Mott St

I ate at the newest venture from the Ruxbin team last night. Waits for a table were around an hour at 8PM, but we were able to grab a seat at the bar.

Yes, unlike Ruxbin there is a bar, which means I'll eat here a lot more than Ruxbin because you can just go by yourself if you are in the area and want a good meal. There is a communal table here, but a bunch of regular tables too.

And that also means that unlike Ruxbin, they have booze. I enjoyed a cocktail called the Resurrection which is featured gin and chartreuse. My friend had an intriguing cocktail with dashi and also one with bubble tea. Overall, the cocktails we had were excellent. They also have plenty of beer and wine.

The food was amazing, exactly what I feel Chicago needed. It reminded me a lot of Ssambar or Fatty Cue, and indeed they are offering a Momofuku-like large-format meal, which is a fish head with black bean sauce for six.

The thing about this vs. Fat Rice or BellyQ is that every single dish had wildly different flavors, when at those restaurants I feel like they have a few sauces they put on everything and it ends up all tasting pretty similar.

The butter chicken had a wonderfully-spiced creamy sauce over tender confit chicken thighs. The sauce on the spring rolls, which were filled with a delicious fresh Oaxacan cheese, was a funky spicy kimchi puree. The smoky pork neck had a sweet-sour-funky sauce. The oyster mushrooms were in a herbal sauce that reminded me of some mushrooms I'd had in Latvia. The whole experience was one of very diverse and stimulating flavors.

Of course we also had the crab brain fried rice, which I had last year at a preview meal I won a ticket for. It's a great dish, just wish there was more crab flavor.

I'll definitely be back here often, especially since this is still the "soft opening" and it's so good.

Mott St
1401 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, Illinois
Tue - Sat: 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
http://mottstreetchicago.com
https://www.facebook.com/MottStreetChicago

Hey melissa, was the patio open for seating as well?

I was there for dinner last night. The patio is open and food was fantastic. Knocked out about 7 dishes.

Looks interesting. More so than what one might find on the actual Mott St. these days.

Why are the reviews so harsh on Mott St? Not being adventurous enough? Are they even serious?

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mi ... d=10452792
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... 5823.story

I mean look at Mott St's contemporaries- Embeya, BellyQ, OON, all far far less "adventurous" in terms of flavors and ingredients. Are they comparing it to specialized ethnic restaurants like Rainbow or Santouka? I just don't get it. Mott St has offal, numerous fishy flavors and even a gelatinous fish dish, and real fermented foods- not cabbage in vinegar like at BellyQ.

I had the Halibut head large format last week and we were only the second group to have it, so they had some delivery things to iron out like the fact we really couldn't fit all the food we were served on the table, but it was fantastic. Creamy delicious halibut, with some fatty and gelatinous parts, drenched with funky savory black bean sauce, steamed egg custards, numerous fantastic banchan. I took the bones from the head home and made an excellent stock.

That sounds incredible--I had kind of lumped this place in with a lot of the "trendy-for-now" type places that I tend to go to once, if at all, then never return. Your description of that Halibut dish definitely changed that!!!

mgmcewen wrote:Why are the reviews so harsh on Mott St? Not being adventurous enough? Are they even serious

Well, I won't be so harsh. I kind of liked my dinner there tonight. But the best part of the evening was the service - outstanding and welcoming from the moment we walked in the door, and our waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu.

The food was pretty good too, just not up to the level of the service. The steamed dumplings had a delicious filling - pork, ginger, green onion - and a very nice vinegar dipping sauce (with a nice kick of fresh ginger). But while the dumplings were also beautifully shaped, the wrappers were unpleasantly gummy.

There was so much to like about the big bowl of Mentaiko Kimchi Udon, even though my dining companion found it to be too fishy for his liking. I loved the fishy, spicy flavors. But the udon were really soft, way too soft in my opinion.

Harry's Butter thighs (butter chicken) in reality featured a thigh and a drumstick. The chicken was plenty moist and I enjoyed the sauce, although I believed the sauce could have packed a little more flavor, perhaps a little more spice heat too. Still, it was enjoyable.

My favorite dish of the night was the pork jowl. Slightly spicy, some good sesame flavor, and nice, fatty (but not too much so) pork. The menu mentions tofu, but there was very little of that. However, there was a wedge of lemon to squeeze and some bean sprouts, and those added some very nice contrast to the ultra-rich and salty pork. This is the one dish I would be excited to order again.

Overall, I found some nice flavors and enjoyed the evening. And if you go now, you'll get to enjoy the lovely patio seating, perfect for a summer evening. So if you were looking for a harsh review of Mott St., you'll have to look elsewhere. Flawed, yes, but pretty enjoyable too.

