The Bongo Room was another restaurant recommended to us by Julia's cousin and while Big Star was a hit, I was left a little underwhelmed by this popping brunch spot.
LOCATION: 1152 S WALBASH AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60605
It was a chilly day and a great time for a warm brunch. Turns out that Chicago is home of the 30minute wait time for a table of two. Not a problem. Bongo Room has a little coffee bar that's open for people waiting for tables which is nice, but it's tight quarters so it's not super comfortable to stand and drink without bumping into people. We ended up waiting more like 40ish minutes but it was a little frustrating because we could see and empty 2 person table sitting there for 20 or so of those minutes ready for customers. Sad.
We did eventually get seated and by that time knew exactly what we wanted before the waitress came over. I ordered a glass of apple cider because yes please, and a mug of hot tea because it was so cold out. Drinks didn't take too long to get to our table and by the time I was done with my tea, food was on it's way out to us. Julia ordered a breakfast burrito while I got the Chorizo, potato, and avocado omelette which has queso fresco cheese, and a side of salsa, house potatoes, and toast. A beautiful and bountiful plate at the very least. I will say that the house potatoes were seasoned well and cooked nicely too. What was disappointing was the omelette itself which is the star of the plate. I can't say I could really find potatoes inside the omelette which is okay because there were enough on the side to satisfy my hunger. I would just say that if they aren't really in the omelette, I wouldn't advertise it as such. Now the chorizo avocado blend was quite delicious what with the cool avocado calming down the kick that the spicy chorizo gives. The problem with the filling was that it was very unevenly balanced because my first 1/3 of the omelette had little to no avocado in it while the rest of the omelette was filled with very large chunks of avocado filling that end. The egg part of the omelette was also very disappointing. I managed to eat it for my first few bites but after that I gave up and just resorted to eating the filling with the side of potatoes and calling it a day. The egg wasn't seasoned and I suppose that's okay because the chorizo filling had a lot of flavor and kick to it to add but on top of the unseasoned egg, it was also overcooked. The omelette was hard, chewy for eggs, tough to cut into, and had a very unpleasant stiff mouthfeel. In the end I was left feeling disappointed and let down from what I hoped would be a delicious brunch.
Honestly, not super interested in going back, and I wouldn't put on the places I'd recommend to people. Maybe I should give it another chance.. but what with the plethora of restaurants to try in Chicago, I wouldn't hold my breath that I'll return.