East Side King at the Grackle

East Side King at the Grackle

I've been hankering for a taste of Asian comfort food from chef Paul Qui's affordable East Side King for a very long time.  However the evening hours of the one at Liberty Bar never worked out for me for some reason so I was delighted to learn that the one at the Grackle serves lunch!  When two friends proposed to have a farewell trailer lunch, I seized the opportunity to check out this spot.

The menu of East Side King at the Grackle focuses on grilled, Asian-inspired flavors.  

We each ordered 3 different lunch specials that all came with rice and grilled Romaine salad: B. had the yakitori (chicken), pork ribs, achara, and kewpie mayo; M. had the yakitori, nasu (eggplant), achara, and kewpie mayo; and I had the yakitori, pork belly, apple, and kimchee.

Lunch Specials A, B, and C

Grilled Nasu (eggplant)

Pork Ribs

Yakitori (chicken) and Pork Belly

This might sound terrible, but these lunch specials remind me yakitori vendors in mall food courts.  However, it's a gazillion times better!  The meats are extremely flavorful but isn't drenched in some ridiculous, gooey, starchy "teriyaki" sauce.  The condiments made everything extra fun to eat.  The meats were grilled to perfection, but the grilled Romaine with Tom-Yum mayo was a surprising hit to us.  It was buttery, nicely wilted, but still retained a bit of a crunch.  

I hope I'm lucky enough to try East Side King at Liberty Bar before I leave!  The Thai Chicken Karaage (Deep fried chicken thigh with sweet & spicy sauce, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeño) and the Curry Buns (Peanut butter home made curry in deep fried bun, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion and jalapeño) are calling out to me!