The Gage, a gastropub in Chicago

If you have read a bit about my latest food adventures (for instance here and here), you will know that I rarely shy away from fat, heavy food. I do not think that fat food necessarily translates into tasty food, nor do I think that healthy food is necessarily tasteless. But if given a choice between something heavy and a salad, I will most likely go for the heavy thing. And if I go for the salad, then this means there is something wrong with me.

This is why yesterday I should have realized something wasn't right with me, when - pondering over The Gage's menu - I considered ordering a salad.

The Gage is a gastropub that has been getting consistently good reviews in Chicago for a long time. Gastropub is just a fancy name for pubs that serve refined, more upscale pub food. I ate at The Gage twice, and I know I will go back again, especially in Winter time. Even their Summer Dinner menu talks to me about windy, cold winter evenings, when you need the calories to face the polar temperatures that await you in the brief route between the restaurant's door and the taxi that will take you home.

Alas, in spite of my body imploring me of having a salad, I pressed ahead full blast. And I am ashamed to admit that I didn't finish what I had in my plate. And this is a first. But let's proceed in order.

The good
The Gage is a very nice restaurant. The decor is more refined than a regular pub, the bar looks sleek without being snob, and the main dining rooms are nice, with good seats and a good atmosphere. But you don't come to the Gage for the decor. I mean, you could: but it would be like stepping into a Ferrari car dealer to check out the fliers without looking at the cars.

You come to the Gage because the food is good. They have a slightly different menu from other pubs in Chicago: it is here that for the first time I had Poutine, the Canadian dish with French fries, cheese curds and gravy that I raved about when I was in Canada. The Gage's version is pimped up by an elk gravy, which gives the dish a specific flavor that makes it more similar to a meat stew.

The poutine, with an elk gravy (*)

They have a good selection of salads, and a few fish dishes on the menu. And they have a nice selection of small plates that are excellent for sharing. Their signature burger - at $16 - is good but not fantastic, and frankly, unjustified from a price/quality point of view. (For better burgers, go here).

They also make their own sausages in-house: last night, instead of a salad, I had a trio of sausages including a bison one. Delicious. But after the poutine and the cheese fondue, all I could do was to take a bite of each, and leave the rest. And not because they didn't taste good. They tasted delicious, but...

The home made sausages (*)

The bad
...but they were just too heavy and too much of the same. And this is where the bad is or - to be more correct - may be, if you order poorly like I did. It seems to me that even by ordering different MEAT dishes, you end up with the same basic flavors and cooking techniques. I want to repeat once again that this may be just me ordering poorly. But I have had this issue both times I have eaten there.

Let me explain myself better with an example. Last night we had the poutine that, as I have explained, has cheese curds, french fries and meat gravy. Then we had cheese fondu, which had a lot of melted brie in it. Both plates were delicious. But then the sausages also came with potatoes, with melted brie on top. Just more of the same. No "green" option was given.

the cheese fondue - I liked the long slices of bread (*)

The sausages came with...potatoes with melted brie on top! (*)

I guess that simply having a salad rather than the potatoes with the sausages would have made a big difference. But that option didn't exist. But I don't want to be unfair: I think the food tastes good. You just need to be extra careful of what you order. Maybe have fish with a meat starter or a salad. Or else you will die. That's it.

A message to the owner: keep it up. I will just have to pay more attention to what I order.

Overall score: 7/10

The Gage
24 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, IL 60603
T:312.372.4243
F:312.372.2979

(*) Apologies for the quality of the photos. The iPhone not only is a terrible phone, but it also sucks at taking photos.