Sunda Fulton Market boasts brilliant lineup of Asian fare

CHICAGO - A popular Asian-themed restaurant in River North has expanded to Fulton Market. 

Sunda New Asian features a beautiful island-inspired atmosphere and a delicious menu that offers a modern approach to classic dishes from throughout Southeast Asia.

You’ll find everything from lumpia, which are small cigar-sized spring rolls from the Philippines, to Chinese Dim Sum, Pad Thai, and sushi.

The opening of the new location on Green Street also coincides with the restaurant’s 15th anniversary. Founder and CEO Billy Dec has expanded to Tennessee and Florida over the last several years but says Chicago will always be home.

"I was born and raised in Chicago. This is a Chicago-born concept, and I really wanted to expand it around the country," Dec said. "We already opened in Nashville. We opened in Tampa, and we wanted to come home because Chicago is such an amazing place. It's our home and we wanted to double down and invest more. Fulton Market is just a really great place, just like River North and so many other parts of the city."

Some menu highlights include Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice, Roasted Duck Hash, and Ube Espresso Martinis. But the showstopper is the Kamayan Feast.

"We usually do it on a 40-foot-long table lined with banana leaves, as we do in the Philippines," Dec said as he donned rubber gloves, gathered all the ingredients, and prepared to place them by hand. "Kamay means hand in Tagalog."

The base of the dish is rice. It acts as a canvas and they lay different cuisine on top. Dec starts by planting a confit pork shank in the middle, then surrounding the rice with lumpia, shrimp skewers, braised Chinese green beans, dragon fruit, edible flowers and pork belly.

Dec offered a tip if you ever have leftovers of the adobe braised pork belly. 

"If you ever have leftovers, take this home and eat it with eggs the next morning. It's like the best meal ever," Dec said.