NOW CLOSED...Formerly: Pulsing techno beats piped in to the dining room clue you in to the fact that Mulan is more Rush Street than Cermak Avenue. A spiral inlay of blue light streaks the ceiling, while columns of white paper lanterns, plush chocolate colored velvet banquettes, leather chairs and curvy glass wine decanters serving as decorative centerpieces round out the decor.
Chef/owner Kee Chan's Mulan doesn't serve up live squirming sushi like its sister restaurant Heat, but it does offer crispy flash-fried seahorses (with their beady eyes and curled spiny tails, they look just like their cartoon counterparts). But don't pigeonhole the cuisine as Pan-Asian. With dishes like sturgeon with prosciutto and coconut mousse, Chan synthesizes a variety of cultures, culinary influences and wide-ranging ingredients into an Asian-inspired New American fusion.
Platings are exquisite. Glistening pink medallions of tuna sashimi in blood orange marinade sidle up to a coddled quail egg, still in its spotted shell. A fat sliver of kuro buta (wild black pork loin) is topped with whipped mussel pate and shaved curlicues of green veg, while Waygu beef medallions flank a fluffy disk of spiny lobster mashed potatoes drizzled with a confetti of green and white beans. Entrees run $16-$32, so expect to lay down about $100 for a nice dinner for two.
Reviewed By: Michael Nagrant
