Mott Street
Super Mart – CH London Dry Gin, Kikuri Aged Funaguchi, Cocchi Americano, Kubler Absinthe, Dashi Bitters / A Snowball’s Chance – Rhum JM Kikusui Perfect Snow, Salers, Crème de Violette, Lemon, Boba
Crab Brain Fried Rice – Crab Brains, Chinese Sausage, Coconut, Bean Sprout, Lime
Hangtown Fry – Scrambled Eggs, Pickled Mushroom, Oysters, Noodle Pancake, Hoisin, Bacon
General Tso’s Lamb Sweetbreads – Peanuts, Orange Marmalade, Soy, Chili
Stuffed Cabbage – Pan Seared Napa Kimchi Cabbage, Pork Butt, Sticky Rice, Kimchi Broth
Everything Wings – Soy, Jaggery, Dried Chili, Sesame, Poppy Seed, Fried Shallots, Tzatziki
Brussels Sprouts – Maple Brown Butter, Peanuts, Lamb Pancetta
Oyster Mushrooms – Pan Seared and Roasted with thyme and miso butter
Mantou – Yeasted Doughnuts, Chocolate Ganache, Condensed Earl Grey
Choco Banana – Thai Baby Banana, Chocolate, Szechuan Peppercorns, Peanuts
Tres Leches Cake – Seasonal Fruit, Coconut Milk
Thoroughly impressed by my meal at Ruxbin it was with clear from the day Mott Street was announced that it was only a matter of time and distance before I would visit, the stars eventually aligning in a truly superlative meal mere moments after Auburn shocked the Crimson Tide on a day I’ll not soon forget. Ostensibly a pan-Asian tapas spot one part hipster yet unequivocally personable and professional in service it was with my sister and her fiancé that I descended on the menu and attempting to order as broadly as possible it can only be said that many rewards were reaped; two complex yet mild cocktails, seven bold savories, and three delicious desserts each leaving us eyeing up the last bites secretly hoping the others would decline the opportunity to scrape the plate clean. In many ways a place where the menu seems more esoteric than it truly is our evening began small while working towards large, both in terms of portions and flavors, with sweetened sprouts and aromatic mushrooms before progressing to one of the most balanced and nuanced takes on sweetbreads I’ve yet to find and rounding out the first wave with crisp, sticky, and salty chicken wings the best was still to come. Clearly a restaurant where ‘umami’ matters it was next that we were greeted with the seafoam funk of supple crab brain fried rice finding its levity of curls of coconut and focused by bonito yet as much as this signature item shined it was the entirely familiar yet equally reimagined funky stuffed cabbage and fluffy hangtown fry that stole the show, the duo neck-and-neck for the best dish I encountered during my three and a half days in Chicago.
