LTH Dinner at Friendship Chinese, 11/17/04 [pics]

(Author's Note: This was a night of firsts for me. My first LTH dinner and my first time photographing food at the table. I took about 15 photos, and only 3 of them are even close to being usable. I am a humble rookie.)

Inspired by this thread, fourteen of us met for dinner at Friendship Chinese, a neighborhood favorite of JimInLoganSquare and myself. Jim and I met with chef and owner Alan the week before and set up a few of our favorite items. Alan also planned to serve us some surprises from his upcoming menu change.

The round of appetizers included an underwhelming calamari tempura with stir-fried vegetables, surprisingly tasty crab rangoon (a dish that SethZurer and I were scoffing at a mere minutes before it was surprisingly served), and the outstanding Smoky China Wings (below). These wings put Frienship on the map for me. Oversized drumettes, pushed into chicken popsickles, served with a spicy-sweet sauce that Alan could sell in bottles if he wanted to:


The entrees included my two standbys: Hong Kong steak w/Ginger & Szechwan string beans, both of which were predictable for me.

We also tried Alan's take on sweet & sour chicken, which includes his homemade sauce made from champagne and apricots. I like the fact that the crispy strips of chicken are served dry above the sauce, allowing you to control the "sauciness" and preserve the crispiness of the chicken.

Jim's favorite honey walnut shrimp was a hit, with tasty walnuts which Giovanna continuously extolled. My walnut allergy kept me away.

Alan also made his ma po tofu, which has been off the menu for a while. I think the fact that it is not on the menu results in an inconsistent preparation. This time, it was a tad bland:



Also included was some shrimp fried rice and an orange duck which erred a little too far on the sweet side for me:


After all that was done, Friendship went a little overboard on the desserts, in my opinion. Cheesecake with ginger ice cream, banana bread pudding, chocolate orange cake, and some sort of pear cobbler thing. Frankly, this all disappointed me, as I would have rather tried a few more new dishes (I don't go to Friendship for dessert).

Overall, I enjoyed the dishes I expected to enjoy, and was a little let down by the rest of the choices, and the lack of anything new and interesting. Also, Alan's hospitality took a bit of a back seat on Wed. night, surprisingly. I don't think there were any converts in the crowd, but we had a great time. Still, Friendship remains a neighborhood option for me for a handful of dishes that I can't get anywhere else.

Beyond the food, the experience of finally dining with LTHers was fantastic. I was delighted to meet Cathy2, CrazyC, Food Nut, SethZurer, JOJO, Giovanna, JimInLoganSquare and everyone's friends and significant others. There's something about the exuberance and good cheer of this crowd that makes the food taste better. Many thanks to everyone for a nice evening. I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to see you all again and meet even more people.

Best,
EC

EC,

Sounds like a wonderful evening, couple of good dishes, great company and meeting new friends.

Very nice first outing on the pictures, both the duck, tad sweet it may be, and the Smoky China wings speak to me.

