Parachute

It’s difficult to get a reservation here! But somehow my amazing friend got it. It’s a good small surprise on a grey/​boring Chicago winter weekend. Bing bread is very rich and flavorful. The squid with celery and green apple is a good inspiration! Goatmilk cheesecake is not as strong as we thought. Food portion is small, but an order of 3 appetizer with 5 – 6 entrees can easily feed a party of 4…(I think) our waiter managed to give a good pace of the serving each entrée we ordered. Good experience overall.

Can’t believe it took me so long to come here! Also so in awe of this talented chef and proud to say I went to highschool with her!
I came here on a Saturday night and with ample street parking I felt like everyone in the area was inside this small hot spot.
Seating is a large communal table in the center bordered with close tables around the parameter of the space. Very friendly and intimate dining.
For starters we had a half order of the baked potato BING BREAD, bacon, scallion and sour cream butter. I unfortunately did not try this but my friends loved it. It is one of their more popular dishes and I watched it make it’s appearance at many tables around me.
We also started with house PICKLES, kimchi, chili chayote, persimmon and crispy stuffed sesame leaves. I love anything pickled and my favorite was the chili chayote. It had a bite to it that I truly enjoyed and saw myself snacking on all night if I had a never ending bowl. The crispy stuffed sesame leaves were a bit underwhelming. I didn’t particularly care for the tempura style leaves and dipping sauce. I would suggest to skip it.
For dinner I tried the endive, clementine, umeboshi, shiitake, almonds salad. Not knowing there was blue cheese I was very disappointed when I took my first bite. I am not a fan and the salad would have been just great without the cheese. Next I tried the hen of the woods mushroom, black truffle, carolina rice grits, furikake, hazelnut. This was a very earthy, hearty dish. A great option for vegetarians. I personally didn’t care for the texture of the carolina rice grits. I thoroughly enjoyed the black truffle and hen of the woods mushrooms but felt the dish needed more texture.
Last but not least I had the show stopper sturgeon, tom kha, yu choy, sunchoke. This was amazing. Mouthwatering and full of deep flavors. Left your mouth wanting more with each bite. The kick of heat after each bite was just what my taste buds needed to end the meal.
With some persuasion from my friends we shared a dessert. Nothing sung out to me but we shared the most popular dessert on the menu for kicks. Our waiter recommend the pavlova since he wasn’t a fan of carrots but we chose to order the warm carrot pudding, thai tea ice cream, cardamom. I absolutely loved it! This was the perfect way to end the meal. It was the perfect amount of sweet. The thai tea ice cream was delicious and the warm pudding complimented the flavor pallet very well.
Overall, a great dining experience! From friendly and attentive wait staff to a brand new culinary experience. I highly recommend putting this place on your list and checking it off!

