Belly Shack in Chicago
Guest Post!Jonathan is back with a tale about Belly Shack. Nothing gets me going like Asian inspired restaurants. This one looks super delicious. Mmm... why is Chicago so far away and so cold in the winter?
The "Shack" is located under the Western Blue Line Station and decorated with Banksy-inspired graffiti decorating the walls. Belly Shack is Bill Kim and his wife, Yvonne Cadiz-Kim's new Latin-Asian inspired casual dining restaurant. The menu is short and focused, but still takes some risks (there are even several vegetarian/vegan and gluten-free choices). The service and feel at Belly Shack is in a lot of ways similar to Urban Belly: order at the counter, tableware and self-serve water on the side.
Grace and I walked in shortly after they opened for lunch and the restaurant was only sparsely occupied. After the waits at Xoco, I was happy to be able to walk right in and order. We ordered 2 "sammiches," a salad and a side.
The Korean BBQ kogi with ssam paste was a nice plate of food. I'm not sure it's really a sammich, but it was tasty. It's essentially a bit of bulgogi, kim chi and sliced triangles of flat bread on the side. You can put bulgogi on pretty much anything and I'll eat it.
The Asian meatballs with rice noodles and mint may be the restaurant's signature item and for good reason. The meatballs are extremely soft and flavorful. They rest on a bed of cold noodles and it's all gently nestled between the flatbread. The sammich was a little difficult to eat, but a very satisfying bite.
I have a weakness for fall flavors and the roasted squash with maple syrup and pho spices really screams fall. The squash is soft and warming. It's all served in a miniature pumpkin, which is almost too cute.
We thought we should try something vegan and gluten-free. Why? Because I always want to find good vegan gluten-free food just in case disaster strikes (as in the end of the world) and I have to become a gluten-free vegan. The quinoa ssam with Korean chili paste and Bibb lettuce was a trial. The portabella mushrooms sub for meat and work well. The quinoa is mixed with apples; overall the bite is a little tart, but pleasing. It's nice to know that in the event of a personal apocalypse I can still eat something delicious.
For dessert Belly Shack offers various flavor toppings to soft serve (by Hot Chocolate's Mindy Segal). Screaming out to me was the bacon chocolate chip. Bits of bacon and chocolate chip cookie are sprinkled on top of the creamy soft serve. The bacon offers a salty foil to the sweet buttery cookie.
Overall, the food was flavorful and a little provocative. Not perfect, but very good and definitely worth trying. I really enjoyed Belly Shack. I think I enjoyed it even more because I’ve decided to stop over-thinking. All the comparisons and value calculations just bog down the experience. Sometimes you just need to order and eat.
Belly Shack
1912 N Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
773-252-1414
@allix,
The restaurant in NY that has the most similar fare might be Momofuku... any of their restaurants would work.
Danny
December 3, 2009 3:20 pm
The Asian meatball and noodle sandwich looks especially tantalizing..are there any restaurants in New York with similar fare?
allix
December 2, 2009 2:46 pm