Ruxbin: Excellent Creative Cuisine

When my parents came in town, I wanted to celebrate my birthday with them at a unique restaurant. I had heard great things about Ruxbin, but had never been, so I took a risk and made a reservation on the Sunday night of my parents' stay (they only take reservations on Sunday!) The gamble paid off, as we had a lovely meal with delicious food, friendly service, and a warm atmosphere.

Ruxbin is a small BYOB spot in West Town, helmed by chef Edward Kim, who prepares (according to the website) "American comfort punctuated with Kim’s Chicago-born, Le Cordon Bleu trained, Korean American palate." The decor of the restaurant is truly unique, as it all has been "Refurbished, Repurposed, and Reclaimed." The recycled nature of the materials in the restaurant show all the thought that has gone into making Ruxbin special. The coolest part may have been the bathroom door, which is actually a dark room door, but feels like a portal into a space ship.

Crudo: Oysters, Three Ways

I started with their crudo of the day, which was oysters three ways. The oyster on the left was topped with apple cucumber mignonette,  the one in the middle was "Asian-style," and then the oyster on the right was lightly smoked under the glass and topped with a bit of pork belly. All three were delicious and fresh, with interesting flavors. A great start.

Pork Belly

The pork belly appetizer was served with cornbread, jicama, grapefruit, Danablue cheese and a citrus vinaigrette. This was absolutely PERFECT. The pork belly melted in your mouth without being strangely chewy or sinewy, and the fattiness was countered well with the lighter fruit flavors. The whole table loved this, even my Mom who usually doesn't like pork belly- something we definitely don't have in common!

Apple & Plum Salad

What could have been an unexciting arugula salad was amped up by the amazing walnut-sherry vinaigrette it was doused in. Mixed into the salad was shaved celery, almonds, manchego, apple and plum, and overall this was a light, but satisfying starter.

Octopus

My least favorite appetizer was the octopus dish. The octopus itself was cooked well, but the chickpeas, radish, soybeans and roasted grapes it was served with didn't really complement the flavor well. It wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't order this again.

Duck Breast

I love duck, and this was an excellent duck dish. The duck was cooked perfectly and was nice and juicy, and all the savory flavors brought each other out well. If you're a fan of duck, this entree is a great choice!

Black Cod

This maple-soy glazed black cod filet was a great Asian-influenced dish. The fish was flaky and tender, with great umami flavors. Another hit.

Agnolotti

This was everyone's least favorite dish. Agnolotti was served with squash, ricotta, green lentils, vegetables, pear, and orange marmalade with a poached egg on top, and then pisou (a sauce made with garlic, basil and olive oil according to wikipedia) was poured into the dish tableside. The dish was prettier to look at, but fairly bland and none of the flavors really popped.

Rocky Road

Birthday dessert- and what a pretty dessert to make my birthday wishes with! This was Ruxbin's interpretation of "rocky road," and included brownies, smoked cherries, whiskey ice cream, almonds, marshmallow fluff, cotton candy and creme fraiche caramel. There was a lot going on, but it was a fun and delicious sweet treat to end the night. Happy birthday to me!

Service all night was spot on, with friendly servers who were willing to spend time with us and joke around a bit. The food was tasty and creative without resorting to gimmicks, and we kept the wine flowing from the bottles we brought. Atmosphere, food and family all came together to make for a great birthday meal. Ruxbin is a great, unique yet relaxed spot for any type of mood. I'll definitely be back.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Schwa: Boozy but Brilliant

Schwa is nothing if not a unique restaurant. Reservations are hard to come by, and even if you can get a phone call through to them and secure a reservation, they are notorious for cancelling the day of, citing some excuse when in reality the kitchen staff is too hungover to cook. I was lucky enough to not only get a reservation, but to also not have the reservation cancelled. So, how was my meal at Schwa? Two words: Fucking. Epic.

Pardon my French, but this is simply too badass of a restaurant to describe any other way. Hard rock is blaring in the background of the nondescript dining room in a sketchy area of Wicker Park. The chefs double as your servers, and the tiny bathroom is located in a corner of the kitchen where chef Michael Carlson and co work their magic in between pounding shots of whiskey.

Speaking of whiskey- come to Schwa expecting to get drunk. Not a ladylike wine buzz, but full on hammered. Schwa called to confirm our reservation the day before, explained their BYOB policy, and told us to bring a bottle of wine per person. Add in the bottle of Fernet Branca we brought as a gift for the kitchen that they so graciously shared with us and the whiskey shots we were invited to take with the chefs, and you have the recipe for one blurry but festive meal.

There is no menu- we were given the choice between the 3 course meal for $55 or the 9 course meal for $110. Deciding to go for broke, we went all out with the 9 course meal, and our Schwa experience began.