We just had the most eventful dinner week in so long — 3 new restaurants and 3 old favorites in 6 days. Parachute was the one we were looking forward to the most, and it was also the most disappointing. At least the meal sparked a ton of dinner conversation and debate between my bf and me for the rest of the week.
We were so surprised because foodies and critics both shower this place with praise. But the way the fusion is done here makes me feel like it compromises the soul of both cultures/​dishes without creating something new/​better. That is really not my kind of food — like Fat Rice’s kind of fusion, which I also didn’t love for the same reason. Maybe if you love Fat Rice, you’d enjoy this place.
Food: Some highs, but mostly meh. Some dishes just didn’t seem to work conceptually for us, and some were poorly executed.
Our high points were the grilled squid with nuoc cham, boudin noir, and apples and celery. Great textures and flavors on everything. It seems off the beaten path a bit but our surprising favorite of the night. I only loved the black garlic and kimchi purees on the pork belly pancake, the rest of the dish was okay. We also loved the sheep’s milk cheesecake — why couldn’t the rest of the dishes taste this great or be so well thought out :(
I didn’t love the bing bread (cue gasp). Loved the crisp/​soft texture, but dough needed salt or something, which just might be a bad batch. But the idea of a baked potato+bing lovechild… did not open my eyes and made me yearn for either a fluffy baked potato or homey northern Chinese style bing that this seems to be a riff of. Lost the comfort of both to me. Yuk hoe too — creative re-​presentation of a classic, but balance was off compared to the real thing.
Udon with sabayon sounded a lot more interesting than it tasted, which when you attempted to eat it became the wrong noodle for a deflated alfredo/​carbonara type creamy sauce. Like 4 tiny pieces of crab that disappeared with each bite. Definitely skip this.
Pork secreto was delicious, but components of it were too salty. I’d give this another try some other time though because the pork itself was good.
Ambiance: Loud and cramped. Communal tables are brighter and I almost prefer them because you’d overhear other people and feel cramped in just as much in the dimmer standalone tables. If you make your reso early, I’d see if you could request one of the communal bar seats in front of the open kitchen for a party of 2. Bright enough to see your food and less invasive than the big communal table.
Service: Not as warm or attentive as I’d read about. They are probably booked like this everyday, but somehow they weren’t staffed for it on our weekday visit. Servers were doing their best, and everyone was rushing somewhere all the time. So… no one had time to really provide good service even though they were very courteous and nice. Silverware between courses cleared only sometimes, and not brought back before next course. No one asked us if we enjoyed a course if they were clearing. They only time they talked to us was to ask if we wanted more booze, hah. I would’ve loved to learn more about the food we were eating as we typically would, but looking around it really seemed like no one had time. A damn shame for a restaurant like this.
Bf tried a year ago before the hype and felt the same about the food. I think good service could have saved the night. We’ll try again if someone else offers to take us to dinner here, but not any time soon on our own dime.

Hottest new restaurant in Chi-​town alert! Situated in a city where the food is either American comfort food or molecular gastronomy, this foodie playground offers a fresh, fun, creative haven. The atmosphere is lively with a touch (ok, maybe quite a bit) of hipster. I’m not a big drinker, but there is a great list of mixed drinks. I tried the Assam milk tea, which was quite good with a little cinnamon-​y kick at the end. Onto the foooooood: the daily changing menu offers an avant garde selection of seasonal dishes that mix ingredients together in a delicious way.
Food:
Stuffed sesame leaf tempura rolls (2) — very good
Squid with boudin noir, diced apples, and celery — the squid was cooked to perfection; I was anxious trying the boudin noir since I don’t normally eat pork but it is quite tasty
Hen of the woods mushrooms over rice — delicious but I might be biased because I love hen of the woods
Steak with chanterelle mushrooms — the marbling of the steak was delicious
Goat cheese cheesecake with sweet potatoes and toasted buckwheat — wowwwwwwww

I don’t get the hype. Nothing I had last night was bad, but nothing really stood out. Unfocused (some gorgeously-​presented delicate minimalist dishes and other down-​home hearty ones) and overpriced. And the space itself is retched. Super-​cramped, about 50% of the seating is at a long communal table. My wife and I were lucky to be seated at a stand-​alone table, where we were treated to two waiters’ asses in our faces for portions of the night. Certainly not deserving of a Michelin star.

The food: ²⁄₅. I wanted to love the place as it seemed like a cool concept and it’s currently on all kinds of trendy restaurant lists in the city, but the food was simply underwhelming. Of course, we started with the bing bread, given the rave reviews. I didn’t think it was amazing, it was a slightly greasy bread with potatoes and little to no bacon flavor to it. I wouldn’t seek it out again. Then we had the cauliflower, which was good. The cauliflower itself was fairly basic, but the sauce it came with was nice and a little spicy. This was probably the highlight of our meal, but in the grand scheme of things it’s nothing to write home about. I didn’t enjoy the pancake, it had far too many ingredients that didn’t pair well. Now, the worst part of our meal was the chicken. It’s probably one of the most lackluster chicken dishes I’ve had at a restaurant. The $ 8.99 grilled grocery store chicken was better than that, as the Parachute presented us with 3 cubes of chicken soaked in nothing but far too much lemon juice and covered with plain red cabbage leaves. As far the drinks selection goes, they have a total of 3 cocktails on the menu.
The service: ²⁄₅. This rating is not for the service per se, but for a combination of things that have to do with their restaurant. First of all, they have a terrible location. It’s in the middle of nowhere in Avondale and not easily accessible by public transit. The lackluster food is not worth the trip there. Second, they have a bathroom across from their kitchen and the lock is broken. Are you kidding me? If you don’t want to install a new lock, a simple door latch wouldn’t cost you that much. Moreover, the service itself was fairly slow, considering it was still half empty when we went.
Overall: ²⁄₅. Another terribly overhyped place. Not worth the trip to the middle of nowhere.

