Katy's Dumpling

Katy's Dumpling House

665 N Cass Ave
Westmont, IL 60559-1338
(630) 323-9393

This small shack of a place has ravings all over yelp, lth, chowhound, etc. It's no wonder they added decor, new menus, and an additional formal restaurant in Naperville. I still prefer the Westmont location, simply because the food is made better. Naperville location dishes have been overly greasy, spicy, and salty...it's borderline scary.

Westmont location, on the other hand, weren't bad at all. Aside from delicious noodles & dumplings, we found the very BEST green onion pancakes in Chicagoland area... perfectly fluffy, layered, crisp, and supremely delicious. It's a MUST try!!

Aoba「青葉」Ramen

Both the hubby & I love noodles... Italian pasta, Chinese beef noodle soup, Taiwanese chi-a noodles, Vietnamese Pho... you name it. Due to the fact that my husband's birthplace is Fukuoka, Japan, we are also big fans of Japanese Ramen, especially Tonkotsu.

Therefore, on the second day of our 2009 trip to Japan, our family took us to Aoba Ramen (Okachimachi 御徒町店). It's a chain of 15 shops (plus 1 specialty shop), specializing in Chuka Soba & Tsukemen. It's located with two other ramen shops in the Ramen Yokocho (横丁). Upon walking in, you purchase what you want through a vending machine, obtain a ticket, walk into your Ramen-ya of choice, and wait in line (if there is one) until someone finishes eating. It's not a restaurant-type of place where people sit to socialize. Everyone goes there to eat their ramen at a seat around the counter and leave.

I loved that these noodles were extra chewy, and the soup base was good, but it's not as strongly flavored as Komen. It definitely was an enjoyable experience, but our hearts are still with Komen.

　〒110-0005
　東京都台東区上野5-20-3
　　　　　　　　03-5812-2254

http://aobai.jp/

Yoshiike - Ueno, Japan

Yoshiike

Superbly delicious sushiya san... everything was very fresh. It's a small little place but comfortable, with attentive services. The chawanmushi was THE BEST EVER.

A few weekends ago, my brother, hubby, and family friend randomly went bowling in glendale heights, and was looking for somewhere to eat. At my brother's recommendation, we decided to try this restaurant. Hub & I have always wanted to explore other cuisines, so we didn't mind.

The restaurant was big, with a lot of German memoribella, and the menu was extensive. Hub & I ordered two items and shared. Since their dishes came with soup or salad, we did one each.

Soup of the day (forgot what it was)...but I remember the broth being nice & flavorful.

German Salad Plate - a variety of marinated vegetables, either creamy or slightly sour. Pleasantly refreshing & interesting.

Entrees

Schweine Braten- Roast loin of pork with red cabbage and dumpling $15.95

Although flavored nicely, pork loin was a bit dry. Dumpling was different than what I imagined..it's like a big ball of stuffing.
Wiener Schnitzel Breaded veal schnitzel with lemon. $19.95
This was crisp, tender, and delicious. But there wasn't anything uniquely different or ethnic, it's simply breaded/fried veal.

Overall, the portions was ample, and we happened to go during their happy hour, so we received a discount. The waiter was helpful and very nice. However, there's nothing that stood out so strongly that makes me want to go back, nor try German food anytime soon. If there are anything people do rave about, and strongly recommend, then I'll go back.

Schnitzel Platz Restaurant
729 North Ave
Glendale Heights, IL 60139
Tel: (630) 942-9900

Tang Pho House - Naperville

Shin & I cannot get enough of pho.  Having it once a week in Argyle / Chinatown isn't enough.  We were ecstatic when we found a place that opened in our 'burbia!

My mom's friend's vietnamese daughter-in-law said the place is decent, and very clean. Online posts rated it overpriced, mediocre, average at best.  We didn't go in with much expectation, just looking for somewhere "workable", in case we're in a pho-mergency.  With our 80% off restaurant.com coupon in hand ($25 off purchases over $50), we went with our parents & bro.

These are the dishes we ordered:

Bun Bo Hue (mildly spicy, lemon grass/beef bones-based broth with thicker (slightly udon-ish) noodles).  Shrimp paste is an important ingredient.

I suggested this dish to the bro because it seemed interesting when I read about it in a blog.  Wiki says it originated in the old imperial capital of Central Vietnam (Hue).  It includes thin slices of marinated beef shank, oxtail, pig's knuckles or pork.  Also, cubes of congealed pig blood.

Richly aromatic, slightly tangy, overall a decent dish.  It wasn't spectacular, but everyone at the table enjoyed it.

Seafood in Crispy Noodles

Because of my careless calculation, I thought we needed one more dish to exceed $50, so I asked our waitress for a recommendation.  She chose a house specialty that's very popular... turned out to be this seafood dish (fake crabmeat?!?!) in a basket -- much like dishes you can find at Americanized Chinese restaurants (and yes, they too charged you much more than it deserves).  The only credit I will give them is they fried this noodles basket fresh (or so it seems), but it was a waste of money, consumption, effort, everything.  This is why I hesitate asking servers for recommendations, they often care only about adding more $$ to increase their gratuity %.

