describe how delicious these nachos were. Somehow, each nacho you pulled off had a fairly even amount of all of the toppings! The smoky duck with the tangy guacamole and a whole host of other Mexicany-vegetable delights–seriously, one of the best dishes of the night. And now to the mains… I had the crab-stuffed jumbo shrimp with spicy green rice and caramelized plantains($22.95 USD).
This was a great dish, but definitely small-portioned. Those shrimp? Not so jumbo. More like five smallish cocktail sized shrimp. The dish itself was delicious, overflowing with cheese and a great combination of flavors from a little citrus and the crab. Even the shrimp was delicious–just not jumbo. Thankfully, the husband ordered the aged strip steak with ancho sauce and chipotle mashed sweet potatoes, and he was nice enough to share.
I forget the price because it was a special, but this steak was AWESOME. Not too fatty, perfectly charred on the outside with a slightly spicy sauce, and those sweet potatoes…ugh. So good. Several people tried the crab meat crusted pan seared atlantic salmon over chipotle mashed potatoes, fresh basil, tomatoes, capers and a citrus beurre blanc ($15.95 USD) and were really happy with it.
I really liked it too, and I am usually not a salmon eater. But this wasn’t a fishy salmon by any means, it was light and fresh-tasting. Well, as fresh tasting as a restaurant in the middle of a Midwestern winter can manage, which was pretty damn good for me. Another friend had the Grilled Tilapia Ala Diabla ($15.95 USD), which was a grilled blackened tilapia over spicy green rice with grilled asparagus, fresh mango salsa and citrus beurre blanc.
Again, delicious fish with a delicious sauce. Not too heavy at all. Loved it. One of the vegetarians in the group had the spinach and cheese chimichanga ($6.95 USD).
She said it was delicious, and really light-tasting, which was refreshing compared to how heavy chimichangas usually taste. This reminds me of my second issue with the restaurant–there were no vegetarian entrees on the menu the day we went. The online menu lists at least a veggie burrito, but it was missing on our day, and I had a few vegos in the group that had to subside on appetizers, which is not enough food. For such a good restaurant with a creative chef, this surprises me. It won’t keep my away from the place, but it might prevent vegetarians from eating some really delicious food, so I hope this changes. Bobby had the seafood-stuffed chile rellanos ($16.95 USD), which had two stuffed poblano peppers with shrimp, crab meat and a bay scallops, and was served with green rice, vegetable ragout and lobster shrimp sauce.
He could not stop raving about this dish. He practically licked the plate clean!
Claire had the crunchy Almond Crusted Trout served over spicy green rice, grilled asparagus, caramelized plantains and a spicy coconut sauce ($16.95 USD), which did not get photographed (my bad). Claire said it came on a bed of couscous with dried fruit, and she was a big fan of the dish. With the coconut and chipotle, it almost tasted like a curry, which she really enjoyed. And of course, since I had lost all that weight being sick, I totally had room for desserts. We tried three of them, which were each $7 USD. The first dish: caramelized plantains(which tasted scrumptious and a lot like caramelized bananas).
The tres leche cake was pretty good, but not as coconut-y as I like my tres leches.
The chocolate chimichangas were the crowd favorite. They were wrapped in phyllo dough, which made them surprisingly light and crunchy.
This is a great restaurant. It is a bit north of downtown and looks like a hole in the wall, but it has a parking lot and turns out consistent French-Mexican food with friendly service in a fun atmosphere. I have not left a restaurant this satisfied with so many things–the food, the service, the price–in a long time. I only had three minor complaints–the size of the jumbo shrimp, the lack of vegetarian entrees, and the lack of seasonality in the menu (asparagus in January, no matter where they are flown in from, taste awful). But again, these were minor points. Go to this restaurant! Now! Put down the laptop, walk away from the work computer, and order yourself a fat ass plate of duck nachos. Then send me a thank you email 
~LTG! ********************************************************* Dorado 2301 W. Foster Ave. Chicago, IL 60625 773-561-3780
