Yu's Mandarin (Schaumburg) -- Am I crazy or what?

So, I have been frequenting Yu's Mandarin for over 15 years now, and have always felt some of their dishes were the best around. So, I was disappointed to see that the place doesn't get a ton of love around here.

I tried a couple of Katy's soups a few weeks back, and man, they were good but the broth was so one-dimensional when compared to the standout at Yu's -- the Noodle Soup (Cham Pong).

This traditional korean "garbage" soup consists of a flavorful (a healthy dose of garlic and heat) seafood-based broth with some vegetables, squid, shrimp, and pork. Not to mention Yu's homemade noodles, which are decent. While I can't say their cham pong is the most traditional rendition, it is my favorite by far. The broth has a fantastic layering of flavors and smokiness. The only bad thing about this soup is the shrimp that they use -- not deveined. I would recommend ordering the soup without the shrimp.

Yu's actually has some other great dishes as well. I highly recommend trying the Chicken with Garlic Sauce (not to be confused with Garlic Chicken), which consists of lightly battered deep-fried chunks of white chicken meat tossed in an extremely flavorful and spicy garlic sauce.

Another standout is their rendition of Ma Po Tofu. Their version is vegetarian, which might scare some off. But they have just the right balance of heat, scallions, tofu, and sauce. It is simply excellent.

Yu's offers much more on their menu but I rarely, if ever, stray from these dishes. It just isn't worth going there if you miss out on these items.

I seriously urge you all to go there and try these dishes.

Yu's Mandarin
200 E Golf Rd
Schaumburg, IL 60173
(847) 882-5340
http://www.yusrestaurant.com

No offense, but did you have a serious sinus infection when you ate at Katy's? One-dimensional is definitely not an adjective I would use in description of Katy's soups.

Otherwise, I had eaten at Yu's a couple of years ago and enjoyed it just fine.

Flip

Yu's is one of the things I miss the most about living in the suburbs. For a broke teenager, their lunch specials provided a "real" date and you could stuff two people for under $20 with tip. I'm sure prices have gone up, though. Now I'm gonna have to find a way to get back their, or the thought of their noodles will never leave my mind.

Nope, no sinus infection. Seriously, one-dimensional broth (on both soups I tried -- Dan Dan and Beef). And actually, the other dishes I had didn't quite impress me either (the "pancake" noodle with pork and another dish -- don't even remember now). I really wanted to love Katy's and just ended up liking it. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I picked the food up and didn't eat it until about 20-25 minutes later.

I will be the first to admit that I have never been a fan of the pancake dish. However, I could live off of the beef soup. The broth is always rich with tones of garlic, ginger and anise. DAMMIT now I want a bowl!! why did I have to move out east again?

Flip

Not crazy. We head out to Yu's a few times a year for good Korean style Chinese food. And they do one of the best clams in black bean sauce around.

Another vote for Yu's here. Try the ja-jaing mein. You are crazy about Katy's though.

I have been going to Yu's for 20+ years and it is still one of my favorite chinese restaurants. I used to have all of my birthday dinners there growing up, and even at 34 it is the first place that pops into my head when I gain a year.

My favs tend to be Peking Noodle (ja jaing mein), Szechuan Beef and Dragon and Phoenix (shrimp and chicken in a light sauce, served on sizzling platter). Also think they have one of the best hot and sour soups I have found (very heavy on pepper) and the pot stickers can't be missed.

Being much older now and living in the city, I only get to Yu's maybe once a year. When I do, I order one of everything

Plan an outing, I need an excuse to head out there

Jamie

I'm pretty sure I dined at Yu's once, years ago, but can't remember what I ate, good or bad. Last week, I was back for a large group dinner. I had no say in ordering, and I really want to believe that my dismal meal on Thursday night was due to poor choices because most of what I ate was very shiny, mushy and bland.

The noodles were the worst, too soft and doughy and covered with overcooked vegetables.



We had quite a few dishes that were shiny and possibly crunchy, but except for chicken crack at LSC, I'm not a fan of breaded and fried meat in Chinese restaurants, especially dishes that look like this:



I thought the xiao-ping pork was OK. I liked the way the heat crept up, but this dish overall also seemed mushy and too viscous.



We had several more dishes, but my examples above are representative of the entire meal. I wouldn't return to Yu's unless I was assured that I wouldn't have to eat anything I ate there last week.

Love Yu's and have for a long long time...Just remember to "Wink Wink" order from the other menu

happy_stomach wrote:I wouldn't return to Yu's unless I was assured that I wouldn't have to eat anything I ate there last week.

Chef Ping is the New Yu.

The reason to go to Yu's (IMO) is for the cham pong (seafood noodle soup) and the chicken with garlic sauce (yes, americanized but yum). I also like Chef Ping's but their broth is still not as good as Yu's, although they do have several variations.

I TOTALLY agree that the only things to order at Yu's are the Chinese "for Koreans" dishes -- the Jambong, Jajangmien, and gamboongi ( although last two are just as good at the Assi food court). Yu's jambong is the most subtle, complex and delicate broth (who ever uses the word delicate to describe Korean anything?) I've ever tasted.

Now, I LOVE K's -- just recently shifted from the spicy schwezuan soup (which I ordered 16 consecutive times) to now ordering the beef soup (always tasted my friends' but never ordered my own.) There have been 2 times that K's spicy soup wasn't as good as usual -- the broth was good but just not as rich and flavorful as usual. Maybe Rx caught them on one of these rare days.

Yu's jambong is a more sophisticated, subtly flavored broth that is almost silky in it's seafood-y richness. K's is a heartier broth (with more substantial and chewy noodles) and I usually drive to K's from the city vs driving to Yu's. But both are absolutely great.

But stay away from other Chinese dishes at Yu's....these usually taste like bad foodcourt Chinese -- not just at Yu's but all the "ethnic Chinese but immigrated from Korea" places that I grew up eating at.

stevez wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:I wouldn't return to Yu's unless I was assured that I wouldn't have to eat anything I ate there last week.

Chef Ping is the New Yu.

Yep it is, the original owner of Yu's sold the restaurant a while back and found he missed having a restaurant so he opened Chef Ping's on Algonquin (the old Baker's Square location) near New Wilke about a year ago. The place is always packed! They have great lunch specials that include an egg roll & soup. It's not unusual to see the place filled with 90% Asian clientele. The decor is Modern Asian and most of the staff is friendly & attentive. No noodle show, chinese lanterns or funky fish tanks here. The menu is diverse and everything I have ever ordered has been spot on. The twice cooked pork, mandarin trio, noodle platters (both vegetable & seafood), eggplant, kung pao chicken & shrimp & hunan beef have been outstanding! I am going to try the salt & pepper chicken wings next time I visit. My only complaint may be that the vegetable dishes are priced a little high to me.

As a follow-up to our discussion at yesterday's LTH North Lunch Group outing, I just drove past the soon-to-be Vernon Hills location of Yu's in the former Silk Mandarin location on Phillips Rd. There was actual construction activity going on. Yay!