Sunda

Has anyone been here yet?

Sunda
110 W. Illinois St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 644-0500

I've been twice and enjoyed it very much. It's Asian fusion with a modern spin in an absolutely beautiful, cool setting. The servers are attentive and helpful. The food, while not necessarily 100% authentic is well flavored with honest proportions. Great for a group that is willing to share.

I have been there twice as well. Both times were excelent and a lot of fun. I liked the diversity of the menu. A great mix of Asian street foods prepared innovatively and well. All the food was very flavorful. The food is mostly fried and you have to specifically order vegetables as most dishes do not have much in the way of veggies. The only sushi I had were large fried rolls, I enjoyed them but could not specifically taste the sushi in the roll to tell you how fresh it really was. The designer of the space was Tony Chi a famous restaurant designer and the space is on par with what you would experience in Vegas. I found the service to be attentive and friendly. I also thought the prices were resonable, you just have to be careful because the menu will get you to overorder very quickly. Mostly because there are so many things you are going to want to try, and that will cause your bill to get expensive.

Stendouts:
Burnt Watermelon Unagi
Roasted Duck Hash Salad
Rock Shrimp Tampura
Cripy Pata
Malay Chilean Seabass

I went once a few weeks ago and trying for the second time tonight in the snow and hail. The first trip was mainly centered around raw fish and we were pretty pleased with the flavors and presentations, clean and simple. Tonight we're going more for the Dim Sum and maybe venture into the entree sector. Reso's @ 6! Let you know tomorrow.

Yes, I surrendered to the night(life).

Some faint praise: I think pan-asian, by its inherent nature, is mostly awful; this was not. It was not memorable, but probably better than it really has to be. At least this year.

The room, as I'm sure someone above noted, is very pretty: black, lacquered wood, etc. I suppose it can best be surmised as capturing the feel of the signature restaurant in an expensive boutique hotel--that is, it looked like a large investment firm plopped $6-7 million into it as a loss leader to burnish an image. Except it's a stand alone venture. And one supposes the layout, naturally set up so that you can leer at other people poking at their food (while staring back at you, of course), encourages you to linger and quaff a few more $14 cocktails. Can't knock the hustle.

Service is mechanical but efficient. Heavily staffed, but stiff.

They served an amuse of fried duck skin and some marinated cabbage. I could say this had nothing on Sun Wah but the real problem is that it pretty much had nothing: some cracklins and some ribbons of cabbage. Very prescient of what was to come.

Our waitress suggested we pick one or two things from every category; there were at least six categories. Good one. We went with a salad, an appetizer, a noodle dish, and split an entree; we took home leftovers.

We had:

1) Salad:burnt watermelon and unagi “nigiri” (chili-caramelized watermelon, peppercress, unagi “bacon”, mango, lime)--there were five "pieces" for $14. Not offensive in the least; entirely forgettable in a heartbeat. The unagi was grilled and very lightly soaked in a surprisingly not-too sweet sauce, thankfully; I suppose it's called "bacon" because of how thinly sliced it was. The watermelon was neither caramelized or chili-ized; the citrus fruits were non-existent; the peppercress was merely garnish.

I ordered this dish because of its nod--intentional or not--to the pickled watermelon and pork belly dish at Fatty Crab in NYC, a dish I think is one of the more seminal plates of this decade of American dining. There, the fatty niblets of pork mirror the texture of the fruit, and the sweet and tartness of these two ingredients, respectfully, intermingles in a playful and delicious manner. Here, while certainly playful, the joy was lacking: the eel was a bit mushy and the watermelon was a lukewarm thud, with no crispness or snap; because neither had been given a resolute flavor profile, it was like eating two slightly adverse textures. Eaten, but with a sigh.

