I've been going to Serai for years, which makes this review especially disappointing to write. I'm…read morenot sure if there has been a change in management or the kitchen, but this was by far the worst experience I've ever had here. The food was completely underwhelming, and when we shared our concerns with the staff, nothing was done to address them. The service was equally disappointing. Our server spent much of the time sitting on her phone while we waited for basic service like water refills, being asked about drinks, and receiving the drinks we ordered. We repeatedly had to get up and find someone just to receive attention. As for the food, the gyoza was bland and tasted like unseasoned pork. The lemongrass beef stew curry, which was highly recommended, arrived cold, had an odd texture, and lacked any real flavor. Most shocking of all were the drunken noodles. I've ordered them countless times over the years and always considered them among the best in Chicago. This time, I couldn't get past a single bite. Every dish was left unfinished. We didn't finish a single plate and didn't take any leftovers home--something that never happens for us. Between the poor service and incredibly disappointing food, this was an awful dining experience from start to finish. Unfortunately, after being a longtime customer, I won't be returning.

Serai is now at Kapitan. The shared space has plenty of seating. The staff is nice…read more I had their Roti Canai and Nasi Lamak. Both dishes were super flavorful and had such depth. They probably have the best Malaysian food in the city. I highly recommend you give them a try!

Such a beautiful evening with good food, great atmosphere, and even better company. Renee is a…read morewizard in the kitchen. Some highlights we will definitely be returning for: Brussels sprout salad, chap chae, and the ridikulous dessert. Also such an accommodating place, went with my mother who has a severe shellfish allergy and the whole staff with immediately informed and cognizant throughout the meal. She is also a vegetarian and their options were STACKED as well as equally delicious.

Oh my gosh!!! What an incredible place to celebrate any occasion!!!! Went with my family with some…read morefolks that are vegetarian and also have severe shellfish allergies. When we informed the staff, head chef Renee personally came out and told us to not worry and he would take care of us! What service!!!! Then the food started coming out and not only does this place not disappoint but their menu speaks for itself...especially with their vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options...everyone in your party will feel welcome and have a truly upscale experience.

Pricey. No duck in the duck fried rice. Disappointing. Service was slow. Very tight tablesread more

I had heard great things but this meal was incredible!! Brought my family here for dinner while…read morethey were visiting and everyone loved it. We sat outside on a beautiful day and I definitely recommend the outdoor if it's nice out! The inside seemed big and a nice vibe for the winter. Service was good, I liked that they paced out the dishes for us. It really made the experience great! We shared everything. Loved the wings, the green beans, and I think all of our favorites was the duck fried rice! Soooo good and flavorful. The goat slap noodles and beef and broccoli were great too. Everything was super unique from traditional Chinese and nothing was too spicy! Definitely trust the experts. The wabbit season cocktail was good but I think I'd get another drink next time. Can't wait to come back!

We got delivery and oh my gosh it was amazing!!! So many gluten free/gluten friendly options to…read morechoose from. The noodles, the chicken, the dessert options! So flavorful and I wish I had time to eat here twice during the vacation. Half charcoal chicken- unreal loved it with the rice Chili peanut noodles- the texture of the noodles was amazing and paired well with the chicken Dessert we had their banana bread item and carrot cake which all were gluten free and amazing

I only tried their sweets but they were very unique and good. I got the ceylon snickerdoodle and…read moreMacau rice crisp. The ceylon snickerdoodle is a soft cookie with a slight crunch on the edges and has a salty egg yolk filling. The filling tasted like a paste version of an egg yolk center of a mooncake - this was a fun concept for a cookie! The Macau rice crisp was another fusion hit, albeit a tad too sweet for me with the caramel sauce. The flavors all work together shockingly well though. Note: if you're doing a pickup order, the main door isn't open at certain hours and it can be a little confusing, but there is a designated pickup door to the side. I think this should be communicated clearer as another customer was having the same issue.

This was another fortunate find randomly while walking around downtown Chicago. Seems to be a super…read morepopular place based on the number of reviews this place has. It was hard to find, but we discovered the entrance is in a back alley and bar is located downstairs. We loved the Tikki Bar theme. Drinks were good but a little watered down which was disappointing. Overall, it was a unique experience in the city.

We stop here every time we visit Chicago. If you love tiki cocktails, this is the place to go!…read moreCan't recommend enough. It's a speakeasy, so it feels like a hidden escape from reality. We've been to many tiki bars in the US and this is by far the best! Love that you can now buy a mug (with a cocktail) for cheaper than the shop... It's a great deal to get a mug this way! The only slight disappointment was the updated food menu.. loved the Spicy Thai Chicken, Veggie rolls, and coconut shrimp in years past.. sad to see them go.

