Despite my love of travel and strong desire to see and experience new places and cuisines, I cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be classified as a regular traveler. (My commute doesn't count.) However, increased responsibilities at work have put me on the road more and more over these past couple of years, and I'm slowly inching my way toward jet-setter status.
The more trips I take, the more I appreciate the improvement of airport dining options. Sure, it's super convenient to grab a pre-packaged sandwich or salad from any of the standard kiosks available in the airport terminal, but, frankly, those sandwiches and salads aren't very good. Plus, there's no way of knowing how long they've been sitting there in the refrigerated case.
The last time I was in Chicago, that's exactly what I did -- I opted against picking up something quick to eat while sitting at my gate waiting to board. Instead, I choose to take a seat at
Wicker Park Seafood & Sushi Bar and treated myself to a pre-flight cocktail (
Ginger Mojito) and two sushi rolls.
Since I'm a sucker for a good California Roll, I knew I just had to order one. However, I changed it up a bit and ordered a
Crunchy California Roll rather than the traditional version.
Delicious. I loved the juxtaposition of textures thought the sweet drizzle of eel sauce was a nice, unexpected touch.
In addition to the
Crunchy California Roll, I also ordered the
Hawaiian Roll, which featured a
trio of salmon, yellowtail, and tuna, as well as thick chunks of
fresh mango.
I enjoyed the flavor of the innards of the roll but thought the soy paper was too delicate of a wrapper. The slices of the roll fell apart every time I attempted to pick them up with my chopsticks. And, for me, the accompanying mango sauce was overkill. I wound up using more soy sauce than usual in order to balance out the sweet with something salty. The concept was intriguing, but it just wasn't executed as well as it could have been.
With that said, my lunch at
Wicker Park Seafood & Sushi Bar far exceeded the generic sandwich and salad offerings meticulously arranged in those refrigerated cases.
Wicker Park Seafood & Sushi Bar
Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Terminal 2
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