Love the new fried fish dish on the menu. Last night it was a striped bass fried in coconut. The skin was so crispy and the flesh was creamy. It had a fantastic tamarind, ginger, and roasted garlic sauce and came with a "dirty" fried rice with nam prik pao (Thai chili jam) and plantains.

Finally got to try this place. Quick thoughts:

Kimchi Oaxaca Spring Rolls - Fun and tasty. Liked these a lot actually.

Beef Shank Noodle - A little disappointing compared to real niu rou mian. Broth less complex. Beef shank not nearly as tender as I was hoping.

Crab Brain Fried Rice - Liked this a lot. Fishy and starchy in a way that reminded me of Pancit Palabok. Thought crab and chinese sauce played off each other great. Would get again.

Stuffed Cabbage - Okay. Sort of thought there would be more interesting flavors and something to cut the kimchi flavor a little. Pork Butt was great though, but flavor-wise a little one-note.

Mantou - Early Grey and Chocolate didn't work as well as I thought. And donut seemed a little old. Wish it had been fried recently, it didn't seem like it was.

Service - Great

Cocktails - Supermart was good. How Bazaar was very good.



TL;DR - Had a fun time. I liked some of the dishes, but was ultimately a little disappointed. Might just go to Fat Rice next time.

Just got back from a meal here and we enjoyed it quite a bit more than Fat Rice, though I think in both cases the fusion is pretty tame and overhyped.

Kimchi oaxacan spring rolls (now called empanadas) were the most fusiony thing so we had to try them. I found the kimchi flavor could have been more pronounced, but I loved the pastry and it was probably one of the better empanadas I have had (it's not a dish I have ever seen pulled off really well, despite liking the concept).

The pickle assortment is excellent, far surpassing those on offer at Fat Rice. In particular we enjoyed the citrus flavor imparted to the carrots, but each piece of produce was interesting and unique in its flavor.

Brussels sprouts are like an automatic order for us, but these were merely OK, relying too much on the caramelization of the sprouts for flavor with only the faintest hint of maple.

Beef noodles were really good, highlight of the night with its deep flavor, perfect noodles and amazing garnishes. My wife, who is Chinese, normally does not like this dish, but slurped up the broth here. If the poster above has had better, I would love to hear where.

Finally we got some Everything Wings. Very similar to the flavor offered at Crisp, but I think executed better than the last few times I went to Crisp, which seems to have degraded in quality lately. I don't understand the tzatziki at all, it muted the flavors and texture of a delicious wing. One dip was enough before we set it aside. Seems like fusion for fusion's sake.

Overall very good and I will be heading back to try some other thing.

Been a while. Any updates? Thinking of heading here this weekend.

Had a fantastic meal at Mott Street on Saturday night. Exciting, adventurous, challenging and delicious. Every bite was a winner

We started with the oyster mushrooms pan seared in miso butter and thyme. If I closed my eyes I could imagine that I was eating a soft shelled crab. The miso butter was so fantastic we were scooping it up with our forks and eating it long after we finished the mushrooms. One of my best bites this year.

Kimchi and Oaxaca empanadas were served in a masa shell with chimichurri creme fraiche. Rib sticking, gooey and cheesy in the best way. Another home run.

I had the crab brain fried rice, my wife refused to sample, and I was glad for her reluctance. This dish was delicious. Just the right amount of the sea coexisting beautifully with the bean sprouts coconut and lime.

Also had the noodles with bonito flakes and was again transported somewhere else with each bite. As decidedly asian as this dish was, I almost could imagine I was eating this dish in an italian restaurant. The Bonito flakes were undulating on top of the noodles as the temperature changed. Absolutely fantastic, hearty dish.

Kalbi and tamales were another winner, the kalbi worked so well with the tamales, great hearty fall dish

Everything Wings were also drop dead wonderful. Sticky, sweet, savory and hot, they hit all the right notes. The tzatziki sauce accompanying the wings was a great counterpoint.

We ate at the bar and the bartenders gave us samples of all of the fantastic looking cocktails they were crafting before our eyes. We sampled a bunch of different cocktails and interesting wines and beers. We were in heaven

I can't believe that I haven't seen or heard more about Mott Street. It is, along with Fat Rice, up there as my new favorite most interesting place to eat right now. This was the restaurant that I wanted Parachute to be.

I forgot to follow up! We had a good hearty meal there (Friday night) as well, the heat and components of a few dishes well-suited to the cooler season. Like someone said above, I don't know how often I would go back, but for a neighborhood place, you'd be lucky to live nearby.

