First Take: Brightwok

Recently, I had the pleasure of trying Brightwok, a new, “fast,” food venue specializing in Asian Fusion wok. Brightwok, located in the Loop (downtown Chicago, IL), opened very recently by a hard-working team led by Jeremy Klaben. As Brightwok graciously opened its doors to me, I graciously tried dish after dish and then had the opportunity to build my own bowl. Review below:

Atmosphere

This may be implied, but Brigthwok is very, well, bright. The tables are a beautiful light wood accented with metal chairs. The floor plan is spacious enough, meaning that you can walk between tables and among the rest of the space rather comfortably. All in all, the atmosphere is very lighthearted, clean, and simple. Don’t be fooled, though, there is certainly a dash of trendiness.

Staff

Typically, in these type of “faster” style venues, you have very limited interaction with the staff. Brightwok did a great job, however, seamlessly integrating their staff into the dining process. The team is very informed and very honest.

Food

Let me tell you, I bet the team at Brightwok spent A LOT of time developing these menu options. The ingredients were fresh and plentiful.

First step, picking the rice. In my opinion, the thicker and fluffier, the better, so the brown rice was absolutely delicious.

Second, the protein (options: steak, chicken, tofu, or extra veggies). All protein at Brightwok is locally sourced, which is much appreciated and in my opinion, makes it that much more appealing. I got the chicken, but I heard the steak was superb and flavorful as well. In fact, I had the pleasure of learning how the steak is prepared, and let me tell you, your hand selected slab will not disappoint.

Third, the sauce. Oh, Brightwok sauces, how you keep me up at night. So I actually tried them all, and my favorite two were the Thai Basil & the teriyaki. The teriyaki was pretty standard, but very flavorful and not too salty at all. The Thai Basil was a little richer with an herbal kick.

And fourth, the veggies. Veggies are veggies you may assume, but if you go into a venue where they deuce out carrots after carrots or corn after corn, the carrots get flimsy and the corn gets watery. All of the veggies at Brightwok were fresh, crunchy, colorful and bountiful. And there were so many options.

Then bam, a delicious, beautiful Brightwok bowl.

Additionally, Brightwok has other menu items that I had the pleasure of sampling. In summary:

• The miso soup will get you through this fall and winter
• The edamame was very tasty, not salty, and very reasonably priced (typically I find edamame difficult to justify because it is really pricy and doesn’t do a lot for me, but for $3.50 I would suck down these little guys)
• The salad with the peanut sauce is bae 
• The banana chips will be all you think about for a week after you eat them

In Summary

Brightwok is tasty. And the best part is that you can go here A) with anyone and B) still feel great about yourself for two key reasons:

1.       All ingredients (minus the meats) are vegan

2.       It is so reasonably priced

Brightwork cares about the people that walk through their doors and it shows in the staff, the quality, and the food.​