dinner date at opera.

last night me and my man used up my groupon (groupon.com) for opera (http://www.opera-chicago.com/). opera is a kdk restaurant (marche, gioco, redlight & opera) and all the kdk restaurants have really fun interior decor so it makes the dining experience even more enjoyable! on sundays and tuesdays opera offers a fixed prixe menu of $28.95 for 3 courses. my groupon covered $50 of the meal so we went for it! i started with their "golden shrimp" which was tempura shrimp with a chili glaze to give it a little kick. rob had "chicken soong" which were basically chicken lettuce wraps. YUM! i couldn't finish my shrimp because they came in this really rich sauce so i decided to bring half of them home.

for my entree i selected their version of "beef & broccoli" which was a grilled NY strip steak with broccoli in a ginger and sweet soy sauce. i really liked the flavor of the sauce and the beef was very good. it was a little too charred on the outside for my liking and it would have been really nice to have white rice on the side. i saw rice being passed around at other tables so i thought for sure i would get some and when i didn't i was sad. very good nonetheless! rob selected the "kamikazi burger" which was a 9 oz American Kobe beef burger with Wasabi Cheddar, House Made Pickles, Secret Sauce and a Fried Egg. it came out and was ginormous and it also came with sweet potato fries which was a nice surprise. he loved it! no complaints there.

then for dessert we both had the "tao of chocolate" which had a little chocolate lava cake, cherries and cherry ice cream on top of a little white chocolate cake. the chocolate lava cake was certainly the best part!

overall it was one of the best meals i've had in awhile. the atmosphere in the restaurant, good food, hip music played and great service made it a very enjoyable experience!