Kasama — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

This is a review for their dinner service. Tldr - If you want a fine dining experience and know or want to know Filipino cuisine, this is the place. Go!

We went to dinner back in April to celebrate our anniversary, so this review is a little delayed. But it still sits with me as such an excellent experience, I finally decided to share.

Service was impeccable. 5 star service while still feeling comfortable and unpretentious. On point with the course changes and the knowledge and description of the dishes by the staff. Staff was friendly and present without looming. Courses came out at our speed. There were little touches that they added to our experience because they took note that it was a special day for us. And the night ended with a copy of the menu to take home.

And let me digress here by saying this. I have always known that my mom is a great cook. She always cared about flavor and texture and was never afraid to redevelop to improve on that. I mention this because I've been to many Filipino restaurants over time and none have been able to match her. Some have been very good, but there's always that "my mom's is still better" quality. Until now. The plating is modern, but for nearly every dish the flavor was home. I swear it's like the chef consulted my mother. I cried. For real. I have never been afraid to express my love for a dish, but I've never had a dish make me so emotional, so happy, something that hit my heart with such soul, I teared up. And that was only the 5th course of a 14 course meal. If I didn't know before that, I knew then I was in for one of the best dinners of my life.

As with this type of dinner service, the dishes may change and evolve over time, but here are some of my favorites from our evening -

Lumpia - A staple, the egg roll. But it was stupid genius! taking the crispy fried well seasoned pork filled stick and wrapping it with the light and refreshing fresh veg and herbs in rice paper. How I've never seen anyone do this before, I have no idea. Genius!

Nilaga - This is what made me cry. Made with a very humble soup in mind and the dish itself looked quite plain, rice and meat covered in cabbage. But everything retained its flavor while remaining cohesive having been cooked with the same broth. And the broth, served separately in a cup, was so rich and had that texture that only comes from taking the time to draw out as much gelatin and flavor from the bones as possible. And it was just on that very edge of where it could have gone salty. Soup is all about that broth and this one was . . . I cried!

Sinigang - Sour tamarind soup. Probably the most filipino, least culturally influenced, of dishes. Clean tart broth, sweet eggplant and tender langoustine.

Kare-kare - This is my all time favorite Filipino dish. My last meal dish. No one gets this right because the traditional oxtail flavor is hard to replace. Oxtail is something most people don't like to eat or work with at a restaurant because it's got a lot of weirdly shaped bones to work around and takes a long time to cook to get tender. But oxtail is my favorite cut of beef for flavor. And you know what it took to replace it? Frickin' wagyu. Wagyu short rib. Winner! Perfectly glazed over with bagoong (look it up), something you need with kare-kare. And modernly brightened up with a few pickled veg.

Pastry and desserts! Some of these are things you can get during the day as well. So don't wait for dinner! The truffle croissant was a bit of a surprise. Truffle can be overpowering. But with honey and the cheese it was nicely balanced. And the lamination and lightness of the croissant was excellent. Corn ice cream, hell, yes. And we were given a dense and buttery basque cake...

There will be a 1+ hour long wait most of the time you come here rain or shine, but it can be totally worth it depending on what you order. If you come, I would recommend coming hungry and with a larger group so you can try more things-- that always makes the wait feel more worth it. I've waited on the long line here twice-- once after the kitchen closed when they only have select pastries and drinks (1 hour) and once for the kitchen (2.5 hours). The inside is quite small and cramped, but they have outdoor seating available too. The line is for ordering at the counter, and they bring the food out to you after. Below are my thoughts on the individual items:

PASTRIES-- these are pretty pricey, but they are definitely worth the wait and price, especially if you get a good amount and variety and try each one. The assortment is expansive and unique, and they are made delicately, with incredible flavors and textures. (** = especially recommend):

Foie Gras Danish**: this one was insane, extremely rich and decadent; I dream of having it again. Salmon Danish**: this was also super delicious; rich and flaky danish paired wonderfully with the soft, silky salmon. Ube and Huckleberry Basque Cake**: this was wonderful; strong ube flavor. Truffle Croissant**: very strong truffle flavor, flaky and crispy croissant. Ube & Coconut Ensaymada: this was quite good, but I'm generally not a huge fan of coconut flavored things, so a little biased. Coconut Black Sesame Macaroon: this was my least favorite one out of all that I tried; it's just okay in flavor and a bit too sweet. Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart: good, but not the best; got a little old after a few bites in. Blueberry Tart with Chamomile Cream: I liked the light chamomile flavor, but overall not my favorite one.

