Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

The paragraph about the sponge cake made me laugh harder than the latest from Damn You Autocorrect -- thank you, that was priceless! And now I have a new quest to eat pork floss. Yum. :)

do want!

I like Kaliber! My husband has AIP, and can't drink alcohol at all ever on pain of medical direness, so it's a godsend.

Palak paneer... oh, how we love spinach prepared with warm aromatic spices. Delicious.

Honestly, my favorite Korean dish -- though there are many contenders -- is kimchi soup. It's my favorite cold remedy in the world!

Particularly as it is the FIRST five... which means that you must also propose during the "romantic establishment" equivalent of the early bird special hour. Yippee!

I like to stir fry tofu until crisp, then add broth, cabbage, and other aromatic vegetables/herbs, then crumble in the noodles and let them bubble in the mixture until just soft. It's like magic! Can't stand the seasoning packets, so I usually improvise with flavorful Asian seasonings from scratch.

Arroz a la cubana: rice, fried bananas, and a poached or soft-fried egg. Mmm. Good on its own, great with sriracha!

Notta bird! I am not vegan, but don't eat turkey. One (a friend's pet) stepped on my foot once and I made him a promise. I know, I'm a weirdo... but I prefer other holiday fare anyway. ;)

Roasted, then mashed with lime juice and a pinch of salt. But LIRC, I am coming to stay at your house, OMG.

Oh, we agree! We loved Portillo's magnificent sandwich. We wish we were back in Chicago riiiiiight now, just thinking about it.

@jakethemate - It's not thousand island. I've asked them about a dozen times what's in the sauce, and they always respond that they can't tell me because it's a secret. The cooks instantly glower at the waitstaff through the window into the kitchen if they even hesitate before saying so, too. I *think* it's some mayonnaise/ketchup/mustard amalgam, but it's smooth, no pickle in it or anything like that. It does taste great -- which is good, because they always put on a LOT of it.

It's definitely green leaf lettuce. When green leaf is iffy in the market, I *think* they use iceberg, but I wouldn't swear to it. Regardless, the toppings are always fresh and crisp, and it's one of the few places in the region where they can recognize a decent tomato.

OMG! That's local -- I ate there the other day! Squeeee! So glad you liked it, as it's a local hot spot. Sometimes they are heavy on the sauce, but that's a self-adjusting problem... just wear a bib. :)

I can't believe you didn't feature their corny logo anywhere in your review. I love it.