My jaw dropped when I first heard the news in June--a five-course dinner for a mere $20? How does that even begin to cover food costs? Review after review urged readers to run, don't walk to Han 202, Bridgeport's newest Asian fusion restaurant with an incredible recession-friendly deal. To further sweeten the pot, the restaurant is even BYOB. I picked up the phone and held my breath, hoping that all the positive press wouldn't make it impossible to snag a table.
This is when I discovered a new wrinkle: Han 202 only takes parties up to four people, no more. Unfortunately, I had guests visiting from out of town, and we totaled five. Were they serious about only serving groups up to four people? How small was this dining room, anyway? What if I volunteered to sit on a lap? I debated my options and decided that if they were adamant on putting their foot down, we could always go down the street to Ed's Potsticker House. I called back and reserved a table for four.
Come Friday evening at 7 pm, I arrived at Han 202 and was pleasantly surprised to see that the dining room was half empty. I put on a smile and approached the hostess. She looked at me sternly and said that my original reservation had been for four. But there's plenty of room along this bench, we could definitely squeeze in an extra person, I pleaded. The hostess pursed her lips. Well, could we get these two adjacent tables then? She relented and gave us two tables, then warned us that we could not push them together under any circumstances. Since spacing between the tables was fairly tight (perhaps a foot separated the two tables), it was easy to converse across the gap. However, the timing of courses was definitely mismatched between the two tables. Oh well, I'd like to think this was at least a partial victory on my part.
Territory tussle aside, we turned our attention to the menu. Items can be ordered a la carte, but the 5-course prix fixe menu is clearly the better bang for your buck. You can choose your first four courses (soup, salad, appetizer, entree), while the last course (dessert) is set. Entree options are wide-ranging, and the menu contains a good deal of seafood, though I was a little disappointed to see that most of the options are ones which are currently overfished.
I started off with the spicy king crab miso soup. A cup of rich miso broth with scattered scallions arrived, laden with large chunks of crabmeat. This was followed by the lemongrass beef salad, which is really just the green apple salad topped with tender pieces of beef, flavored with lemongrass. The salad itself featured julienned green apple tossed with capers and a hint of truffle oil. It sounds crazy, but the tart apple and capers work in harmony with the earthy truffle and beef. This dish was definitely my favorite of the night.
Next, I tried the seared scallop, which came topped with alfalfa sprouts. The scallop was perfectly cooked and juicy, and the sprouts acted as a sort of palate cleanser for what was to come.
The duck breast entree with Sichuan hot bean sauce was actually the most disappointing item of the bunch. The duck itself was tough, and the surrounding vegetables were overwhelmed by an overly salty sauce. It was at this point that I remembered that my 5-course dinner was costing less than a pair of movie tickets. Having said that, I had no trouble clearing my plate.
The final dessert course was vanilla ice cream topped with a peeled grape, tomato-mango sorbet and a longan (watch out for the seed). Though the sorbet did not taste strongly of tomato, the tart mango flavoring was a nice addition to the ice cream. I left feeling satisfied, and just the perfect amount of fullness.
Han 202 is a welcome newcomer to Chicago's Chinese-influenced offerings. You will find nary a trace of golden dragons or red zodiac placemats here. Instead, the restaurant offers sophisticated, thought-provoking cuisine for a steal in a hip, modern environment. Forget Logan Square, Bridgeport is the new Wicker Park. I echo the sentiments of other reviewers who feel this is the perfect location for a young date night. And since the secret appears to still not be out yet, there's even plentiful metered street parking.
Han 202
605 W. 31st St
(312) 949-1314
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