David Burke's Primehouse - Chicago, IL

David Burke is known for his whimsical interpretation of American classics.  So when I saw that David Burke's Primehouse was participating in Chicago's Restaurant Week last month, I had to get a group of us together.  Yeena, her husband Dave, Susan and I went there for lunch.  It was an awesome deal.  We each got a choice of appetizer, entree and dessert for $22.  

The great thing about their menu was that they also offered the ability to supplement appetizers, sides and even steak additions for a supplemental charge.

We each were served a popover that was baked in its own measuring cup.  Talk about cute!

For our appetizers, we had a choice between lobster bisque with green apple essence and lobster spring roll, a wedge salad with blue cheese and tomato vinaigrette or the surf & turf dumplings.  I think we all stuck with the lobster bisque or the surf & turf dumplings.

You get two types of dumplings, one is called angry lobster and braised short rib.  The angry lobster dumplings were steamed and sat in a shallow pool of warm, spicy broth.

These looked like little lollipops, except fried and had a center of braised short ribs. 

For our entree, we had the choice between pan roasted Alaskan King Salmon, a 40 day dry aged steak burker (David Burke's version of a burger), a pan roasted chicken breast or a classic filet mignon.

You could upgrade the filet mignon and get an aged ribeye, signature "south side" filet mignon, which has the bone in, or a N.Y. Sirloin for a supplemental charge.  Apparently the bone in imparts added flavor to the beef when it's aged.  Susan, Yeena and Dave all opted for the signature filet mignon, especially since the waitress raved about it.  Look at that bone, it's the side of the filet itself.   

Of course, I, being the weirdo, ordered the salmon at a steak house. :)

The best part was that several sides were served family style.  The Restaurant Week menu included spicy glazed asparagus and basil whipped potatoes.  You could also get additional sides for $5 each, which is an awesome deal.  We ordered truffle asiago fries and stir-fried mushrooms as additional sides as well. 

Here were the mashed potatoes and the mushrooms.

Here are the glazed asparagus, we all loved the spicy glaze.  It was very reminiscent of korean gochujang, korean chili paste.

Now for dessert.  Did I tell you, this was our lunch?  Totally indulgent, but totally worth it.  

We had three options: a pineapple upside down cake with sour cherry sorbet, tanzanie brownie with kahlua ice cream and banana mousse and a chai creme brulee with candied ginger biscotti.  

Between the four of us, we ordered one of each so we could try each one.  I ordered the chia creme brulee.  

Here was Susan's brownie.  Very dense and very chocolatey.

This was a lovely plate of Yeena's pineapple upside down cake.

Nothing really blew me away, but everything tasted great.  So no big complaints.  I'm not a huge steak person so I can't really tell how Primehouse measures up to the other steakhouses in Chicago, but I thought it was a great way to sample some of the many dishes and offerings during Restaurant Week.