Bien Trucha
410 W. State St.
Geneva, IL
If this is not the tiniest restaurant in Chicagoland, we would like to know what is. Occupying a small storefront originally inhabited by a nail salon, Bien Trucha (“Good Trout”) has five small tables with a maximum seating capacity of no more than 15; a reviewer on Serious Eats says it has “the square footage of a Volkswagen Jetta.” Yet all the food in this tiny place comes at you with an amazing amount of flavor and creativity, making it into one of the blogosphere’s new favorite Mexican restaurants. Obviously, we had to go. What we found was a tiny restaurant with a great knack for doing simple ingredients and flavors amazingly well.
We started with a pair of appetizers: Mexican-style ceviche ($7.95) and Poblano chile soup with potato cubes and queso fresco ($3.95). M is not normally a fan of Mexican ceviche (he goes for Peruvian when he can) but found this better than most others he has tried: the tomatoes, fresh fish, cilantro, lime juice, and avocado were served in a more generous portion than is typically found, and the extra juice from the limes and tomatoes kept the entire mixture very well-balanced, both in flavors and texture. Likewise, the Poblano chile soup was a treat, and managed to be both creamy and light. Straight, simple, and to the point – a great prelude to the rest of our meal, and an excellent warm, smooth appetizer to pair with the ceviche.
But Bien Trucha’s tacos are their specialty. We tried three varieties, all on flour tortillas: Camarón Tacos (grilled spiced shrimp with an avocado slice, 
$9.95;); Bien Trucha Tacos (grilled skirt steak, chorizo, manchego cheese and tomatillo-serrano salsa, $8.95) and Tacos de Pescado (battered fried tilapia, cabbage, onion, lime and chipotle aoili, $8.95). Each variety was nearly perfect. Served in groups of four on a simple wooden board, their presentation is a perfect complement to Bien Trucha’s style. What really stood out to us was how fresh everything was – even the fish tacos were great all this way inland. While we don’t know if these tacos are worth a 2 hour drive, if you are anywhere near the West suburbs, they’re worth the trip.
[Painting by 
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Deta’s Cafe
We got a lovely sample of tea from M’s family when they were passing through Savannah, Georgia. It’s called Emperor’s Bride, and its fragrant, fruity aroma was perfect for us sweet tooths [teeth?]. Little did we know that this tea is actually a popular Finnish variety known as Keisarin Morsian (Literally, ‘Emperor’s Bride’ in Finnish). Though it is popular there, it is almost unknown elsewhere. In fact, we had trouble finding any information on it at all. What we do know is that Keisarin Morsian is a black tea blend with tea leaves from Ceylon and Assam, and it is flavored with pineapple chunks and orange peel. We tried Keisarin Morsian both iced and hot, and it’s perfect with just a spoonful of sugar (guess we are not tea purists). You can buy some from 
Shokolad
Bon Bon
There’s some new stuff happening at Eating The World. Spring is in the air! Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Pupuseria y Restaurante Cuscatleco
The new eater kitchen has been stocking up with some nifty international implements lately. Following on the heels of our Molcajete from Mexico is our new Kyusu from Japan. You have probably seen a Kyusu before – it’s just the Japanese word for “teapot”. More specifically though, Kyusu usually refers to a style of clay/ceramic teapot with a single handle.
Happy 
I was driving west along Dempster today, a neck of the woods I rarely visit. En route, I finally passed by 
[Hamantaschen by Ulterior Epicure]
Eating The World 