2) Hot Appetizer: "Toast and Jam"--shrimp toasts and a ramekin of spicy tuna tataki. This may be the most clever dish of 2009 not served at an Alinea-class restaurant, even if it did only comprise two components. Somewhat fun to eat, simple flavor profile, well executed. Dish could probably be improved by giving the tataki a more robust flavor profile than simply one-note spicy, but it's rare to find anyone doing the rare tuna dish in an interesting fashion. Stingy on the toasts. $14

3) Noodles: "hong kong style crispy noodles--double fried with brown sauce
char siu pork, prawns, asian vegetables." Pedestrian and (obviously) nowhere near the level of your favorite noodles at _____ (insert Sun Wah, Katy's, LTH, etc.); when viewed in context of the P-A genre and Sunda itself, pretty good. Asian vegetables = bok choy. Who knows if the pork really was "char siu-d." Brown sauce was nicely balanced and not over-salted. $14.

4) Entree: "crispy pata--confit pork shank with garlic-foie gravy, pea shoots." Reminds me of a G Wiv post--forgot which restaurant--when he qualified a nice-looking photo with "Warning: Objects may appear less delicious than they appear." From looks alone, this would seem to merit a best-of-the-year mention: the dish comes out with a whole pig's foot stood up on end a AND FRIED, with extraneous green stuff surrounding it. Alas, the pork is not up to snuff in the slightest, and the meat's done-ness was not consistent; there was a cafeteria quality to it. The foie gravy was a bad, bad idea: it was reduced to a pasty, sambal-like thickness, thereby robbing it off its transcendent texture and fattiness; it didn't add anything to the foot. Incidentally, the garlic aspect was served as a separate vinaigrette, which ended up working very nicely for the suprise of the dish: those extraneous greens, watercress actually, were very nice. $22

Desserts are clearly an afterthought: gussied-up cookies, banana fritters, mochi, etc.

My guess is that Sunda will pull a Mercat and stick to the same menu for the foreseeable future. Crawl, don't walk.

chezbrad wrote:My guess is that Sunda will pull a Mercat and stick to the same menu for the foreseeable future. Crawl, don't walk.

After reading you post I feel like running, not walking to Fatty Crab in NYC. Sunda, I'll take my time.

chezbrad wrote:Crawl, don't walk.

So I did wait to crawl to Sunda. Four months after Chez Brad’s review, I realized that he hit it on the nail when he said Sunda reminded him of an expensive restaurant inside a boutique hotel. The décor is tastefully showy, somewhere between a PF Chang’s crossed with the Golden Triangle with smacks of L.A.’s sleek sparseness. This is not to say that I didn’t like the décor, I fully appreciate the money and effort it took to bring this type of “expensive” vibe.
I didn’t have terribly high hopes going in since I’m rarely a fan of Asian that isn’t served from a table top lined in plastic, but Sunda had a one high light worthy of notice. Most of our appetizers were forgetful, I thought that the “Toast with Jam” (er, shrimp toast with tuna “jam) was overwhelmed by the deep fried flavor, the tuna jam was barely flavored to contrast. The duck breast stuffed buns were authentic in flavor, the hoisin solidly present and the breast juicy, the only drawback was that the bun was slightly soggy. We ordered one of those trick maki rolls (I call them trick rolls since trendy places seem to make a big deal about of cramming in as many different ingredients as possible), the double tuna, and it was marginally better than a spicy tuna roll from Bob San.
For our entrees, the Beef Longribs were confusingly accompanied by congee and bok choy. When the plate arrived, it was a truly medieval shank of meat sitting in congealed congee. This was probably the most unappetizing presentation I’ve ever seen. The beef was tender but oddly dry and was missing salt and spices, the congee was the wrong temperature and bland.
Since my dino leg was forgettable, I turned to my dinner companion’s truly astonishing pork belly. His dish was amazing in both size and flavor. The pork belly covered his entire plate and of the many bites I was able to steal from him, the meat was richly fatty, the glaze a perfect balance of sugar and savory. It was so odd that a restaurant that seems to pride itself on appearance would serve such gargantuan, inelegant proportions for entrees.
I’m not entirely sure I would return to Sunda for head to tail enjoyable meal, but at least I know if I drag a trendy friend along, I’ll have one good entrée up my sleeve to enjoy.

