Hing Kee

The BOB and I made it our mission to try out as many restaurants in Chinatown as possible. We chose Hing Kee because of the noodles-pulling guy that can be seen through the big glass window. Smart advertisement.

It wasn't until I browsed online (afterwards) that I realized it's one of those all asian-chinese restaurants (food includes chinese, thai, korean, japanese, etc etc.) I always feel like the lack of focus equates to zero authenticity.

Regardless, I'm happy to see a fresh-noodles making place. My husband got the ramen noodles, I got the knife-shaved chunky noodles. Both the noodles & soup based turned out to be ok. It's worth trying again (and this time, I'll probably tell them to cook it a little less, since I LOVE chewy noodles).

Our waiter also recommended their salt/pepper egg tofu. A bit too heavy for the two of us, but it's decent.

Hing Kee Phohung Restaurant

2140 S Archer Ave
(between Wentworth Ave & 21st St)
Chicago, IL 60616
Neighborhood: Chinatown

(312) 808-9538

www.chinatownhingkee.com

Tao Ran Ju

There are so many Chinese restaurants in U.S. that without "connection" and/or an eye for finding trustworthy blogs/reviews, one highly risk wasting money and calories on a bad meal.

Tao Ran Ju was first recommended by our friend G, who heard about the place from his dad. Supposedly (it should be true, since it's written in newspapers), the owner hired a chef from

Ding Tai Fung, the restaurant that made "xiao long bao" (soupy dumpling) extremely desirable / popular, and continues to make one of the best "xiao long bao" EVER. During our trip to Taiwan winter of 2010, I had the pleasure of eating there again. It was so good, it's stupid that they don't have a location here. so stupid.

Back to Tao Ran Ju... we were excited to find a few options of various dumplings avail. Results: tasty filling (tho a bit dry at times), soupy, but the skin is not thin nor chewy. It does not compare to the "real" xiao long bao. BUT it will have to do, since Chicago completely lacks in this (and many, many other Chinese & Taiwanese foods).

We also felt like having some soup, so we ordered their seafood vegetable soup. It wasn't bad. I liked their choice of vegetables, good ingredients, and milky broth. But it's not so amazing that I'd go back to order the same dish.

The waitress claims that their grilled meat / hot pot dish is really good. I also heard that their beef rolls are good. This place is definitely worth visiting again.

As a side note, shockingly, their service was really good. Very attentive, nice... unlike typical Chinatown spots. Space is also clean & bright.

Tao Ran Ju

2002 S Wentworth

(between Cullerton St & Archer Ave)

Chicago, IL 60616

(312) 808-1111

Carbon

I'm not sure where I read about Carbon (maybe seriouseats.com?), but I've always wanted to stop by this joint. I HEART Mexican. Bobcat was worried that this area might be a little shady, but it turned out to be fine. I'm SO GLAD we went. I miss this place already.

It's a tiny, teeny joint with food that's FULL of flavor.

We ordered 1 each of their tacos with no cheese. Fire Grilled Steak, Tequila-Lime Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast, and Tortilla Encrusted Tilapia with shredded cabbage & creamy tequila sauce. They ended up forgetting about the fire-roasted vegetables taco, so we'll have to try that next time. They have 4 types of freshly made salsa. We tried their 'medium' salsa verde, which is made of green tomatillos, cilantro, serrano peppers

$2.50 / $2.75 With Cheese. Fresh Soft Corn Tortilla, Authentic-Style With Traditional Mexican Blend Of Onions And Cilantro, Plus Your Choice Of Fresh House-Made Salsa

All of the tacos were good, but the meaty beef was our favorite. Speaking of favorites, this is by far the BEST chicken tortilla soup we've ever tasted. The first time I ordered chicken tortilla soup was at a cafe in Wisconsin. The waiter highly recommended it, so I trusted him. I was SO GLAD I did. The soup was amazing. From then on, I kept searching for equally delicious chicken tortilla soup, but I never found anything close to what I tasted...until Carbon's. I need to go back just to get this soup... it's ridiculously awesome.
Carbon Chicken Tortilla Soup			3.79

We're not huge fans of corn, but this was pretty good. Very fresh corn, nice creamy sauce. I'm also not so into creamy things, so I probably won't order it again. It was definitely worth a try though.

Elote our signature mexican corn hash		sm 1.75

Margarita		3.00
We washed down everything with a small margarita (decent), dos equis & corona beers. What a great meal!

CARBON

300 W 26th St
(between Calumet Ave & I-90)
Chicago, IL 60616
Neighborhood: Chinatown

Lao Shanghai

Since we live so close to Chicago Chinatown, love Chinese food, and love the cheap prices, we often end up roaming around new Chinatown square, just trying different places.

In my opinion, dim sum in Chicago is best at Shui Wah, and I heard their dinners are great too, so we almost stepped into the restaurant when we saw 老上海 (Lao Shanghai) across the walkway. I believe this location used to be a Taiwanese place called 海霸王 (Hai Ba Wang), which was exciting and delicious at first, but slowly deteriorated in food quality / flavor. very disappointing.

I saw a supposed 'article' on their soupy dumplings, and thought... why not, lets check it out.

Between the three of us, we shared the following:
1. Shanghai Lao Mien - a bit on the greasier side, but deliciously chewy noodles won me over.
2. Braised Pork Belly - there was this orange/red sauce on it that reminded me of the americanized version of sweet & sour sauce. I love fatty parts of pork belly, but this one had the ratio of 80% fat, 20% meat... pretty disgusting.
3. Seafood Casserole - this was like mapo tofu with shrimp. pretty good w/ rice, big shrimps.
4. Soupy Dumplings - omg, this is the worst EVER! It seriously tasted like the freezer-instant versions I get at supermarkets, the skin wasn't thin at all! SUCKS!
I later remembered that my mom told me about the opening of Lao Shanghai (it's owned by Tony Hu -- same owner of Lao Sze Chuan, and will open Lao Beijing too). I hope they make some improvements or else it won't be able to compare to the success of Lao Sze Chuan.

Lao Shanghai
2163 S China Pl
Ste 1F
(between Princeton Ave & Wells St)

http://tonygourmetgroup.com/tonyweb/home01.html

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