Amuse-Bouche: All the starting bites (Lobster, tuna, white fish) were served raw with light sauces, and all were quite mediocre.
Foie Gras: One of Oriole’s signature dishes was quite nice; however, IMO, the foie gras was entirely flavorless, they added a bit too much of the sweet blueberry sauce, and though the menu listed black pepper, they could’ve used a fair bit more. All in all, still pretty great.
Caviar-Razor Clam: This dish was fine, but everything was the same texturally and pretty flavorless. I got nothing from the smoked crème fraîche or green apple.
Beet-Peach: A pretty awful dish. The raw slices of beet and peach they used to make the flower weren’t very fresh and tasted bad enough together, but it was made even worse by the very unpleasant-tasting chamomile and sake ice cream underneath.
Uni Infladita: A pretty good bite. A warm infladita with tiger prawn on the inside; however, I got nothing from the uni.
Soup: Another awful dish. At the bottom of the bowl was supposed to be a foie gras custard, but it was more like roughly chopped foie gras. A chicken consommé was poured on top, and it tasted extremely strange, with way too much ginger. This dish was literally pieces of foie gras floating in chicken consommé, with WAY too much black pepper, ginger, and truffle flavor, and I personally didn’t like the raw, sliced mushrooms on top.
Turbot: The fish was a tad overcooked IMO, and the flavor combo of butternut squash and cherries simply didn’t work at all, and was too sweet. The turbot donut on the side was entirely flavorless, and tasted like a buttery, airy munchkin.
Cappellini: Oriole’s other signature dish was the only absolutely amazing dish I had. The pasta was perfectly cooked, the caraway seed sauce with parmesan was incredible, and the white truffles, which they added for free, perfectly complemented the dish. This dish was also surprisingly not too heavy/rich. Fantastic!
Wagyu: I’m not a huge fan of wagyu, but this serving was particularly flavorless compared to every other time I’ve had it. The veal jus was far too thin and also flavorless, and none of the accoutrements were particularly excellent.
Pre-Dessert: I didn’t like this dish at all, though perhaps disregard my opinion, since I hate shaved/Italian ice. The honeydew melon ice cream quenelle tasted only okay on its own, but combining it with the sudaichi and kabosu granita underneath tasted quite bad.
Carrot Cake: This carrot cake had good flavor, but texturally it was a disaster. The carrot cake pudding at the bottom was way too dense, and the tuile on top was far too thick and WAY too hard. It was quite difficult to break through it with my spoon, and perhaps even harder to bite/chew. The frosting dots on top supposedly had some Japanese flavors/ingredients, but just tasted of regular cream cheese frosting.
Mignardises: They were a bit stingy today when it came to the ending bites compared to other menus I’ve seen, and I got one bonbon with a Japanese whisky caramel inside.
Overall a pretty disappointing experience at what many (most?) consider to be Chicago’s best fine dining restaurant.
by CaviarGlutton
16 Comments
Man this review is brutal. So sorry to hear this…much different than when I was there…
This is opposite of my experience fwiw. This was the best meal I’ve ever had. I went in June though.
Had a very similar experience! Not quite as bad as yours but definitely didn’t get the hype that others had. The capellini course was fantastic (and foie was great for me) but was very disappointed with everything else.
I couldn’t imagine spending what it costs for a place like Oriole and being so disappointed, I’d be ready to fight the chefs ha
I think Oriole just takes swings on dishes that either work very well, or not at all. It makes for uneven visits, and it keeps me from liking the restaurant more.
I had a similarly disappointing experience! Completely agree that all of the amuse bouche were mediocre, and I was also deeply confused by the beet-peach dish (the version I had was beets with a peach yogurt, which was both bland and disjointed). Otherwise pretty much everything was just okay.
I went at the end of October and had about 90% the same menu. I didn’t dislike it quite as much as you (I liked the snacks and the foie gras more than you it seems), but I had many of the same opinions. That carrot cake is not a good dish. It’s shocking to me that a pastry chef at a 2* restaurant is happy with that going on the menu. People in Chicago seemed to be rooting for them to get a third star this year and I was wondering if they would hold onto two based on my meal there.
Detailed and thoughtful review. Thank you. I think your review highlights the widely varying taste and palete preferences of those who enjoy fine dining. I feel safe assuming there are others who would have thoroughly enjoyed the flavors presented. Not a criticism of the OP, just something I’ve noticed consistently on this subreddit which I find intriguing.
I also went a few months ago and 2-3 dishes were UNBELIEVABLY salty. And this is coming from someone who drinks ramen broth. We didnt say anything after the first salt laden dish but when the table next to us also complained about the salt level we let them know as well. I did love the foie gras brioche. But I would not go back. I think maybe the mismeasured the salt or mixed up ingredients.
This seems like more of a Larry menu? Wonder if Noah is giving him more control
This is so funny because the plating is quite nice, but clearly was a miss. Meanwhile, the ** in Monaco that I posted about was spectacular, yet a few Redditors felt the need to trash it based on what they thought was weak plating, even though not a single dish was a miss. 🤷🏼♀️
I was also there in November and had many of the same dishes. Completely opposite experience.
Thought those first 3 courses were amazing and really set the tone for what ended up being a really incredible meal. Service while at the bar was relaxed and casual and had a really great time chatting.
Rest of the evening service was on point and a nice compromise between fine dining and relaxed. We’re relaxed people so it was perfect for us.
The Wagyu was the best I’ve ever been served. One bite and I felt like I had never really had Wagyu before.
Pairings were innovative and well done. I did wine and two others did the N/A pairing.
I’ve been to Oriole and had a similar experience. I have zero clue why this sub loves that place so much. They don’t really do anything exceptionally well IMO.
A single bonbon at the end is kind of funny.
OP other posts are just unhappy experiences. Not liking the Modern or Smyth but loving Gramercy.
Perhaps casual dining & bistros are more up your alley.
Wow brutal. I’ve been three times and never had a missed beat. Still my favorite restaurant of all time.