This is only my second Yelp review but I use it extensively. Â
I was visiting Chicago this past weekend to see my best friend from college become a Dutch citizen (his mother's Dutch). Â In order to help celebrate this very special moment in his life, I made a reservation at Vincent, which I had been to before and really enjoyed.
The day of the reservation, one of the staff from Vincent called to let me know that on the first Sunday of the month they hold a rijsttafel and wondered if I would still like to keep my reservation. Â I said absolutely, always having wanted to try this aspect of Dutch/Indonesian cuisine and I thought my friend would be thrilled.
Well, we both were~!
I've traveled fairly extensively throughout SE Asia and am a member of the James Beard House in New York City, so I don't mess around when it comes to food.
Not only was everything incredibly fresh and well-spiced but also delicious. Â I had the absolute best rendition of beef satay that I've ever encountered--which to me was thrilling. Â Better still, Â one of the owners of The Rice Table really went out of her way to explain each of the myriad dishes and to make sure we understood the tradition behind a rijsttafel, including the all you-can-eat aspect and the expectation that the guests should linger over the food and stay as long as they'd like. Â She checked in on us a few times and could not have been more hospitable.
In short, a really great place and very much worth the price (I believe it was $55 per person).
I highly recommend.
T
The pork sandwich is the best thing at the Pitchfork fest! It was from that experience that I decided to check out a pop up dinner at sip. The food was great and the prices very reasonable. I can't wait to check out the new pop up dinners at Vincent in Andersonville. Don't sleep on this place!
Review Source:We went to this "popup" with modest expectations. It was awful! Service was atrocious and the food was served cold. Portions were minuscule. The soup was the best, but barely tepid even after asking for it to be warmed. As we walked out before dessert we heard people at other tables complaining as well. Save your time and money and avoid this.
Review Source:Used The Rice Table for catering a home dinner for family, friends, and out of town guest yesterday. Â I was looking for something tasty, novel, and fun and the Rice Table delivered. Â A full Indonesian meal sounded good, so I called expecting something like takeout, but decided to have the Chef on site option for a dinner for 11. Â
Working with Chris was quite easy. Â He emailed several menu options, used Paypal for downpayment and final payment, was prompt and friendly. Â He brought classy dishes, cloth napkins, silverware. Â He did some cooking onsite, introduced dishes, and did all the clean up. Â
Everyone enjoyed the food--We had about 10 different dishes. Â I enjoyed the Sate Ayam (soy marinated chicken skews in peanut sauce) and the Rendang Daging (tender beef in red coconut curry). Â Everything was very flavorful, not too spicy, and the meat was quite tender (not at all tough like another reviewer found).
Overall, a wonderful dinner party enjoyed by all. Â Thank you, Rice Table.
My coworkers and I ordered take out from the bia for mia pop up situation...everything arrived cold. Veggies were grayish..canned most likely. Meat dishes were greasy and chewy. The potato fritters tasted like banana soap. Oh man the food was sooooo bad. On the bright side, the guy who I ordered from on the phone was very nice.
Review Source:Here's the rundown:
-shrimp chips - free and addicting, good start
-frikadel daging pedis (deep fried beef and potato fritter stuffed in a jalapeno) - tasty but SPICY. we were warned, so definitely can't hold it against them.
-rendang daging - SUPPOSED to be tender beef in a coconut curry which sounded so good but the meat was very tough. absolutely dried out. this plate was just very sad looking. dried meat cubes in a barely there curry sauce.... sigh.
-babi panggang - bbq pork with garlic black bean sauce. the sauce in this dish was by far the highlight of the meal. it gave me a glimmer, a suggestion of how good this food could be. would love a bowl of rice with green beans, chopped pork, and a lot of that sauce!
-sambal goreng buncis - green beans in coconut milk. We both enjoyed this side dish, but it wasn't anything special. would not have been worth the $6.50 price tag a la carte.
2 stars overall, 5 stars if they just brought me a jar of that garlic black bean sauce.
