Markethouse Restaurant, Chicago, IL

By Lu

Sweet Corn Risotto at Market House

It has been proven tough for both me and Ri to keep up with our writing schedule. Our days have been quite different compared to let's say six months ago. Ri has recently moved back to Jakarta, and assumed a new demanding job. My workload has also been increased at work. Adding to that mix is going to school, as well as baking and cooking gigs here and there. I really need to be creative in maximizing my 24.

However, not to fret. I love this blog and I love writing for you all, especially if you're reading it. I quizzed my friend, Marilou, the other day to see if she's reading it religiously. She didn't disappoint me! She actually answered correctly to some of my questions about things I have written recently, which meant she did her reading. I was so happy. My friend, Tina, on the other hand, she's fired from being the "unofficial" Marketing Director of Thingsonmytopshelf.com.

Just kidding. She's not fired. She better gets in shape and starts reading again however! Talking about Tina actually made a good segway onto our article topic - Markethouse.

Tina was the one that recommended the restaurant to me. She asked me to go there numerous times, but we couldn't find a good time to go until recently. She kept on raving about the food there but somehow it didn't really prick my interest that much.

I did say maybe because of the name of the restaurant is not that catchy? Also, it is not one of the the talked about Chicago eateries. I mean every body always talks about places like The Girl and The Goat by Stephanie Izzard, or L2O, or Next. People don't really talk about Markethouse. Not that I have ever heard except from Tina.  However, after trying them, they really should talk about Markethouse. I am.

I really love the underdog, the small mom and pops, the sleeping giant, you get my drift. I am not here to talk about all the good popular restaurants that the whole world populations know. I'm sure there are tons of food critics better than me who are doing a fine job writing about those places. Me, I just write about what I like and what I found to be exceeding my quite high expectation of a suburbia girl. It doesn't matter that I don't see myself as a sophisticated pain in the ass metropolitan girl with the obvious expectations. I love being the unassuming easy going simple girl with a punch of surprises of Rihanna's good girl gone bad attitude. Lol. What am I talking about again? Yeah, again..I love the don't judge the book by its cover phrase or even better, "don't judge the book by its movie." The underdogs at times are the better ones. The sleeping giant.

One more thing - if I have a MINI Coooper, I would name my car, Ajax, after the mythological character the huge Thelemacus Ajax, one of the warriors of the Trojan War on the Greek side. The dude is huge. So I name the small MINI with a giant name. Get it?

Anyway - Markethouse, to me is sorta like that. It is unassuming yet, fantastic. Tina said she thought at first the place was an art gallery. I didn't think much of it because of the name, and also maybe because of its location, being in a Double Tree Hotel. My bad for never thinking much about hotel restaurants though yes, I agree, there are more and more great restaurants in a hotel nowadays.

First time I went with Tina, I had a blast. It was rainy on a sunday afternoon after a long day of photography class. I was tired and I just wanted to chill out. Tina and I had a great meal. She had this huge burger tower and I had the English pea risotto with morel mushrooms. It was just a great experience, so good I yelped about it almost immediately. Click here if you want to read my yelp review.

What I loved about that first visit was it was just perfect - from service, seating, and food quality. I was satisfied. Our waiter, Scott, was cool and he was keeping Tina entertained with the Cubs talk which I usually couldn't contribute to. We also had this banter about Carpaccio. He was introducing the appetizer special as not your ordinary shrimp cocktail as the shrimps were pounded down thinly. I was like..Oh..like..mh..mh...I couldn't think of the word. When I finally did remember, he said..."Exactly!" So he used the term the next time he made the introduction.

One thing that really got to me however was their signature dessert, the Butterscotch bread pudding. I loved it! I usually am not a bread pudding fan, but I am becoming one. I actually just finished another bread pudding dessert I shared with Sabrina at Labriola. I thought I only would like the Markethouse's bread pudding, but I think because of the Markethouse's bread pudding, the profile of a bread pudding became something I enjoy.

Butterscotch Bread Pudding

This Butterscotch bread pudding was so delicious. It was served really warm, with a vanilla ice cream on top. It was served in a cast-iron individual pan, and you could see the nice golden brown crust glistening with butterscotch sauce. Once you dipped your spoon into it, you would feel the soft inside. Once you put the spoon in your mouth, you could taste that polar opposites of crusty and creamy soft bread custardy pudding. It was just nicely textured and it made me a fan.

Because of that, not even a month later (yesterday), I came back there with Tina. We also brought along two friends, Nate and Evi. Evi loves bread pudding and she was raving about this croissant bread pudding she had in Charleston, South Carolina. I told her she needed to come with me to Markethouse. She did. Again, talking about unassuming, Nate thought we were going to some type of a grocery store to get the bread pudding. Apparently all he heard was the word "market."

At first, we were just going for the bread pudding since we were super full from partying with Brode, Sandrine's baby boy, who just turned one year old. However, when we got there, looking at the new seasonal menu, we changed our mind.

Markethouse believes in serving fresh ingredients. They buy locally and also use some produce items that they grow at their garden on the roof top. Pretty cool, right? When you look at the menu, you could feel this freshness calling at you. I love the idea of changing menu based on your ingredients too. It gives challenges to whomever running the kitchen to be super creative. Yeah, maybe the chef there is not somebody I would know just by hearing the name, yet, I like what I eat there.

We got the same guy, Scott, to service our table. I was like, "Hey Scott." He was like.."hey, lady in a striped shirt.." confused on how I knew his name. So Tina said "Carpaccio." Then it clicked. "OOOH."

He then thanked me for writing nice things about him and the restaurant on Yelp. It was my pleasure. I'd do it again  - right now. Good service and good food always worth praising.

They served us homemade pickles with whole mustard seeds and sweet potato breads. Evi was excited when she got the bread as it was soft and warm. She's like me that she appreciates any restaurants that serve warm bread. That's why Morton's over Gibson's anyday for me. 

My heart set on the new risotto - a sweet corn risotto, with chanterelle mushrooms, as well as black truffle shavings. Mhhh..what's not to like. The appetizer was lobster chunks with again the sweet corn, and black truffle. Tina got their signature mac and cheese with bacon, and Nate actually went for a lighter choice of Anjou Pear salad with frisee and blue cheese.

Anjou Pear Salad

Lobster Appetizer

We shared everything and we went ooh and aahing when the foods were brought to our table. They were just picture perfect. Pretty fresh food to eat. Risotto was so creamy and perfectly made al dente with no crunch. I usually hate ordering risotto as it is always a hit or miss. But I ordered it twice here and happy both times!

The Mac and cheese was delicious and creamy. My only complaint is that they used big pasta almost like a penne size or maybe it was penne. I like my small elbow macaroni for mac and cheese. But again, it was just my own personal preference.

Then, the bread pudding...... drum rolls!

I love it. I simply love it. Nothing more to say except get your butt over there and try it for yourself.

It was another great visit. The service was great and Scott entertained the whole table with some jokes in between visits. Got my friends Tina and Nate to think for a second to find the answer to his joke.

We all liked what we ate though we were rather full. Nate said he wants to come back when he isn't so full so he could really enjoy the food. It tasted heavy to him a little but he was full and he had a creamy mac and cheese and lobster. Yeah, I'd say it would be pretty rich. Hope they really will come back.

I know I will. So should you.

To close, talking about the unassuming restaurant that happened to be banging, here's one of Scott's jokes. "What do you call a fish without an eye?"

It's a fsh. Well, I butchered it - not what you think right? Fish without an "i." Some jokes can only be told, not written. With that, I should stop writing.

Markethouse
611 N Fairbanks Ct.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 224-2200
http://www.markethousechicago.com/