Had the brilliant idea to head over to Xoco today for lunch. I figured maybe the Columbus Day holiday would temper the lines a bit...turns out there were no lines because Xoco is closed on Mondays. I started to walk across the street to Naha when I noticed Sunda another 1/2 block down Illinois west of Clark St. Haven't heard much about the food at Sunda, only the scene.

Dining alone is not my favorite way to test drive a restaurant but based on the wonderfully picquant Ny Strip Banh Mi, the food is not nearly as dumbed down as big bowl, pf changs or ben pao. Not the classic viet sandwich, but a good one none the less, served on a very fine baguette, with a generous salad on the side. For $13 this is a bargain.

I look forward to trying some of the other offerings, particullarly the Pancit & Nasi Goreng, which arent available anywhere else this close to my office.

iblock9 wrote:I look forward to trying some of the other offerings, particullarly the Pancit & Nasi Goreng, which arent available anywhere else this close to my office.

May I ask where you're eating pancit elsewhere in the city or suburbs?

happy_stomach wrote:
May I ask where you're eating pancit elsewhere in the city or suburbs?

Little Quiapo on Clark...mostly I eat it at home. We have a filipino babysitter who is an excellent cook and her pancit is 10x as good as what I have had at any restaurant.

Has Little Quiapo re-opened on Clark? I thought they moved to McCormick.

iblock9 wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:
May I ask where you're eating pancit elsewhere in the city or suburbs?

Little Quiapo on Clark...mostly I eat it at home. We have a filipino babysitter who is an excellent cook and her pancit is 10x as good as what I have had at any restaurant.

Ah, lucky.

nr706 wrote:Has Little Quiapo re-opened on Clark? I thought they moved to McCormick.

I rode past the old Clark location on my way to work just a few weeks ago, and I'm pretty sure it's still closed. I guess I could be wrong. It's been a few months since my last visit to Little Quiapo on McCormick.

I'm pretty sure Little Quiapo closed a while ago. Fishpond, on the other side of the street still seems to be open, however.

I thought the pancit and lo mein at Sunda were fantastic, probably the best version of either dish available in Chicago. Smoky, charred bits of noodles and vegetables added great contrast to pork that had been cooked to varied textures using varied methods: some soft, meltingly tender braised belly with crunchy skin, and some sweeter barbecued pork with an almost jerky-like texture. There was a level of refinement in these dishes that didn't distract from the robust flavors, and the not-too-shy use of sliced hot peppers was quite nice.

Took my mom and family to Sunda last night for dinner, we had a great meal and time. Food from start to finish was excellent. Friendly, attractive staff, top notch service and interesting food, plus kid friendly.

Nice dining room, we were seated in a small area at the back of the restaurant with 3 larger tables. Noise level was much lower where we were. This is the first table I have booked with Open table thats location in the restaurant that did not have to be changed upon arrival.

Disappointed that there are no pics of dishes on this thread, so I will share a couple of the many I took.

3 adults and 1 toddler happily ate:
-Toast and Jam -these shrimp toasts with the tuna spread were really good, and an item I am glad my mom wanted to order otherwise we would have missed one of the best dishes of the night.

-seared American beef kobe tartar - interesting dish, nice looking, and the beef was top notch(nice sear, raw tasty beef inside), a little too much rice(not much flavor) that each piece of beef sat on but overall a rally nice dish



-pancit canton - we get spoiled by pancit from all of the Filipino parties we go to(its a standard dish along with Filipino egg rolls, and Lechon). This was a solid version, the noodles a little thicker than we usually have, nad not as flavorfull. However the crisp chunks of pork belly on top were magical. Alot like some cracklings I made a few weeks ago but better, porky, crispy, and tender. I wish I could have gotten a heaping bowl of this pork belly. Overall th dish worked, but needs more pork.



-baked seafood dynamite roll - least favorite item of the night, kind of sloppy presentation, flavors worked, and the seafood in the roll was good, just an average roll.

-loompya - really good deep fried Filipino style egg rolls, crisp, with a flavorfull filling, served with nuoc cham and Boston bibb for wrapping & dipping. I really liked this dish as well



-steamed soup dumlings- another good item, supple dumpling filled with a nice broth, as good as Ed's. Tasty dipping sauce, perhaps they should give more than 3 per order.

