Tonight we stopped in to The Great Impasta on Church St. in downtown Champaign. We’ve had lunch there before, but this was our first dinner visit. We got there very early, just after they opened for dinner at 5PM, so we had no problem getting a decent table.

The first thing we noticed is that the pasta dishes are big on creme-based sauces, with only a few tomato or marinara sauces. Sarah started with the house salad and I opted for the spinach salad. Both were quite large, very fresh, and nicely prepared. For entrees, Sarah settled for the Lasagna Marinara With Meat while I was intrigued by The Great Impastanoff, which is beef Stroganoff over fettucine. Both meals, like the salads, were nicely prepared and quite large. Having already eaten the large salads and some bread, neither of us was in any shape to finish our entrees. As a result, we both took the majority of our meals home.

Sarah found the lasagna satisfactory, but otherwise unimpressive. My meal was interesting, with loads of tender beef and a big dollop of sour cream. But the sauce was somewhat bland, not at all as zesty as I had hoped. I’m not a chef, so I can’t tell you what was missing, but something definitely was. It was just that close to being memorable, but still fell short.

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Today for lunch we stopped into our favorite Greek restaurant, The Parthenon on S. Halsted St. in Chicago. We’ve eaten at several other Greek places in that area, and you can’t go wrong with any of them, but The Parthenon is the one we keep going back to. Their sesame bread and tzatziki are to die for. You could easily have nothing else for lunch and still have a good meal. But we always order more.

Today, besides the aforementioned bread and tzatziki, Sarah had her favorite, the Moussaka, and I had Pork Shishkabob, which came with rice pilaf and roasted potatoes. The pork was perfectly cooked and nicely spiced. The rice pilaf was simple, but very good, and I love the way they roast potatoes at The Parthenon. Sarah’s Moussaka was, as always, excellent. She loved it. On past visits I’ve had their stuffed pepper and tomato, which used to be the Monday special. Now it’s their Wednesday special. That was my only disappointment today. I was really looking forward to the stuffed pepper and tomato dish.

We’re spending a couple of days in Chicago and staying at the Wyndham near Michigan Ave. There are more restaurants here than you could try in a month of eating out, but we were in the mood for something ethnic. We’re going to Greektown tomorrow, so we decided on Thai tonight. We walked (brrr) over to Star of Siam on E. Illinois St., about five blocks from the hotel. We’d eaten there a few years ago and remembered it was very good. We were not disappointed tonight, either. We started with the Mini Veggie Rolls, which were vegetable stuffed, deep fried rolls a little smaller than a roll of quarters. They came with a sweetish sauce, very close to duck sauce. For entrees, Sarah went with Massaman Curry and Chicken and I tried the Almond Beef. Sarah was pleased to see onions and tomatoes in her curry, as it’s common elsewhere to have just the curry and chicken. She was impressed with her meal. My Almond Beef was not as sweet as I had anticipated, but it was delicious nonetheless. The sauce was soy-like and tangy, and the beef was tender and generous. It was one of the best Thai dishes I’ve ever had. I’m finding that I really like the way Thai beef is prepared, as the Thai meals I’ve enjoyed the most have all been beef based.

One thing that really impressed us with Star of Siam is how inexpensive it is. Our meal, which included two Singha beers (both for me), only came to $30. We certainly would have paid more than that at either of the upscale Thai places in this area. I should also mention that along with excellent waitstaff, the atmosphere and decor of Star of Siam is unique. Check out the pictures on their website.