We pretty much had totally different things than iblock9 did. If I recall correctly we had:

CANDIED SHRIMP & KOHLRABI SALAD (like a good slaw)
BRUSSELS SPROUTS (my wife loves Brussels sprouts, and loved these)
KIMCHI & OAXACA EMPANADAS (excellent comfort food)
KIMCHI STEW (made for fall)
PORK JOWL (we were too full but it made for a great snack the next day)

Service was very friendly and helpful, and I liked the space a lot, too.

Meh, meh, meh. Besides good service and the cozy Brooklyny antique store vibe of the space, nothing about the experience resounded– not a single bite here did much at all for me.

We had a group of six so we were able to tackle a good chunk of the menu. I won't bother recounting dish after dish, it was actually the repetitive nature of the flavors across ten or so dishes that really sunk the whole thing for me. Every protein- forward dish seemed to have the same sweet soy glaze, from the wings to the kalbi to the hamachi collar. The other glaring fixation of this kitchen seems to be introducing dairy based sauces into Asian leaning recipes. The fermented ingredient + butter formula worked really well in the miso butter of the oyster mushroom dish (tho the shrooms were tough and chewy) as did a similar move with ssamjang butter served with roasted leeks (the highlight of the meal), but by the time kimchi butter landed with another dish on the table, I was buttered out big time. The cold, mostly yogurt based sauces served with the empanadas, wings, and kalbi were totally redundant for their respective dishes, particularly since the proteins were already heavily glazed, as mentioned. The one glitch in service that proved to be the butt of many jokes for the evening was that a runner described the tzatziki served with the wings as essential to the enjoyment of the dish. I also found the fusiony choices in starch accompaniments to be misplaced and ill prepared– the masa pavé with the kalbi was dry and crumbly and was completely inharmonious with the sweet soy marinade and the jalapeño yogurt, then a gloppy spoon bread had no connection with the sweet soy glaze on the hamachi jaw. Oh and every vegetable dish had nuts that seemed to linger on the plate without finding a way to adhere to each bite.

There were a few moments that veered towards good, the less fussy, simpler dishes such as those leeks and the gooey, stringy Oaxacan cheese and kimchi empanadas that were clad in a pleasantly crunchy pastry (though could have used about twice as much kimchi, kimchi + cheese= my kind of "umami bomb"). In some dishes certain elements or ingredients stood out, once I got all the spoon bread scraped off the hamachi jaw, I went to town foraging for sweet little morsels of fish neck. But for these saving moments, other dishes were complete busts– calamari tasting uncleaned and basically rankly fishy and "stuffed" cabbage served as a square cut piece of casserole that could have been one of my mom's off night creations if she'd discovered kimchi by the late 80's.

They have an interesting drink list and I can see perching at the bar for a lambrusco or Virtue cider with an order of the empanadas. The place is in walking distance of me and I did like the vibe. But like many of these experiments in Asian "street food", the cuisine falls flat on its face and I'll be running back to Aroy, Katy's, or Dancen tenfold before I darken this doorstep again.

Went last night and had a great meal. I thought the dairy + Asian flavors worked fantastic. A highlight for me was the lamb belly ribs, served with chickpeas and pickles, kind of giving it a Spanish flair. Hamachi collar, black miso cod, and berkshire pork were also home runs.

Jefe,

I agree with a lot of your commentary (empanadas, unnecessary dairy, etc.), but I also have to say that among a rather large menu you chose a lot of similar sounding things. To be fair I have not gone back since my initial visit so that could be good evidence that there are more compelling eating experiences around.

It's interesting to see criticism of the dairy-heavy Asian dishes here. Never been to Mott St. even though I'm in that area every day. But all the dairy seems kind of "authentic" to the modern izakaya/Taiwanese tea house/name-your-youth-leaning "hipster" Asian trend. Good luck trying to get away from over the top butter, mayo, cheese and cream sauces at the well-regarded Guu izakaya empire in Vancouver and Toronto. I liked most of that stuff but it became overwhelming quick. See also Macanese "Portuguese" sauce and cream sauce baked on rice or pasta at Chi Cafe in Chinatown.

I came here for brunch, only my second visit after a dinner here long ago. I would avoid brunch at all costs. The congee seems to have the rice strained out so you get a very thin milky broth devoid of any flavor. The toppings are solid, though you have to search hard for the sausage, but this was still really disappointing.

The pork jowel skillet has delicious chili pork, but the fried rice was poorly executed (some of the rice was hard) and again seemed to have no flavor or seasoning.

