Recently in Russian Category

Astonishingly enough, in my seven-plus years working in the Chicago Loop, I had never set foot in Russian Tea Time until Monday evening, April 3, 2006...despite strolling by it no less than a couple hundred thousand times. Thanks to my Chicago Bites clients Bridget and Tammy for being gracious and generous enough in treating me to a wonderful dinner in exchange for slaving away for 2 solid weeks without food or water in a locked, windowless room designing this logo of theirs...You guys are truly the best!

I wasn't quite expecting the quaintness or the extreme 'Euro'-feel of the place as I walked in, I for some reason, always pictured it being a lot larger inside (you can't really see in the windows too well). but I was pleasantly surprised... this was the perfect place I was looking to chill out and have dinner at after one of those typical grueling, deadline-oriented Mondays. (Yeah, I had a case of the Mondays...) After wasting no time lining up Jewel of Russia and International Sampler Vodka flights (that’s 6 separate shots of Vodka in all, yes...) I was ready for dinner.

Went with the Chicken Breast Roulette, it looked as good as anything. Artistically on-the-plate speaking, I have to say, wow, what an arrangement... Chicken pieces twirled around the plate on this cool, curvy-kind of spiral... A nice mountain of rice pilaf on the side with some really green spinach...this was good. Need more proof I really liked it? I even savored the mushroom sauce the chicken was bathed in...and those who know me well know when I see anything with any form of mushroom in it, I usually run the other way.

I left it up to our Chicago Bites experts to choose the desserts and after dinner liqueur... Had some of the softest, most chocolaty cake I’ve ever had...was almost as warm as the liqueur going down. The perfect topper. Anything bad about this place?...Not really, but if I had to say something it would maybe the servers not always knowing what on the menu was actually stocked in the kitchen...but then again, I tend to forget what’s in my kitchen a lot too...so let’s not be too picky. Listen to podcast review for this one for a more detailed review than the one I gave you...once again guys, thanks for the dinner and be sure to look for more exciting reviews from me in the near future...

-Designer Bob

Russian Tea Time has been a Chicago Bites favorite for many years, so we were excited to have the opportunity to introduce Designer Bob to this restaurant. Chicago Bites listeners voted for this restaurant, beating out McDonald's and Boca, as Bob's reward for creating our fabulous logo. We duly treated Bob to a full meal of vodka flights, appetizers, entrees and desserts, and he walked away happy to know such glories exist within Chicago city limits. Hopefully you'll be inspired to try Russian Tea Time, too.

(12.6 M)

00:00 - 00:35 Intro
00:36 - 01:31 Programming Notes
01:32 - 02:30 Designer Bob Tribute
02:31 - 12:00 Russian Tea Time Review
12:01 - 13:48 Wrap-up & Sign-off

Russian Tea Time
77 East Adams

Bridget rates this restaurant 10/10
Tammy rates this restaurant 8/10