Vietnamese Omelette

I forgot what this dish is called, but it's an omelette with sprouts that you wrap in lettuce (with cilantro), and dip in nuoc mam (fish sauce).  They made this quite well, and it turned out to be our favorite dish of this dinner.

Pho Ga (Chicken Pho)

Ever since my complexion decided to go bunkers on me, I've been trying to cut off as much beef/pork as possible... thus enters my newfound alternative - Pho Ga.  Clean broth, slightly tough meat, fresh vegetables -- not the greatest, not bad either.

Pho Tai (beef)

The broth was decent, lighter, meat is closer to well-done, not bad.

spring rolls

These were decent, not the greatest.

Verdict is... good enough for our suburbia pho emergencies, but I probably wouldn't go back without a coupon (knowing I can get $25 off of $50 if I spend $4 on the coupon).  I wouldn't rave & recommend this place either, and wouldn't be too upset if it closed.

Tang Pho House

2603 W Aurora Ave, Ste 123
Naperville, IL 60540
(630) 548-9011

Meli's Cafe

Hai Yen (Lincoln Park location)

Like idiots, we officially over-paid for mediocre Vietnamese food, thanks to Hai Yen. This is what happens when you don’t stick to Argyle for Vietnamese food.

Our Vietnamese friend highly recommended Hai Yen for their “7 courses of beef”. Instead of going to their Argyle location (as recommended), we decided to try their Lincoln Park location because it's closer in proximity. O..M..G. First of all, the menu was so much shorter than the Argyle location (referenced: menupages). There was no “7 courses of beef”. They didn’t even have the usual variety of pho to choose from… just a couple “soups”, including ‘pho tai’ (beef pho).

We were starving, and overheard people shouting from the kitchen in Vietnamese, so I figured it was worth a try. This is what we ordered:

Goi Cuon (2 rolls) – Fresh Spring Rolls with Shrimp ($4.50 each)
Idiot action#2 – I asked for 2 orders of spring rolls, because I assumed each order came with 1 roll. Idiot action#3 – I accidentally pointed to the “shrimp” option instead of “shrimp & pork”, or even “beef”. Shrimp-only spring rolls lack that salty punch. As usual, I asked for ‘nuoc mam’ (fish sauce mix), and it was one of the worst fish sauce dip ever… it lacked flavor. Although the shrimp was fresh, and beautifully rolled tight the way I like them… the entire dish was borderline bland.

Chao Tom – Ground shrimp wrapped around a sugar cane and grilled. Served with Salt, Pepper, and Lime. ($8)
I should’ve known this would be a dish catered towards people unfamiliar with Vietnamese food…it reminded me of a Chinese appetizer that serves the same purpose. (think: shrimp toast with no toast) It doesn’t taste bad, but it’s not authentic. I am so mad at myself.

I decided to test out two of their chicken-broth based soups. Sup Mang Cua was soothing, but reminded me of egg drop soup with crabmeat. Canh Chua Tom was a bit too sour, but at least tastier – a hint of Tom Yum. The only positive point is their use of large/fresh seafood.

Sup Mang Cua – Tender crabmeat, white asparagus & egg whites in light chicken broth. ($4)

Canh Chua Tom – Shrimp & exotic vegetables in a tamarind flavored chicken broth. ($4)

I am really irritated that I accepted the waiter’s recommendation of this dish. I fell into the trap because I LOVE wide rice noodles, I was starving, and he said “Crispy part of the noodle is not TOO crispy, just lightly crisp, still soft on the inside”. As easy as this seems, restaurants often screw this up… so for him to recommend the dish, and explain how perfectly the chef crisps the noodles ever so slightly… I had to just try it.

Omg… the friggin noodles were pretty much triangles of DEEP-FRIED CHUNKS! There was no soft chewy insides!! And it was SO fried up and CRUNCHY, that I can taste a full tablespoon of vegetable oil in every bite. Again, only positive point is the fresh seafood… nothing else. The sauce (again) reminded me of Westernized-Chinese! Yuck!

Hu Tieu Xao Do Bien – Crispy wide rice noodles with seafood ($11)

I still regret not being honest with the waiter when I tried this dish. I should’ve just asked for a side of soft wide rice noodles because the CRUNCHY grease chunks were not ‘slightly crisp’, like he promised. But the guy seemed so harmless and nice that I felt bad. I am a weakling. Now this dish leaves me hungry, craving some pillowy soft, slightly chewy wide rice noodles. THANKS.

Cai Kho To – slowly braised Sea Bass in a clay pot with sugar & garlic ($16)

Hub & I are suckers for ‘clay pot’, and we both love fish, so I ordered this pricier dish. The flavor was good, slightly over-seasoned, but good with rice. Fish was very tender, melt-in-mouth.

But yeah… not enough of a reason to return… ever. I want to check out Hai Yen in Argyle… but no more of this Lincoln Park location bull-crap. I feel so dumb after checking this out, especially since this meal (including tip) costed us nearly $70. For Vietnamese food! No drinks! For LUNCH!


Hai Yen
2723 North Clark Street
Phone: 773-868-4888