Chicken & Mushroom Dumplings

Udon with shrimp, Vietnamese coriander, and sweet chili lime broth

Soba with bay scallops, king oyster mushrooms, and blue crab broth

Urban Belly, Avondale, Chicago (Chef Bill Kim in the center of the photo. Also, his wife Yvonne was our server.)

Jess emailled me a a week or so ago about a new restaurant that was opening called Urban Belly. At it’s most basic, it’s a noodle shop, but the menu seemed to indicate really high-end ingredients and authentic Asian soups. People were saying that this was Chicago’s answer to New Yorks wildly popular fancy noodle shop, Momofuku. I remember talking to Jeannette about Momofuku and had always wanted to when I was in New York but never did so I was definitely interested in trying Urban Belly.

This week Jess said she wanted to take me out for dinner for my birthday so we decided to give Urban Belly a try. We knew about where it was - in the middle of nowhere near California and Belmont - but were surprised when we walked up and it was in a tiny strip mall. There is a laundry mat on one side and a dry cleaner on the other! Chef Bill Kim is the guy behind the restaurant and I’d read on the Urban Belly website that his wife Yvonne is a photographer. The website is gorgeous and I guess we were just surprised that it would be located in that little generic strip mall. We also were not expecting counter service when we went in. As well the seating is just 4 big tables with communal seating.

Aside from these surprises, we really liked the interior look of the restaurant. .. and what really matters.. we loved the food. The dumplings were super tasty and the soups were so savory and delicious. I could just imagine going to Urban Belly on a cold winter day and losing myself in a piping hot, tasty bowl of udon.

Also, if you go, and you should, the restaurant is BYO. Jess and I brought a really tasty bottle of Chardonnay.