Balsan (Chicago, IL)

Balsan is one of two restaurants in the Elysian Hotel in Chicago. It is a the more casual sister restaurant to Ria, which got 2 Michelin stars last November. We decided to come for brunch, where they serve a 2 course brunch for $19.

The brunch starts with "Something Sweet, Something Savory" for the first course. Unfortunately, we didn't think to snap a picture until we ravaged half of it. Salumi and Cheese are served aside various breads and pastries. On this day, we received Sopressata and Comté for the meats and cheeses. The sopressata was delicious, salty, and porky. The Comté tasted to be fairy young compared to older Comtés that I've had, having a subtler nuttiness while retaining a very creamy texture. The breads we were served were sliced baguette, scones, and madeleines, which were served with housemade chocolate-hazelnut spread, lemon curd, whipped butter, and housemade strawberry preserves. Not surprisingly, our favorites were the thick housemade version of nutella and the lemon curd, which we slathered on everything.

To drink with our brunch, Kristen ordered a Bloody Mary and I had a Bloody Margaret. The Bloody Margaret was a riff on the Bloody Mary, substituting in gin, thyme, and cucumber. While interesting, we both preferred the original. Both drinks came with small glass of a pale ale. Though I'm not sure as to the reason that they serve it with the Bloody Marys, I am not one to turn down a beer.

For the main course, Kristen ordered the Farm eggs with Maple Bourbon Sausage and Fingerling Potatoes. Unfortunately, one of the two eggs was fully hard instead of the requested over-medium. I'm not quite sure how they managed to overcook one of the eggs so badly, as the other yolk was properly cooked and still runny. Additionally, the sausage more resembled a Kielbasa or other Polish sausage rather than a Maple Bourbon breakfast sausage. It tasted ok to me, but it seemed more of a savory lunch/dinner sausage, and Kristen was a bit disappointed as she was expecting a sweeter breakfast-style sausage. The fingerling potatoes, on the other hand, were fantastic. They were extremely crisp, likely from a deep fry job. They also had a citrus note to them. While some of the sausage and eggs were left behind, every morsel of the potatoes were finished.

For my main course, I chose the Grilled Lamb Leg. Medallions of lamb sat atop a cheesy potato puree, lamb reduction sauce, and mint. The lamb was perfectly cooked, and went well with the hearty potatoes and sauce. Carrots and peas added texture and sweetness, while the turnips added a welcome bitter note. It seems to be trend of lamb being more mild (I like the gaminess of lamb), but even so, I loved every bite of this dish.

I found Balsan to be a great option for delicious, if somewhat pricy, brunch food. For a return trip, we agreed at it probably isn't worth coming back for the simpler breakfast foods (especially if they aren't cooked correctly), but I would be happy to come back to try some more of the savory dishes.