Sunda Chicago Reviews
Submitted by Bianca M on 01/02/2022
Bianca M 5 stars rating.
Amazing ambience, incredible food, and impressive service staff. Our waitress has worked for this location for 9 years, and she guided us through the menu flawlessly! A flawless experience from start to finish! (Get the tempura shrimp!
Vishnu pillai 3 stars rating.
Ambience is on point. Service is great. Food is decent, didn't feel fresh. Very loud so wouldn't go there for date night. Though the ambience is contrary.
If they would tone down music and get food qulaity up that would be awesome.
Submitted by Vishnu Pillai on 09/17/2022
Katrina Marie N 4 stars rating.
Another "not my first time here, but first Google Review" for this place! 5-stars pre-COVID days and 3.5-stars for this most recent experience for Sunday Brunch around 2pm. Service right off the bat was lacking, unfortunately. We waited around a good 15-min before we asked the front door host to have a server stop by our table. The Manager came right away and apologized, noting they were short-staffed and had some call-ins. Not that we wanted to hear that, but our menu selections kind of made up for it. Pictured here are their Lumpia; Sumo Mary (gigantic Bloody Mary at $38 dressed with a ton of food) which I highly recommend as a meal option and order with a side of Garlic Rice; All Silog Plate (they call it "Island Breakfast Plate") (Longanisa, Tocino, Bacon, Egg, Atchara, Garlic Rice); Steak and Eggs; and of course their Halo-Halo (they call it "Sundae Sundae"). After coming here many times pre-COVID, I hope this place decides to beef up their service and continues to stick around.
Submitted by Katrina Marie N on 08/19/2022
John 3 stars rating.
Eh, could have been better. The food tasted great. Can't complain. The service, though, wasn't so great. We were seated and about 10mins went by and not a single person had come to our table. We were then advised they had some call offs, probably to go to lollapalooza. Regardless, we waited a long time for everything. Each of our dishes came out separately so it was awkward eating while the rest of the table was still waiting on their brunch. But, I'm sure this was a one off judging off the ratings from others.
Submitted by John on 07/31/2022
Carmela Ver 5 stars rating.
Amazing food. Went for brunch early on a Sunday and were seated immediately. Every item we ordered was delicious. We got the ube waffles (fresh, crispy, and the ube butter is to die for!), eggplant bao (a good balance of savory and sweet with plenty of crunch), the sweet potato roll (soft, sweet potato center topped topped with avocado), and the tocino grilled cheese (the tocino reminded me of my childhood! Using pimento cheese was a brilliant contrast to the sweet tocino meat). We then finished the meal with the Sunda sundae, which is essentially the filipino dessert halo halo. I love how generous they were with the ube ice cream on our sundae.
The service was also good. Our server was polite and easily available. The restaurant was beautiful and quite fancy on the inside
I am so happy with our meal and the wide Asian, especially filipino, representation on the menu. I cannot wait to come back again in the future!
Submitted by Carmela Ver on 07/24/2022
Kearsten J 5 stars rating.
I love seeing Filipino dish being recognized in a different level. We ordered the Crispy Pata, Brussel sprouts salad, adobo fried rice, and pork belly dim sun. We were very happy with the service and the food.
Submitted by Kearsten J on 07/23/2022
David Lee 5 stars rating.
A modern looking Asian fusion restaurant with really good food. The noise level was incredibly loud and the prices were a tad expensive, but I review food and this place gets 5 stars for the food.
Food
I have been craving good asian food during my visit to Chicago and so I wanted to try Sunda's take on chicken pad thai. And they satisfied my cravings. The noodles were well cooked and the sauce was just right. Topped off with a good amount of bean sprouts it really added a refreshing crisp bite with the noodles.
Lemongrass beef lollipops was probably my favorite dish of the whole night. I have not had beef lollipops before but this just set the standard. I loved being able to take a bite and just getting a mouthful of juicy meat. I was worried about too much lemongrass flavor since it's on a stalk of lemongrass but that was not a problem.
Chicken inasal was also great. The chicken was not dry at all and was incredibly juicy. The salad mix has a nice dressing on it and really compliments the chicken and dish overall.
Atmosphere
I was seated along the edge of the restaurant right by the window and it was still way too loud. I could barely hear my friend in front of me. Otherwise, the interior is nice and dark and definitely had a modern look to it. I wouldn't bring a date here though since I wouldn't be able to hold a good conversation.
Pricing
A little bit on the more expensive side but it is Asian fusion food so pretty standard pricing. This place will be much more expensive than your typical Asian restaurant that might do just regular Thai food or sushi rolls.
