The Duck Inn

Cuisine	American
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	7/10
Last Visit	July 7, 2024
Location	Chicago: South

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General Notes

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An interesting New American restaurant in a somewhat off-beat location. They do one thing very well, and that's their duck rotisserie. I haven't seen this anywhere else, and it's their flagship dish for good reason. That alone is a good reason to come visit (although admittedly, I love duck and I'm very biased). The rest of their dishes are solid but not particularly noteworthy. Interestingly, there aren't even that many duck dishes, it's really just their duck rotisserie.

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Positives

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> This restaurant seem very chef-driven, and the service is excellent. Our waiter was amazing.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★☆☆ Original Duck Fat Dog -- super condiment (relish, mustard, tomato, onion), dill pickle, pickled serrano peppers, celery salt, served on a brioche poppy bun. Pretty good but just tastes like a regular hot dog.
• ★★★★ Rotisserie Duck -- duck fat potatoes, baby kale green garlic vinaigrette, fresh strawberries, duck jus. Their flagship dish and for good reason -- the duck is incredible. Juicy, flavorful, and perfectly cooked to around medium-rare / medium. The skin could be a touch more crispy but that's a minor complaint. The jus is excellent -- it's a bit lighter and enhances the natural flavor of the duck. Perfect amount of food to split between two people, imo.
• ★★☆☆ Brussel Sprouts -- caper caesar, brown butter crumble. Cooked decently well but the combination is a bit too heavy for my taste.
• ★★☆☆ Squash Blossoms -- tallegio stuffed, grilled summer squash, caponata, heart of palm. The squash blossoms themselves are great, but the dish is mostly the other vegetables. Solid flavor.
• ★★☆☆ Duck Fat Fries -- Served with bloody mary ketchup, which is a little strange. Overall, good fries but they just taste like regular good fries -- you can't really taste the duck fat in it.
• ★★★☆ Gimlet -- housemade n/a gin, blueberry, pineapple, lime. It doesn't really taste like gin at all, but the cocktail itself is excellent. Nice, well-rounded flavor.