Chicago Eats - Ruxbin

Ruxbin! I had heard so many good things but I never had the chance to visit here until late October. I'm glad I did. We showed up to Ruxbin a bit late, so we just missed the first seating. We were told that the wait would be about 90 minutes, so no worries - it was only 5:30p so we had plenty of time to explore. Except that we were in West Town (851 N. Ashland), and there's nothing to explore. So we just talked and sat around, waiting to get called...

When hell finally froze over, we got seated and ordered the mushroom toast with oyster mushrooms on top of a savory biscuit with housemade ricotta, hazelnuts, and various greens. I love mushrooms, that this starter was a sign of greatness to enter my belly. The more I try them, the more I love mushrooms. Most people I know hated mushrooms growing up, and many still don't eat it. But they do such a good job of absorbing flavor, have such a fun texture, and don't have an offensive odor (at least to me they don't). More people should eat mushrooms. 

Bucatini & Clams with lap cheong sausage, herbs, black soybeans and white wine. This was actually Chef Edward Kim's interpretation of a Korean-Chinese dish called ja-jangmyun, which is basically noodles in a black soybean sauce. The noodles were cooked to al dente standards, although the thickness and firmness made it hard to cleanly eat. I loved it, definitely a step above the majority of this type of dish you might seem to get.

Bad picture ahoy! Taken with an iPhone 4, so let's blame Apple for that one. Anyways, this was the Crispy Oven roasted Amish Chicken with confit leg, Israeli couscous, dill, prunes and endive. So. Good. I rarely order chicken from big name restaurants since...well it's chicken. It's the most consumed animal in this country by a long shot based on what I see. Chicken is everywhere, and to me, it's the most boring protein you can get. But this was far from boring, it was extraordinary. Add to that the almost crispy couscous, and I wish I had the whole thing to myself. This was the standout dish of the night, and worth going back to Ruxbin for in of itself. I think that if I didn't say anything, my dining partner would have just quickly cleaned the plate without sharing. Good thing I looked up from my own meal and said something, since she loved the bucatini & clams as well. 

Our dessert - a berry shortcake w/home-baked biscuit, balsamic & creme chantilly. I realllly like this one, and I ate it so fast. A great ending to an almost perfect meal. 


My verdict - go here. Get there early and put in your name if you miss the first round of seating (it only has ~40 seats, and people stand in line very early). It's worth the wait, and I say this knowing that old man winter is on its way.