A few years ago I had gone to Belly Shack with Deanna and really enjoyed my meal there. While I'm not a huge fan of the Asian fusion craze, I thought the food there was really flavorful and fun. So I was excited when Deanna mentioned that we should check out BellyQ which is a higher end version of Belly Shack with a BBQ twist to it - and it's located on the uber trendy Randolph Street.
We got there super early (6:15pm on a Thursday) so there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. I was immediately taken by how huge the space was and I liked the industrial look and feel of the place. Since there was literally only 2 other people there, you'd think that it wouldn't be a problem getting served. Apparently I was wrong. We literally sat there for almost 15-20 mins before anyone came to take our order. There were 2 different servers there and both thought the other person had our table, so as a result no one served us. Finally one of the servers came to take my drink order but then the other waitress came and apologized for not realizing we fell under her section. As I mentioned earlier, the food here is Asian fusion with a focus on BBQ. I was torn between all the rib options: pork ribs, beef ribs, short ribs and duck breast. I finally decided to get the Smoke Beef Short Ribs ($23) because it came on a bed of braised mustard greens and brunt ends - it was really the brunt ends that sold me. Deanna got the vegetarian hot pot ($17) and we also got a side of the smashed baby sweet potatoes ($7). After we ordered, I realized I never got my cocktail, so I waited and waited and waited for it. By the time our food came out, it still hadn't arrived but I was kind of over it so it didn't really matter too much. But then all of a sudden our waitress was like "oh wait, the other waiter just told me you had ordered a drink! Sorry, it's coming now." I mean there were like less than 10 people in the whole restaurant, so I don't understand how they could be this confused about our order.
Even so, I was still very excited for our meal. When the ribs came out, they looked amazing and enough food for 2 people. There were 4 very large ribs and I dove right in. My first bite was...well disappointing. So here is where I would like to caveat that I didn't say it was bad just not up to my (high) expectation. To me there is a big difference between food that is disappointing and food that is just plain bad - these ribs fall into the 1st camp. In retrospect, I probably should have ordered the pork ribs because when I think ribs, I usually envision meat falling off the bone easily and leaving a clean bone afterwards. The meat did not fall off the bone at all here and I really had to work hard to get the meat off. But as Deanna had mentioned to me, this is kind of what you get with beef ribs in general - it's just not the same experience as pork ribs. Now the glaze and sauce on it was quite flavorful and was a nice mixture of Korean spices and BBQ sauce. I was also a fan of the mustard greens it came with as well. But after 2 ribs I couldn't eat anymore and had to take the rest home. As for Deanna's dish, it sounded good on the menu: soft tofu, root vegetables and a poached egg. The waitress also commented on how delicious the rice pasta was on the bottom of the dish - which would have been great except they weren't in the dish. We were wondering if it was missing something because at first look, it seemed like a giant bowl of soup with pieces of tofu and vegetables floating in it. But it was missing the starch component, so it was a good thing that Deanna asked about the rice pasta. The waitress apologized again and went back to the kitchen to have them bring out a side of it. Once they were mixed into the dish everything was better, but it was just kind of ridiculous that they forgot one of the most important ingredients to the dish, especially after the waitress raved about it. But what really saved this place from a bad review were the sweet potatoes. OMG, they were like crack. They were served with a sake maple glaze and they were just slightly overcooked/brunt with a crispy skin outside and they were amazing. This dish totally saved the night.
By the end, I was pretty full and ready to call it a night. But then the host/manager comes up to us and apologizes for the delayed cocktail and wanted to offer us complimentary dessert to make up for it. Ok, I'll have to admit that was a nice touch but let's be honest there was a lot more wrong with our experience than just the late cocktail but I wasn't going to push my luck. We couldn't decide which dessert to get so they graciously offered to give us both the vietnamese cinnamon donuts and a small taste of the peanut butter and jelly soft serve (usually $8 and $6). The donuts were fantastic - perfectly fried balls of dough with just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar and served with a sweet vanilla soft serve. Delicious. I didn't quite "get" the peanut butter and jelly dessert because it was literally a bowl of crunchy peanut butter (although it was quite good) and a bowl of huckleberry jam. It was a great combination but it just seemed weird getting them with nothing else.
All in all, I'm still glad I came to check this place out and I appreciate their attempt at "guest recovery" (that's what they listed on the receipt) but all the service mis-steps and the less than impressive ribs would make me think twice about coming back - especially on a street that it riddled with other options - although I might come back for the sweet potatoes. Total bill: $80 for 2 people with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
1 comment:
I just realized I didn't get a poached egg either! Wtf!
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