Had a quite enjoyable meal here with my family the other night. As noted, the space is quite opulent, all polished stone, hardwood, and carved jade curios- pretty tastefully designed actually. My dad was quick to note the most attentive service in Chinatown- two servers regularly checking in to confirm our satisfaction. We were also visited by a floor manager who gave us the hard sell on the weekend live seafood offerings, which we were actually all sold on, especially in light of the high quality seafood we ate that night. We ordered:

Macau-style Pork Belly
Quite the intense dish revealing a presumably complex preparation. A study in contrasts- loved that crackling skin which capped a parfait of silky meat and gelatinous fat. Maybe a too-much-of-a-good thing dish, I was happy with a few bites. A "full" order was plenty for four of us. I had no use for the sugar dip but enjoyed an occasional dab of high quality hoisin sauce.

Server's Choice Whole Steamed Fish with Garlic, Scallions, and Ginger
I asked the server's opinion about the freshest fish of the day. Her English wasn't the best and recommended something by its Cantonese name, we were game, just hoping not to receive a fish on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's "Avoid" list. We received a butterflied, modestly sized guy who's gaping mug I thought I recognized. Lots of bones- which we happily picked about- yielded firm, flaky flesh- the tangle of aromatics zipping the dish up right. My buddy from Southeast China instructed me how to prepare fish in this style and he says that this is everyday eating in his parts. While, I tackle this at home from time to time, I am thrilled to have access to a restaurant preparing super fresh fish in this simple and sophisticated way. Oh and the aforementioned floor manager confirmed my recognition of the fish on our plate, a large mouth bass, which I dutifully gut and filet for my fisherman buddies every summer. This fish was much less muddy tasting than the guys I'm used to though.

Baby Bok Choy with Garlic
Gotta have greens, these were just as good as any. I crave this stuff.

Turnip Cake with XO Sauce
Wiggly, slightly gelatinous cubes of processed root starch. It wasn't too saucy, more lightly coated in salty XO sauce. There were chopped jalapeños in the mix, which was a welcome perk. My one complaint is that not all the chunks were as browned up as others. The best bites
had a great sear to them, a wonderful crisp texture to compliment the soft pastiness of the cake, with a caramelized richness.

Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Hard to go wrong with this dish, but this was the weakest of the night. The shrimp were obviously fresh with glistening, intact eyeballs and sweet tasting flesh. They were fried hard, so the contents of the heads in particular (and on their sides there was a rosy hue indicating the presence of roe) lost that luscious, gooey quality I love when I crunch through the shell. The biggest mis-step was the light hand with the seasoning, both slight with the chillies and also weirdly not salty and perhaps no MSG.

Its great to have a new Cantonese style spot on the strip especially cooking with such high quality ingredients. Its also a lovely place to enjoy a leisurely meal. To seal the deal that night, as the server was clearing our plates, she remarked "Wow, you cleaned all the bones. You eat like real Chinese, you're a professional."

We received a butterflied, modestly sized guy who's gaping mug I thought I recognized. Lots of bones- which we happily picked about- yielded firm, flaky flesh- the tangle of aromatics zipping the dish up right.

Good Gad...you do know how to turn a phrase. You kind of "zipped" me up!

After Lao Sze Chuan politely asked us to stand outside in the cold to wait 15 minutes for our table, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and tried MingHin.

Although the spouse was impressed by the decor, we left somewhat...dissatisfied (that seems like too strong of a word, though.) Of course, our standards for Chinatown are pretty high (maybe too high, our last few trips seem to have been more misses than hits,) but we felt things didn't really shine the way they could have. Maybe it's because Tuesday isn't the best night for Chinatown...

We ordered a quarter BBQ duck, a serving of the scallops with garlic, pea shoots in broth, and szechuan string beans. Of the three, the string beans were the best - but still not quite up to the flavors next door. While we liked the duck fairly well, it was served in a sauce (probably mostly soy) and thus wasn't as crispy as if it had just been hacked off the rack (not up to Sun Wah, IMO.) It was fatty, tasty, and plentiful (we didn't need another meat for the 3 of us) and the duck itself really had good flavor - but there wasn't a lot of seasoning...something that seemed to be a theme for the evening.

