Phoenix Dumpling House

It never ceases to amaze me how people will line up and wait for one restaurant while tables sit empty at others nearby. Case in point: Sunday morning at Phoenix Dumpling House.

With no intention of going to its parent restaurant Phoenix, Ms. EatChicago and I strode down Archer towards a large throng of people. At first I thought we would be waiting a half hour or more before biting into our first dumpling. As we neared the crowd we noticed that they were filling the foyer of Phoenix and spilling out into the street. The door to Phoenix Dumpling House was clear. The foyer was empty with and a couple open tables were in sight.

We were seated and had placed our order in minutes. We had planned the meal as a light dim sum outing, so we ordered only four items which came out in succession:

Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves: One of my favorite dim sum dishes. Two little packages of sticky rice, darkened and flavored by the lotus leaf wrapping. Inside the rice were baby shrimp and pork bits. I've had the rice stuffed with more meat but I liked it moderately stuffed. This one was freshly steamed and delicious.

Pan Fried Baby Bao: These were delicious. Steamed pork buns which are lightly pan fried on the bottom. The crispy bottom gives a new dimension of flavor to the dough. Also, these bao are miniature (about two bites) which makes them a little more fun (I think).

Crispy Scallion Pan Cake: I've seen these in many forms. PDH's version looks like a deep-fried pastry (almost like an un-glazed cinnamon roll) and is peppered with bits of scallion. Tasty and not too greasy, but in hindsight I would have traded this for a different kind of dumpling.

Finally, the house specialty that's embossed on the front of their menus, the Siu Loong Bao (or soup dumplings or juicy pork buns or whatever you want to call them). These pork and soup filled dumplings are a bit of a challenge to eat at first, but well worth it. The trick is to coax a dumpling onto a spoon (right-side-up) without breaking it. No problem if you can handle chopsticks. Bite off the top of the dumpling, add some fresh ginger and Chinese vinegar, sip, bite, and enjoy. The broth, dumpling, bits of pork, and ginger all combine into a surprisingly complex flavor.

The total bill came to around $20, all the food was hot and fresh from the kitchen, and we didn't have to stand in line. Not a bad way to spend a holiday Sunday morning in Chinatown.

Check out Phoenix Dumpling House at 2131 S. Archer, 312-328-0848

eatchicago wrote:It never ceases to amaze me how people will line up and wait for one restaurant while tables sit empty at others nearby. Case in point: Sunday morning at Phoenix Dumpling House.

Ya know, I basically agree with your sentiment, and I like PDH a lot, but there are reasons to go to Phoenix, regardless of the wait. For one thing, there is just the ease factor, as I noted in my Happy Chef report, at times the sheet to order from just gives no idea of what the dumpling will be. I know its fun to take a bit of a chance, but it is also nice to know what to expect. Second, the selection at Phoenix, especially as the weekends get going, is un-matched. There will always be these things just coming out of the kitchen, that if you are lucky, you can nab. The irony, of course at Phoenix is, that if you come early to miss the wait, you miss the bigger selection. Finally, there is something to be said for atmosphere and service, both the atmosphere of the carts system annd the overall atmosphere and attention to detail of Phoenix. Now I'm one, many a time, to place food over frou-frou, but there are times when frou-frou counts. I will add, that all that frou-frou and service comes with a cost, and dim sum at Phoenix can really add up.

That said, based on one visit, I am finding the new Shanghai, Mandarin Kitchen (leftover name, I know it is an oxymoron) to have even better soup dumplings than PDH, and it is even divier. I'll do a report on Mandarin Kitchen soon, but for now just think of it as great.

Rob

Mandarin Kitchen
2143 S. Archer
Chicago
312-328-9628

Vital Information wrote:but there are reasons to go to Phoenix, regardless of the wait. For one thing, there is just the ease factor, as I noted in my Happy Chef report, at times the sheet to order from just gives no idea of what the dumpling will be. I know its fun to take a bit of a chance, but it is also nice to know what to expect. Second, the selection at Phoenix, especially as the weekends get going, is un-matched.

I do agree that there is reason to go to the larger dim sum houses. I do frequent Phoenix under different conditions. I take bigger groups there for the atmosphere, the carts, etc. I do love eating from the carts and the "luck" factor can be fun. I have also had the same problem of timing: Show up early, no lines, no duck breast, no roast pork with crispy skin.

I am certainly not saying that everyone should step out of line and move down the street, but it surprised me that tables were sitting empty.

I do disagree on one other point: In many cases i think that the menus are more descriptive than the cart-pushers. Case in point were the baby bao: In Phoenix they would have pointed and said "Pork Bao", the menu at PDH described how they were pan fried (a delicious hidden brown crust on the bottom). The same went for the sticky rice. The soup dumplings had almost a full paragraph describing them. All in all, I think PDH had an impressive selection and very good descriptions.

