About three and a half years ago I inventoried the many crimes against makimono, sashimi, and nigiri committed at River North’s Union Sushi + Barbeque Bar, an ostentatious River North restaurant that confuses disrespect for inventiveness when it comes to raw fish and other familiar Japanese foods. Now the principals behind that operation have returned with the Franklin Room, a whiskey-focused subterranean den trafficking in relatively American, pub-style food with an occasional Asian touch. That’s not to say there aren’t some startling combinations, dishes almost too disturbing to contemplate, like mushroom risotto with black rice, barbecued eel, and Parmesan; shrimp wrapped in puff pastry; and an $18 Wagyu burger topped with a soft-shell crab, a fried egg, bacon, and two kinds of cheese.
The demarcation between the agreeability of the appetizers and the implausibility of entrees isn’t so clear with a skillful presentation of broiled Spanish mackerel with nothing but a charred lemon and some mixed greens to distract from its simple pleasure. But things go off the rails with a towering fried bologna sandwich loaded with tomato jam, bacon vinaigrette, pickled red onions, provolone, cheddar, and thick, overpoweringly sweet slices of pineapple. Some plates are constructed with ham-fisted sloppiness, like a dried-out, withered lamb shank mounted on a pile of heavy pancetta grits, while the house-made corned beef is served in hacked-up irregular chunks and plated weirdly beside a grilled cheese sandwich overfilled and bulging with purple cabbage sauerkraut and the house’s de facto cheese combo of cheddar and provolone (which appears on the menu a total of five times). It’s like someone dropped a Reuben on the plate from street level.
675 N. Franklin 312-445-4686franklinroom.com