Pea shoots were a definite miss, gloppy and flavorless, in a broth that included flabby sliced straw mushrooms and surprisingly bland whole blanched garlic cloves; at this point we noticed that there were no condiments on the tables at all, because we really missed them. The scallop was a bit the opposite: somewhat overshadowed by the garlic sauce and noodly stuff, though it wasn't a particularly complex sauce.

Let me put it this way, because what I just wrote sounds far too negative - if there weren't better places to eat in Chinatown, or if MingHin were in Evanston, I'd consider it a gem.

I've only eaten at Ming Hin once, but for what its worth, I liked my meal far better than the last few I have had at LSC. For one thing, I find LSC's food way to oily, and the chicken "crack" has never done it for me (way too sweet). On the other hand, I found Ming Hin's hot and sour soup to be exemplary, lacking corn starch goo and packing a sour/spicy wollop, and the pan-fried noodle rolls with beef is among the most unique and delicious Chinese noodle dishes I've had in Chicago in years.

This may simply reflect the fact that I haven't had any Szechuan food that I really love, whether in Chicago or New York. Though I love heat, I find that my Chinese tastes are much more attracted to the fresh, simple flavors of Cantonese food. For the latter, I'll continue going back to Ming Hin.

I have been to Ming Hin a few times now, overall a decent place. Their bbq items, specifically the pork belly, ribs and pork are very good, the pork belly being the best item by a wide margin. Other items off the menu seem to fall short imho

Expensive Saturday night meal @ Ming Hin came in at $78 before tip($23 p.p. with tip), only 3 beers and these dishes:

- bbq platter pick (2) - pork ribs & Macau style belly - best items of the night, their pork belly is excellent, crisp exterior, meat and fat that melt in your mouth. RIbs were tasty.
- half beijing duck - 1st course was nice, crispy duck skin, bao. 2nd stir fry course was bad - chemical taste
- stir fry baby bok choy with garlic - nice dish, lots of whole cloves of garlic,
- shrimp fried rice - weak, no flavor
- pan fried rice noodle roll with xo sauce - one note dish, I was expecting more
- shell on shrimp in butter sauce - interesting, preserved egg or duck yolk in the breading.

Out of the 3 newer places in Chinatown that I have been to(full service, that have opened in the past 9 months or so) I prefer Go 4 Food, and Lao You Ju over Ming Hin.

kanin wrote:I tried the dimsum here with a large group last weekend so I managed to try a wide array of dishes. I tend to judge dim sum places based on a few traditional items. They managed to fail on each and every one of them.

deep fried taro - soaked in grease
har gao - dumpling skin was way too thick and the shrimp inside was tough
siu mai - rubbery
rice crepes - There are 3 crepes to an order and we ordered 2 different types. The crepes in both dishes were glued to each other. This would never happen at any good dimsum place.
steamed buns - heavy and leaden

My impression is that all of the steamed items tend to be oversteamed.

The laminated dough and all of the baked items on the dimsum menu were very nicely done, though. The egg custard tarts were very delicate and flaky. The baked bbq pork buns were a bit sweet for my taste but good nonetheless.

There is absolutely no reason to go here for dim sum when Shui Wah is so close by. I found out too late that the BBQ items are available since they were listed on the back of the dimsum menu.

Agreed - rather horrid dim sum on my last visit. However, they have delicious fresh fruit freezes with tapioca for a good two hours after Joy Yee closes earlier in the week.

I also ordered a plate of the barbecue pork tenderloin which was not a good value at $9 with only steamed rice to accompany. Spicing was balanced and aromatic, so the pieces which were edible were delicious. One in four was exclusively gristle or even bone. I do better at Seven Treasures and get a few fried eggs to boot for half the price. I'll take the decor at Ming Hin, though.

