Girl & The Goat: (A Gastronomic) Adventure Is Out There
The Girl & The Goat has been institutionalized as undoubtedly one of the best and most popular restaurants in Chicago. Since it opened in the summer of 2010, the surrounding area has bloomed into a haven of good food and drink. I waited about 1.5 hours before getting seated.
PRO TIP: If the wait at Girl & The Goat is too terrifying for you, check out their other restaurants in the area. The Little Goat Diner is just across the street and Duck Duck Goat is 3 blocks away.
During the wait, I actually went to Avec for a quick snack. When I was finally seated, I sat outside because the weather was nice. The service is quick, professional, and friendly. When you're finally seated, they don't rush you to speed up turnover.
The Girl & The Goat's menu is meant to be enjoyed family style. The cuisine is American but with flavor influences from around the world. Not surprisingly, they also serve a variety of goat dishes depending on how adventurous you're feeling. For the conservative, try a goat empanada with grilled pineapple-blueberry pico, roasted poblano cream, and queso fresco. For the wild, maybe try the goat liver mousse or the goat carpaccio.
For my meal, I opted for some crispy duck tongue and pan roasted halibut with marcona almond butter. Amazing!
The menu changes fairly often so it's hard to recommend dishes here but whatever you decide to order, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Check out that sick painting of a girl and a goat. #art
What better way to start a meal than with a fresh cocktail. This one was called Royal Rubus. It's made with Ford's Gin (from England, 45% ABV), Blackberry Shrub, Lime, Lemon Bitters, Soda.
Why is this so special? Besides the fact that it tastes delicious, one of the ingredients stands out above the rest. A "shrub" is a cocktail ingredient and it's not exactly what you think. It's made with fruit, sugar, and vinegar. In this case, it's made with blackberries. The resulting flavor is surprisingly refreshing and tart. [$14 USD]
OH MAN. This was my favorite dish. I could sit there all night eating these little treasures. These are Blueberry Pickled Pepper Cornbread Muffins with a Cherry Relish and Honey Butter.
The cornbread was soft, moist, and flavorful. The blueberry and pickled pepper combination was surprisingly addicting. I enjoyed it with the honey butter. [$5 USD]
I wanted to try the Duck Tongue and I think it was a huge success. The duck tongue was meaty, crunchy, and lightly fried. It was accompanied by a cool Tuna and Black Bean Poke. I liked that the duck tongue was hot but the poke was chilled.
It was topped with some crispy wontons and piri piri, a green chili sauce often made with citrus, onion, garlic, and many other herbs like basil, paprika, tarragon, or oregano. [$17 USD]
This next dish was Roasted Cauliflower, Pickled Peppers, Pine Nuts, and Mint. The cauliflower was nicely roasted and fairly charred but not dry at all. The most alluring part about this dish was definitely its heavenly aroma. [$13 USD]
Finally, I also ordered the Pan Roasted Halibut. Not surprised - it was cooked perfectly. The flavors were unique thanks to the combination of White Asparagus, Beech Mushrooms, and Marcona Almond Butter.
The Blueberry Nuoc Cham (a Vietnamese name for "dipping sauce"). Usually, it's made with fish sauce but I couldn't identify any fish flavors. It tasted more like a nice blueberry jam. [$19 USD]