The Bongo Room, Chicago

Both David and I went to college in Chicago, a city whose chocolate scene in no way rivals New York's - with one exception.

The Bongo Room.

The Bongo Room is a brunch restaurant with a few locations throughout Chicago. Apparently they serve savory meals and salads and stuff like that, but you would be a fool if you were in Chicago and ordered anything for brunch other than items off the Bongo Room's "Sinful" menu.

I was in town this weekend, so a friend and I split two dishes. Here are the white chocolate and caramel pretzel pancakes:



These were interesting because they included actual crushed pretzels embedded atop the pancakes. I didn't love them, though, because 1) they were too salty for my palate, and 2) I do not actually like white chocolate (as we have established so many times before). I guess instead I should have ordered the red velvet hotcakes with warm vanilla creme and toasted walnuts. Oh, well. Live and learn.

At any rate, both those pancake dishes are specials. The Bongo Room always has some amazing specials on offer. I still remember a mint-chocolate pancake with crushed Oreos that I ate there circa the year 2004.

We also ordered a dish off their year-round menu: the chocolate tower french toast.



"Bittersweet chocolate chunk bread stuffed with maple mascarpone, banana creme brûlée sauce, fresh bananas, and shaved chocolate."

Everything about this dish was unspeakably phenomenal.

Here are both the dishes together, before we started eating.



Here are both the dishes together, after we were too full to possibly go on:



In retrospect, the two of us could have just split one dish and been perfectly full. But with so many options on the menu, how could we have stopped at one?

BOTTOM LINE: This is what breakfast should be always.