What We Eat at the Movies: Popcorn Soda, Nacho, Sour Cherry Dot

Up first was this playful take on movie theater snacks. We ate this from left to right, starting with the popcorn soda. The soda had such a unique flavor and we started giggling when we tried it. It wasn't the tastiest thing (popcorn flavored soda isn't mainstream for a reason, I'd say), but it was fun to try an unexpected flavor combination. It tasted like liquid, carbonated popcorn. The middle was a nacho filled with cheese. Savory, gooey, and delicious. Last but not least was the sour cherry dot, which had a gooey consistency and sweet candy flavor. I'd definitely buy a box of these if they were offered at my local movie theater!

Tom Yum Gai: Petri Dish Style

For our next course, the kitchen took Thai tom yum gai soup, magically put it into custard form, and served it in a petri dish. I loved the refreshing Thai flavors, and it really did taste like the real thing, just a bit creamier. This was fun as it was tasty.

Black Truffle Quail Egg Ravioli

This may be the single BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN. Oh my freaking god. Words cannot describe this. A quail egg yolk was tucked "with love" into a ravioli, then put in the most heavenly sauce I have ever experienced of butter and black truffle. I would seriously bathe in this if I could. Well... maybe not, as that might not be super hygienic  but that's just how good this sauce is. We were instructed to lift the dish up and take it to the face in one bite. The ravioli explodes with yolky goodness in your mouth as the black truffle butter sauce mixes in to ante up the richness factor. This was so fantastic we started laughing with shock and awe... and then proceeded to shamelessly lick the plate. In public. Yeah, that happened. This is known as Schwa's signature dish, and its easy to see why. 

Cinammon Ricotta Tortellini with Smoked Tomato Purée

This course was a great blend of sweet and savory, with the sweetness of the cinnamon and ricotta playing well off the smoked tomato puree. I also liked the juicy peeled and roasted yellow baby tomato that garnished the dish.

Beet and White Chocolate Two Ways

This beet dish was as creative as it was delicious. On the bottom right was a white chocolate filled beet, and at the top left was a white chocolate coated beet, both topped with a dollop of caviar. The white chocolate wasn't overly sweet and brought out the beets' earth flavors well. The filled beet gushed open with white chocolate flavor, while the coated beet was like a vegetable bon bon. Who would ever think to pair beets with white chocolate? A weird, yet awesome combo.

Poached Lobster

This point in the meal is where the shots began and my notes (and memory) get fuzzy, so I don't recall everything that was on the plate. The lobster itself was sweet, tender, and full of flavor.

Rebel Island Clam

Next we had a super fresh clam served with red pepper and Iberico cheese in an Iberico ham consomme  I usually don't like clams as they tend to be too chewy and not super flavorful, but this proved me wrong. The clam was tender and juicy, and the land and sea combination of ham and clam flavors was a bit salty but intriguing.

Rabbit

A small piece of rabbit was served here with fava beans and Daisy Cutter beer foam. It wasn't my favorite course, but was still enjoyable, just not super memorable. 

Black Truffle Gnocchi

The earthy black truffle flavor went well with the tender brussel sprouts. I unfortunately was getting a bit full at this point, but this was still tasty.

Antelope

Yep, we ate antelope! This was a first for me. To give you some insight to my frame of mind at this point, my note on this reads "antelope from Texas with some other shit sniped by army guys." So... oops. Anyways, this antelope comes from a farm in Texas where ex soldiers use their sniper skills to hunt their game. Kind of bizarre, but pretty cool. This was really delicious, with a unique and slightly gamey flavor. I was so stuffed at this point though that I could only eat one piece of the meat!

Parsnip Horchata and Rice Crispy Treat

Finally onto the desserts! In the pretty vase was a sweet parsnip flavored horchata to wash down the crunchy homemade rice crispy treat. Creative and delicious!

French Onion Soup Crackers

French onion soup in lollipop form! Crunchy, greasy onion flavored circles were covered with gooey gruyere, capturing the essence of the soup all on a stick. I loved this take on the cheese course.

Honey Sorbet

To finish off this meal we had this refreshing honey sorbet. This was great to chase the rich food we'd had all evening. Simple but lovely.

We had an absolute blast at Schwa. While the food isn't the tastiest from a pure flavor standpoint, it's fun, creative and thought provoking. While I'd have to say I preferred my meal at El Ideas (the food itself was tastier and the ambiance warmer), I loved my experience at Schwa and feel that it was definitely a five star meal. It felt like a party at someone's trendy home except instead of chips and salsa, there's beautiful, innovative cuisine. I'd go back again just to experience the black truffle quail egg ravioli another time! The meal is very reasonably priced given the quality and quantity of the food served. I wholeheartedly recommend anyone looking for an interesting dining experience try Schwa... if you can get a reservation.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

Kabocha: A Japanese Brasserie With Potential

After seeing some gorgeous food pictures on Thrillist, I knew I had to check out Kabocha, a new Japanese brasserie in the West Loop, after it opened. My love of Japanese food is well documented, so I was looking forward to trying a new take on it- particularly at a restaurant where 1/4 of the menu is 'raw' items as my philosophy is that anything raw always tastes better than it would cooked. Salmonella, shmalmonella.