Looking forward to checking out Mandarin Kitchen.

I like the Phoenix, but generally will not tolerate the lines. And while it is true that the more people, the more selection, even then there is a certain randomness to when and what. It seems to work out that you can have this amazing choice, but you need to tolerate the wait to get in, and then pace yourself carefully and wait (again) for the right things to come around, or you get loaded up with the next thing that comes. Still, as I have said before, it is a good way to learn Dim Sum, but once you have learned it, I do not see a lot of reason to go back when it is crowded. Nothing on those carts cannot be found elsewhere, made to order, fresher and at least as good.

Uh oh! Has the new Shanghai, Mandarin Kitchen dethroned PDH as the king of soup dumplings? I can't wait for Rob's report.

My staid (?) soup "dumper" rankings (in order of soupiness) are:

1) Phoenix Dumpling House (PDH);
2) Ed's Potsticker House;
3) Moon Palace.

Phoenix Dumpling House has announced new hours:

- Monday-Thursday: Closed
- Friday-Saturday: 10 AM - 11 PM
- Sunday: 10 AM - 9 PM

I made a sunday morning visit to PDH with an out-of-towner friend who requested "dumplings" when he awoke on Sunday.

As usual on a beautiful Sunday, there was a crowd waiting to get upstairs, but PDH was practically empty, maybe 8 tables were full.

There were two women pushing dim sum carts around the small space, which may not be a new thing at PDH, but it was new to me. It has been menu-only ordering, in my experience.

The food was spot-on, including the excellent siu loong bao, which my friend was thanking me for introducing to him all day on Sunday. One new-to-me dish that we had was spiced-salted-fried tofu. This was served as a plate of small, fried tofu bricks, very similar to an agedashi tofu without the broth. The tofu is extremely soft, barely firm enough to hold it's shape when broken into. It's served with a small well of sea salt for seasoning.

I really loved this dish. Crispy, salty, and creamy, a perfect little hangover cure/appetizer/side dish. I really can't think of any meal that I wouldn't like this to accompany.

Best,
Michael / EC

There were two women pushing dim sum carts around the small space, which may not be a new thing at PDH, but it was new to me. It has been menu-only ordering, in my experience.

Cutting back severely on hours and trying to be innovative by switching from menus to carts ... I'd say support this restaurant as best you can because it appears to be on its last legs. <Purely my gut feeling, though I think I am not too far off the mark>

Cathy2 wrote:Cutting back severely on hours and trying to be innovative by switching from menus to carts ... I'd say support this restaurant as best you can because it appears to be on its last legs. <Purely my gut feeling, though I think I am not too far off the mark>

I tend to agree with you Cathy and it would be a shame to see them close as I really enjoy it there. Although, I'm not entirely sure how cutting back hours would help their business.

Hi,

It appears either Phoenix Dumpling House as we know it has closed or it is experimenting with another form of doing business. There were no tables inside, no customers though chairs were scattered on the periphery and the counter was set up like a bar. Phoenix Dumpling House and Disco?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

It appears either Phoenix Dumpling House as we know it has closed or it is experimenting with another form of doing business. There were no tables inside, no customers though chairs were scattered on the periphery and the counter was set up like a bar. Phoenix Dumpling House and Disco?

It is now called Shabu Shabu.

E.M.

Erik,

Thanks.

Metromix is apparently ahead of the curve or I am dense, because there was nothing indicating any name change on the premises.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Metromix is apparently ahead of the curve or I am dense, because there was nothing indicating any name change on the premises.

That would suggest that the proprietors of this establishment are dense.

BTW, I have not been to Shabu Shabu yet, but I have received a couple of positive reports.

E.M.

Thanks all. I actually noticed the same thing about the downstairs after a recent visit. Timely news since the new concept is Hot Pot, which is something that my Singaporean hubby and I were talking about a couple days ago. Not sure how familar everyone is with hot pot. Even in Asian countries, it's kind of died out, as I observed during my travels to Singapore. Definitely one of those culinary experiences that very, very few in the US know about and have tried. In fact, the only time I had it here in the US was at a Singaporean friend's home.

kithat wrote: Not sure how familar everyone is with hot pot.

Hot pots abound in Chinatown. Mandarin Kitchenand Lao Sze Chuan* are two places that immediately come to mind.

Mandarin Kitchen
2143 S Archer
Chicago, IL
312-328-0228

Lao Sze Chuan
2172 S. Archer
Chicago, IL
312-326-5040

*Look for hot pots under the dinner menu section

Yep, hotpots are fairly ubiquitous in Chinatown. However, w/ a name like Shabu Shabu I'm assuming they're going to be Japanese-focused? Isn't shabu-shabu the trendy thing these days? I've seen several articles over the past few months. And isn't there a place known for it in Wrigleyville/Lakeview?