Three Happiness Original Restaurant 三喜

I'm very particular about food (arguably snobbish), especially when it comes to Chinese. I typically refrain from trying Chinese restaurants recommended by the online community (since you never know who has an authentic tongue), but I like LTHforum, and respected their recommendations, so when I saw that Little Three Happiness was highly raved about, I decided to check it out.

The place was very small, decently packed at noon on Saturday, but didn't require a wait (3 ppl). Menu was extensive, but many of which were 'americanized' dishes. We ordered the following:

Dim Sums -
Beef Short Ribs
Shrimp in Rice Crepe
Beef in Rice Crepe
Curry Crisps
Shu Mai
Shrimp Dumplings

Beef Stew with thin or rice noodle soup

$4.50

Duck, Sausage, Cured Pork Rice Casserole $7.95 (Bao Zai Fan)

Generally, the dim sums were decent, but not nearly as fresh as Shui Wah. Portions were all super-sized in comparison to typical dim sum.

The beef stew soup with thin noodles wasn't that great... came with beef brisket and tendon, again, large chunks. However, the flavor was just average, and tendons overcooked. Since there were three of us, they gave us each a small bowl with soup spoon. My husband's bowl had yellow water inside of it... probably the same 'yellow' water they used to wash everything us. quite disgusting, even for Chinatown.

The casserole was the star of the meal, came in a stoneware pot, filled with a LOT of rice, sauce, and cured meats. We had a bowl each and took the rest home.

The entire meal turned out to be $35.20, so it was definitely an economical lunch. Whether or not this is worth returning to...I'm not sure. I may be willing to give it one more try, but I'm not crazy about returning.

209 W Cermak Rd
(between Cottage Grove Ave & Indiana Ave)
Chicago, IL 60616 (312) 842-1964