A mere week after opening, we were able to snag a reservation on Opentable for a Friday night dinner even though they're booking up pretty quickly due to the hype of being a hot new West Loop spot with a well-known chef. By the time we arrived (very late- but the staff was super accomodating) to our reservation, we were absolutely STARVED and ready to chow down. We were seated at a table for two next to a large table of very well-dressed, progressively more inebriated 30-somethings. The decor is attractive yet simple, with an open kitchen as you enter the restaurant and high ceilings.

Trying to catch up to our neighbors, we ordered a round of drinks to start, which was either a great and terrible idea on an empty stomach. I'm going to go with great.

Mandarin Mule (left) and Cucumber Rice Cooler (right)

I loved the Cucumber Rice Cooler (shochu, Hendrick's gin, emperor's lemongrass & wild rose tea syrup, cucumber juice). It was incredibly refreshing but much more complex than your typical cucumber-gin drink, and was strong enough to get my buzz going. I would've ordered 5 more of these if they weren't $13 a pop. I also tried a sip of the Mandarin Mule, but found the overpowering orange flavor unappetizingly tart and bitter.

Service at this point was friendly but a bit slow as our server was a bit distracted by continuously opening more bottles at the table next to us, so it was past 10 PM by the time we even got to order food. We flagged down our server as soon as we could to put in orders for solid food to soak up our drinks.

Tuna & Hamachi Mosaic

First up was this pretty tuna and hamachi mosaic. Tuna and yellowtail were sliced thin and magically combined into this carpaccio-esque 'mosaic', then topped with herbs, pickled shallot, and smoked bacon. The fish was fresh and tasty, but overall mild and not incredibly flavorful. The bacon may have been added to amp up the flavor, but instead just overpowered the fish completely (so we just ate it separately... let's be real, I'm never gonna waste bacon). Don't get me wrong, the fish was fresh and I definitely enjoyed the dish overall, but it wasn't as good as it had potential to be. It looked prettier than it tasted!

Wagyu Beef Tartare

This steak tartare ended up being my favorite dish of the night. Served with 'umami paste,' a quail egg and chili-sesame wontons, this was basically meat heaven. Unlike other steak tartares that lack flavor or are overpowered by sauces or other ingredients, this tartare highlighted the high quality of the meat and was perfectly balanced by its accompaniments. I couldn't get over how "steaky" the meat tasted. It definitely brought out the cavewoman in me... mmm, raw meat. The quail egg mixed in to make the wagyu even richer. The chili-sesame wontons were a crunchy base but not overly fried. I'd come to Kabocha just to get my steak tartare fix- this was the best I've had in Chicago.

Warm Baby Octopus Salad

This dish was recommended by our server. While the octopus was very tender, the overall flavors of this dish were just... off. While the texture was great, there was a strange, char-like flavor that overpowered any true octopus taste. Other than the octopus itself, nothing in the dish went that well together, and even the "fried yolk" didn't ooze over the dish like it should have. There is definitely potential here as the octopus itself was expertly cooked, which is usually half the battle in octopus dishes. Unfortunately other than the perfect texture, this dish was mediocre at best, and certainly not memorable.

Rabbit & Thai Basil Dumplings

Another recommended dish, I had high hopes that these would be juicy and delicious. Instead, the filling was rather dry and mealy. I've had better dumplings at 1/4 of their $14 price tag at nearly any dim sum spot in Chinatown. Skip these.

Kombu Cured Lamb Loin

The lamb entree we ordered ended up being the most disappointing dish of the night. Dry, flavorless, lukewarm lamb was served with a black garlic lamb sausage and parsnips four ways, in a cherry jus. The lamb sausage was the tastiest part of this dish, but the other sides were pretty much tasteless. To make things even worse, not only was this dish overcooked and flavorless, but also TINY. This serving size would have been better off for an appetizer. Also, this thing was freaking $30!! This was overpriced, underseasoned, overcooked and undersized.

 My meal at Kabocha was ultimately disappointing (especially given the lovely $150 bill we received at the end!), but I can't write off a restaurant, especially one with such an interesting looking menu and concept, after only being open for one week. I don't recommend going to Kabocha now (unless you just want to grab a tasty drink and enjoy the epic steak tartare), but I definitely will try to pay a return visit to the spot in a few months to see how it develops with time.

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars (with potential to improve!)