did NOT meet my expectations :(, the bite did not meet the hype.
I love korean food. I love fusion. I love small plates. I love fine dining. However, I hated Parachute.
6 different dishes. Nothing stood out. Unsure of what direction/​concept they were going for on a few. A few mismatch taste (that crabby seafood noodle either was sitting out too long or the ingredients was too fishy).
Maybe I ordered the wrong items… maybe Parachute had an off-day…maybe my taste buds were off? I truly don’t understand the high praise and reviews this place gets.

Overall I had a great experience at Parachute, with delicious food and excellent service. Their menu changes periodically, so it’s possible that none of the following dishes are still on the menu (but if they are still on the menu, I definitely recommend them): bing bread, chameh melon salad, chilled buckwheat noodle, and lentil mandu. The wine menu is great because it’s organized by price, and they have enough selection for you to have choices without feeling overwhelmed by the list or by the prices.
Street parking is available. If you’re having a hard time finding Parachute, it’s across the street from the building with a Tardis on the roof.

Parachute is a good Korean-​fusion restaurant. Thus, the good news is that your clothes won’t smell like kimchee or bbq-​smoke after dinner. Beverly Kim is a great chef and I’ve followed her after we encountered her in Napa a few years ago. Menu changed routinely; so what you like one day may disappear next day such as the amazing spicy beef marrow and crab broth hot pot. Fortunately baked potato bing bread is still there in the menu and is a definite highlight of the trip.
What really disappointed me about Parachute is how Miss Danielle Park from Parachute failed or ignored to respond to my inquiry about the service. On December 4^th, I brought a party of 6 friends from out of town. One of them is a big fans of Beverly. We were told by the receptionist that there is a table ready at 9.45 pm and we arrived around 9.40 pm. Sadly, we weren’t seated until 10.30 pm. Even worse, no apology or free peanut is offered. I tried to get explanation from Miss Danielle Park and she tried to blame the event to American Express Concierge.
If I want to get a bad service, long wait, and good food, I may as well go to Cho Sun Ok instead of paying 10x more at Parachute. What’s the point of making reservation, Miss Park?

This is how fusion should be done. The flavors here are extremely well thought out, unique, and creative – granted, the flavors here are not traditional Korean, but at the same time, that’s not what Parachute’s aiming at.
Bing bread (half order): fluffy with a hint of savory bacon complemented by the light and fragrant sour cream butter. I loved this take on the traditional Chinese snack, and the bacon as well as the butter elevated the flavors of what is normally street food.
Cauliflower: The Indian spices in the curry sauce had an interesting cooling after effect, and flavor that came from the bits of chicken skin brought the perfect touch of saltiness.
Pork belly pancake: Slightly spicy, with generous chunks of pork belly on top of a kimchi pancake. This entrée took normal Korean flavors – black bean, kimchi– and combined it in a unique way that highlighted the earthiness of the black bean as well as the slightly sour spiciness of the kimchi.
Brussel sprouts: Probably the weakest dish of the night, but not by far. A very interesting mixture of textures that came from the crunchiness of the popped black rice and the pomegranate seeds, which brought a touch of sweetness to the dish. I wasn’t as much of a fan of how the flavor of the x.o. sauce combined with everything else, but overall it was still a very solidly executed dish.
Overall, a quality establishment that I am beyond excited to come back to.

