Laughing Bird

I love Lincoln Square and would have considered buying a place in this neighborhood, had I not moved to Evanston. So I was excited to learn of a hot new opening in the area. I was meeting up with a girlfriend who lives in this neighborhood, so we went to Laughing Bird, which is a Filipino-American restaurant that opened in May. This place was concepted and opened by the Top Chef alum Chrissy Camba, formerly of Bar Pastoral.

We had heard that this place was known for their great small plates and bar snacks, so we ordered from that portion of the menu versus the main entree dishes. I really enjoyed everything we ordered, especially the burrata, which is the cheese with a thick, sugary, carmelized-coconut jam, served with these to die for salt bread rolls. I could have ordered this three times over and still wanted more. The green papaya and raw beet salad was also so much better than I was expecting a salad to be. I would have never thought to mix peanuts with beets, but it sure was good. 

My one complaint would be the size of the wine pours. Although I can be a bit of a lush when it comes to my wine, the pours seemed extremely small for a relatively hefty price. I would have liked a bit more in my glass...  Also, I didn't love the decorating inside. I can't put my finger on it as to why, but for some reason it felt cold and dark...and not dark in a good way (like I normally like). Luckily we had a nice enough night that we could enjoy the outdoor patio weather. 

Overall, although I had fun, there are so many other restaurants I'd rather go to again in the city. This is a great option if you're further north though in that neighborhood.