-crispy pata- other than the pork belly topping the pancit dish, the crispy pata was the star of the night, and the last dish besides dessert. Perfectly cooked pork shank, crisp outside, tender, juicy pork inside that fell apart with little effort. Skin was brilliant, crispy, and crunchy. Probaly the best single pork preperation I have had this past year.



-ridiculous dessert - great dessert, and I am one who typically has zero use for sweets(doesnt go wll with beer and liquor), but this tempura ice cream, vanilla ice cream, wrapped with ginger carrot cake, topped with walnuts, & carmel sauce creme cheese was really good Great end to the night.



Total tab with a large Sapporo, a shot of Jim Beam, and a Bud Light was a little over $180 with tip. worth every penny.

Lovely photos Jim! Now I'm thinking I really need to get to Sunda ASAP for some pork belly

Hurdler4eva wrote:Lovely photos Jim! Now I'm thinking I really need to get to Sunda ASAP for some pork belly

thanks, lighting was tuff had to go between flash and none.

The pork was amazing.. I gotta try making the braised then deep fried pork shank at home.

Headed to Sunda tonight. I hear they have foods on a stick.

You're paying for the ambiance here for the most part, and it's very loud inside, (almost too loud to have a conversation) but there are some really unique items that are done exceptionally well.

Crispy rice sushi- Why don't more places do this? How do they make the rice crispy?

Ahi Poke- pricy and small portion but amazing with the bits of mango and pork belly!

Ridiculous - one of the most decadent deserts in Chicago. A must try even if you have no sweet tooth!

FoodSnob77 wrote:You're paying for the ambiance here for the most part, and it's very loud inside, (almost too loud to have a conversation) but there are some really unique items that are done exceptionally well.

Crispy rice sushi- Why don't more places do this? How do they make the rice crispy?

Ahi Poke- pricy and small portion but amazing with the bits of mango and pork belly!

Ridiculous - one of the most decadent deserts in Chicago. A must try even if you have no sweet tooth!

We went there a couple of weeks ago for an early Saturday night dinner before a movie, and I'd agree that you're paying for the ambiance and level of service, rather than the authenticity of the food. I have nothing against fusion cooking, but when it's prepared to be as inoffensive as possible, no atmosphere can make up for it.

Let's put it like this, just based on my own order:
- Tom kha gai soup, supposedly with lemongrass and chile, tasted sweet rather than spicy, and was dominated by the coconut milk. My wife, who's never met a chile she liked, found it edible. Enough said.
- "Shaking" beef was supposed to have a pepper-lime dipping sauce, and not only wasn't the sauce zesty or peppery (unless they were thinking green bell pepper), but it was heavily oily. The greens that came with the dish were very bland as well
- Garlic rice had no garlic flavor, even after being sent back and reprepared by the kitchen. There were tiny garlic pieces, but they looked dried rather than fresh
- A dessert that supposedly had ginger cake as a lead ingredient had a flavor closer to almond than ginger

I wasn't expecting Lao Hunan level of spice (and I actually _like_ the home fed chicken), but either the kitchen was having an off night, or they're seeking to offer as risk-free experience as possible. I would go so far to say that the szechuan beef I get at Big Bowl was more adventurous and tasty than what I ordered here.

I must say that the Brussel Sprout salad was exquisite. Sharp, fresh, with just the right bit of heat. I hate salads. I loved this.

Just dined here tonight with a good friend after it came highly recommended by a few co-workers. I had youtubed a video on it which really stirred my interest. It's all in tagalog, which I speak, so for non-speakers you might find it hard to follow. But of course, it's all about the food, and that needs no words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTQffwUyvfE




We started out with some drinks:

Mizu Martini (Watermelon) and Lychee Luxury Drop Martini

Appetizer:

Ox Tail Pot Stickers


Adobo Flake Fried Rice

Main Courses:

Crispy Pata & Honey Braised Beef Shortrib on Arroz Caldo/Congee

The drinks were to be expected, a bit on the sweet side for the Lychee, but very good.