Honest review: disappointed for being a michellin star restaurant i was expecting so much more. The best things were the pancake, the goatcheese cake. Idk how this place got one star to be honest doesnt deserve it so many other better places. The service was really good so nice gave good recommendations however he didnt describe any of the dishes and at a michallin star place there supoose to do that like go above and beyond i wasnt impressed wouldnt come back again
Udon: i usually hate udon noodles i dont like the texture but the texture was heavenly. The sauce didnt really do anything for me like it was nothing special its a sabayon so i was expecting richness it was nothing special it needed salt or another element to add some kick to it n there is the smallest piece of crab i ever seen like 2 pieces of lump crab meat the guanciale was a nice added pork flavor but i wish it was more crispier all in all the only thing that was good was the texture of the noodles
Bing bread: the flavor of the bread is really good i adore sesame seeds on bread then the texture of it was really crispy. The taste was good but from all the reviews making it out to seem that god himself created it wasnt anything special just picture potatoe wit eggs like a breakfast the sourcream was a nice not jus it needed something extra like maybe egg or a really delicous sauce good but not mind blowing like led to believe
Cauliflower: surprisingly this was good i love cauliflower. However, it was nothing special. I liked the texture of the dish i wish the cauliflower was battared n deep fried but pan fried was good. The chicken skin was really good picture like a spicy pork rind. The green sauce wasmt anything special this dish needs something to make it pop
Pork belly pancake: omg this was one of the best things of the night. The pancake is so crunchy!!! Its really rich n the sauces compliment the pancake so well! Ask for extra sauce theres not enough. Then the running egg omg so rich!!! The only thing though besides not having enough sauce is there wasnt alot of pork belly in it ik cause i love pork belly So put more in it thank u!
Tri-​tip steak: this was my least favorite. Idk what was wrong with the steak it was cooked perfectly but the texture was really tough like i was chewing forever. It needed seasoning on it the actual steak was bland. The sauce n the mushrooms were the best part. The sauce was so rich n the mushrooms were so flavorful n crispy. The broccoli on top it didnt have a purpose besides presentation would have done something else with it cause i love brocoli so they should have repurposed it
Sturgeon: foam!!! When the fish first comes youll feel like ur in a bathtub so much foam!!! Its best to each this dish with a spoon so u could eat the fish with the broth. Its really lemony i hate lemon but this was really tasty The fish was cooked perfectly no utensils were needed. The fish however wasnt seasoned it was very bland by itself. The accompaniments were good but nothing like wow this is great. This was better then the steak though
Cocktail: lol it jus says number one as the name we were told it was strong it was an old fashioned. This is the best old fashioned i ever had. Plz label them though cause if i would have knew its an old fashioned i wouldnt have ordered it i like a unique cocktail not jus hard liquior if i want hard liquor ill go to the store n buy a bottle for the same price
Sheeps milk cheesecake– omg omg omg omg must order so fucking good one of the best desserts i ever had. This was so unique. Goatcheese cake part was devine its sweet but with the goatcheese cuts through the sweatness. I have no idea what the crispy parts on the top our but it adds an amaizing crunchy texture it also tasted really good. Then sweatpotato omg omg omg omg so good!!! Then theres this weird clear gel type thing thats really good to all in all i would come back here for this
Pavlova: if u love meringues n bannana bread pudding youll love it. Its jus meringue covering a banana bread pudding. The meringue is delicous perfect texture amaizin the inside however is jus a plain banana bread puddin. The praline was burnt i was like wtf is that bitter taste n i go lookin in the puddin n theres a bunch of black stuff n im like omg its burnt a michallin star place burned it i have never sent back anything ever even if i hate the food i jus suck it up n not say anything but i didnt want anyone elses experience ruined so i told the waiter they claim thats how black wallnuts taste but for someone who has eated then cause my friend grew up eating them he agreed they compted it though wish im haply i would have been pissed
Carrot puddin omg so good has the perfect thanksgivin dessert flavors. The cake is so moist n flavorful no complaints for once the icecream is really unique its made out of cardamon it tastes like tea is the best way to describe it really adds such a unique flavor to it so interesting

