cilantro wrote:PQM can do no wrong by me, but can anyone who's had the ribollita recently confirm that it's the same as it always was? A recent bowl was mostly liquid, much different than the thick, beany delight I've had in the past. An accident of timing?

Their ribollita is my favorite soup in town, but the last time I had it (2 months ago?), it was off as well. Just didn't pack the regular porky punch. I'm hoping these are exceptions and not a new rule.

Maybe they've done something with their broth. I had the cocido two weeks ago, which I have had problem 5-6 times before, and the broth this time was off. It just didn't have much flavor. I was pretty disappointed.

jfibro wrote:

cilantro wrote:PQM can do no wrong by me, but can anyone who's had the ribollita recently confirm that it's the same as it always was? A recent bowl was mostly liquid, much different than the thick, beany delight I've had in the past. An accident of timing?

Their ribollita is my favorite soup in town, but the last time I had it (2 months ago?), it was off as well. Just didn't pack the regular porky punch. I'm hoping these are exceptions and not a new rule.

I had it a couple weeks back and it was as great as ever, with that distinctive rich, lip-smacking broth. And at $6/bowl, a very nice value, especially given the quality of the dish . . .


Ribollita | runner beans, cotechino, country bread and braised kale

My friend and I also shared a tasty sandwich . . .


The Great Escape | morcilla sausage, avocado crema, aji costeno, marinated onion and Ezra's feta on yogurt naan

I'm also in love with one of the sausages they're making at PQM now. It's a boudin blanc with snails and brown butter solids. I'm not sure if they serve it there but it's avaiable for purchase from the butcher counter (uncooked) and it's phenomenal.

=R=

^That morcilla sandwich has been around since the summer and it's spectacular. Another one that's been on the menu for months -- for good reason -- is the Beet LAT. On paper, it might sound like a hot mess (and it is indeed quite messy), but it's absolutely delicious. The pickled tomatoes are key, I think. Anyway, I think these are their two best sandwiches right now.

I've bought (and enjoyed) their snail sausages, but to me they were slightly less eye-opening than the escargot/guanciale sausage at the late Hot Doug's.

I had such a typically excellent experience here on Saturday. 6 of us had lunch and I did some shopping. The Porchetta Sandwich (red onion, bread & butter pickles, aioli and American Spoon mustard on ciabatta), Gerry's Adobo Dog (adobo sausage, chimichurri, avocado, cilantro-pickled cucumber, onions and mojo rojo on a Franks N' Dawgs roll ), "Return of the Gyros" (braised pork belly, raita, escalivada, pea shoot and Calabrian chili vinaigrette on griddle flatbeard), End of Winter Salad (early Spring greens, sunchokes, red onion, pickled chard w/soft egg and bacon vinaigrette), and Carrot Avocado Salad (roasted carrots, romanesco, avocado, pickled red onion, hempseed, pecans, spinach, frisee and lime vinaigrette) were all tremendous and easily among the best things I've eaten this year.

I also walked out of there with 2 phenomenal baguette, 2 dozen fresh farm eggs and an assorment of a dozen of some of the best sausages made in Chicago. All this, and I feel like I barely scratched the surface of what PQM has to offer -- just an incredibly special place.

=R=

I'm not the kind of person who insists certain iconic foods should cost some fixed amount. Which is to say that I'm fine with paying $14 for a banh mi, assuming the quality is commensurate with the price. Sadly, PQM's interpretation is a rare fail for them. Here's the description: "country pâté, pork tenderloin, spicy aioli, garlic yogurt, pickled vegetables and cucumbers on italian loaf".

Where to start? The pate is in the form of tough little disks that don't really harmonize with the other ingredients the way soft banh mi pate usually does. Think supermarket salami, thickly cut, and you've got the right flavor and texture. The "pork tenderloin" turns out to basically be bacon, albeit fried to within an inch of its life. Why you need both aioli and yogurt on a sandwich is beyond me... except that I guess it makes it easier for all the pork leather to slide out of your sandwich. The pickled veggies were fine, inoffensive. (Aside: This is something fancied-up banh mi can never get right. I don't think Western-style pickles belong on a banh mi, at least if you want to keep calling it "banh mi" rather than "sandwich with pickles".) Then the final indignity: I'm sure the bread, like all their bread, is baked at Publican Quality Bread by award-winning artisan bakers. And then it must have been aged a good couple of days before being used for my sandwich. Seriously, if you told me this was an off-the-shelf Turano roll, I wouldn't have doubted you. Terrible.

All told, not much under $20 after tax and tip, or pretty much three times what I would have paid at Ba Le for a much more enjoyable sandwich.

Oh well, at least the kale was particularly good that day. I'm still a fanboy, but sticking with other selections in the future.

100% Correct- that sandwich is a misfire. I was delighted when I saw it on the board, and then....alas. But I give them an extra pass as that "gyro" is so damn tasty and because I don't think I have ever had a good bahn mi that was concocted for a non-asian audience. I still dream of that counter slinging $2.75 perfect sammies in the back of the jewelry store in NYC's chinatown.

Chico

Didn't eat inside PQM, but stopped in and bought some goodies. I recommend their scrapple. Really excellent. Also loved the white sausage that was recommended to me first time I stopped in. But the scrapple was truly memorable.

Wow, interesting to hear about the banh mi, because we ate there yesterday, and my wife and visiting father-in-law both complained about the sandwich after the fact, and specifically the bread, which they thought was stale and my wife thought not becoming of PQM. That's a lot of data points adding up to the same results.

I don't make it over to PQm as often as I'd like but managed to stop in a grab a few items for NYE. Their porchetta di testa is still my favorite bit of charcuterie in the city, the rosemary/garlic/pork flavor and texture is extremely my thing. Also really enjoying the blood mortadella which again is perfectly seasoned. We're lucky to have this place.

There's been an apparent showstopper on the menu at PQM for quite some time and I finally got around to ordering it on Saturday and enjoying it today. 72 hours notice is required for "The Big Steak & Eggs," a 2-pound, 50-day-aged ribeye accompanied by cured foie gras, seasonal vegetables, potatoes, and a couple of fried eggs. I'm hesitant to call any $90 menu item a bargain, but when taking into account the quality and that this more than enough food for 2 people, I'm going to go ahead and call this a fantastic deal.


They don't ask how you want your meat cooked and with beef of this quality, there's no reason to as medium rare/rare is really the only right answer. The beautiful salty crust around some flavorful beef had me plotting a return visit after one bite. And that was before I started put little bits of cured foie gras onto each bite of beef, which too this to another stratosphere.


The vegetables are far from an afterthought, The seasonal vegetables today were a combination of wax beans, squash and kohlrabi with quite a few other things mixed in. The potatoes, smashed and loaded with garlic and butter and cheese, would've made a solid entree on their own.