stevez wrote:Keep in mind that it is green papaya salad, such as you might get in a Thai resturant, not the ripe, sweet orange fruit that one might have as a dessert. The salad is more spicy/pungent/salty (though there is a sweet note) than sweet like ripe fruit.

I should have mentioned that. It is nicely spiced.

stevez wrote:Keep in mind that it is green papaya salad, such as you might get in a Thai resturant, not the ripe, sweet orange fruit that one might have as a dessert. The salad is more spicy/pungent/salty (though there is a sweet note) than sweet like ripe fruit.

thanks for that heads up, thankfully with a Filipina mom, and a dad who eats hot sauce, or peppers on almost everything, she has developed the taste for heat at the ripe age of 22 months.

We went to Tank Noodle for lunch yesterday as planned, and all we could say was wow, after eating there. The place was packed @ 1:30, and got even busier. However the food flew out of the kitchen at an incredible pace.

We ordered:

# 11 Cha Go Tom - fried shrimp egg rolls, played it safe with this one, the egg rolls reminded me of Filipino egg rollls. Decent

#47 - Pho Tai - beef noodles soup with sliced beef - incredible dish, the noodles were perfectly cooked, and the thin slices of beef were lean, and tasty. The broth was incredible with many layers of flavor. Something I will go back for

# ? I forget the number, but it was grilled shrimp, and beef served over vermicelli noodles with carrots, and cucumber. This dish was one of the favorites, the beef was excellent, flavorfull, and lean.

# 108 Com Suon Tom Kho Tau, Lap Xuong, Hot Go Op La - My favorite dish of the day, a nice bone in pork chop, perfectly cooked served with a flaovorfull piece of lobster(prawn), sausage, and a sunny side egg over rice. The rice was a small grain, more like a cous-cous with a sweet jasmine type falovor. The pork chop was top notch, my daughter even chewed all the meat off the bone. The lobster(prawn) was very good, whatever was in that marinade was very good, garlicky with nice flavor. The sausage reminded me of a hot link, and what dish isnt good with the yolk of a sunnyside egg on it

#127 BBQ pork fried rice(we love fried rice, and wanted some for lunch the next day) - good version of fried rice, big strips of bbq pork.

All the above dishes were devoured by my wife, 2 year old daughter, and myself. We only had a littel pho left, and some fried rice. Total tab $47, tip $10 = $57 for one of the best lunches we have ever had. We will definately be back to try some other items, and to re-order some of the stars of this meal. Once again the GNR list has provided us with another sure-fire winner(we have only encountered one place we didnt think was good on the GNR list out of the 20+ we have tried).

They need to get a liquor license, some cold beers with this food would complete a great meal.

jimswside wrote:#127 BBQ pork fried rice(we love fried rice, and wanted some for lunch the next day) - good version of fried rice, big strips of bbq pork.

Jimswside,

Sounds a wonderful lunch and I agree 100% a sunnyside up egg yoke always enhances. As you are fans of leftover fried rice for leftovers, and who isn't, I'd suggest a stop at Chiu Quon Bakery just a bit East of Tank, for rice wrapped in lotus leaf. A delicious combination of glutenous rice mixed with a varying assortment of ingredients such as Chinese sausage, BBQ pork, chicken, preserved egg, dried shrimp, dried mushroom and steamed. Inexpensive and reheats well.

jimswside wrote:They need to get a liquor license, some cold beers with this food would complete a great meal.

Cold beer wise, there is a Foremost Liquor a block East on Argyle.

Enjoy,
Gary

Tank
4953 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
773-878-2253

Chiu Quon Bakery
1127 W. Argyle St
Chicago, IL
773-907-8888

Foremost Liquor Store
1040 W Argyle St
Chicago, IL 60640
773-989-0808

jimswside wrote:# ? I forget the number...

jimswside wrote:# 108 Com Suon Tom Kho Tau, Lap Xuong, Hot Go Op La

Now, that's impressive!

And great dish, by the way.

G Wiv wrote:

jimswside wrote:#127 BBQ pork fried rice(we love fried rice, and wanted some for lunch the next day) - good version of fried rice, big strips of bbq pork.

Jimswside,

Sounds a wonderful lunch and I agree 100% a sunnyside up egg yoke always enhances. As you are fans of leftover fried rice for leftovers, and who isn't, I'd suggest a stop at Chiu Quon Bakery just a bit East of Tank, for rice wrapped in lotus leaf. A delicious combination of glutenous rice mixed with a varying assortment of ingredients such as Chinese sausage, BBQ pork, chicken, preserved egg, dried shrimp, dried mushroom and steamed. Inexpensive and reheats well.

thanks for the heads up regarding the liquor stores & the other restaurant rec.. That whole neighborhood is well worth the hour and a half drive from our rural hideout southwest of Chicago.

jimswside wrote:They need to get a liquor license, some cold beers with this food would complete a great meal.