I had misgivings about Midwest Korean food. Hailing from LA, I eat in Koreatown regularly. Authentic or Roy Choi; LA has it all. What could possibly be different here? Factoring the heavily polarized reviews and a distant location from The Loop, I nearly cancelled my reservation. One bite into the yukhoe and all that negative energy dissipated — sucked away as if a High Templar casted Feedback. Koreans and Starcraft, ya feel me?!
For the Gangstas:
boudin noir — Blood sausage ain’t my thang. But loved the crunchy herbal topping. You must like organ flavor to truly appreciate. I didn’t finish it; yeah I just lost my cred.
Hits:
yukhoe — a very comforting, sesame-​meat flavor in a bite. Nailed the taste exactly. But more refined texture and presentation.
fried tapioca — crunchy exterior with a risotto like interior. Really wanted to order more.
octopus-​squid ink bi bim bop. Barely resembles bi bim bop. So instead of pasta, it’s rice and greens.
Near hits:
bing bread (go with a small order for 2 people if you’re ordering plenty else)
pancake (even though I liked it, it didn’t seem original)
Kinda miss:
grilled sturgeon. Perfectly cooked but was too salty (food seems saltier in Chicago) and didn’t make a significant impression for being one of the pricier choices.
Service:
Phenomenal! We had a short wait even with a RSVP in the very crowded door area. And we were tended to by the hostess for drinks and previewing menus. We got seated at the bar-​kitchen counter. Enoch was a wonderful bartender-​server! He gave us plenty of local recommendations and chatted with us.
If you’re coming to scrutinize or be impressed, you won’t give it a 5. Mine’s a bit generous, but I like what they’re doing and enjoyed dining here.

I loved Chef Beverly Kim on TC, so being personally seated by her at the restaurant and getting to chat with her for a little bit tickled me greatly.
The 3 of us were sat at the bar and were treated REALLY nicely by the staff — super accommodating, super gracious, multiple people offering to take our coats and talk about the menu. very welcoming vibe.
We started with the bing bread, which — though admittedly tinier than I had anticipated — was satisfying. The sour cream butter especially was great.
Next was the endive salad, which we ordered because another Unilocal reviewer said it was worth it. I thought it was pretty nice, but nothing to write home about. The citrus in the dish was a nice surprise.
For entrees, we shared the chicken, tri-​tip steak, pork belly & mungbean pancake, and the bi bim bop — they were all DELICIOUS and so different from each other. Totally different taste and texture experiences, which was delightful. I think the tri-​tip steak was the most tasty (omg that bernaise), but the bi bim bop was the most delightful. I think lots of food is tasty, but eating something truly delightful is rare. It was the interactive experience with breaking the egg, stirring in the squid ink, watching the vibrant lush greens wilt into the rice, and then finally eating all the elements together that made that dish such a memorable experience. It wasn’t the tastiest thing I’ve had, but it’s a dish I will remember and talk about.
We finished the meal with the carrot pudding and sheep’s milk cheesecake. The former was great, the latter was one of the best 2 cheesecakes I’ve ever had and I’ve eaten a metric crap ton of cheesecake in my life. Even my boyfriend loved it and he hates cheesecake.
Well done, Parachute team!

