Herb Restaurant - "Thai Redefined"

I've been remiss in posting about a dinner earlier this year at Herb. There's not much on the forum about this restaurant. It is a Bib Gourmand along with Jin Thai, making the 5400 block of Broadway a popular spot for the Michelin folks.

Herb is a prix fixe BYO restaurant. 3 courses are listed at $38 with 5 courses at $52. We did one 3-course and one 5-course and split dessert. It was a wonderful meal and made even more affordable with a gift certificate from Chicago Independents. If I remembered what the course was, I've labeled the photo. The menu changes seasonally so many of these may not be available. It’s a lovely room with attentive service. I’m looking forward to returning before the summer is over to see what’s new on the menu.

herb
5424 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
773.944.9050
https://www.herbrestaurant.com/

Betel Leaf

Purple Rose

Crispy Fizzy Shrimp

Spicy BBQ Pork Salad

Tumeric Trio Mushroom Soup

Spicy Tangy Salmon Soup

Entrée #1

Entrée #2

Dessert

Pre-pandemic, Herb had been on my list, but I never made it there. I'm having a "stay-cation" and trying to order from places I haven't tried before. I really enjoyed it.

I tried the plant based menu. It started with a small papaya salad--the spiciest dish of the evening. It was really vibrant and fresh--probably my favorite dish of the night. Next was a coconut curry mushroom soup. It had a warm subtle curry flavor--the highlight was the fresh mushrooms, packaged separately so you can pour the broth over them. The main dish was a red curry. I was really impressed with the variety of vegetables how well they were cooked. For dessert, mango sticky rice.

The presentation was visually beautiful. Each dish was composed with care and many were finished with flowers.

The beginning portion sizes were appropriate for appetizers. It was nice to have just a small portion of the papaya salad. We were full enough after the first courses that there is a lot of curry left for today.

This is a very different experience in terms of portions and approach from ordering at other Thai favorites like Rainbow or In-on Thai. I'm glad we tried it as a treat.

We called in the order (we're trying to make sure the restaurant is getting the full price of the dinner) and someone who works at the restaurant brought the meal.

Herb
5424 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 944-9050
https://www.herbrestaurant.com/

I wish I could say something about Herb -- particularly given how much restaurants have suffered over the last year -- but we had one of the worst meals I can recall recently at Herb. Bottom line: An hour for our first course to appear, I never got my entree, we were charged full price and threw in the towel after 3 hours.

I wasn't planning to post about it but 1) I emailed the restaurant to share our experience and would have been happy with an "I'm embarrassed by your experience and apologize" but instead got silence, and 2) when I described what happened to another Chicagoan -- without naming the restaurant -- they immediately said, "We had a similar experience at a restaurant called Herb and won't eat there anymore."

I have heard many reports on the radio of restaurants that are limiting the number of diners because of their inability to get workers. Unfortunately, there are restaurants that don't understand the harm they do to themselves when they allow more people to dine than they have the ability to serve.