Service
Service was overall good. The food came out quickly and the server was friendly but brief.
Other
There is just no parking in the area so I had to walk here. I would recommend making a reservation to avoid having to wait for a long time!
Submitted by David Lee on 07/11/2022
Dylan Ivanov 4 stars rating.
Vibrant spot in the city for drinks and small plates with Asian-inspired flavors. The restaurant gets fairly dim inside later at night but the ambiance is modern and upscale. Prices are reasonable for location and the smaller plates make it easier to share dishes among your fellow diners. Menu offered various unique dishes and flavors but the overall taste of the food left more to be desired. Service was quick and employees were friendly despite a busy night. Great place for a night out but food does not compare to the top Asian restaurants in the city.
Submitted by Dylan Ivanov on 06/28/2022
Marilyn Oshinowo 3 stars rating.
I gave this rating because I did not like the presentation of my sushi, it was a mess, wasn't tightly rolled, falling apart while I was trying to eat it. The crispy brussel sprouts salad was good, they definitely added more ingredients to this salad (was here years ago and had a different version of it). The ambience of this place is beautiful.
Submitted by Marilyn Oshinowo on 06/24/2022
Logan Gore 5 stars rating.
Amazing atmosphere, good service, tasty food! The servers and chef were very kind to work with my food allergies (gluten free, dairy free, egg free). We got apps and entries! Tail of two Tunas and the Brussels were AMAZING!! The fish was fresh and flavorful!
Submitted by Logan Gore on 05/30/2022
Diane Gehrling 4 stars rating.
Ambiance is great, cocktails on point. We enjoyed appetizers more than the entrees. Whatever filling they put inside the Lechon is bitter and we didn't enjoy. Hunter our server was great, saw him working the bar as well as tables which is not easy! Highlights were the Fried Chicken Bao Buns, Oxtail Potstickers and the Lychee Martini was Fire! Would def go again!
Submitted by Diane Gehrling on 05/20/2022
Janny Huang 4 stars rating.
Came for a restaurant week experience. Our waitress (Dena) was sweet and prompt. We ordered one of their special rolls for the season (Sunshine maki which featured lobster, salmon topped with tobiko) and ordered off their restaurant week menu. The specialty drinks looked really good but we didn’t end up ordering one.
Appetizer were oxtail dumplings and crispy Brussels. Both were good but the nuoc cham vinaigrette in the Brussels really made it shine and the fried shallots added a nice crunch.
Next was jalpeno hamachi in ponzu sauce and the “tail of two tuna.” (No imagination required for what these two dishes were like.) And the main entrees were the hainanese salmon and chicken inasal. Sadly, the chicken was a little dry but the salmon was delicious. It was topped with a ginger scallion oil, sitting on top of a toasted garlic soy sauce. Very flavorful - would definitely get again.
And to finish it off was the coconut cream cheesecake topped with fruit and toasted coconut flakes. The dessert was tasty but the cheesecake definitely had been thawing for a few hours since the texture was more soft and at room temperature.
The ambience was nice, but it was very loud and the tables felt very close and somewhat crowded. Overall, the food was still pretty tasty. There were many items on their main menu that I’d like to go back and try. But maybe during a time when it isn’t so crowded.
Submitted by Janny Huang on 04/04/2022
Sheetal R Shedbalkar 4 stars rating.
We dined here for our anniversary dinner. Reserved a table online and were seated immediately. Service was great and quick. Some great vegetarian options in the menu. We tried veggie fried rice and it was delicious. I also tried the crispy chicken bao buns and loved it. My husband had a jalapeño based cocktail and was very impressed by it! Only thing we didn’t like was that the music playing was very loud. Other than that, it was a great meal!
Submitted by Sheetal R Shedbalkar on 02/28/2022
Nabila A 2 stars rating.
The food was good. But the service was sorely lacking. It wasn’t even that busy and there were lots of empty tables that night. Im positive that our table was being overlooked in favor of the tables where drinks were being ordered. It’s too bad because we were going to order more food, but our waitress never showed up again after serving us except to take our dessert order much later. Sadly we won’t return.
Submitted by Nabila A on 01/01/2022
Amar Pandya 5 stars rating.
This place is great! Been here a few times and the food is outstanding. We got a couple cocktails, the fried chicken buns, lumpia, the red dragon roll and the panda roll and all of it was extravagant. The way they bring the flavors together is marvelous!
Submitted by Amar Pandya on 12/05/2021