{{edited on 11÷30÷15 after much deliberation}} :
Still blown away by the noms, but having our server bail on us halfway thru was rude and unprofessional, and it was really, really, REALLY loud. Downgraded from 5* to 4*.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
And I’m free fallin’.
So begins a wonderfully delicious journey through Chicago’s Michelin-​starred restaurants. Awarded their first for the 2016 listing, Parachute certainly earns its sparkle thanks to a splendid assortment of Korean-​inspired dishes with an American flair.
The food was some of the best I’ve had in a very, very long time. But the dining room is small – and popular – which leads to cramped quarters and ambiance that’s so-loud-you-can’t-hear-yourself-think. Trendy and dimly-​lit, there was a considerable crowd when I visited with my mom at 9pm on a Thursday in late November. Although their hours state that 10pm is closing time, the table next to us was seated promptly at 10. Not sure what that’s all about.
After making a reservation through OpenTable, I received 2 confirmation emails and a phonecall clarifying if my party had any food aversions or allergies, so they were really on top of things right from the start. When we arrived shortly before our scheduled timeslot, we were greeted and politely asked to wait until our table opened up. They sat us at 9pm *on the dot*, not a second sooner or longer, which is pretty damn impressive.
Server #1 (more on that later) came by and introduced himself as Kristof, having a distinctly heavy French accent. My mom, ever the sophisticate, asked «Parlez-​vous français?» and proceeded to have a 30-​sec chat with him in French, after which we got our drink orders in. A glass of bubbly for her (it was her birthday!) and a chalice of white ale for me.
Then things got a little goofy. Kristof recommended that we order «at least 3 – 4 items per person» off of the main menu, in addition to 2 – 3 things from the appetizers/​starters section. Huh. So you’d recommend 10 – 12 plates for a table of 2 people? What are we, starving NFL linebackers? Sure buddy, I bet you’d love to ring up that check. My mom and I ignored him and got the following:
+ oysters with soja granita (mom loved them, I don’t *do* raw oysters); she said they were very good. [$ 3/​each]
+ house «pickles»; persimmon (mild), chili chayote (medium), and kimchi (hot) were served in separate small bowls, a lovely hors d’eouvre. [$ 8]
++ baked potato bing bread with bacon, scallion and sour cream butter; this is one of Parachute’s signature items, and it lived up to the hype. [$ 5 for a half order]
+ udon noodles with dungeness crab, guanciale (cured meat), fava beans, and sabayon (egg yolk and marsala wine sauce); while not bad at all, it amounted to not much more than a seafood-​y pasta dish. [$ 19]
+++ cauliflower with tandoori chicken skin and raita (yogurt-​based sauce); this was the real winner of the evening. The ‘cauli was cooked perfectly al dente, the chicken skin were chips of crunchy, flavorful goodness, and the raita made for an ideal cooling counterpoint to the spicy tandoori chips. This item is NOT to be missed. [$ 12]
Dessert breakdown went as such:
+ sheep’s milk cheesecake with buckwheat and a light ginger-​pear sauce; equal parts sweet & savory made for a pleasing dish. [$ 9]
++ pavlova (hard meringue), filled with roasted banana purée and black walnut praline; the meringue was spectacularly airy and was a terrific way to close out the meal. Awesome. [$ 9]
So what would the late great James Ward have to say? :
Bread = 5+; unparalleled cuisine
Circuses = 3; questionable service and raucous atmo
At some point between the cauliflower and dessert, server #1 (Kristof) vanished completely and server #2 (Jose V) took over without warning. So who does the gratuity go towards? If you’re going to switch it up on us like that, at least have the professional courtesy to let us know. Also…
It’s noisy as fudge in here. Being a fan of blistering rock music and frequently cranking Rush’s 2112 Overture up to 11, I typically don’t mind loud noises (LOUD NOISES! thanks, brick), but the decibel level at Parachute was ridiculous. My mom commented on it, I commented on it, and on several occasions I had to close my eyes and briefly travel to my quiet happy place in order to prevent stabbing everyone sitting around me. I loved the loud-​ish atmosphere of Kuma’s – another Avondale hotspot – but the noise inside Parachute was earsplitting. Can’t say I’m a fan.
Would I recommend the food? Hell yes. But do yourself and your sanity a favor: Bring earplugs.

