Hot Wok's bento box

If it seems as if I’m on the Loop-restaurants beat lately, that’s because I work here, and like the rest of you, I like to eat lunch (and perhaps I shouldn’t eat so frequently at this place). So it was with great pleasure that I spotted a Hot Woks, Cool Sushi sign similar to the one at Irving Park and Pulaski pop up in the former My Thai location. (I should have seen this coming when I interrupted my anti-Taste of Chicago rant to mention that My Thai’s 30 S Michigan location was apparently closed for “repairs” last week.) The second location, which opened on Monday, has the same menu as the Northwest Side spot. (View it here on GrubHub.)

The woks (panang curry was pretty much a bowl of coconut milk; “Hot Woks noodles”—shrimp, chicken, spinach noodles, jalapeno—tasted suspiciously like ketchup) won’t have me rushing back, but the bento box is kind of a crazy deal for the amount of food you get: beef-and-mushroom teriyaki with rice, vegetable and shrimp tempura, potato salad on greens and three California maki for $10.95. (Even if the environment gets a raw deal from the crazy number of boxes the components were packed up in.)

The highlight of this whole experience, however, was the Obama-nami roll, which, while unremarkable in and of itself, did come covered in sprinkle-like roe, with two tiny American flags protruding from it. Perhaps more important, it inspired each member of the TOC office to be more clever than the last—”It looks just like him,” “I’m ready to negotiate with Iran now,” etc., etc., etc.

Hot Woks, Cool Sushi, 30 S Michigan Ave (312-345-1234). Lunch, dinner. Average main course: $8.