ItaliAsia (CLOSED)

East doesn’t so much meet West as sit quietly alongside it at this Italian-Asian fusion restaurant on the 15th floor of the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. Unfortunately, this is the kind of food that gives “fusion” and “hotel restaurant” a bad rap: Rubbery chopped octopus joins fresh arugula in a fine salad, a trio of mini sliders are more like marinara-drenched sandwiches, and veal meatballs have an off-putting mouthfeel and are just as bland as the spaghetti noodles they’re perched atop. “Wonton cannoli” (exactly as it sounds) are actually more successful than a dry cake mysteriously labeled a “Milk Chocolate Cappuccino.” Still, this is a place best left to out-of-towners afraid to stray too far from their conference rooms.