In the annals of the Chicago underground/pop up dining scene, The Rice Table has a unique story all its own. Â So they are a catering company serving the community. Â Then a prominent feature on Chicago Reader. Â Then regular pop-ups at Sip. Â Then a celebrated restauranteur's return with Bia for Mia went 'on hiatus' under mysterious circumstances. Â And voila... you got The Rice Table @ Bia for Mia. Â Â Â
For those unfamiliar, you can compare Indonesian to Thai, but with a whole different level of taste and spicing. Â Some of my favorite dishes include the Gado Gado. Â A simple salad of lightly boiled shredded cabbage, fried tofu, green beans, and cucumber tossed in a warm peanut sauce. Â Ayam Rujak, a stew of chicken in spicy red coconut broth. Â And then an interesting combination of Pisang Goreng, Spekkoek, and coconut-pandan ice cream. Â A very decadent crispy fried banana topped with a ton of powdered sugar. Â Matched by the equally decadent layered cake that is Spekkoek. Â The coconut pandan ice cream provided a refreshing respite. Â Just need to look past the mint green coloring. Â
Why 3 stars? Â The Rice Table is unique in its rarity. Â It is good home cooking. Â They are also just starting a monthly Rijsttafel, which could be a good introduction to Indonesian cooking. Â There is no other option for Indonesian food in the city aside from The Rice Table... So be adventurous, check it out.
The Rice Table is a great weekend addition to our West Town neighborhood. Â The authentic Indonesian dishes are delicious. I had the Mackerel wrapped in banana leaves and it was amazing! The spice mix was like nothing I've had before, but absolutely tasty. And what really made my experience great was my fabulous Lychee fruit martini and outstanding service.
Review Source:I have now been to several tastings for the Rice Table and can honestly say that it is some of the best food I've ever had!!! Â I first sampled the Rice Table at a summer festival in Chicago 2 years ago and have been actively searching them out since then. Â
The red curry beef and chicken stay w/ peanut sauce are out of this world and are complimented nicely by the rotating menu at the Rice Table's biweekly tastings at the Sip Cafe. Â
If you are looking for something new to try on a Friday nights and like Asian cuisine I definitely recommend the Rice Table as a new dinning experience for you and your friends.
It's BYOB so be sure not to show up empty handed :)
My husband and I went to one of their dinners at Sip on Grand this week and the food was good, but the service was very spotty. Â It was basically Indonesian home cooking...tofu with hot peppers, veggie curry, white rice, fried chicken, pork skewers and peanut sauce, prawn crackers and tempeh. Â We got there very early and they weren't ready for us, which was totally cool. Â I enjoyed hanging out in the front room of Sip for a few minutes. Â They seated us in the back room, which is a very cool space (I hadn't been to Sip before). Â We had brought a bottle of prosecco and we asked for an ice bucket, which they said they would bring but totally forgot about. Â Oh well.
After a few minutes they brought our plates of food, and after comparing the items with the menu, I realized that they had forgotten the tempeh, crackers, peanut sauce for my husband's skewers (I don't eat meat), and tofu on my husband's plate. Â So, yeah. Â The kitchen (which was under a tent outside, a pretty challenging situation I realize) and our server didn't realize that major parts of our meals were missing! Â That being said, I really liked the tempeh a lot. Â It was supposed to be sprinkled on the food, according to the other plates I saw go by. Â $15 for the meal was ok, but I felt that it really should have been a few dollars since the quality is on par with a neighborhood ethnic restaurant--good, but nothing remarkable. Â The servers clearly were not prepared to deal with all the people. Â There are lots of kinks to work out!
We decided to pay an additional $4 and split the dessert and coffee pairing, which was 2 pieces of fried banana (hot and good) and a thousand-layer cake (pretty dense, but delicate since they were very thin slices). Â
The people were friendly, but this operation just needs a lot more work. Â $34 plus tip was pretty pricey for what it was. Â I wouldn't mind going back, but I wouldn't make it a destination.
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