FOOD-- I think the food here is only selectively worth the wait / price. It's delicious, but I'm not sure I would want to wait in line again for the food alone (would definitely have to pair it with some pastries). (** = especially recommend):

Mushroom Adobo**: the mushrooms were sautéed wonderfully-- intensely flavorful with a slimy soft texture. The egg was cooked to perfection. I only wish the garlic rice had more garlic flavor. Breakfast Sandwich with Hashbrown, Egg, Cheese, Longanista**: kind of tastes like a much much higher quality McDonald's breakfast sandwich with a Filipino flair. It's a delicious sandwich for sure, but I wouldn't wait in line for 2 hours for it alone (I'd order takeout for it instead). The bread is very fresh, soft, pillowy, and slightly sweet. The hashbrown provided a nice crunchy contrast in texture. The longanista adde a nice flavor kick. Lumpiang: tasted good and crispy, but pretty much your standard lumpiang from any Filipino restaurant.

For drinks, I've only had the Oh, Hot Yam! (ube) latte, and I honestly didn't love it-- not really worth the price / wait. The ube flavor was too mild.

I've heard the weekdays and frigid winter weather brings a shorter wait though, so I'll have to try that in the future. It's a place that's been drawing heavy news and media attention lately for good reason-- much of the food/pastries are delicious and do live up to the hype. Excluding mild weather days, the outdoor wait can get little bit brutal though, and the prices can get a little steep.

Price (relative to peers): 4/5 Food: 4.7/5 Ambience: 4.8/5 Service: 4.5/5 Overall...

Updated review 9 months later (July 24, 2022): Finally got dinner reservations for the 13 course tasting menu and OH MY GOD. The experience was incredible! Every dish was perfection and an accurate representation of filipino flavors. Our party had one vegetarian, and the vegetarian dishes were excellent as well! Anyone who is familiar with filipino food knows meat is a huge part of the culture, so it was impressive how the chefs retained the essence and flavors of true filipino food! We got the wine/cocktail pairing too, and every drink paired perfectly. I wish the kalabasa (squash) cocktail was a regular on the brunch menu- it was light, refreshing and so flavorful!

Why they were awarded only one Michelin star is beyond me. They easily deserve 3 stars. I am definitely, one hundred percent coming back. And I am advertising to all my friends and family to go out of their way for Kasama - anyone who will listen to me will for certain hear about this amazing filipino restaurant

Oct 1, 2021

For a modern take on traditional filipino food, I highly recommend Kasama. We tried the lumpia shanghai, filipino breakfast combo, and chicken adobo. Also tried a couple drinks and pastries- all fantastic!

The lumpia is definitely authentic filipino, very much how my grandma makes it. The chicken adobo was soft, tender and well seasoned; however, it was more similar to chicken inasal rather than typical adobo. The longanisa and tocino in the breakfast combo were also flavored well; however, there is no sweetness to it at all like traditional longanisa and tocino. I get it though, sweet meat is a unique taste and not something most people are used to. Of everything we tried, the tocino was probably my least favorite because it was a little dry. Mint and cilantro garnished the filipino breakfast, which was a genius idea because they made the dish feel light and fresh.

For drinks, we tried the calamansi mimosa and calamansi lemonade. The lemonade was perfect! Just the right sweetness level while allowing the calamansi flavor to come through. The calamansi mimosa was okay, I would have preferred a sweeter champagne to balance out the tartness of calamansi.

While you're here, definitely get some pastries! We had the kouign aman (fluffy, light, crunchy) and the ube & huckleberry cake, which was my favorite-- we ended up getting a couple of the cakes to go in addition to the one we ate!

As far as atmosphere, the place was calm, yet vibrant. Despite this being a place you order first then sit, the staff were attentive, kept our glasses full, and made sure a few times we had everything we needed.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with my experience. I am definitely coming back in the future. I have high hopes for this place and hope that the community continues to support this local business. It'll be so exciting in the future when they open for dinner and hopefully make a tasting menu available. It's about time Filipino cuisine comes to the forefront of the...