Monday, February 7, 2011

Restaurant Review: Le Colonial, Chicago




Le Colonial is a French Vietnamese restaurant located on Rush Street in Chicago with other locations in NYC and San Francisco, and is a must for anyone looking to try new upscale dining locales in the area. It's a little bit pricier but really not too extreme, making it a great but reasonable place to celebrate various occasions. We got reservations at 7:00 on a Friday night a couple of days in advance, but I don't think they are too difficult to get. (Click here for Le Colonial's website, Menus, pricing and online reservation booking available)

The atmosphere was really neat, as seen in the picture below, and the restaurant has an upstairs bar with couches and chairs for enjoying a before or after dinner drink (or two).


The menu has a great selection, and we started off with the Shrimp/Pork Spring Rolls and Chicken Mushroom Ravioli. The Spring Rolls were the table favorite: perfectly crispy, they are served with lettuce to wrap them in and a chili lime sauce for dipping.


For dinner I went with the Tom Xao Sate, which is Jumbo Shrimp with asparagus, onions, and scallions in a Sate/Chili/Garlic sauce. The flavor was excellent and not overwhelming, and the shrimp had the perfect crisp to the outside.


Others at the table had the Ga Xao Xa Ot (A Lemongrass Chicken dish) and Vit Quay (A Ginger marinated duck) and both were fantastic. The flavors were all really interesting with a little bit of spice, and everyone enjoyed sampling off all of the plates!!!


If you're looking for a new, unique, and DELICIOUS upscale but reasonable dining experience in Chicago, Le Colonial is the place to go.