This place is 4.5 stars to me. I really like the ambiance, the food and ease of parking in the area. The only thing holding me back from 5 stars is the service. I don’t get it? The servers overlap their service, so you never really don’t know who your server is? Drink refills were slow, no changing of our silverware between courses, and a little pushy on making sure we ordered enough plates. Btw, we spent about $ 175 for two people, so we definitely didn’t need to order more food, as we did have leftovers.
Now for the food, we had a really solid experience! Yes, get the bread, it’s a must. We also really like the Oysters with soju granita for a starter. The Korean pancake was awesome! The Marlin with coconut broth emulsion was excellent. The cauliflower with Indian curry and fried chicken skin was also a dish to remember.
The only dish we found disappointing was the Octopus Bi Bim Bop with squid ink, andouille sausage etc. the sausage was much too smoky and took over the dish. I also didn’t care for the flavor combination of the squid ink with the sausage, sorry guys, this one didn’t work.
I will definitely will be back, as this is one of my favorite north side places to go!

Our group of four went to Parachute over the weekend. I was prepared to really like the place, as I had rooted for Chef Beverly Kim on Top Chef and I was aware that they had received a Michelin star just days before.
We sampled a large portion of the menu. For appetizers, the bing bread was as good as everyone said and didn’t really require the sour cream butter. The crispy sesame leaves were interesting, but they reminded me strongly of a shisito pepper — flavorful, but not quite what I was expecting. The yukhoe beef tenderloin was our favorite appetizer of the night, 4 small pieces were prepared like sushi. A very nice balance of flavors.
The sides/​mains were less successful overall, than the appetizers. The cauliflower was a good mix of flavors and textures, if a bit salty. Udon dungeness crab was a clunker though, as the delicacy of the crab was overwhelmed by the thick cream sauce. Yumso tang was poorly described as a goat stew. In fact, it tasted like a very salty goat broth, which had pieces of goat in it. If there were mushrooms in the soup, they were overwhelmed by the flavor of the broth. Ironically, the goat meat itself was devoid of flavor. The sturgeon tom kha had authentic Thai flavors, but I have never seen such stingy pieces of sturgeon in my life — for $ 29 we received about 2 ounces of fish. Finally the pork belly pancake was deep fried and not terribly noteworthy. It went virtually untouched.
A couple other points dampened the experience for me. The restaurant is extremely small and was packed with people. Unfortunately, they insisted on playing music at a decibel level that made conversation extremely challenging. I found myself having to practically yell to have myself heard by my friend sitting to my left. That’s shameful. Also, the service was extremely mediocre. With a challenging menu, servers need to instruct and educate. Our server didn’t seem to have a good handle on the dishes and her explanations differed greatly from the food that we were served.
Don’t really understand the raves, but maybe I came on an off night. Still, there was no part of our experience that would lead me to make a return trip.

All in all, Parachute is a great place to grab dinner and drinks. Definitely start your meal off with the bing bread. Potato bread and bacon come together with a wonderful scallion and sour cream butter. I also really enjoyed the standout Yum Sul Tang, a braised goat stew with pickled beech mushrooms and perilla. Although I had this in summer, I would imagine it being even better on a cold winter day. My favorite dish was the whole roasted porgy, a whole fish that was expertly balanced — crispy and flaky — and bursting with flavor. The pork belly and mung bean pancake, seemingly a must-​order dish, was just alright, though. Rounding out our meal was a truly extraordinary cornbread, blueberry, and ice cream dessert.
The service was great, and we certainly enjoyed the vibe inside. The restaurant though busy, did not seem oppressively so, even at the communal counter. The only thing keeping me from giving this a full five stars was the incredible hype Parachute generated, which set such lofty expectations.

I’ve been reading about this place since it opened, but we just never seemed to make it here. We always saw the crowd outside the door and knew it was a popular spot. Finally dined here last week and it was more impressive than I thought. We ordered the bing bread, mung bean pancake, pork secrets, udon noodles. All were impressive, and as the fiancé said, «I don’t know what these flavor are, but it’s so good.» All had distinct unique flavors, powerful enough to be noticed, but subtle enough that it didn’t carry over to the next dish. Besides the food, the staff was great. They were knowledgable about the food and enthusiastic to share the info. The drinks were stellar too. We basically felt that if Next had a Korean menu, this would be it.