Enjoy,
Gary

Hey gang (of 4),

All of this talk of late about Friendship inspired me to give the place another shot as far as delivery. Since coming to Logan Square some 3 years ago, it's been an on again, off again relationship with delivery Chinese in the neighborhood. Friendship was the first place my housemates and I started ordering from, and we were constantly frustrated by the wild inconsistency of the delivered product. One night, the dishes would be uniformly pretty good (I've never had anything mind, er, palate-blowing from Friendship) and the next, wildly inconsistent. As a group of 4 or 5, we always order a range of dishes from the mundane to the semi-exotic. One night the shrimp fried rice would be right on the money: rich, almost charred rice, fresh, just-cooked vegetables, and a healthy amount of cleaned, tender shrimp. Next time, two weeks later, undercooked rice with the occasional shrimp shell floating around and no vegatables save a few pieces of mushy carrot and almost raw onion. What the #$%@^????!!! The unpredictability of Friendship, combined with the slightly higher than normal prices, pushed us to use Anne's Mandarin or Papajin for a while - both places, if you close your eyes and try hard to like it, serve passable food (though Anne's penchant for serving any meat dishes in big, unmanageable hunks was a quick turn-off.) We finally settled on (and now get delivery from at least once a week) Eat First, a nondescript takeout place across from the Dominick's on Belmont just east of Kimball. I had passed by this place so many times for about 2 years but never tried it, assuming the worst. Well, surprise, surprise, Eat First offers probably the best delivery Chinese in Logan Square. I stick to the basics - simple Chinese/American like sesame chicken, bbq pork, pan fried noodles, etc.. and have never been disappointed. And, as a matter of fact, Eat First's curry chow mai fun (singapore noodles elsewhere) is one of the best in the city. It's also inexpensive and shockingly fast (average phone call to arrival time 15 minutes). If I need a quick fix and don't feel like going out, Eat First is my go-to place. I needed a change the other night, though, and gave Friendship a shot. Actually, I knew I was going to be out and about ,so I called ahead and ordered to pick up (essentially, one would hope, getting the same dinner as if it were to be delivered). Well, it was pretty good, on the whole. BBQ pork appetizer was a good-sized serving of very tender, slightly charred pork slices in a rich but not gloppy sauce; hot and sour soup was tangy, sharp, and studded with a blend of mushrooms, tofu, and pork; and the sesame beef with broccoli was very nice - tender beef in a tasty thin sauce liberally coated with toasted sesame. This dish could have used about twice the amount of broccoli. As someone pointed out before, Friendship's packaging is a cut above the usual as well; everything is in sturdy red cardboard and then packaged in a cake box. The total price with tax was about 23 bucks. A similar meal from Eat First looks like it would be about 15 (adding a few bucks for tip if we got delivery). So, this round at least, Friendship was maybe a notch higher in quality than Eat First, a notch that to me justifies an extra 5-7 dollars for dinner. That's not the problem. The question is: if I order from Friendship next week, will the regular chef be cooking or will his evil twin have the shift that night? The place is really schizo as far as quality, but maybe the chef has taken the culinary equivalent of Zoloft and these problems have been solved. Of course, there are two different tacks when it comes to delivery Chinese - with Winter coming, the idea of sitting home and getting warm with a movie to watch or book to read as people bring food to your door is always appealing. The other tack is that getting bundled up, hopping on the EL or in the car and trekking down to LTH late on a barren, freezing Chicago weeknight will make the food that much more of a reward when you finally get there. (and, let's be totally honest, Friendship and Eat First, bless 'em both, really can't do what is done in LTH or any other good Chinatown spot). I think both approaches have merit, and think it's fun in an urban-adventure sort of way, to brave the cold, the traffic, and the alternately sad/annoying homeless contingent on Cermak to get to a dish of crispy noodles or clams in black bean or soup with pork, tofu and preserved vegetable at LTH. During Winter especially, a big, hearty Chinese meal with soup somewhere in it invariably makes me want to nap, so going down to Cermak is probably the better option, as the cold breeze snaps me awake just long enough to make it home, while preventing me from waking up at the house with a start, as the container of broth slowly spills into my crotch as I nod off on the easy chair. Damn you, Charlie Rose!! See you in the trenches,

Rebbe

It was a fun and filling evening. I also agree that some of the dishes were a little off in preparation.

I thought the calamari was tasteless and rubbery and had a burnt taste after the stir fry. I thought the calamari should not have been breaded and fried prior to the stir fry.

I do believe Friendship has the greatest lemon chicken and sweet and sour sauce. It is so fresh tasting, you just know it is homemade and not from a jar or plastic package. The julienned vegetables are also a nice change from the large chunks of inedible vegetables normally found in sweet and sour.

Many of the items on the menu for the evening were deep fried, which disappointed me.

The beans and beef, chicken wings, and shrimp were excellent and stood out amongst the other dishes.

I ate the remaining fried rice the next day and while the shrimp was fresh and tasty, there was nothing more to it than shrimp, rice, and soy.

Thanks to JiLS and EatChi for planning the event. It was loud and fun and there was enough good stuff on the menu for me to return, and now I know what to order.

