We went to Arun's Thai Restaurant last night for dinner. There is a fixed price of $85 for the 12 course tasting menu, and it is well worth it. I like Arun's much more than I expected to. The front end staff were absolutely amazing. They were helpful, on the ball (our plates were cleared and within 3 or 4 seconds we had new utensils from a different person), they refilled our water for us from the bottle left on our table (we didn't have to do it ourselves like every other restaurant I've ever been to), and when I asked for a menu of the evening, an email of the menu was waiting for me when I got back to the hotel. At the end, just before we paid our bill, they offered to call a taxi for us, which I thought was really nice. Also, I called a couple weeks ago to make the reservation and then two days before our reservation, they called to confirm, which really helped me because I had forgotten what time I had scheduled. I give the front end staff at Arun's a 10 out of 10 (though if I could I would give them 11 or 12 out of 10, but well...)
As for the food, I've never experience that quality of food in my life and I've been to a couple other fine dining restaurants. The highlights of the evening were the Spicy Crab Cake that was served over a watercress salad, the Rice Dumpling filled with Chicken, Shrimp and Jicama, the Filets of lightly Fried Striped Bass with Three-Flavor chili sauce and the Crepe with Sankhaya Pandanus Cream Custard and red beans with poached strawberry and strawberry coulis. Our first experience was the Crab Cake and that one dish was worth the entire price. The crab cake was tender and juicy, and the watercress was a perfect compliment with a tangy yet sweet flavor. The Striped Bass was also served with some lightly breaded then fried vegetables, but what really made the dish was the Three-Flavor chili sauce, it was the perfect combination of sweet, sour and spicy. This dish was also served with an intricately carved carrot in the form of a fish. It really was amazing. By far, my favorite of the night was the crepe though. The strawberry and strawberry coulis were the perfect compliment to the crepe and the Custard Creme. I had tried crepes before and never really liked them, now I understand, I've seen the light. Those crepes made me feel like I was in heaven they were so amazing. I give the Chef and food at Arun's a 10 out of 10 as well.
As for the atmosphere of the restaurant, some of the decorations seemed a bit cheesy to me and you could see screws hanging out of the walls in some places. The chairs weren't really that comfortable, which if you're going to be sitting in them for two hours, they really should be. The restaurant's location isn't in a real great part of town and taking the CTA buses will only get you about 4 blocks away from the restaurant, so it's probably the best idea to take a taxi. Because of the neighborhood and the bus ride to get there, I was quite stressed when we sat down for dinner, but after the first couple of courses, I was very relaxed and feeling much better. I give the atmosphere at Arun's a 5 out of 10, but the Front End Staff and the Food more than make up for this.
The one thing I didn't experience was any of their wine. I'm not really a wine drinker (mostly because I get drunk off it really quickly), but their wine list is very extensive. I think there were somewhere between 20 and 30 pages of wines. One thing I did notice is that most of their wines are only available by the bottle, the list gets much smaller when ordering a half bottle and smaller still when ordering just a glass.
Overall, Arun's is an amazing experience and next time I'm in Chicago, I'll be dining there again. Also, sorry about the lack of pictures, but I was so excited to eat the food I forgot to take its picture.
As for the food, I've never experience that quality of food in my life and I've been to a couple other fine dining restaurants. The highlights of the evening were the Spicy Crab Cake that was served over a watercress salad, the Rice Dumpling filled with Chicken, Shrimp and Jicama, the Filets of lightly Fried Striped Bass with Three-Flavor chili sauce and the Crepe with Sankhaya Pandanus Cream Custard and red beans with poached strawberry and strawberry coulis. Our first experience was the Crab Cake and that one dish was worth the entire price. The crab cake was tender and juicy, and the watercress was a perfect compliment with a tangy yet sweet flavor. The Striped Bass was also served with some lightly breaded then fried vegetables, but what really made the dish was the Three-Flavor chili sauce, it was the perfect combination of sweet, sour and spicy. This dish was also served with an intricately carved carrot in the form of a fish. It really was amazing. By far, my favorite of the night was the crepe though. The strawberry and strawberry coulis were the perfect compliment to the crepe and the Custard Creme. I had tried crepes before and never really liked them, now I understand, I've seen the light. Those crepes made me feel like I was in heaven they were so amazing. I give the Chef and food at Arun's a 10 out of 10 as well.
As for the atmosphere of the restaurant, some of the decorations seemed a bit cheesy to me and you could see screws hanging out of the walls in some places. The chairs weren't really that comfortable, which if you're going to be sitting in them for two hours, they really should be. The restaurant's location isn't in a real great part of town and taking the CTA buses will only get you about 4 blocks away from the restaurant, so it's probably the best idea to take a taxi. Because of the neighborhood and the bus ride to get there, I was quite stressed when we sat down for dinner, but after the first couple of courses, I was very relaxed and feeling much better. I give the atmosphere at Arun's a 5 out of 10, but the Front End Staff and the Food more than make up for this.
The one thing I didn't experience was any of their wine. I'm not really a wine drinker (mostly because I get drunk off it really quickly), but their wine list is very extensive. I think there were somewhere between 20 and 30 pages of wines. One thing I did notice is that most of their wines are only available by the bottle, the list gets much smaller when ordering a half bottle and smaller still when ordering just a glass.
Overall, Arun's is an amazing experience and next time I'm in Chicago, I'll be dining there again. Also, sorry about the lack of pictures, but I was so excited to eat the food I forgot to take its picture.
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