Cai, Chinatown Square

Cai recently opened on the second floor of Chinatown Square, on the far east side. (It's above Citibank.)

We joined my parents for dim sum this morning. Walking in, the space reminded me of the large, Chinese restaurants in suburban Toronto or Vancouver. I was being cautiously optimistic that this might live up to my high expectations for good dim sum.

The vegetarian dumplings, bbq pork rice crepe, congee, and sticky rice were my favorites of the day. The sticky rice was the best rendition in Chicago - packed with flavor from ground pork, dried scallops, and preserved egg yolk. The greens used in the vegetarian dumplings and bbq pork rice crepe were clearly very fresh based on their vibrant green hue and taste. The congee was delicate (you may want to request pepper to season it to your liking), and the handmade fishballs were made with care. I am quite happy about having this new addition in Chicago's Chinatown scene, especially for dim sum.

There's a menu card for ordering, but there are still 1-2 carts that make their way around the dining room. Service was very attentive, well informed, and friendly. At the conclusion of our meal, one of the restaurant partners (?) stopped by to check our experience. He genuinely cared about getting feedback, and especially wanted to be aware if there were any missteps in service or food preparation. Now, onto some iphone pictures:


Pictured above: BBQ pork turnovers, vegetarian dumplings (shiitake, bamboo shoot, and peapod greens), bbq pork and greens rice crepe, and pork potstickers.


Pictured above: Congee with handmade fishballs, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf, curry chicken pot pie, and taro dumpling


Fried cruller wrapped in a rice crepe (I'm happy that they serve the sauce on the side. While the cruller was fresh and crisp when it arrived, it's best to consume as quickly as possible before the cruller gets soggy. This is a good version, but still not as good as Congee Wong in Toronto.)

Cai
2100 S Archer Av Ste 2F
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 326-6888

bonus point for the congee wong mention... and those pics look great.

I like the photos. Nice lighting. Is that daylight streaming in or did you bring your studio lighting with you?

Funny, i also went this morning and had similar good experience

for the 2 of us we ordered:
1. bbq pork crepe (very delicate skin but at the same time not sticking to each other, very good rendition)
2. turnip cake (i was having a conversation with the manager, he said some people think its too soft and asked me if i feel the same, i actually really liked it because you can actually see strips of turnip and can taste it versus most other places_
3. peapod leaves, greens dumplings (i agree with the other lther, the greens were exceptionally fresh, a clear step up from other chinatown places)
4. curry beef tendon (nice curry flavor and not overcooked, toothsome)
5. tripe (good)
6. pork intestines in black bean (good and fresh tasting)
7. deep fried seaweed shrimp roll (can actually see big chunks of shrimp)
8. soft custard mochi with green tea paste (interesting mix of pumpkin and green tea flavor)

service was very attentive, they checked on us numerous times, refilling tea
I'll be back very soon for dinner and also try other dim sum items

I visited Cai for dim sum at today. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I personally prefer Shui Wah, Triple Crown and Phoenix for dim sum. But Cai is so new, and offers so many more interesting sounding dim sum choices, that I'm sure I'll give it another shot.

We arrived at about 11:45 and waited about 20 minutes for a table, although they have quite a large dining room - the place was packed. They offer minimal cart service but also present you with cards for ordering when seated. I thought I had difficulty communicating in English with staff at Phoenix, but I found it even more difficult at Cai. No problems though - you just might have to be more assertive (and patient) finding someone with whom you can communicate.

One thing many will like about Cai is a far more interesting dim sum menu than most places - two presentations of chicken feet, tendons, tripe, etc. However, we stuck to many more typical dim sum orders. While I can't recall everything we ordered, a couple of disappointments were the sticky rice in lotus leaf with chicken (the rice was just not very sticky at all, and it was a bit under-seasoned) and some bbq pork bun (supposedly with abalone sauce, but I think they just gave us a bbq bun) which offered way too much bun and too little (and too dry) of the bbq pork filling.

But much of what we had was quite good - crepe filled with vegetables was quite good and the vegetables had so much flavor; some crispy pork filled dumplings were hot, crisp and delicious, and with very little grease; a steamed dumpling (I think with shrimp and pork) was also delicious; and a red bean cake with coconut was like gelatin and really terrific. They also make one hell of a pot of tea.

If you're looking for a place with cart service, this is probably not what you're looking for. Carts were few and far between. Also, service was really slow overall, but maybe this is because the place was packed and relatively new. But if you're tired of the same dim sum offerings and are willing to experiment, you might be quite happy at Cai.

