Embeya

Embeya is a tough review, because our experience there is partly our fault and partly the restaurant's fault.  We went with another couple last Friday night.  The space itself is nice and open and modern and trendy, in line with what we usually see in a new fancy restaurant in downtown Chicago.  Our hostess was quite possibly the most friendly hostess I've ever had in my life.  She happily took our coats and bags (the two boys had come straight from work), genuinely welcomed us to the restaurant and seemed really excited that it was Friday and she wanted us to enjoy our Friday evening out.  I'm used to a less interested, slightly more snooty greeting at a place like this, so it was a pleasant surprise.

The cocktail menu was interesting enough, but we opted for a bottle of wine for the table.

The menu is designed for sharing and is best appreciated by sharing.  We foiled ourselves a little bit, as our other couple preferred going single entrees for each of them, and my fiance and I ended up ordering 2 small plates and 1 entree to share.  I recommend going with a group and sharing across the table, to be able to really explore their offerings.

That said, the items we did try were good but not amazing.  Our friends ordered the garlic chicken and the monkfish entrees.  I didn't try the garlic chicken but it was described as mediocre and really really garlicky.  I'm sure garlic chicken was probably not one of their marquee items, and one of those dishes you put on the menu to have a basic entree available to people.  But it still should be made well.  It could have been cooked better and the flavors could have been better balanced.

My fiance and I went with the shrimp dumplings, the cured salmon, and the monkfish.  The dumplings were very tasty and served lettuce wrap style.  Nothing mind-blowing, but really how much opportunity is there to blow someone's mind with shrimp dumplings?  The cured salmon was also very tasty, but I would have preferred larger chunks.  The salmon was cubed very tiny which made it difficult to pick up with chopsticks and you weren't able to experience the full flavor of the salmon with such small bites.  

The monkfish accompaniments were excellent.  The curry it was served with was perfection (and drinkable) and I appreciated the spaghetti squash and sweet potato as a nice change (though my fiance thought the spaghetti squash was a bit weird and would have preferred standard noodles).  The problem with the monkfish was that it was overcooked.  Monkfish is one of my favorite fish but it is supposed to be cooked just enough that each piece is full of flavor and melts in your mouth.  In this case, the monkfish was chewy and almost rubbery and we had to cut each piece with a knife, rather than just a fork.  For me, this was the big disappointment of the night.

Our server was nice enough, but seemed annoyed with us at times.  Again, this was partly our fault.  We took a bit long in deciding on cocktails or wine and then again on our food choices.  On the other hand, if we asked for just a minute to decide, our server would literally come back 20 seconds later and seemed annoyed that we still weren't ready.  "A minute to decide" means at least a full minute, dude.  He also seemed annoyed that we didn't go the full sharing/tasting route with our ordering.  I understand that we were going against the way the menu was designed, and I was against this as well, but we're still the customer and we still get to choose how we want to order.  So it would't hurt to hide your annoyance a bit.  However, whatever our server lacked in pleasant disposition, the hostess more than made up for.

I would give Embeya another try someday and go back to sample a better variety of the menu.  But I thought the execution of the few items we had could have been better.  Chicago has a lot of other options out there for $60-70/per person that I'd rather try before going back.

If you don't get past the first sentence of my review, just know that Embeya is now in my top 3 favorite restaurants  that I have ever eaten at in my life -- and I have eaten at a lot of amazing restaurants.

This weekend my parents were visiting from Montana and had a friend recommend that we check out Embeya.  His recommendation was spot on.  Not only did Attila (the director) personally recommend wines and check up on us throughout the meal...the food was to die for.  The Shrimp Dumplings were an instant favorite along with pretty much every other single dish from Prawns to Noodles w/ Baby Scallops to Monk Fish ("poor man's lobster"). I am not a fan of brussels sprouts, but when I tasted them at Embeya they melted in my mouth and thoroughly enjoyed them...I will no longer avoid brussel sprouts like the plague, haha.  The califlower was also one of my favorites and if you are getting a desert you have to try the Cream Puff Top -- DY-NO-MITE!        

My family is Catholic and since it was a Friday during Lent, we had opted to go with the strictly seafood options -- Salmon, Prawns, Shrimp Dumplings, Noodles, Monk Fish, etc.  My father who would have just have rather ordered the Ribs or Lamb Shank joined us in going the no meat route and said that "this was the best Lenten meal I've ever had in my life"....coming from a guy who does not give compliments easily and never gets too excited over skipping out on red meat.  Nice work to all the staff at Embeya!!  Thanks Attila and Komal for making our dining experience one to remember!

This is a great space in the West Loop, long sleek bar, open kitchen where you can watch your food being carefully and artfully prepared by the chefs. Overall, some very well presented, well prepared food, with some interesting ingredients.

We started with the sea snails, stuffed with shrimp, lemongrass and black garlic. A very well presented dish, the sea snail shells make for visually pleasing presentation, stuffed with sweet shrimp, touch of lemongrass and a tart dressing.

We then had mussels, with coconut and lime.  Mussels were perfectly fresh, the broth rich and tasty with
scallion for sweetness.

A perfectly roasted chicken, crunchy skin, super moist chicken, even the breast, well seasoned and with the scallion, a play on the sauce used in Hainan Chicken rice.  Possibly one of the best chicken dishes I've had, rivaling the slightly more complex chicken dish at Ruxbin (the confit like leg at Ruxbin probably has this one beat).