Hop Leaf (Andersonville - Chicago)

Hi all, here is my first posting of a visit to a restaurant.

Marcelo from Epicurean Musings (blogspot) recommended this place for beers, and I took the recommendation and included a review of the food. Anyways...

When I first walked in to this place, I was happy. The beer list was extensive and primarily non-traditional (traditional = Coors, Heineken, Bud, etc), and draft (try the Kwak beer, delicious and cool presentation). The place did look a bit small, but it seemed to separate itself from bar and restaurant very well. I was also glad to note that the place wasn't entirely hipster as I had somewhat expected given my previous jaunts into "Girls-town."

Then....the waiting happened. I hate waiting, especially for a f*ing table on a night where there were 4 couples ahead of us (we waited for about 1h10m). This waiting was not fun, and to compound it, my suffering was exacerbated by seeing the hipster wait staff (they were the only hipsters there) continually fly by me .

So we get seated and the food begins. My wife and I continue our drinking and overall the quality of the beers/drinks deserves a 9.5 (a 10 if they had a more extensive list).

Out comes the Mussels in their preparation of the day (broth = white wine, cream, onions, taragon, bay leaf, lobster flavor, rather standard except for the lobster). The mussels themselves were good, not terrific, but that's an awful difficult task to make mussels good. So, my first complaint you ask? The broth. There just wasn't enough broth in the bowl, the first layer of mussels were swimming in the broth but the other layers of mussels were no where close to the broth (there were around 6 layers of mussels). This upset me. I enjoy eating the mussels and having some sort of broth as I put this in my mouth. My second complaint: the temperature. For crying out loud, send me my hot food HOT. The temperature of the mussels was a bit tepid. Thirdly, the presentation of the food was rather uninspiring...hmmm, how to present mussel, oh I know, in a bowl. Gee thanks chef! However, this is a weird complaint of mine so... Mussels = 7.5 - 8

Ah, the fries. Good, not great. The spicy aioli that came with it was devoured by my wife. As a supertaster myself, though, I thought the aioli was a TAD too mayo-y. The fries were a little too brown as well. So....Fries = 7-8

Lately I've learned to appreciate some pork product (primarily Ribs and Sausage). However, I much prefer lamb (cooked well and NOT lamp chops). Well, the waiter came out and I asked which of the following dishes he recommended MOST (pork belly, goat stew, half duck). I was hoping he'd say the pork belly because on a previous dining experience at Spiaggia (http://www.spiaggiarestaurant.com/) I had gotten the pork belly and it was delicious. Well, here at Hop Leaf, not so much. The pork was dry, way too fatty. The collard greens were ok, but I couldn't even find the pearl onions. Without all the accoutrements, though, the food was bad. Pork Belly = 4.5 - 6

My wife ordered the ham sandwich on sourdough. At first site it looked awesome. The bread looked like french toast. I personally do not like ham, but my wife does, and I think it was a fairly good sandwich, there was gruyere cheese on it with apple slaw. She says it was good, a little bit greasy, but a good mix of sweet and salty, crunchy and creamy. She rates it 7-8

Lastly, the wait service. Well, they were standard, what can I say. When do you ever go to a restaurant and remember an outstanding level of service? Though I often remember crappy service. They were friendly, but hipsters, I'll give them a 5.5 and maybe up to a 6.5 if I didn't hate most things bohemian.

Overall, go here for the beers, not for the food. Experience: 6.5 - 7.5

PLEASE NOTE, I AM A VERY UP-BEAT PERSON, BUT MY PERSONALITY TENDS TO QUICKLY IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS DEFICIENCIES, IF THINGS ARE DONE CORRECTLY, I NEVER MAKE MENTION OF IT, THINGS SHOULD ALWAYS BE PERFECT. ADDITIONALLY, I UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY HAVE MY OWN IDIOSYNCRACIES, AS SUCH I ALWAYS TRY TO GIVE A RANGE FOR THE FOOD DEPENDING UPON WHAT I COULD REASONABLY EXPECT SOMEONE ELSE TO THINK. PLEASE NOTE THAT A RATING OF FIVE IS NORMAL, NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD. THERE IS NO GRADE INFLATION