Our Chicago food odyssey sloshes to Tuesday. It rained mercilessly all day and into the night, which would be our first opportunity to seek out blog-worthy eats. After a long day at court, then office time working on materials for Wednesday, we returned to the Silversmith to change and consider dinner. My friend Linda had suggested on Tuesday that we look up the restaurant(s) of Takashi Yagihashi, and it turns out that in 2011, he opened a Japanese noodle house with the irresistible name Slurping Turtle less than a mile from our hotel!
A quick cab ride (it was too miserable outside for mass transit) brought us to the quirky space on West Hubbard Street. Though it was after 8pm, there was a modest waiting list. We were then seated at the long communal table that runs down the center of the main room. Even though we knew that the $14 bowl of ramen would be a complete meal all by itself, we couldn't resist beginning with a couple of small plates. We were weary from the long day, and the whimsy of the place really was just what we needed!
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| Duck Fat Fried Chicken |
Finger licking good, and accompanied by a richly dressed slaw.
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| Bincho Grill Foie Gras with Pickles |
Since we'd only try one item cooked on the bincho grill, we went for the most decadent and were rewarded with a couple of heavenly bites. For more on what a bincho grill is and how Takashi uses it, click here.
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| Tan Tan Men Ramen: homemade ramen noodle, ramen stock, pork meatball, pork miso, bok choy, bean sprouts (spicy) |
Bob's ramen bowl delivered bold flavors, toothy noodles, and a triple play of porky goodness. My bite of meatball melted in the mouth.
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| Shoyu Wonton Ramen: homemade thin ramen noodle, classic tokyo style soy broth, chicken wonton, grilled chicken, marinated egg |
My ramen noodles were a little thinner, but joined by several toothy chicken-stuffed dumplings in the succulent broth. I don't know if the egg was supposed to be more runny/creamy, or was served this way deliberately, but that was the only potential flaw in everything we had. Another meal most worthy of our journey, and very wallet friendly. Our only regret was that we could not finish it, and even though we had a fridge, we had no way to re-heat it.
After a soggy return to the hotel, we prepared for the conclusion of business on Wednesday. And more playing with Chicago food.