It’s amazing how their pickles can change the mood of a night. Boyfriend and I came in at 9pm on a weeknight (the only reservation available for weeks), and we were tired, hungry, and I was grouchy. With one order of pickles, our moods changed around. We became talkative. We laughed. We fought playfully over who could have the last of the kimchi. There’s something about a place that can change a night around with the food.
As stated above, the food is excellent. Besides the pickles, my date and I had bing bread, the pork belly and mung bean pancake, swordfish, and the udon. All are standouts, and I would order all of them again except the udon – that was too rich for me.
I was butt-​hurt because they ran out of the brisket right when we were ordering (it didn’t help that the group right next to us was lauding how they got the last order…).
Ambiance – hip, intimate (room for maybe 30 people in the whole place), and with communal seating. Loud (particularly when you’re sitting between a group of «girls’ night out» ladies and a dude who does food writing in SF), but honestly, the food makes up for that.
Service — excellent. Boyfriend and I weren’t in the mood for small talk with the server, so they left us pretty much alone, which we appreciated. The group next to us was more vibrant and the server gave them a bunch of wine suggestions and chatted with them. It’s a great thing when the server can tailor his/​her service to the group’s vibe.
Go ahead and place a reservation for Parachute — it’s worth the experience of the great food and great service. You will get pampered!

I was extremely excited to hear that Beverly Kim, a promising contestant from Top Chef, has decided to open her own upscale Korean restaurant. I thought this was a perfect place to bring my friend for her birthday. I made reservations for 7:00pm on a Friday evening for a party of 4 (3 adults and 1 child). Once we arrived, we still had to wait about 15 mins before being seated. It didn’t really bother us much.
Once seated, we were given menus and water. Our waitress came by shortly to explain how the menu is set up and recommended a couple of dishes. We went with 2 smaller dishes and 3 entrees:
Small Dishes:
Baked Potato Bing Bread: stuffed with bacon and scallions served with a side of sour cream butter. We opted for a half order which came with 4 pieces. The bacon and the scallions brought a nice smoky flavor while the sour cream butter brought a slight acidity to the light and fluffy bread. Overall, this dish gave a nice unique flavor to the palate.
House Pickles, Kimchi with Chili Chayote, and Watermelon Radish Zuke. These dishes didn’t impress me, but they weren’t bad. Seeing that pickles, kimchi, and radishes are Korean banchan staples, I was glad to see they were still good with all the different additions.
Entrees:
Pork Belly and Mung Bean Pancake: served with kimchi, black garlic, hen egg, and pineapple. I’m not a huge pork belly fan, but this entrée was delicious. I enjoyed all the different textures and flavors this entrée had to offer. Remember to eat all the different ingredients in one bite to get the full experience; it can get a little salty if you try to decompose it.
Dukbokki: served with mushrooms, dried beef, angelica, and perilla seeds. This dish was a little disappointing. The rice noodles were cooked perfectly, but I found this dish to lack flavor.
Spicy Beef Hot Pot: wheat noodles, tendon, black radish, clams, leeks, egg, and wild fern. The aroma of this entrée from the table next to us smelled amazing, so we decided to order it. Once we tasted the hot pot, we were left with nothing but disappointment. The noodles and clams were overcooked which made the noodles mushy and the clams chewy. There was also something lacking in the broth; we only tasted spiciness to it.
The wait staff was genuinely nice, but service was a tad slow. They took a while to come get our orders, but the dishes came out exceptionally quick. I also would have liked if our waitress was a bit more attentive; such as clearing away the dishes and refilling our water. Overall, I have mixed emotions for Parachute. I loved the idea of upscale Korean food, but there was nothing extraordinary about the dishes. Also, with opening an upscale Korean restaurant the service has to be on point.