Restaurants
The Loyalist
The Loyalist is a downstairs tavern located under the upscale SMYTH Restaurant. Both are run by award winning chef John Shields and his wife Karen. This tavern has been awarded the best Burger in Chicago. (and America), so we decided to check it out.
We started with The Bloody Loyalist. It is made with a pickle-brined vodka and house made bloody mary mix. It was unlike any bloody Mary I have ever had. It was almost clear! Our server said it was msde with clarified tomato juice. It was very tasty and light. I ordered another.
For lunch we had to try the The Loyalist Original Cheeseburger. The Loyalist Cheeseburger is a house made patty that combines ground chuck, short-rib, and bacon which gives the burger a very unique flavor. It also comes topped with American cheese, pickles, onions, and onion infused mayo. We ordered it med-rare. The toppings were tasteful, but the burger was dry. Not worth the $28.
Crying Tiger
Crying Tiger is a high-end Thai restaurant in River North. It has just recently opened up and we wanted to try it. The atmosphere is very nice and well thought out.
I ordered the Freezer Martini - made with betel leaf Old Raj gin & lemongrass scented vermouth blend and thai herb oil. Sandy got the Haku Vodka Salty Dog - made with grapefruit and kumquat over shaved ice with a slat and spice rim.
We started with the Prawn Toast - Youtiao with herb nam jim. It was delicious! Youtiao is a deep fried bread and Nam Jim is a dipping sauce. The sauce has a little heat, but was great. For Dinner, we got the Burmese dried chili with cumin Lamb and the rolled rice noodles with roasted maitake and Chinese broccoli. I really enjoyed the lamb dish. The rolled rice was heavy and greasy (it was deep fried). the outside was crispy, but the inside was mushy. I was not a fan. For dessert we ordered the Crying Tiger - It’s a tiger-shaped chocolate mold filled with Thai banana pudding and topped with banana foster sauce. It was ok.
