Hana Asian Fusion: Delicate, Subtle Flavors

Hana Asian Fusion, in the strip mall (where else?) on the northeast corner of Emerson & Southport, is a simple, elegant space with ultra modern furniture and fixtures and a light atmosphere.  They have a varied menu of sushi, sashimi, and cuisines from all over Asia.  I hate to say that I generally prefer my Asian food to be cheap, inauthentic, and bold-flavored.  Hana is none of these (although the price is just about right, at $$).  I have to admit I was favorably impressed, though.  Everything I had there was tasty, although in a delicate, slightly subtle way (hence the above title).  Service was excellent, and quite fast given that it is not a fast-food Asian restaurant.  We're definitely going back to see if their winning streak continues!  Hai!

El Puerto - Just A Little Different From the Rest

El Puerto, 7045 Emblem Drive, is (need I say it) in a strip mall in between Mike's Car Wash and Meijer, near the giant sucking vortex of traffic quicksand that is the intersection of Southport Road and Emerson Avenue.  I think it's part of a small chain, as there is another El Puerto at Emerson & Thompson Road.  The decor is simple but clean-- it was a Schlotsky's sandwich shop when first built, and likely retains the original seating.  I've been to the other El Puerto, too, and the decor is similar although this one has more windows and seems more light and airy inside.

On this day I got an order to go, and it was a working lunch so no beer or booze (*sigh*).  The very cordial host took my order promptly and the food was ready !muy pronto!  I had the lunch Chimichanga with beans and my business partner (just kidding, it was The Little Woman) had a burrito with beans, and they were both DEEELICIOUS.  The Chimi was cooked just right, not doughy but not hard, and it was covered with a tasty white queso sauce and filled with spicy shredded beef, while the burrito was covered in a red sauce that was also quite flavorful. The beans had a little bit of white cheese melted on top, which I love, and the to-go order came with a little cup of salsa and a quart-size bag of tortilla chips.  The salsa was excellent for us but maybe a little too spicy for some folks. 

Both dishes seemed a little different from the same ones at other Mexican restaurants (YAHOO!). All the decorations in the place were from Cancun so maybe this is the style of the food there.  I was in Mexico once, visiting Tulancingo in the state of Hidalgo when I saw a restaurant advertising Michoacan-style food, but was unable to go in and ask what that might be because I couldn't leave the tour group....  I've since had the opportunity to ask several Mexicanos living here what regional Mexican food differences there are, but none of them had any idea beyond one guy who said that in Cancun they eat a lot of seafood. D (wait for it) UH!  I can tell you, though, that in Hidalgo they have Pastes (pronounced PA STAYS), a variation of the English Pasties that British miners brought over when they came there to mine silver, yet another variation of which (the pirogi?) was the lunch of German and Polish miners up in Minnesota.  A paste is a pie crust-like pastry baked hard and filled with meat and cheese, to which the Hidalguenses have added plenty of Mexican spice and flavor.  The tour guides brought 'em to us in big boxes like doughnuts, and I woulda consumed a whole box of them if those danged Seguridad Publica guys hadn't tackled me.  Ah, but I digress.... 

El Puerto is nothing fancy, but the food is just a little different and a little tastier than most of the other cookie-cutter Mexican restaurants, for which I am VERY grateful for every cup and every plateful.  Thank you Lord for all this food.  Amen!  Sorry, got carried away there....  !TOME Y COME AQUI AHORITA, MI GENTE!