Cold beer wise, there is a Foremost Liquor a block East on Argyle.

Enjoy,
Gary

Tank
4953 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
773-878-2253

Chiu Quon Bakery
1127 W. Argyle St
Chicago, IL
773-907-8888

Foremost Liquor Store
1040 W Argyle St
Chicago, IL 60640
773-989-0808

thanks for the liquor store, and other restaurant rec's. That neighborhood is a city treasure, and well worht the over hour and a half trek from our rural hideout southwest of Chicago.

We will be back for sure, sooner than later.

A few notes on last night's dinner @ Tank:

1) For fans of the Crispy Scallion Pancake appetizer, Tank has taken to cooking thin slices of bacon into the "pancake." Not that I thought the dish needed any improvement, but it just makes a great plate better. (Btw, how do you-alls eat this? I've seen people just using chopsticks or forks, and I've also seen people wrapping it in the cabbage-like leaf provided with it.)

2) For the love of the deity of your choice, can someone please ask Tank to just permanently close off one of the entrances? With people pouring in two different ways on a Friday night, the confusing process of the entry order is at a "who's on first" level. (And if they'd just have one of the damned things removed completely, they could squeeze another 2 - or probably 3 - tables into the resulting space.)

3) After dinner, patrons can pick up one of these rockin' 2009 Pho Xe Tang calendars, gratis. Mine has found a home on our kitchen door, but the lovely "Ladies of Tank" would look great in any garage.

FYI

Tank Noodle is closed for the holidays and the sign in the window states that they are on vacation until early Jan. The hubby and I were in the area yesterday and stopped by for lunch. Sun Wah, also being closed since it was Thursday, brought us into Pho 888.

We were very very happy with the pho with meat ball, tripe and beef as well as an appetizer of lotus root, shrimp, ham, and peanuts.

CM2772 wrote:FYI

Tank Noodle is closed for the holidays and the sign in the window states that they are on vacation until early Jan. The hubby and I were in the area yesterday and stopped by for lunch. Sun Wah, also being closed since it was Thursday, brought us into Pho 888.

We were very very happy with the pho with meat ball, tripe and beef as well as an appetizer of lotus root, shrimp, ham, and peanuts.

I have always picked Pho 888 over Tank. I prefer the atmosphere, particularly the mom and pop feel of the operation. Hell, when you walk to the bathroom you can see gramma and gramps in the back hacking up squid!

True Tank may have a deeper menu (cow penis pho, anyone?), but I haven't found that their food is better. If anything, both places turn out equally reliable and interesting Vietnamese. I just give my business to 888 because its more comfortable. Also the name rocks.

the lovely "Ladies of Tank" would look great in any garage.

Now there's an idea for an LTH moneymaker - get our favorite cutie restaurant owners and servers to pose for a slightly more risk-taking LTH calendar. Equal opportunity, of course - Achatz, Nick and Natalie, Sun Wah ladies, Hopleaf and Kuma's servers, etc. Why is it that those who feed us so often look better than, well, us. Bottom line, I don't care, but that'd be one spicy meatball.

Does anyone recall a soup dish at Tank that is a very complex (even more than the Pho) beef soup, with a darker and "muddier" broth than the Pho (? blood in the soup)? I had it once and fell in love, but have since forgotten the name/# on the menu. A search on the board did not help find my lost love. I am going there tomorrow, and although trial and error is never bad at Tank, figured someone here probably knows what I am talking about.

borborigmy wrote:Does anyone recall a soup dish at Tank that is a very complex (even more than the Pho) beef soup, with a darker and "muddier" broth than the Pho (? blood in the soup)? I had it once and fell in love, but have since forgotten the name/# on the menu. A search on the board did not help find my lost love. I am going there tomorrow, and although trial and error is never bad at Tank, figured someone here probably knows what I am talking about.

Bun Bo Hue?

Jefe wrote:

borborigmy wrote:Does anyone recall a soup dish at Tank that is a very complex (even more than the Pho) beef soup, with a darker and "muddier" broth than the Pho (? blood in the soup)? I had it once and fell in love, but have since forgotten the name/# on the menu. A search on the board did not help find my lost love. I am going there tomorrow, and although trial and error is never bad at Tank, figured someone here probably knows what I am talking about.

Bun Bo Hue?

Bun Bo Hue is some seriously funky stuff, with a strong taste of shrimp paste. It may be what you're describing - - it's definitely much stronger in flavor than pho.

At my favorite northern Virginia Vietnamese restaurant, the owner refused to serve us Bun Bo Hue on our first visit. He only capitulated months later after we reported that we'd visited Vietnam and enjoyed Bun Bo Hue there. In the owner's experience, not many non-Vietnamese like the soup.