Mott Street was an unexpected surprise for me. Their Central Asian-inspired fusion cuisine…read moreimmediately impressed me with its bold flavors, attention to detail, and overall quality. I started with the "Everything Wings," which were cooked to perfection--crispy on the outside while remaining incredibly juicy inside. Every bite delivered an impressive depth of flavor, with soy, jaggery, and dried chili playing a major role. The accompanying tzatziki was a great touch, adding a cool, creamy contrast to the wings. The garlic was simple but effective, allowing the other flavors to shine. The garlic fried rice was easily one of the highlights of the meal and some of the best I've had in quite some time. The roasted garlic bulbs elevated the dish, adding a deep, rich flavor that made it especially memorable. The Mentaiko Kimchi Udon was savory with a subtle kick of spice. I enjoyed the flavor profile, although I would have liked the heat to come through more consistently with each bite. Overall, Mott Street delivered an experience that genuinely caught me off guard--in the best way. Thoughtful dishes, bold flavors, and impressive execution made this a meal I'll remember.

Positives our waitress was friendly and nice. Some good things. Hhhmm take away I can really say I…read morewould return. Well the Bronx menu is nice and reasonable priced. Food is average. Let's start with the hamburger. It's been picked as one of the best in Chicago. Well if u want Asian sauces on it. Almost 30 bugs for average hamburger. The brunch which is traditional food, breakfast was ok per my sister in law but the cabbage salad was spiced. The appetizer avocado was ok. But the was not fresh nor the toast sour dough. Nephew had the fish. Average. Also table of five automatically was considered a big table so they placed 20%% top. Service was off two entrees came late. So Wait a minute I think our nice waitress said she covered the birthday gift. But that appeared on the bill. Ok now that I think of it the noice level was high as well they closed the windows and I could see two bees flying inside. Ok my original 3 is down to 2. Sorry neighborhood diner. You can do better.

We go out of our way to eat here when we're in the area. Great friendly service, huge portions for…read moregood prices and most importantly AMAZING food that tastes just like the islands. Lives up to all the hype. It's casual inside and you'll often see active duty military eating here - consider buying them lunch to thank them. We will be back over and over again!

I had really high hopes for Da Local Boy. I've been excited to try this place for a long time given…read moreall the high reviews but unfortunately, it was pretty disappointing. We ordered the Aloha Plate and chicken lumpia. The lumpia was soggy, super tiny and just wasn't good. The Aloha Plate was also much too sweet for my taste, and the meat felt pretty standard--similar to what I'd expect from a typical Korean BBQ meal. I usually love mac salad, so i was especially looking forward to that, but unfortunately, it was pretty underwhelming as well. The most disappointing was the service. Service was incredibly slow and not attentive at all.

This is the place to eat in Chicago in my opinion, and has made every other restaurant look bad…read more it's the absolute best meal in the city, at a great price, with a super awesome staff. I bring everyone i know here at some point. Only negative thing to say is that i no longer feel anything about anywhere else that I eat. Im okay with that though, because in my opinion this is how you run a restaurant. They are always full, but it is always worth the wait!

