Crying Tiger Unleashes Southeast Asian Flavors in River North | Eater Chicago

"One of fall’s most anticipated openings, this River North restaurant from chef Thai Dang and Lettuce Entertain You pays homage to the Southeast Asian dishes he and his team grew up eating, exploring interconnected traditions from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam through the shared language of fish sauce, citrus, and chiles. Familiar dishes get playful twists, like a clay pot lobster pad Thai cooked in a wok and finished in a clay pot to develop a smoky, crispy bottom layer, and Hong Kong–style pork belly upgraded with herbaceous nam jim sauce that brings a nice, crunchy texture to soft, succulent meat with lime, chiles, garlic, and fish sauce. Other highlights include prawn toast—youtiao stuffed with a savory shrimp filling—and a lineup of curries made entirely from scratch with pastes imported from Thailand. Desserts modernize regional flavors, exemplified by a toasted coconut sundae finished with rich palm sugar caramel. Beverage director Kevin Beary builds a cocktail menu steeped in Southeast Asian ingredients (a coconut fat‑washed sbagliato, a Thai tea milk punch clarified with cognac, and a coconut water cocktail with Scotch and pandan) alongside nonalcoholic picks like spiced Vietnamese iced coffee and salted mango limeade on shaved ice; a 75‑selection wine list and Singha as the house beer round things out. Designed with London’s David Collins Studio, the former Hub 51 space bursts with greenery and vibrant colors, custom touches like Hong Kong‑made light fixtures and chairs built by Dang’s family in Vietnam, plus accordion‑style security gates commissioned from a Chicago maker, and an enclosed, plant‑filled winter garden with Southeast Asian art meant to transport diners to warmer weather. For now it’s dinner only, open 4 p.m.–10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m.–midnight Friday and Saturday." - Jeffy Mai