My one other observation was the timing of some of the items. Yes, we were a large party, but it seemed as though the chef might have been all alone in the kitchen, either that or the wait staff was slow carrying things out.

I was disappointed, too, that the chef didn't come out to say hello.

The pics are fine, EatChi. Thanks for posting them. It was great to meet everyone, too.

eatchicago wrote:Beyond the food, the experience of finally dining with LTHers was fantastic. I was delighted to meet Cathy2, CrazyC, Food Nut, SethZurer, JOJO, Giovanna, JimInLoganSquare and everyone's friends and significant others. There's something about the exuberance and good cheer of this crowd that makes the food taste better. Many thanks to everyone for a nice evening. I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to see you all again and meet even more people.
Best,
EC

'bout sez it all, huh!

Chianti with Chinese Food?

Chianti with Chinese Food?

Hehe. I brought the chianti. It's what I had in the house. I wasn't really tuned in to the pairing, I just wanted a glass of wine. Bad match, i take it? I wasn't really tuned in.

A GOOD German Riesling would be the ideal match with your meal there, and when I say GOOD, I mean one of quality. There is alot of plonk german riesling out there. I can pontificate more if the group would like but will save it for another post, as to not hijack the thread.

Seth Zurer wrote:

Chianti with Chinese Food?

Hehe. I brought the chianti. It's what I had in the house. I wasn't really tuned in to the pairing, I just wanted a glass of wine. Bad match, i take it? I wasn't really tuned in.

Trixie and I went to Friendship last Sunday night and had an unexpectedly nice experience. The room was done in a simple but elegant manner. This would seem to also be their overall philosophy when it came to the food.

We took eatchicago’s lead and tried the Szechwan green beans as well as the Hong Kong steak. In addition, we partook of the
Chicken wings in sweet and sour sauce as well as the Seafood Hot and sour soup. I loved the balance of their soup. Just the right proportion of hot to sour.

The wings were fun. I liked the way they place the wings over the sweet and sour sauce instead of tossing them through the sauce, keeping the chicken crisp instead of a sticky mess. For our main course, we had the Szechwan Green Beans, which were prepared absolutely perfectly. The beans were blistered from proper heat while still remaining fresh and crispy on the inside. The Hong Kong steak was served inside a fried potato nest and accompanied by an assortment of stir-fried vegetables. The steak was a bit tough but was coated lightly with a nice sauce. While I found the potato to be aesthetically pleasing, it was a bit dense and oily. For around $15 for this dish, I’m not sure I’d re-order it but was still pretty good attempt for the meal’s weak link.

The service pretty much sealed the deal for me with their warmth and attentiveness throughout the meal. Service like this can take a good meal and make it a great experience.

I loved this place for a low-key Sunday evening supper. They are clearly trying to give you a high quality experience without taking themselves too seriously; a hard thing to pull off. I understand that some have complained about inconsistency here—so perhaps we hit them on a particularly good night. If you’re in the mood for an informal Chinatown-like experience, this won’t fit the bill. But if you’re looking for a bit of charm at modest prices, this is definitely worth a try.

My experience with Friendship more or less parallels my education in "real" Chinese through this board and CH. I'm still far from an expert in the latter, but I think I've learned a few things, have a lot more to learn, but have come to conclude there are at least three distinct niches in Chinese (not counting crappy greasy woks and chop suey houses/$5 buffets): (1) the "authentic"; (2) the "haute Chinese-influence" and (3) the "enthusiastic innovator". Places like LTH, Ed's Potsticker House, LaoSzechuan, etc. fit model 1. Red Light and Opera fit number 2. And Friendship fits number 3. Not overly expensive, not trying to be hip (and certainly not located in a "hip" neighborhood, unless you consider dollar stores and unisex hair salons hip), Friendship is deeply committed to a singular vision, and the results are unlike what you'll find anywhere else, love it or leave it.