We found the appetizers to be well-balanced. I particularly liked the Ox Tail pot stickers. They were truly different and the ox tail had good flavor. The sauce was similar to Toyo-mansi (for those familar with filipino sauces) maybe leaning more towards a citrus mirin/ponzu sauce. The Adobo Flake Fried Rice was also very good. It was a little reminiscent of the filipino-style breakfast rice dishes (Tapsilog, Longsilog, Tocilog) It was quite garlicky so for those who are put off by that, beware. I'm always a sucker for a fried egg atop rice, it makes me feel at home. Not too sweet, not to sour and definitely not too vinegary as some Adobo-infused dishes can be. Overall a well-balanced dish and flavorful dish.

The main courses we found to be quite exquisite. The Crispy Pata was very tender and will be well received for those Lechon (roasted pig) lovers. The sauce it came with was very similar to the Sarsa Lechon that is always served with filipino style roasted pork, but with a slight hint of chili. It also came with some picked radish salad that was decent. We both really enjoyed the Honey-Ginger Beef Shortrib and Congee combination. I'm not a fan of arroz caldo only because I had overkill growing up. My mom would always make it when someone was sick and in large quantities, but this was something else. After watching the youtube video on this, I had to try it. The large quantity of beef was literally falling off the bone, spoon and fork tender, nicely seasoned. Literally, to-die-for style beef. The congee was good, could've used a bit more of it, but its taste complimented the beef well. They make the congee with butter and the drippings from the beef so it is overall a rich dish. Easily enough for two, but some/most will not want to share.

Our bill came out to $106 before tip and valet ($11.99+tip).

While it is on the pricey end, the food experience was well worth it. We left happy and will gladly come back. I'm actually planning on scheduling a group/family dinner here for my college grad in a few months.

Interesting example of a hyped place seemingly getting better over time. I hated this place when it opened and I frequently found myself there for work. All flash, no substance. Big money for very generic, watered down, gringo-focused "Thai," "Korean," "Vietnamese" greatest hits. Fast forward and the chef seems to be running things more, with more Filipino stuff, and I hear and see good things. I need to go back, maybe.

sdrucker wrote:... I'd agree that you're paying for the ambiance and level of service, rather than the authenticity of the food. I have nothing against fusion cooking, but when it's prepared to be as inoffensive as possible, no atmosphere can make up for it.

Went with 6 others yesterday for lunch, sdrucker's summation is spot on, at least of the lunch menu.

Ghazi wrote:I must say that the Brussel Sprout salad was exquisite. Sharp, fresh, with just the right bit of heat. I hate salads. I loved this.

This was the sole standout, simply an outstanding salad.

forgot to mention, if one is a fan of heat for heat's sake, Sunda has a ghost pepper sambal which is fierce.

The space is beautiful, the service is great, but darn it was cold towards the back of the room. Lunch wasn't memorable today, from the miso soup to the sushi rolls.

Brussel sprout salad was a surprise hit! The sauce was delightfil and didn't wilt the crunchy shredded sprouts.

Beet salad was new for me - the beets were tender almost like a sweet potato chunk with miso glaze.

Crispy sushi rice + spicy tuna. I don't know who started the crispy sushi rice fad but I haven't been a fan. The rice tasted like a butter toasted brioche and that's not a great pair for sushi tuna IMO.

Red dragon's sauce over powered all other flavors, one roll seemed like it only had tempura flakes inside.

I'd love to go back for that salad, and possibly try the spicy spicy roll but I don't know if I can bring myself to pay on my own dime. Yeah, it's pricier downtown but I expected the quality, uniqueness, and execution to be miles above competition for the reputation the restaurant holds.

Sunda New Asian Will Be Expanding to the Fulton Market

https://whatnowchicago.com/sunda-new-as ... on-market/

Dave148 wrote:

Sunda New Asian Will Be Expanding to the Fulton Market

https://whatnowchicago.com/sunda-new-as ... on-market/

Billy Dec Returns as Sunda New Asian Opens a Fulton Market Location

https://chicago.eater.com/2024/2/26/240 ... tos-images