"Chinese Breakfast" in Chicago?

We have a colleague visiting the office for 10 days and he asked if there was anywhere nearby (River North) to get "Chinese Breakfast"?

I've sent him the Wow Bao link as the only option I could find quickly and is near enough for him to walk on the way to office but I'd love better options to share with him ... and if anyone has a "best in Chicago" option I can suggest for the weekend?

Thanks!

GNR Winner Shui Wah is a good option for dim sum.

Chinese breakfast is usually congee or noodles, or buns... 65 Chinese restaurant has some buns available. Otherwise the only other option is Sweet Station or Chi Cafe in Chinatown.

336 North Michigan Avenue
(312) 372-0306

HI,

They have a breakfast menu, though their website advises they open at 9:30 am.

Go 4 Food
212 W 23rd St
Chicago, IL 60616
312-842-8688

http://www.go4foodusa.com/G4F-v3.0/G4F/Home.aspx
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Chicag ... ajaxpipe=1

I made a list of bakeries in Chinatown. While this list does not represent all of them, they do feature something your colleague will want: breakfast. They have rooms in the rear filled mostly with Chinese men eating, reading and talking. They open at 7 am, though you can stroll in at least 15 minutes earlier. They serve congee, some noodle dishes, buns, warm soy milk and dim sum dumplings.

Regards,

You can get congee at Argyle. I think it's available at Tank and other places, but I'm not sure.

I do know that Sun Wah has a pork and century egg version.

In addition to those mentioned. Gourmet Food Inc. ( on 22nd?) in Chinatown also is open early for breakfast. If they're in River North, hopping on the Red Line to Chinatown isn't that difficult of an excursion.

I'll put in a good word for Gourmet Food--quick and dirty, literally and figuratively, and not half bad. Bakeries are not a bad start in Chinatown, which is probably the best you can do near River North. In addition to congee/zhou, it's not hard to find doujiang/soymilk and douhua/dofu nao/soft, sweetened breakfast tofu. I've certainly had it at Chiu Quon, in their back room. Beyond some dim sum and otherwise Canto-inflected places, though, the idea of noodles, (real) bao, and bing for breakfast hasn't really made it to this side of the pond, to my dismay. The day I can have Wuhan-style hot dry noodles for breakfast, I will be truly contented.

Thanks so much to everyone - I'll be sharing all the suggestions with him this morning. Looks like he'll be well fed!

My friends took me to Eldo Bakery this spring for Chinese breakfast. They had porridge of all kinds, noodles, buns, something similar to a Chinese churro or fried dough that we ate with the porridge. I would certainly go back. It was delicious and cheap.

Eldo Bakery

227 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL 60616
Neighborhood: Chinatown
(312) 674-1368

Not much to find on the internet about it except for yelp...
http://www.yelp.com/biz/eldo-bakery-chicago

blueorigami wrote:My friends took me to Eldo Bakery this spring for Chinese breakfast. They had porridge of all kinds, noodles, buns, something similar to a Chinese churro or fried dough that we ate with the porridge. I would certainly go back. It was delicious and cheap.

That sounds much like what I ate while working in Taiwan. I am not a big breakfast eater, but I was totally enamored with the Chinese version of this meal. The residential hotel I was living at in TaiPei had two breakfast rooms, a small, boring one which served "Western" breakfasts made to order and another much larger and livelier room which served a Chinese breakfast buffet. Whereas the rest of my American co-workers chose the Western style, I would frequent the "Chinese" breakfast room (although most of the non-western guests were, in fact, Japanese). In the morning, it seemed much easier to digest a simple bowl of porridge with bits of condiments for flavor than a huge pile of fatty meats, eggs and sickeningly sweet pastries. The rice porridge was called zhou, and came with a bunch of condiments like mustard pickles, tiny dried fish, red beans and dried meat "floss" (rou sung). I have only had rice zhou, but I understand it can also be made from barley or other grains. The fried dough was called youtiao, and was slightly salty (which surprised me, since my American sensibilities thought fried dough should be sweet). The Chinese breakfast was also accompanied by several types of melons and other fruit, noodles, buns and fish.

I will have to make an early morning trip down to Chinatown to check out this place out. Thanks for posting about it.

Is there any place to buy tsong-fun outside of Chinatown? I'd even settle for frozen - sometimes, I just get a hankering...

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to get the best / any "chinese breakfast" in Chinatown? Not dim sum, but things like "do jang" (soy milk) and "you tiao" (fried crullers), etc.... much appreciated!

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=31501&p=369965&hilit=chinese+breakfast#p369965


There is a thread on this if use the lth search function for chinese breakfast


I suggested this place last spring-- They definately have "you tiao"
Eldo Bakery

227 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL 60616
Neighborhood: Chinatown
(312) 674-1368

rubiksgirl wrote:Does anyone have any suggestions on where to get the best / any "chinese breakfast" in Chinatown? Not dim sum, but things like "do jang" (soy milk) and "you tiao" (fried crullers), etc.... much appreciated!

Cafe 527 in Evanston is probably the most on point. On weekend mornings, they have dou jiang (including savory), you tiao, shao bing, chive "boxes", even fan tuan. As long as you don't have unrealistic expectations, it's not bad.

Independent George wrote:Is there any place to buy tsong-fun outside of Chinatown? I'd even settle for frozen - sometimes, I just get a hankering...

I have bought some from Chiu Quon Bakery on Argyle many times. I think there might be another bakery or two on the same block as well.

I had a hankering for congee on the way in to work this morning and was wondering if there were any Loop options (doubtful) and if not, what the best early (7-7:30) Chinatown option would be. Searched and found this helpful thread, and Eldo sounds intriguing - anyone have a more recent experience to share? Also, as this thread is not specific to congee, any recos for the best congee in the city? I usually order a bowl at Cai to accompany dim sum, and find it to be very good, but would be interested in versions others on the forum feel are superlative.

Try Potsticker House in Bridgeport if you want traditional Chinese breakfast like "do jang" (soy milk), "you tiao" (fried crullers), "sao bing", and "bao zi".


http://www.potstickerhouse.com/menuc.html