Address: | 116 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60654, USA |
Phone: | +1 312-464-0466 |
Site: | slurpingturtle.com |
Rating: | 4.2 |
Working: | 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–11PM 11:30AM–11PM 11:30AM–10PM |
SO
Sonny Song
HOLY S#@T!! Five words -- FANTASTIC DUCK FAT FRIED CHICKEN --try saying that five times fast! (more on this later...) I have been a HUGE fan of Chef Takashi ever since seeing him compete and kick ass on Top Chef Masters. When my friend called me up to have lunch downtown, I jumped at the opportunity to try out Slurping Turtle! From the street, ST can be easy to miss if you dont know what youre looking for. Lucky for us, we spotted the cute red turtle sign. Unlike other restaurants, the ST doesnt have its name and logo plastered everywhere - you enter through an unsuspecting door into a hallway that has somewhat of a clubbish feel to it. The restaurant is then located on the left side. The interior itself is very modern and sleek with a long communal table in the middle with booths on the first and second floor. There is also a bar along the wall that plays Japanese anime movies on the TV (Kikis Delivery Service was on that day, lol). Upon arriving, one of the kind servers opened the door and welcomed us. The friendly hostess then greeted us and led us to one of the booths on the first floor. The menu is made up of various hot & cold tapas, sashimi, noodle & rice dishes, bento boxes, bincho grill items (think meats or veggies on a stick), as well as, desserts. Heres what we had: DUCK FAT FRIED CHICKEN Woooooow, this appetizer was amazing - it came to the table piping hot. The chicken was crisp on the outside and incredibly moist and juicy on the inside. I was kinda mad I had to share this dish lol. The app is served with a salad with carrots, cabbage, red onions, etc and topped with a spicy mayo dressing. MUST ORDER THIS! ($9) TONKATSU RAMEN So glad I ordered this - the broth was silky, rich, and salty (in a good way) with braised pork shoulder, bok choy and pickled mustard greens. The pork was tender and had a delicious glaze that added sweetness to the dish. I loved the pickled mustard greens - the acidity cut the saltiness from the broth. The ramen was cooked perfectly. Not too soggy and had a good al dente bite to it. Great dish, but I wish there was more pork and mustard greens. Overall, still yummmy. ($13) UDON WITH SHRIMP/VEGGIE TEMPURA The soy dashi broth was pretty tasty and the noodles were great. The dish contains wakame (seaweed), kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) and garnished with scallions. The tempura came with 2 pieces of shrimp, as well as veggies, such as kabocha squash, eggplant, and green beans. ($13) The service was impeccable from the hostess to our server to the busboys - everyone was so friendly, accommodating and helpful. Our server Elizabeth was awesome. She was attentive without being overbearing and gave us great recommendations. Additionally, she was so knowledgeable about everything on the menu, which was great because my friend had sooooo many questions. The ramen portions are large so we didnt have room for dessert, but the macarons and ice creams sounded delicious. Will definitely try it next time! In terms of parking, there is street parking, as well as valet. We bussed it so we didnt have to deal with all that mess. Check it out!!
EU
Eugene Feygin
Went here as a group on a Thursday night around 7 I have walked by this place dozens of times and never even considered it until someone in a group mentioned they heard great reviews. We walked in and were seated right away at the main long table. Our waiter was really quick in getting everything to us and overall great guy! The atmosphere was really nice and inviting. A little loud but you can yell and no one really cares - very chill. Around 9pm they really start dimming the lighting and it gets pretty dark. I would say this is a great place to try something new and the fact that they have such a variety is great. Below are some of the dishes we all tried out and we all left pretty darn happy once we were done. Great spot for friends and drinks and great food! Below are some of the dishes we ordered and I would recommend getting a bunch of appetizers and just sharing them amongst everyone. Way more fun and you get to try a lot more dishes. We didnt even do any major entree besides the ramen because the appetizers are a great size and you can really just fill up from that. What we tried: Hamachi Tacos - Not a bad dish but it wasnt anything amazing and it had cilantro which I am not a fan of. Pork Belly Bao - WOW - seriously wow. Amazing stuff! I would come back just for this! Roasted Chicken Bao - it was ok nothing amazing. But the mustard it comes with is awesome!! Duck Fat Fried Chicken - How can you ever go wrong with this! It was pretty yummy! Fried Brussel Sprouts W/crispy Shallots - This was ok.. nothing amazing I think. Tan Tan Men Ramen - This was pretty good. I have not had fresh made ramen anywhere else to compare it to but it was pretty yummy and the smell was intoxicating. Suntory Smash - Great drink, not to sweet and goes down really well. Also love the mint in it. Spicy Tuna Deluxe: This was ok - I would not come here for sushi.
BE
Benhur Calaguas
For years my only two choices of Ramen noodles were available to me, the Blue one (oriental flavor) and the Orange one (chicken flavor). They were staples of my life, like having a Betty and Veronica, but only in Ramen soup form. Sure they were steady and always there, but like everyone, we grow up and we want more. Slurping Turtle is like the Archie character, Cheryl Blossom, the fiery red head that Archie would admire from afar but could never truly tame. Yes, this place is my Cheryl Blossom, for they have taken my idea of Ramen and turned it upside down. For a while, all I knew of Ramen was limp noodles and salty, yet satisfying broth. Which was fine, but after having tasted the Ramen at Slurping Turtle, I had no idea other flavors and textures could exist! The broth a savory melody of pork and spices that my palette wasnt accustomed to, or should I dare say was missing from my previous experience with Ramen. And the noodles, oh the noodles, like fine edible silk that must have been spun from the heavens above. Yes, truly, I was dancing the forbidden dance of flavors and I loved it. After such an experience, how could I go back to blue and orange packaged Ramen, how?! The answer is I cant! No matter how hard I try to spice up my go tos with eggs and hot sauces, it will never compare to the experience I had a experienced at Slurping Turtle. It was an affair to remember, and when I look in my pantry and see my Ramen choices again, I will simply close my dance the forbidden flavor dance in my head.
MA
Matt Uhlman
We came across the slurping turtle one cold afternoon when we were in the mood for something soupesk. This place was quite delicious and was a lovely find for such a day. We started off with what is probably now my favorite appetizer in all the land, the duck fat fried chicken. I dont know whats different about duck fat, but the combination of that and the sauce that these pieces of chicken with marinated in was absolutely unbelievable. It was the sort of thing that we were fighting over the crumbs of. If you are able to eat only one thing at the slurping turtle, get those! We then shared a bowl of ramen, and it was quite good. Are some of the standards, meat and egg floating upon a delicious sea of noodles. The only semi bummer about this place was the noodles - they resembled spaghetti noodles much more than ramen noodles or Shanghai style noodles. Overall they were good, but I feel like at a place that specializes in ramen, the noodle should never be something that we feel like I could be better. The beer and cocktails last year was actually pretty nice for a soup spot, and it was nice to have something dark with our delicious little bowl of heaven. All in all, this is a great spot for some delicious ramen, and one of the best appetizers weve ever had. It will not disappoint and is a spectacular place to check out on a cold Chicago day!