I'm glad you enjoyed the meal, PIGMON. petit pois and I have been eating regularly at Friendship for over three years now and we've seen the menu (and decor) change about a dozen times. It has a special place in our hearts. We've had a few birthday parties, our engagement party, and our first ever LTH dinner there. Friendship was one of the restaurants that first inspired me to start my blog, before I stumbled upon the soon-to-be-LTHForum crowd. I was constantly recommending it to friends of mine, and they'd always call me back and say, "What was that Chinese place in Logan Square you told us about?" I thought, "If only I had some sort of public, accessible repository of food recommendations......I know! I'll use the internets!"

The thing I like most about Friendship is the "singular vision" that JiLS spoke of. Chef/Owner Alan is focused on doing it his way, in his style, unapologetically. Some people call his cooking "fusion", a label I find inappropriate in this case. It is most definitely not authentic. To me, Friendship is a Nouveau-American-Chinese restaurant. It's the kind of place that a US-raised son of a 1960s chop suey-house owner would build, (which is exactly what it is).

Many people have complained about their inconsistency which I never saw until recently. Our past few visits to Friendship have been wildly inconsistent (chicken dishes with no chicken, spicy dishes with no spice, other dishes with no flavor at all). I have complained in certain situations, but the net effect has been less frequent visits. I've been wearing petit pois down in my constant requests for a return visit, in fact we almost wound up there on the same evening as PIGMON and trixie-pea. I want to return and I hope I catch them on a good night.

Best,
Michael

Work at an office nearly next door to Friendship Chinese Restaurant and finally went in and checked it out. I am very pleased with the experience. Had the walnut shrimp, which was fantastic. My wife had another shrimp dish that was quite good.

I really like this place. Great service, and they pay attention to details. The green tea they serve when you first sit down is first-rate, and even the water they serve is above average, with just a twist of lemon in there.

Overall, I highly recommend this place.

Friendship Chinese Restaurant
2830 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago

We got takeout from there on Friday of Chinese New Year Weekend (woof!) and it was all good. I wasn't thrilled with the beef dish (no idea what it was, D. did the ordering) but hubby liked it. It's a plus that you can get their menu online. I think it's going to become our "go-to" Chinese takeout.

http://www.friendshiprestaurant.com

we used to like this place a few years ago but in the past year they have really increased their prices, they only offer large portions (they used to offer a small and a large) and honestly, the food is not as good as it once was. It's still something different if you want to pay the money for it. But definitely not your every week take out or delivery place. (Allan is very nice though!)

ingridg wrote:we used to like this place a few years ago but in the past year they have really increased their prices, they only offer large portions (they used to offer a small and a large) and honestly, the food is not as good as it once was. It's still something different if you want to pay the money for it. But definitely not your every week take out or delivery place. (Allan is very nice though!)

I love it when old threads get updated

I have been a long time Friendship customer and a one-time Freindship booster (as seen eariler in this thread).

My feelings about Friendship over the past year or so have been a roller-coaster ride, mostly due to the fact that Allan won't stop tinkering with the place. I like the guy, but he can't stop changing the menu, the recipes, the decor, the staff (maybe not his fault). The only thing that has stayed consistent is the super-sweet cake boxes used for takeout orders.

My specific gripes with the food changes are due to a distinct decrease in flavor and igredient quality--across the board. What was once fresh and flavorful is now fresh and bland:

--The Spicy Szechuan Long Beans used to have big chunks of red chiles and dried shrimp. This gave the dish a good level of heat and seasoning. Both of these ingredients are gone, and this dish basically tastes like fried green beans now. I've tried ordering it "super, mega, extra spicy", but it doesn't work. They seem to have lost their ability to make spicy food. The Kung Pao Chicken is also surprisingly bland.

--The meat quality on the Hong Kong Steak has decreased significantly in my experience. This was one of my favorite dishes that I now no longer order.

--He used to make an interesting version of Moo Goo Gai Pan with a variety of mushrooms. This seems to have dialed back to the more traditional button mushroom.

I am also particularly annoyed that they now only offer one large size of each dish for takeout. This has forced me, when ordering takeout for two, to choose between spending more or having less variety.