Santander wrote:

kanin wrote:I tried the dimsum here with a large group last weekend so I managed to try a wide array of dishes. I tend to judge dim sum places based on a few traditional items. They managed to fail on each and every one of them.

deep fried taro - soaked in grease
har gao - dumpling skin was way too thick and the shrimp inside was tough
siu mai - rubbery
rice crepes - There are 3 crepes to an order and we ordered 2 different types. The crepes in both dishes were glued to each other. This would never happen at any good dimsum place.
steamed buns - heavy and leaden

My impression is that all of the steamed items tend to be oversteamed.

The laminated dough and all of the baked items on the dimsum menu were very nicely done, though. The egg custard tarts were very delicate and flaky. The baked bbq pork buns were a bit sweet for my taste but good nonetheless.

There is absolutely no reason to go here for dim sum when Shui Wah is so close by. I found out too late that the BBQ items are available since they were listed on the back of the dimsum menu.

Agreed - rather horrid dim sum on my last visit. However, they have delicious fresh fruit freezes with tapioca for a good two hours after Joy Yee closes earlier in the week.

I also ordered a plate of the barbecue pork tenderloin which was not a good value at $9 with only steamed rice to accompany. Spicing was balanced and aromatic, so the pieces which were edible were delicious. One in four was exclusively gristle or even bone. I do better at Seven Treasures and get a few fried eggs to boot for half the price. I'll take the decor at Ming Hin, though.

Maybe I should have paid more attention, but I was a bit taken aback by the poor quality of dim sum yesterday (and also rather abhorrent service too). I will say that I found it a cinch to order from the color menu.

Nearly all the food came just poorly prepared, either too greasy, too steamed, too, as in BBQ pork crepes, filled with gristle. The ribs and duck we had enjoyed before tasted blah. The egg custard tart tasted off, as in old. I mean it all tasted bad. What gives.

A rather inconsistent lunch, but I dug the duck:

I also ordered a plate of the barbecue pork tenderloin which was not a good value at $9 with only steamed rice to accompany. Spicing was balanced and aromatic, so the pieces which were edible were delicious. One in four was exclusively gristle or even bone.

The presence of gristle and bone (!) indicates that this wasn't actually pork t-loin. The worst that can happen with this cut is the presence of a coating of annoying silverskin, but that isn't gristle.

Note to self: avoid this place at all costs. Sounds awful.

This most recent news is distressing. I've had quite a few excellent meals here. Never cared much for the dim sum though but the fresh seafood from the live tank and unique veg dishes have been outstanding.

sundevilpeg wrote:

I also ordered a plate of the barbecue pork tenderloin which was not a good value at $9 with only steamed rice to accompany. Spicing was balanced and aromatic, so the pieces which were edible were delicious. One in four was exclusively gristle or even bone.

The presence of gristle and bone (!) indicates that this wasn't actually pork t-loin. The worst that can happen with this cut is the presence of a coating of annoying silverskin, but that isn't gristle.

Note to self: avoid this place at all costs. Sounds awful.

The pork wasn't awful (the dim sum was) - it tasted very good, but was slathered in an atypical lukewarm barbecue sauce puree, sitting in a pool of soy, and in addition to the obvious tenderloin pieces, there were some back or rib sections that had little flat pieces of bone - menu listed as tenderloin, which in my experience in Chinatown means no bones, everything is completely and succulently edible, and that wasn't the case here. Not bad, but not at all what I expected. They were nice enough and the mango-lychee freeze was what I was really after anyway.

On Sunday, I tried a few things at MingHin that I hadn't had before. The crispy chicken was very excellent. I meet Mama happy_stomach for lunch at Sun Wah practically once a week, and we almost always order Mike's Fried Chicken, which has just been "eh" lately. I may have to take a break from Sun Wah's chicken, knowing now what I can have at MingHin.



We also tried a dish with a name I can't remember--maybe something like brisket with noodle roll--which was delicately flavored and delicious.



These noodles were good, just not my style.



We also had the pork belly, and a few dim sum items, which I tried to discourage my family from ordering. I got to have an "I told you so" moment when they remarked that all but the chicken feet were bland and could have been skipped.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Ch ... 28951.html

Not ok.