Ronna

Bun Bo Hue sounds like it could be the soup I was looking for! However, I don't recall it having a very aggressive shrimp paste or fishy taste, at least at Tank. Has anyone had it there and is it representative of the Bu Bo Hue at other establishments?

borborigmy wrote:Bun Bo Hue sounds like it could be the soup I was looking for! However, I don't recall it having a very aggressive shrimp paste or fishy taste, at least at Tank. Has anyone had it there and is it representative of the Bu Bo Hue at other establishments?

I think its pungency is being oversold above, but that's a personal opinion based on limited experience. YMMV. Incidentally, I adore Tank, but the bun bo hue at Pho Xua across the street is really top notch. Unless you're Asian, though, you'll probably need to request the congealed pig's blood specifically

Dmnkly wrote:Unless you're Asian, though, you'll probably need to request the congealed pig's blood specifically

No doubt.

My current favorite Bun Bo Hue may be found at Dong Ky, I am also fond of Bun Bo Hue at Dong Thanh, but the last few times it seemed to be missing that spicy heat/funk I associate with Bun Bo Hue.

Bun Bo Hue, Dong Ky


Enjoy,
Gary

Dong Ky
4877 N. Broadway
773-989-5579
Chicago, IL

Dong Thanh
4925 N Broadway St Ste B
Chicago IL
773-275-4928

Dmnkly wrote:I think its pungency is being oversold above, but that's a personal opinion based on limited experience. YMMV.

Perhaps. I've only had bun bo hue in the alleys of Vietnam and the strip malls of Northern Virginia. I haven't had it at any of the Argyle spots. Honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to a more subdued bun bo hue - - in my experience, the soup has been strong enough that I wouldn't want an entire bowl to myself.

Ronna

My recent and second trip to Tank was the first in which I was seduced fully by the brilliantly balanced flavors and textures of Vietnamese cuisine. I've had many a bowl of pho and have branched into bun cha, but all in lesser hands than at Tank Noodle. On my first visit I remember enjoying a pungent bowl of bun ho hue, but was in the company of those with more pedestrian palettes, which stifled my ordering power. On this recent visit we ordered the raw beef salad and banh xeo as starters and I ordered a bowl of pho with sliced beef and bible tripe. The raw beef salad was elemental and vibrant- a favorite kind of dish, a citrus+ beef+ leafy vegetation moment like the beef salad at T.A.C., though with raw beef- more like carpaccio meets ceviche. The best thing I've ate so far this year. The Banh xeo was texturally an embarrassment of riches, a fanciful layering of crunch. The pho was revelatory- I feel like I've graduated to a new level of appreciation for a good broth. In my younger days eating pho meant piling on the many options from the condiment tray. As a capsicum lover, I still have to resist the urge to dump the whole plate of jalapeno in the soup. I partially blame the weak broths that I had come across up until that day. A sweet spicing was prominent- notes of cassia and star anise, built around a deep beefy base that undoubtedly was the result of simmering long with bone. I'm pretty sure that they slipped tendon into my soup rather than bible tripe. In my soup were thick cut slabs of multi-textured cartilage-like meat with different points of flavor. I feel that in the past I have ordered pho with tendon that was cut into smaller strips of more uniform meat. Later at a nearby grocery I was checking out long sections of tendon and what I ate in my pho looked as though it could be a cut cross section from the wider part of the tendon. It was something new. I liked it. The whole meal made me giddy like a new love affair.

Just returned from another great meal at Tank noodle. The highlight of the meal was the sizzling crepe (banh xeo). It looked like an omelette but the exterior was quite crispy and not that eggy. The inside included moist pieces of shrimp and pork that stuck to the skin and lots of fresh bean sprouts. We also really enjoyed the fried snapper and the exquisitely fresh spring rolls, but next time we head to tank, we'll probably order that crepe again.


Banh Xeo - Sizzling Crepe with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts

Every meal I had at Tank was a very "bland" disappointment. As a matter of fact, I do not remember ever having a really authentic Vietnamese meal in Chicago over the last 40 years, of the same kind hat you would find in Paris or Montreal. With a few exceptions at Le Colonial and the second Pasteur ( on Broadway) during their first two years of existence. In most local Viet eateries the cooks were recent immigrants of the post V war period and not older cooks who were trained in either 3 main traditional regional Vietnamese cuisines. or the more urban one often influenced by French cooking methods inherited in "French" Indochina in the 30's and 40's. To me, some of the best dishes were coming from the Hue area (central Indochina) site of the so-called "imperial" style. We had a Hue restaurant on Argyle 25 years ago.
I enjoyed the cheap but very nicely prepared traditional dishes, like the lemongrass chicken, at Vien Dong (3227 N. Clark) but Nelson closed his place 2 years ago to move to Texas.
Nowadays, I find partial comfort at Hoahn Long at 6144 N. Lincoln avenue.
But that's about it.
Any suggestion of authentic Vietnamese restaurants in the metropolitan Chicago area will be welcome.
Thanks