My unconfirmed suspicion is that, over time, Allan has decided to cut ingredient costs to increase margins. Decisions like, "No one will miss the shiitakes in the moo goo gai pan. That'll save 30 cents an order" and, "Most of my customers don't like spicy food anyway, so I can cancel my weekly order of chiles."

Maybe Allan is making shrewd decisions that are better serving his largest customer base. If so, he has lost me as a regular and an enthusiastic supporter. Either way, he's a good guy with an incredible work ethic and I wish him all the best.

During my last visit (a takeout request from an under-the-weather wife), Friendship was quite full on a weeknight, which was something I had rarely seen in the past. He must be doing something right.

Best,
Michael

Well, I still like it. The honey-walnut shrimp is a great deal and excellently prepared. I like the BYO atmosphere. At least I feel like my bottle of wine looks like it is drunk to match the food.

Is there any better Chinese close by? I just cannot tolerate Eat First on Belmont near Kimball. So dirty...not good food. I prefer #1 Chop Suey at Roscoe and Western in the strip mall. However, I really don't recommend anything there. It's just to fix the fix. Though, the last two times I got the fix, we went to Friendship Chinese.

Maybe they wanted to get out of the delivery business, or it wasn't profitable? Don't know.

ChicaGourmet is having a dinner soon at Friendship Cafe, I thought you may be interested with the opening dialogue:

CONFESSION OF A CHOP SUEY MAN:

Our Host, Chef-Owner Alan Yuen

Many-hued Chinese cooking styles exemplify the rich history and culture of China, and is simply magnificent—from the northern Szechwan, chili spices with a perfect marriage of ginger and scallions; from southern Canton, the reward of its perfumed aromas and tastes.

However, in recent years, China Buffet stores have been popping up like wild mushrooms. When the main interest is to increase the number of stores, quality has sadly faded away. When I hear people referring to
the art of Chinese cooking, represented by the popularity of the China Buffet stores, I weep bitterly. As one of the few iconoclasts who still likes to cook Chinese with pride and joy, I’d like to invite you to my restaurant, where your taste buds will witness an infinite richness of what Chinese cooking was meant to be.

If you wish to say that I am taking this cooking and eating business too seriously, you may. Indeed, I am. Are you?

Cathy2 wrote:ChicaGourmet is having a dinner soon at Friendship Cafe, I thought you may be interested with the opening dialogue:

CONFESSION OF A CHOP SUEY MAN:

Our Host, Chef-Owner Alan Yuen

Many-hued Chinese cooking styles exemplify the rich history and culture of China, and is simply magnificent—from the northern Szechwan, chili spices with a perfect marriage of ginger and scallions; from southern Canton, the reward of its perfumed aromas and tastes.

However, in recent years, China Buffet stores have been popping up like wild mushrooms. When the main interest is to increase the number of stores, quality has sadly faded away. When I hear people referring to
the art of Chinese cooking, represented by the popularity of the China Buffet stores, I weep bitterly. As one of the few iconoclasts who still likes to cook Chinese with pride and joy, I’d like to invite you to my restaurant, where your taste buds will witness an infinite richness of what Chinese cooking was meant to be.

If you wish to say that I am taking this cooking and eating business too seriously, you may. Indeed, I am. Are you?

oddly enough, that's the copy from his restaurant's website

http://www.friendshiprestaurant.com/index2.htm

This quote, I believe, is from the carry-out menu.

Sorry have to add to the not-so-positive reviews here.
Went tonight to try Friendship Chinese for the first time.

Started with the BBQ pork appetizer and hot and sour soup.
The BBQ pork was okay (slices of pork, with sweet barbeque sauce, seasoned with five spice -- very sweet but tasty)

but the hot and sour soup was neither hot nor sour (i.e. no spice, no vinegar). And, worst of all, it was served with bad krab. Fake crab that was fishy. Bleah. This did not inspire confidence as we had been interested in ordering seafood dishes. We cut our losses, never ordered entrees, and went to Map Room to drink the rest of our dinner.
(with pretzels)