It seems like brunch in any city is always a shit show. It becomes much more of an ordeal than it needs to be and factoring in that I had a flight to catch right afterwards didn't help either. Luckily, Publican Anker was right next to the El train and we got there right as it opened so there was no wait. So if you are trying to hit up Ohare to catch a 2pm flight, this is a perfect option.
Even though I don't live in Chicago, I've been there long enough to see this space turn over a few times. The last time I was here it was an Italian restaurant and now it's sort of a gastropub type place. The brunch menu is much more of a lunch menu - no eggs or other breakfast type food, more along the lines of burgers and sandwiches. Since we were hungry, Deanna and I split the heirloom tomato salad ($13) and garlic aioli fries ($6) while I got the turkey sandwich ($12). There weren't a whole lot of veggie entree options and I can't remember the details now but there was some confusion on what Deanna could get but it all worked out in the end as she got some kind of yummy mushroom dish.
The heirloom tomato salad was delicious but you would be hard pressed to find any heirloom tomato salad that sucked. This one had avocado, arugula and fried shallots and a buttermilk dressing. I could have done without the fried shallots - I mean I was trying to be healthy so throwing in fried shallots doesn't really help the cause. Next came the turkey sandwich - at first glance it sounded like it would be kind of boring but in reality it was really creative and tasty. It reminded me of something Danny Meyer would make. The turkey was juicy and a thick cut from the breast and paired with roasted broccoli, avocado, smoked cheddar and dill havarti on a multigrain bread. Yum! The flavor combination of the turkey, broccoli, cheddar and dill was fantastic. My only complaint was that the bread wasn't strong enough to hold all of these ingredients and the sandwich fell apart quickly. It's definitely a messy lunch but worth it as long as you're not on a date. The one small service hiccup was that they forgot our fries and we had to remind them but they were apologetic about it and it came out quickly. They were thick, salty deliciousness and there's no better dipping sauce than garlic aioli.
Since we were in right when it opened (11:30am), we were able to get in and out with plenty of time for me to get to the airport. By the time we left the place, it was buzzing with people so I would recommend trying to get there early. Even though it wasn't brunch food, the overall experience and food was satisfying and pleasant. Hopefully this one sticks around longer than some of its other predecessors. Total bill: $33/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
No comments:
Post a Comment