I've been comparing some tasting menus that are reasonably priced and would love any input! I usually shy away from anything too traditional so I'm leaning towards Indienne, Moody Tongue, and Jeong?
Appreciate any input!
Jeong
- Korean
- 7 courses
- Cancellation within 24 hours is $35/person fee
- $145 before tax & tip
- $75 optional wine pairing
https://jeongchicago.com/tastingmenu
Coach House
- Indian
- 8 courses
- Paid in advance
- $165 before tax & tip
- $90 optional cocktail or wine pairing
https://www.exploretock.com/thecoachhouse
Indienne
- Indian
- 5 courses
- Cancellation within 24 hours is $35/person fee
- $135 before tax & tip
- $70 optional wine pairing
https://www.indiennechicago.com/menus-reservation
Sepia
- American
- 1 Michelin star
- 4 courses
- Paid in advance
- $110 before tax & tip
- $59 optional wine pairing
https://www.sepiachicago.com/menudinner
Moody Tongue
- American + Brewery
- 2 Michelin stars
- 12 courses
- Paid in advance
- $285 before tax & tip
- $49 optional beer pairing
https://www.moodytongue.com/the-dining-room/
Galit
- Israeli
- 1 Michelin star
- 4 courses
- Paid in advance
- $94 before tax & tip
- $75 optional wine pairing
by Substantial_Car8090
14 Comments
Really loved Moody Tongue and would definitely recommend doing the beer pairing! Have also heard amazing things about Jeong but haven’t been yet.
Not on your list but also fantastic is Cariño in uptown. They have a tasting menu but also a late night taco omakase!
Jeong was really good but not worth the price imo. The amount of food they give you and the ingredients used just arent at the level of michelin star places. I would definitely go there more often if they had an alla cart menu though!
I liked moody tongue a lot. Sepia i have been to multiple times and is awesome bang for your buck.
Galit i liked some items but my bf and i really disliked our main courses
All of these are pretty great. Sepia is good but fairly “traditional” new American. Galit also is relatively “safe” if you’ve had a good amount of Levantine/Israeli/“Mediterranean” in the past.
I’d steer you towards one of the first three options you listed.
My thoughts would be Jeong or Indienne. Both were fantastic and unique
I would go to Indienne personally. It’s a great tasting menu overall. My partner prefers a la carte menu ordering usually, but really enjoyed the tasting menu here. Familiar flavors presented in unique/tasty ways that resulted in a great overall meal/experience. We did a few cocktails instead of wine, which were all solid.
I think you probably can’t go wrong with your top 3 choices, though.
Coach House (3x), Jeong (3x) and Indienne (1x) are fantastic. Galit (1x) is fine but if the goal is a tasting menu, I wouldn’t suggest there. I haven’t been to Sepia (0x)and have only done the bar at Moody Tongue but not the tasting menu (0x).
I really love Coach House and Jeong hence visiting them three times but Indienne is really great as well. I think you would be happy with any of the three.
I loved Indienne. So many creative twists and the traditional elements still came through. I went to India the day after and showed everyone pictures, lmao.
Will note that I did end up spending $200+ there but that was with the tasting menu + supplemental course, 3 drinks, and tax/tip, and I was absolutely stuffed.
Arun’s is also in your price range and is very good.
Moody Tongue’s tasting menu is a $150 meal for $300. It was excellent but not worth it.
I like Jeong a lot, though I think it’s at least as French as it is Korean. So depends on how that strikes you.
Definitely Indienne over Coach House at Wazwan. Indienne was creative and interesting.
Went to Moody Tongue recently (new chef). Seems a little bit of a throwback, given the way tasting menus all seem to be “ethnic” of late. But the combination of tasting menu dishes and fruit-forward beers is unique and very interesting.
Sepia is a very solid upscale American restaurant– but I have to say I didn’t even know they had a tasting menu, and four courses is different from getting ten courses, for sure. Similar comments about Galit, which I like a lot, but again, not like a ten-ish-course tasting menu.
I feel like if you’re reaching Moody Tongue’s price range you might as well throw Oriole or Ever in there too. For bang for buck, Indienne is the best deal right now. Also Jeong, which is just $145 vs, basically double that plus the beers at Moody Tongue, say, (and skipping the beers at Moody Tongue would be missing the point).
I barely remember my trip to Sepia this week other than thinking “how does this have a star and Jeong doesn’t?” Not to say that it was bad, but Jeong deserves justice.
I’m in Galit’s corner but they haven’t wowed me the past year.
I went to galit a few months ago. Two of us, two drinks each and the bill was over 400. Did not feel worth it.
The owner of Moody Tongue is a rapist, so not that one.
I absolutely loved Jeong. The Naengmyeon dish was amazing 🤤