Urban Belly

sooo this is a draft from january 7th. aka a month ago. whooops. i totally forgot about finishing this until i was checking out food and wine's website and came across their list of top 1o restaurants in chicago. and urban belly was in it! (so is L2O and my next bday restaurant the publican)

sarah, my fav fellow not-studying-abroad blogger, and i were finally back in the chi together this break and decided to go on a food trip. since xoco was closed for winter break, we went to urban belly instead.

(i appologize for the shady picture quality of my phone. oh, and you can on them to see bigger views)

outside: it's between a laundromat and a dry cleaner's. needless to say, we passed it twice. annd inside: yeahhh we were sitting at by the window. the place was really tiny. the place could hold 30 ppl, tops.

as you can see from the restaurant's location and setting, you totally get the sense that this place is a step down from Bill Kim's high-end restaurant when you come in (altho i've never been to le lan..lol, i'm just hoping/assuming).

but that's only in terms of the the ambiance and prices. the food is still pretty interesting and delicious --

(top to bottom: Pork Belly and Pinapple Rice Bowl, Squash and Bacon Dumplings, Soba Noodle Soup with scallops and mustard greens)

well actually, i hated the dumplings. i was expecting hearty and savory when i heard squash and bacon. legit, no?? but oh noo there was this weird citrus-y and minty sauce that went with it. and orange slices on maybe shizo leaves (?) garnished on top. i was also pissed when i found out we passed up on foi gras dumplings. arghhh. but -- these did have garlic chips so good job with that??

the pork belly bowl was good but the whole pork belly-ness seemed kinda gimmicky. because the meat was diced, you ended up with disproportionate mouthfuls of all-fat or all-meat. and while it was still pretty good, i couldn't help but be reminded by joy yee's pineapple chicken fried rice (which is probs a much larger portion for the same price).

i might feel this way because i had pork belly dishes at graham elliot and blackbird before coming here..my bad. actually :) i don't apologize for eating at those places haha.

anywho i have no complaints about the noodle soup tho. and it def made up for the faults of the other two dishes. the broth was very interesting and had a seafoody/pickled radish flavor. woww i'm clearly doing this broth justice. i mean that sounds extremely unappetizing but it was delishhh. it was served with soba noodles, fried fish cakes, and scallops and greens. yummyy.

and the service was awesome. there's only one girl working the counter/floor who managed to bring out our food, come back with bowls (mult times -- we wanted them for our soup and rice bowls...we're difficult like that), and also keep our water cups full. aaaand she even split up our leftovers when we were finished into cute take-out bags with extra chopsticks and ginger candy :)

oook i may have sounded pretty negative about the food but i def would go back. it was a really great meal (esp at like 15/person...WITH leftovers!) but i think the dumpling just put me in a bad funk. i'll probs try other things on the menu.

ohhh and i found out it's byob?! HOLLER.