Yellow pickled eggs do not sound like a terribly appetizing conquest. But if it’s on the list, I’m gonna eat it. And so this brings me to The Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights.
The Vanderbilt is not inside a hotel, but rather on Vanderbilt Avenue. It was a bitterly cold night and the bar/restaurant was pretty empty. We found a table in the secluded back room, but it was a bit colder than the space seemed to promise. Hopefully, the food would heat us up.
The Vanderbilt is one of those places that does small plates, which is always difficult because I never know how many to order. Somebody’s idea of a small plate is my idea of a properly portioned entree. We ordered four and figured we’d wait and see what our stomachs said.
We had some tasty interesting brussels sprouts with sriracha, lime, and chili; a warm vegetable salad that I found slightly uninspired, and lamb ribs with polenta that were a little overcooked yet fatty.
But the dish that brought us here was the golden pickled egg with hydrabadi chutney. The egg itself tasted not much more than your standard hard boiled variety. It was yellow from saffron, which I find to be a rather subtle spice, and didn’t have any pickling flavors on my palate.
The tomato-y curry, crunch from the toast, and earthy frisée helped balance the dish out and brought it to life. Those additions are what really made this dish exciting and tasty and made the yellow pickled egg more than appetizing.
Would The Vanderbilt’s Golden Pickled Egg make my Top 100 of the year? The egg itself was really nothing special (except for that unusual and slightly off-putting color), but the other components raise the dish to a 6 out of 10.