Just heard on NPR that they cited a restaurant a few days ago (during Shark Week) for having shark fin soup on the menu:

http://www.wbez.org/sections/food/shark ... als-108370

I visited MingHin with friends today for dim sum. I can't tell you why I hadn't been here before today, but I was stunned by what a beautiful restaurant it was. I can't tell you how many times I must have passed by without even paying attention. It's kind of hard to miss given how large the space it fills (spaces, really). Although in retrospect, I probably would have walked by again had I known about the shark fin soup, but oh well, I digress.

As for the food, I found most of the dim sum to be no better than average. Most impressive though was the sticky rice in lotus leaf. I love when you begin to unwrap the lotus leaf package, and the scent from the leaf perfumes the air. Even better where the leaf lends flavor to the rice, as was the case here. Add in the very sticky rice and the flavorful filling, and you have a must order. But this was the only dim sum item I tasted that I loved. My next favorite item was probably the bean curd skin filled with pork and shrimp - nothing exceptional, but flavorful and cooked well.

Then, there were a few small misses. The steamed bbq pork bun was tasty and the bun light enough, but the bbq pork filling somewhat sparse and somewhat dry. Shrimp dumplings with chives were tasty enough, but there was very little chive and the wrappers were quite gummy. I really enjoyed the flavor of the lotus seed paste buns, but the buns seemed a bit over-steamed and slightly too hard.

And then there were a couple of failures. After another terrific egg custard tart yesterday from La Patisserie P, I was very disappointed with the one from MingHin. Too much crust, too little filling, and a little to dense. Worse was the deep fried taro puff, which was so greasy (and perhaps with stale oil), and which offered a pretty bland filling, that I could stomach no more than two, small bites.

Aside from the dim sum, we also had an order of the Macau-style roast pork belly and this was outstanding - ultra-crisp crackling crust, melting fat, great flavor, what more can I say. I tried a piece with the accompanying sugar, but that's just not my style. After that, I alternated between the hoisin sauce and the chili oil, not that any sauce or condiment was really necessary. My only complaint with this pork belly is that I had planned on grilling tonight, and now I can't move from the damn couch. Damn you Macau pork belly!

Mrs. B. had an office lunch a week or so ago (many people, many dishes) that everyone was happy with, so this evening we went en famille. Nothing actually bad, as in the many dim sum reports above, but a lot of singles and doubles; except for the room itself which, as others have noted, is lovely.
Service was quick and friendly, albeit with the occasional bump or skip---Waitress: Do you want rice now or later? Me: Now would be good. Waitress: OK, later. (Vanishes with Looney Tunes ricochet sound.)

Started with BBQ platter which included pork, duck, and pork belly. Pork belly was pretty amazing and very intense, as well as beautifully presented. (Caveat: my first time for pork belly.) Perfect cubes with a salty crackly top layer, unctuous delicate fat almost like aspic, then tender meat, all in a single bite.

The pork was the best after that, but only as good as it ought to be. Duck ok. A bit skimpy on meat, even for duck. The mound of granulated sugar as condiment was new to me and I had no idea what the intention for its use is, nor could I, even on reflection, figure out which of the three items might benefit from its application.

Singapore Noodles were 'meh.' When I've had them before they've been thin, but not the absolute thinnest noodles in the arsenal. And though it wasn't at all a wet or oily dish, there was a sauce presence. Here, the noodles were of the very thinnest, and the seasoning was more of a dusting than a saucing. A light prickle of heat, and turmeric were all I got out of it, so it was a strangely dry, 1.5-note dish with the shrimp and bits of pork and onion, not really adding much to liven things up.

Finally we opted for the MingHin special casserole, which the waiter described only as "seafood." And it was. Mixed seafood (shrimp, scallop, cuttlefish, somthing flat and flaky, and something in gelatinous honey-combed squares that seemed like a sort of tripe, along with whole garlic cloves and mushrooms). But again, mildly salty and with very little overall flavor or personality unless one collided directly with a garlic clove or slice of ginger. A more discerning palate might call it subtle or delicate, but I can't.