Sunday Funday with a fantastic first visit to a Chinatown gem!…read more I felt like Chinese food today, and rather than eating at my neighborhood regular, I wanted to go straight to Chinatown for the most delicious, authentic experience. Thanks to my deep dive and discovery on Yelp, MCCB turned out to be the perfect spot to achieve this. The restaurant has held its Michelin status for five years now, and for my first time visiting, the flavors here were incredible. Please note: the restaurant signage is not easily visible from the street since the storefront faces inward toward the mall plaza, and while looking for it, I ended up asking a local man and his wife for directions. He was so kind and welcoming that he unexpectedly left his wife on the sidewalk, my husband in the car, and walked me right across the street and into the mall to point it out from the inside! WAIT TIME: there is a 1 to 1.25 hour wait period to be seated for a table, and a $10 fee via credit card is required to secure your spot, which is then fully transferable to your bill upon checkout. The wait is a great time to walk, explore the shops, restaurants, all Chinatown has to offer, and get your steps and miles in! SERVICE: our first server, Allen, was a bit on the stiff, curt side, but overall nice. However, we had to move from a two-top table to a four-top to accommodate all the dishes we were trying. In that changeover, we were blessed to get one of the BEST servers there, Ashley, who made the experience wonderful. FOOD: we ordered an absolute feast, starting with three starters. The Cheng Du Style Dumplings were fantastic. The Crispy Crab Rangoons were actually not mini at all and had a great crunch. The Szechuan Style Cucumber was a bit underwhelming and a slight bit on the soft side for my tastes, as I prefer my veggies crunchy even when cooked. We ordered everything with the mild heat option so there was no overwhelming spice, just great flavor. For the main dishes, we started with the Cauliflower Flank Steak and added broccoli to it, which was a fantastic addition. It is cooked in an oyster sauce and has none of the standard sweeter seasonings of the other dishes. I chose this to balance a sweet and salty rationing across my dishes, finding that MCCB is a great place to get that perfect balance. The Chicken in Spicy Garlic Sauce was perfect with the mild heat option as well, and the Honey Black Pepper Flank Steak was also incredibly savory, tender, and good. We paired everything with garlic string beans, white rice, and a great jumbo shrimp fried rice. I preferred water, while my husband had a few Diet Cokes. The food comes out hot, fresh, and bursting with flavor. PARKING: parking is convenient--there is street parking or you can use the two north and south lots within walking distance. The north lot is on Archer and Wentworth, and the south lot is on Cermak and Wentworth. Validated parking is permitted for a maximum of 3 hours, and you will only pay $3 with the validation. Just make sure to stay within that time limit and get it validated, because if you go over the 3 hours or forget the validation, you will have to pay the full price for the lot. PRICE: the pricing here is very reasonable for a Michelin-recognized restaurant. Our dinner came out to just under $146 total, which offers phenomenal value given the large portions and top-tier quality. If you are seeking high-quality, delicious Sichuan food in Chinatown that completely lives up to its multi-year Michelin status, and can be customized perfectly to your spice comfort, this is a great place to go. Highly recommend and will return with family!

now *this* is great okonomiyaki…read more coming from seattle and very recently having a disastrous experience at the only okonomiyaki spot in our area (you can read my past reviews for that), my two friends, my partner, and i were looking forward to having great okonomiyaki. thankfully, gaijin delivered! we came by on a friday night, and it was fairly busy. we wouldn't have been surprised if we were turned away since we didn't have a reservation. they ended up making space for us thankfully and we didn't even have to wait long at all. the inside of the place isn't that big, but it's not so tiny that it's cramped. when you sit down, if you are in a large enough party, you sit down in front of a flat stovetop to keep your okonomiyaki warm when the waiter brings it out to you. we started with some drinks. they were all very good - next time i'm trying that espresso goma-tini! i did get a lychee martini though, and it was a little strong of a pour but i still really enjoyed it. onto the okonomiyaki. we all ordered different ones so we could try them. every single one of them were delicious. i got the tofu osaka-style, my partner got the beef osaka-style, one of my friends got the fried shrimp osaka-style, and my other friend got the traditional hiroshima-style. each okonomiyaki is prepared perfectly, not too thick and not overly saucy (so it doesn't get soggy). the flavours are quite rich but also really nicely umami. sometimes, too rich of a sauce kind of overwhelms me, but the ratios are well-balanced. overall, truly recommend this place. probably some of the best okonomiyaki i've had. next time i'm in chicago, i'd love to go again. there's so many options to choose from and i want to try them all!

I've been wanting to try Okonomiyaki for a long time, so when I saw that they had it I had to stop…read moreby! It's really cool in here because you can watch them make the Okonomiyaki in front of you! They had like a set meal going on which included soup and okonomiyaki and dessert, which was mochi donuts. The soup was pretty good, standard. The Okonomiyaki was such a big portion. I loved the little tempura bits on top and they were generous with the amount of shrimp. It's like a yummy savory pancake. I will say I didn't really enjoy the mochi donuts but I was so full I couldn't eat them until later so it may have been because they weren't as fresh and got hard. If you've been wanting to try Okonomiyaki you should check this place out!

Seeing the amount of positive reviews for this place was mindboggling to me.. I was not impressed…read moreone bit. The atmosphere felt gimmicky, and unfortunately the food was just as underwhelming. We ordered the Galbijim, seafood pancake, and Jjajangmyeon. None of it really wowed us. The Galbijim was the most noteworthy of the three, but even that didn't live up to the hype surrounding this place. Maybe I caught them on an off day, but based on this visit I don't see myself rushing back. Sometimes the reviews just don't match the reality.

Craving for KFood in Lakeview, To Korean features KFood plus your regular bibimbap and fried…read morechicken. Menu is in English (eg Kimchi pancake instead of KimchiJeon) which is helpful for newbies. We love the Bossam pork (grilled pork you wrap in lettuce leaves), tteokboki and JJANGmyeon! BANCHAN is great and kimchi is made in house! Cute place to hang out and noraebang Sat nights! Service was wonderful as well! Everything came out fast and hot!