We also tried the kimchi potato hash which is perfectly fine as a side.

Mott Street currently offers, in addition to its regular menu, a Chinese New Years fixed menu with two options, one 8 course and one about 10. We did the 8 course menu, and not only was the food excellent, but at $38 per person it's a really good value. We were full after 6 of the 8 courses, and just had the 8th course wrapped up to go, lots of food. My highlight was the Pho, which was the best I've ever had.

I don't know how long they are running this.

Pho- the favorite Chinese New Year meal of Vietnam

Jazzfood: You'd of had even more fun if I had mentioned that the first course was brussel sprouts with pancetta!

After reading on Thrillist that Mott had taken the cheeseburger crown from Au Cheval I decided it was time to make a visit.

Arriving around 8:00 and finding out the burger was only served at the tables from 6 to 7 they were kind enough to let us have a drink at a table while waiting for a spot to open up at the bar.


Started the meal with the Everything Wings. Tender and juicy inside and nice crispy skin. A slightly spicy and sweet sauce that was thickened just right and had you dipping and licking your fingers.


Although it came at the same time (actually slightly behind), the Steamed Dumplings. Thin skinned and I was hoping for a nice gush of juice upon biting but no. still a very tasty bite with a dipping sauce that was a different take than the usual soy, vinegar.


Finally, the Mott Burger. That was a darn good burger. The bun was on the sweet side, almost like a dinner roll that was nicely toasted, a double thin patty (no char really detected), firm, flavorful, with a nice creamy cheese. The frazzled sweet potato was actually very good and besides a creamy sauce it appeared there was, a secondary, darker brown sauce applied to the top bun.


Would I call it the Best in Chicago? Could be, might be. Many of these style burgers are beginning to create their own niche and becoming common.

What a glorious commonality to have.

Drinks very solid too. Waiting to return to work on more of the menu.

We had an amazing meal from Mott St on Friday. During the pandemic, we've been getting take-out from a restaurant about once per week. The Mott St meal was our favorite so far. I'd never eaten at the restaurant but my cousin always raves about it and we decided to give their family meal a try.
Friday's meal included the following:
“Charsiu” pork belly and grilled gulf shrimp, chopped peanuts
-Coconut rice + Glass Noodle Pilaf

-Chilled Green Beans with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

-Peel-your-own mandarin oranges


We also added on a few things from the Mini Mott online menu (pick-up is at the same location for both):
Bi bim bop with ground beef and 'seasonal vegetables'

Brussel sprouts with house-cured lamb pancetta, maple brown butter, peanuts

Green beans with fish sauce dressing (I meant to order the cauliflower and miss-clicked so we had two types of green beans)

Strawberry Lemonade bars.

The only thing I wouldn't order again was the Bi bim bop--it was fine but I've had/made better versions. Everything else was absolutely delicious. The standouts were the pork belly and the Brussel sprouts. Unfortunately, my 6 y/o (for whom we ordered Bi bim bop) discovered how good the pork belly was and we had to share it. The coconut rice with bean thread noodles and peanuts was really unusual and great. I plan to try and make my own version of it.
The pork was so good that I seriously considered trying to order a second meal for pick-up before they close to have more leftovers (they were sold out so I didn't have the chance which is good because I probably wouldn't live that down).
Another thing that made this meal stand out was the care with which everything was packaged and that each item had a label with instructions on reheating/prep (even if it was just "enjoy out of the box"). Clearly, the folks at Mott street put a lot of thought into creating meals that carry out and reheat well. We've had 2 recent meals from places we liked for dine-in that really suffered in transit and the Mott street crew obviously cares about customers having a great at-home experience. Prior to our meal at Mott, we had chosen our place for next week, but now I find myself checking the Mott street menu to see if the next set of family meals is posted.

One thing that is confusing is that there is a separate system for ordering for the family meals vs the Mini Mott menu. Both get picked up at the 1401 N. Ashland location but you have to let them know you have orders from both menus.

thaiobsessed wrote:-Peel-your-own mandarin oranges

No pics of the oranges? Were these any better than what you could get on a good day at the market?

The last 2 weekends, Mott street hasn't been offering family meals (yes, I've been obsessively checking their website), though they were still offering their Mini Mott menu. Anyway, family meals are back this weekend and they are offering their Char Siu pork belly/shrimp combo on Friday. Saturday is a Faroe Island Salmon cooked in banana leaves and Sunday is a Ribeye and bourbon. We're going for the char siu pork belly/shrimp again because it was so friggin' good. Just posting as a public service announcement (they sold out the last time)...