MK Restaurant

For mine and Gabe's fancy dinner date during his visit to Chicago, we decided to go to MK, a contemporary American restaurant in the Near North Side. The restaurant is in a beautiful contemporary large space that combines subtle trendiness and elegance. We were seated on the second floor balcony in a large spacious booth. Service was very attentive without being intrusive. We decided to buy a bottle Shaya verdejo white wine which was very light and crisp.


The amuse bouche was a smoked salmon with pistachios and something else which I forgot. Nothing spectacular, but overall pretty solid.


My appetizer was the chilled spicy tomato and cucumber gazpacho with laughing bird shrimp and cilantro. This was an incredibly refreshing and light appetizer, which was totally appropriate for the summer time even though it was oddly chilly outside. It wasn't really spicy at all, but rather had just a bit of a kick to enhance the flavor. Unlike the typical Spanish gazpacho most people accustomed to, this one wasn't a pureed soup, but rather was almost like salsa in consistency - maybe more of the mashed rather than dicey kind of salsa. I can imagine some people criticizing this dish for that reason, however the flavors were wonderful.


Gabe's appetizer was the housemade fettucine with zucchini, opal basil, oven-dried tomatoes, and pecorino pepper. It was very light and fresh, and just a nice summer dish. Even though it was so simple with no crazy ingredients, everything came together perfectly.


One of our side dishes was the pomme frites with truffle cream sauce. This is one of the mainstay signature item on MK's menu, and certainly for good reason. The frites were done perfectly crispy and salted. The truffle cream was incredible, and not at all with much of that truffle pungency.


Gabe and I hadn't planned on ordering another side dish, however our waiter highly suggested this, convincing us that it's very fresh and completely in season. It's the charred fresh sweet corn with fresh coriander. I was completely in awe of how well the coriander went with fresh corn. The two flavors worked synergistically, really melded together and became one.


My main course was the lake erie whitefish - pan-roasted with poached Maine lobster, edamame, radish, scallions, and lobster and cilantro broth. This was a really incredible dish. The whitefish was so fresh, and the skin was perfectly crispy. The lobster was also very tender and complimented the fish nicely. I wasn't sure what to expect out of the brother and Asian accompaniments, however everything came together perfectly. The broth was also outstanding, as it enhanced the flavors of both the fish and lobster.


Gabe's dish was the grilled pork chop with peaches, onions, croutins, and a sauce which Gabe forgot. The peaches added a nice sweetness to the pork. The croutons were hard because they were pumpernickel, however they added a nice earthiness to the dish. The pork chop itself was very flavorful, and Gabe then realized why people praise Berkshire pork so much.


For dessert, we both shared the peachy keen: warm vanilla brioche doughnuts, peach compote, makers mark sabayon, pecan praline, sarsparilla caramel, and peach ice cream. I went with this one primarily because not only do I love peaches, but peaches were also very much in season at the time. I honestly didn't love it as much as I thought I would, but there's no doubt that it was still a solid dessert. The peach flavor could have been more full in the ice cream.

Overall, the food here was spectacular. This is a very solid casual fine dining spot serving seasonal contemporary American food. I can't even think of a single flaw with this place nor the food that we ate. In terms of consistency and quality, I would compare MK to Blackbird, however MK definitely has bigger and more perfectly sized portions for the amount that you spend. Fantastic restaurant.

MK
868 N. Frnaklin
Chicago, IL