Paging through the menu, it seemed to me we might have done better working back to front, and getting some of the Hunan/Sichuan things. There really was nothing we had tonight that I would go back for, though I'd still like to try a bit more and see what happens. The office lunch had included stir fried string beans and even a fried rice that everyone raved about, so I'm able to believe that there may yet be gems to be mined there.
And it is a very nice room.

Wanting something a little out of my dim sum wheel house today, I made my third visit to Ming Hin for dim sum. And while my first two visits were somewhat disappointing, I'm glad I returned again because the food was quite good today. I go back and forth between Cai, Lao You Ju (with a small preference for Cai), but I'd be pretty happy with any of them, including Ming Hin based on today's visit (Phoenix and Triple Crown trailing slightly)

Included among the standouts was the bbq pork buns, which were not only perfectly steamed, but featured the most filling and the most delicious filling I've ever had. Really outstanding. Sticky rice in lotus leaf was also terrific -- so fragrant from the leaf, and terrific filling including nice chunks of Chinese sausage, made this as good as any version in town.

Admittedly, not everything was perfect. Siu mai and shrimp dumplings were a bit over-steamed, yet still delicious. And the egg custard bun was not as gooey as I would have liked (but still, also delicious). But for the most part, the food (and service) was very good, at the very least ensuring that there will be a fourth visit.

From Eater, Ming Hin is taking over the Yum Cha space in Lakeshore East. Given the high prices and slow service at Yum Cha this can only be a good thing.

http://chicago.eater.com/2015/8/31/9232 ... 1407444833

Had an embarrassing meal here last wk w/some out of town guests who a few days later asked me in all seriousness if I really believed it was a good meal? It was not and I was saddened to admit it besides lose some vittles cred in their eyes. Being out of numerous things on the menu and not telling you until you order is a big one to me, but then so is ordering and not getting the described dish on the menu (different noodles subbed, shrimp under cooked...). When mentioned, the server just kinda laughed it off (w/o offering to fix). Too bad. Used to enjoy it here.

Jazzfood, was this at the Chinatown location or the E. Randolph one?

Chinatown

Sorry to hear of your experience. We'd been thinking of going to the E. Randolph one for dinner some night, having had a nice Dim Sum experience there on a Sunday morning a couple of months ago. If whatever is ailing the Chinatown location has spread to the E. Randolph one, it doesn't bode well.

I'd been going for late pm dim sum (which is good, not great) but the only dim sum game in town that I'm aware of @ that time of night. Scratch itched. Haven't had much off the menu in quite a while, but sorry this was no where near what I enjoyed so much when they opened.

Went to the lakeshore east location a week ago and the server shared that one of the items hasn’t been available and likely wouldn’t be again (fu qi feipian - sliced beef and tripe in chili oil cold). I asked about the other locations and she said she wasn’t sure, when asked if the restaurant is still Minghin she said it was not and that the owners are different.

The location is still on their site but couldn’t find anything otherwise. Just curious, anyone hear anything?

...appears to be planning a large new South Loop spot for its next venture — which could include Japanese food. Management applied for a liquor license for the first two floors at 1232-34 S. Michigan Avenue and the second floor is interestingly under the name MingHin Japanese.

https://chicago.eater.com/2019/9/4/2084 ... open-intel

Dave148 wrote:

...appears to be planning a large new South Loop spot for its next venture — which could include Japanese food. Management applied for a liquor license for the first two floors at 1232-34 S. Michigan Avenue and the second floor is interestingly under the name MingHin Japanese.

https://chicago.eater.com/2019/9/4/2084 ... open-intel

MingHin Cantonese & Japanese Cuisine opened Sunday in the South Loop with a lengthy, comprehensive menu.

https://chicago.eater.com/2020/1/13/210 ... se-dim-sum

Just opened = MingHin Cuisine Streeterville, 215 E. Ohio St.