Lilac Tiger — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I was excited to try this spot as I’ve heard good things about it, but it fell a bit flat for me— especially in its flavors. The poutine and THC sando we ordered sounded flavorful in theory but lacked flavor in practice— and neither really hit the spot. Nonetheless, the menu is diverse and creative, a fusion of elements from multiple Asian cuisines from Indian to Thai to Korean. The vibes were chill and the service was friendly. They were busy on a Thursday night, but were able to seat me and my partner at the seats by the wall. Despite wishing the food packed more flavor, I’m still giving 4 stars because I enjoyed the dining experience overall— the vibes, the service, the creativity— and am hoping it was just an off day as there are other items on the menu I’d still be interested in trying. Prices are a bit high but quite standard for restaurants on Division.

Food I tried: Tiger Poutine (3.5/5): The house-made kimchi was really good and flavorful, but besides that the dish lacked flavor despite the lengthy array of ingredients. I wish the fries were crispier too.

THC Sando (3.3/5): They’re known for this sandwich, but I was disappointed by its lack of flavor and content. It was just a hunk of glazed chicken inbetween bread with little sauce or other ingredients. The chicken exterior was flavorful from the honey sauce, but it wasn't marinated well so the remaining interior tasted bland. Adding more sauces or ingredients would’ve really elevated this sandwich which has potential.

Pawpaw drink special (4.4/5) ($10): This was just a mix of Thai Singha beer (my fav beer) and a shot of sake, which was an interesting and...

Possibly the worst service I ever had. A guy started to bring our food out, approached our table, turned around, went back toward the kitchen, talked to a co-worker for 2 minutes with our food in his hands, then came back and delivered our food. When we finished our food, I tried to flag down our server, but he didn't see me (there were 3 tables left at this point). So, I stacked out plates in hope he would see that. He passed through the dining area 3-4 more times without looking at our table, or the other table trying to pay. Then we watched him box up his shift meal, put on his jacket, and walk out and never come back. It took about 10 minutes before I could get the attention of the bar tender/ food runner. I gave him my card because I was so tired of waiting at this point. When he gave me the machine with the processed charge, it was for the wrong table at twice the price. He then voided that charge and tried to charge me again for the same wrong table! When I pointed out what he did, he doubled down again and said "You've been at that 4-top the whole night." We turned and looked and saw all 4 people sitting at the 4-top. Not once did he apologize.

This saddens me, because we really like the food. But since they significantly increased the prices after their re-branding, and their service has gone down hill, I never plan to return. This is so...

Waited essentially an hour to eat. 30 minutes to get seated, an additional 50 minutes to get the food.

Our server was very nice and the inside is cute.

However, the food all had flavor profiles that felt like they clashed. The shrimp toast was just sesame toast, the pickles were soggy and had no crunch or texture, it was sour overall. I liked the sauce though.

The fried chicken and pancakes were not good either. The pancake was sweet and had corn in it, then the chicken breading was very soggy and barely had any crunch from the sauce. The chicken flavor was sweet but then had extremely sour after tastes along with the sour pickled vegetables. Overall, it was sweet and sour - I understand the flavor combo they were going for but it was not executed well.

The tamarind crab noodles were okay, barely any crab chunks were present since they mostly were shredded in the sauce. The sauce was extremely sour with so much cilantro on top. This felt like something I could make at home if I bought an instant noodle pack with the same sauce.

The wait for this quality of food was not worth it. By the time we were seated, only half the restaurant was full and it still took that long to get our food. I really like the concept of this restaurant and was very excited to support, but it was extremely disappointing. Also all of this was $75 after...