I would definitely have to agree. My wife and I tested out Tank Noodle yesterday, and were pretty disappointed. I heard about the place from LTH so we had some high expectations. We both had a craving for pho and goi cuon. First of all let me state that I have eaten lots of pho in lots of different places. I am rather new to Chicago, having moved here in August from Detroit. My favorite place in Michigan would be Thang Long in Madison Heights. Definitely my gold standard for pho. I guess I was expecting more from Argyle street. The goi cuon were good, no doubt about that. But the pho, bland, bland bland. And no onions? The pieces of tripe and tendon I had were not cut properly and were difficult to eat and unappetizing. This in conjunction with a somewhat heated argument happening behind us between the manager and a patron regarding a screw found in her soup added to the unpleasantness. I definately wanted to love this place when I walked in. The menu was really extensive, and the packed house (mostly asian), made me think we were going to the jackpot. The service wasn't great either, no check-in and slow water refills made it unimpressive. I must say though, I don't usually expect great service when I go to a place like this, but not checking in at all was sort of a surprise.

I hope to get back to Argyle and have a better experience next time. Perhaps I hit Tank on an off day??

borborigmy wrote:Bun Bo Hue sounds like it could be the soup I was looking for! However, I don't recall it having a very aggressive shrimp paste or fishy taste, at least at Tank. Has anyone had it there and is it representative of the Bu Bo Hue at other establishments?

Shrimp paste base to me screams Bun Rieu more than Bun Bo Hue.

The soups look similar, but Bun Rieu typically uses a lot more shrimp paste in the broth, and traditionally uses broth made from water poured over crushed paddy crabs.



Although nothing beats homemade vietnamese food, I don't mind Tank for Pho, but I agree they do have their off days. For Bun Bo Hue, I like Cafe Hoang. I have yet to find a place that serves acceptable Bun Rieu in a restaurant here in Chicago.

pacent wrote:I don't mind Tank for Pho, but I agree they do have their off days. For Bun Bo Hue, I like Cafe Hoang.

Agreed completely! I haven't found anything else I much care for at Cafe Hoang, but their Bun Bo Hue is my favorite along Argyle (Tank's is bland, IMHO).

-Dan

alain40 wrote:Every meal I had at Tank was a very "bland" disappointment.

Sadly I have to agree. And it's doubly disappointing because of all the great meals I had at Mekong in the same space decades ago.

Found this on some ran-dumb search I was doing...same place?
Do they still have the sign up or is the old location? OR ?

Same place, the sign is still up and it looks like the same location.

pacent wrote:Shrimp paste base to me screams Bun Rieu more than Bun Bo Hue.

The soups look similar, but Bun Rieu typically uses a lot more shrimp paste in the broth, and traditionally uses broth made from water poured over crushed paddy crabs.



I have yet to find a place that serves acceptable Bun Rieu in a restaurant here in Chicago.

It's impossible to make bun rieu here in the States the authentic way, but using pseudo crushed crab mixture, it's one of the few dishes that I can prepare decently, therefore it's dead easy.

I will make a point of taking pictures the next time I prepare it, and post them. Especially with tomato season coming up, perfect use for abundant seasonal tomatoes.

Mr. X had a taste for Asian noodles so off to Argyle Street we went. Tank Noodle had been on my list and would satisfy Mr. X's craving. I felt woefully underprepared though because I hadn't done any research. We managed. We ordered the Bahn Xeo, a yellow curry chicken noodle dish and the catfish hotpot. (I'm with Whiskeybent -- how are you supposed to eat this?) Nothing disappointed. The curry dish was flavorful and satisfying. I really enjoyed the catfish. The crepe had an interesting interplay of textures and flavors.
Tank is now walkable for us and I know we'll be back to try more of the menu. Service was efficient.

Ordered delivery from Tank tonight. Arrived in 35 minutes, hot and fresh. Everything was great as usual. They are now at the top of my delivery list.

While the bread isn't near as good as Nhu Lan's*, I really prefer Tank's grilled-to-order banh mi fillings to what's on offer at Ba Le. On Sunday I grabbed a few sandwiches on the way to catch the Red Line to the Cubs/Cards game. Wrigley doesn't seem to mind if you bring in your own food, and grilled pork banh mi at $3 and change are way better than a steamed Ball Park® frank for $4+.

-Dan

* the bread very well may be from Nhu Lan, but isn't hot and fresh out of the oven, with a crackly exterior and soft, pillowy interior