HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I was born in Hanoi; in the two decades that I spent there, I have eaten my fill of many Hanoian dishes, especially bún chả. I had a fair share of misses: the sauce was bland, there was not enough noodles or vegetables, or the meat was undercooked. You get the picture. Never have I eaten something that was distinctly and clearly not bún chả.

I cannot say the same about HaiSous' "bún chả Hà Nội," which I had tonight. In Hanoi, bún chả does not ever come with a broth-based dipping sauce. I warmly invite Chef Thái to give an example of a single renowned eatery serving this dish with such a sauce. I will be sure to visit it. The nem rolls were dense, thick-skinned, and the filling soggy with oil. Neither the patties nor the slices (which were closer to chunks) were caramelized on the grill, and both tasted distinctly of having been braised. The scattered char marks on the meat did not convince me that I wasn't eating some kind of fusion chashu. The patties were meatballs cut in half with no colour or texture to them. To add insult to injury, there was a live charcoal grill in the kitchen -- the one thing that makes or breaks a good plate of bún chả -- and as far as I could tell from the chef counter, that grill was primarily decorative.

I would have been perfectly content to enjoy a plate of "Chef Thái's bún chả" -- in fact, I would have enjoyed the food far more if it was made clear to me that this was Chef Thái's own creation/interpretation of/variation on a beloved dish. When I walked in, I hoped that I would be able to come home, at least for a glorious few minutes. I have never felt so far removed from Hanoi.

I understand that Chef Thái left Vietnam at a very young age (per my waiter) and that his mission is 1) to connect with his roots and 2) to introduce the wider public to Vietnamese foodways. As a Vietnamese man who misses the taste of his homeland, I am completely on board with this vision.

As a lover of food and cooking, I'm afraid that the chef's attachment to his roots has eclipsed the actual merit of his creations. It is quite common to give praise to similar efforts to learn about a homeland and to describe these efforts, sympathetically yet vaguely, as a love of one's "roots." It is tragic that quality and craft usually come last in the list of considerations for these honorable mentions. If I loved Hanoi and its food in such a way that I could serve this dish and call it Hanoian, I must have eschewed all respect I have for my birthplace's cuisine and culture, because there is absolutely nothing Hanoian about it.

The acoustics in the restaurant, or at least, in my section, were so badly designed that I could hear the entirety of the conversations at the other end of the chef's counter, which was 8-10 feet away from me. Beautiful decor.

Service was...

We all got the tasting menu, plus an order of grilled oysters. Everyone else ordered drinks off the menu, and I got the tasting drink menu to go with the tasting menu. First of all, five+ stars for the service. One of our 6 ppl has a lot of dietary restrictions, so we called ahead and they were fine with him bringing his own food. The servers were all friendly and helpful, and our water glasses were never empty. My tasting menu of drinks was always late, so they just volunteered a discount on it without me complaining.

On to the food. First of all, I was the only white person in a group of Asians, and I’ve been to Japan and Southeast Asia, so I’m no stranger to the cuisine. I have to be honest here, bc that’s the point, and I was overall a little disappointed with the food. Our one-off: The grilled oysters were fun and unique- it was one persons favorite dish. Tasting menu. Appetizers: I wasn’t a fan of the tofu- it was surprisingly cold, and a little too sour. Not bad- I still ate my portion, but I wouldn’t order again. The tea cured salmon was incredible! I thought the pork stuffed shiitake mushrooms somehow were “too umami”, which the other two millennials at the table agreed with. One of the “parents” thought that was the best part of the meal. Mains: katsu was a little underdone, but very tasty- and the slaw and sauce were great. Eat it with the rice. I didn’t like how thick the udon noodles were- apparently there are two types of udon and I’ve never had this one! That dish was a little spicy. Had good flavor. It was nobody’s favorite though. Now the asparagus- that was my favorite dish. So good! Def recommend. Dessert: I have a dairy allergy, so they brought me “exotic fruits” instead. But everyone really liked the matcha cream one they brought out. (Sorry I didn’t get a photo of it!) My drink tasting menu: the sparkling rosé was fresh and crisp. It paired great with the apps- esp the crispness really helped balance the over umami of the pork mushrooms. The petit Chablis was crisp and a little tart- I’m a huge fan. It paired well with the heaviness of the katsu, even though I wouldn’t typically pair a white with a red meat. It was also nice with the saltiness of the asparagus. Dessert sake was great. Idk how it paired with the normal dessert but I’d imagine well!

So overall, at that price point I’ve had worse food, but I’ve had better. It was just a little over seasoned, like they really wanted to drive the fusion point home with no doubt you had had a Japanese Vietnamese mix of cuisine. I think that, for the most part, a lighter hand with the salt would’ve benefitted here. We kind of wished we had ordered off the menu instead. Will we try the next tasting menu fusion next time we’re in Chicago? Maybe. Would def eat here again though! I wanna try the...

Haisous continues to be our favorite restaurant in the city, and most importantly, it is the place where we've had some of our most memorable meals, from bringing in friends and family from out of town, to introducing our kids to the amazing cuisine of Chef Dang.

We cannot express how well we are always taken care of at Haisous. The staff goes above and beyond to look after us, which is no small feat now that we have a 5-year old and a cantakerous 2-year old in tow. They are gracious and hospitable beyond compare, and that is always appreciated by us, the tired parents trying to bring the little ones out for a restaurant meal.

Tonight, both boys enjoyed the rib eye, the calamari, and the fried rice. There is something about that fried rice, which seems simple enough, yet is super addictive and completely satisfying, The adults enjoyed those dishes and everything else that we ordered, including the fluke (our longstanding favorite), the amazing ridiculous eggplant, and the crab noodles, which we had not tried before, but absolutely loved. The chili oil and spice on the crab noodles were completely on point.

Last and not least, we love the way that Haisous treats their staff. Their printed menu each night includes each member of the front and back of house staff. It's so wonderful that they recognize every single contributor, and I've never seen any other establishment do that. In turn, everyone working at the restaurant takes pride in their work, which is also not par for the course.

I understand Chef Dang is nominated for a James Beard award, which is well deserved and it's hopefully only a matter of time before he wins it. Having met multiple chefs with Michelin stars and other accolades, I cannot be more impressed with how humble, kind, and personable Chef Dang is. We've spoken with him about his upbringing in Vietnam and about the way he honors the place of his birth from the doors that are in the restaurant to the chopsticks that diners use on a nightly basis. It's truly the quintessential American success story and we support it even more based on this. Thank you again to Haisous, which will continue to be one of the places we will always love and to which we hope to...