A respectable showing for dim sum today. A few comments: Enjoyed the chile oil, it seemed hotter than most but not as complex as GWiv's but then most don't use fermented blk beans and browned garlic as he does. The jasmine tea was fragrant and excellent also. The one standout item was a chow fun noodle crepe wrapped around yuba aka bean curd skin filled w/pork. Great texture and flavor. Normally served w/a sweet soy but this one had some vinegar as well to cut the richness, this was the highlight of our meal. We found a couple of the dishes to be overly sweet, the baked chix curry puff and also the gelatinous rice filled w/minced pork suffered from this malady. I don't see changing my allegiance from Shui Wah (the "tallest midget in the circus") and was also a bit more expensive, not that big a deal, just a mention. Perusing the ala carte menu, not much jumped out but 9 variations of fried rice looked promising as did a couple of the entrees that have already escaped my memory.

went there for dinner with papa and mama sun wah, hubby, and brother and family last thursday. wasn't too impressed over all. they get kudos for the stir fried pea tips and the pork belly stewed w/ dried mustard greens. those were really on par. but everything else was only so so. our soup du jour was room temp even though we saw steam rising out of it and the rest of the food was comparatively mild bordering on bland. the chicken we ordered was actually tasty, being a free range chicken (yes, we can taste the difference because we're poultry geeks), but it wasn't the flavor we ordered so we weren't impressed in that sense. papa sun wah said it's probably because they use the "same" chicken for all the flavors they offer. was actually kinda quiet for a thursday night. hubby offered to order a peking duck to try, which earned him a withering glare from me. =P what is the man thinking, right? saw a couple ducks go by and tried to have the brother spy but they were wheeled into the private dining room. overall, it was an ok experience. glad to hear others have had better luck than we did.

Hmmm, I think I wanna hear Kelly's opinion on other Chinese places now. It could be a regular feature

was just thinking the SAME thing...
Miss Kelly--where DO you like the dim sum ??? That's where I'm going next!!

Trix and I hit Cai a few Sunday's back and thought most/all of the dim sum we ordered (turnip cake or "lo bak go", stuffed bean curd, shrimp & peapod har gow, potstickers, spring rolls, mock duck) was fairly mediocre at best. Lifeless, really.

But what struck me as telling was when the manager revealed to us that they were originally from Toronto and that it was too competitive for them there and thus decided to make a go at it in a secondary market.

Enjoyable if uninspiring dim sum at Cai Sunday noon. Slightly schizophrenic interior, sparkly chandeliers competing with stacked chairs and product labeled soda cooler, found the faux fur sweater vests on the hostesses puzzling. Loved the tendon, tender with deep dark anise looing sauce flavor, deep fried seafood seaweed roll nicely crunchy though the ample assortment of steamed dumplings slightly more than serviceable. Silken tofu left uneaten amongst the three of us and bean filled sesame balls tasted off.

I inquired as to xiao long bao, which was not on the menu, and was 'rewarded' with 4 thick skinned slightly above room temp soup dumplings. Had to ask for red vinegar/ginger which was moot as, even with gentle prodding, the bottom of the dumpling stuck to the cabbage steamer liner. I would have loved to have Pigmon at the table just to see his reaction.

Service friendly and efficient, chrysanthemum tea, served with rock sugar, terrific and chili oil had a nice toasty flavor. Cai has been open a month, I'll give them two more months to get settled and try again.

Enjoy,
Gary

I made my first visit to Cai yesterday and came away pretty happy. Shui Wah is still my go to standard, but Cai did a very nice job. The room itself reminded me of places I'd been to in San Francisco and LA, with it tablecloths, chandeliers and hostess decked out in cheongsams. Because of the New Year holiday the room was close to three quarters full and my friend and I were the only non-Asians. There was no cart service, but the menu with pictures to check off was very helpful. We tried five items, "celery with shrimp", which were rice crepes with shrimp and a piece of Chinese broccoli on the side, "xaio long bao, chiu chow dumplings, pan fried turnip cake and BBQ pork turnover.

Xaio Long Bao were just okay, the wrapper was a little gummy, but the vinegar they bought really upped their flavor, I could drink that stuff. Chiu chow dumplings had minced pork and peanuts in a very light wrapper, this was my second favorite item, we used the vinegar on it also, love that stuff. The pan fried turnip cake was not as crispy as Shui Wah's, but there were visible pieces of turnip which I liked. The BBQ pork turnovers were wonderful, crispy pastry dusted with sesame seeds enclosing pork, this was my favorite bite. The sauce was on the sweeter side, but had a curry undertone that I really liked. The "celery with shrimp" were on par with Shui Wah's ""rice crepe with shrimp", I'd give the edge to Shui Wah here.

I'd like to go back and try some more of the menu, my friend is not an adventurous eater so no tripe this time. I have to say the service was very attentive, everyone who came to our table spoke some english and were very concerned how we liked things. They filled water glasses and tea multiple times. Shui Wah still has the edge for me, but I liked this place better than Phoenix. Having another option is always a good and I plan to try more of the menu.

We visited a few months ago - long enough that I can't really recall the details (telling in itself; I have an excellent memory for food) aside from two things. One, the egg yolk buns were wonderful. Rich, sweet, and warm. I would return just for those, although it wouldn't exactly be a complete breakfast. Two, they have high chairs, but they are the most pointless high chairs I've ever seen. They're basically a barstool with a low back and arms, so not usable for any child younger than, say, three. I would have thought this was their way of discouraging youngsters, but the dining room was full of families which is pretty standard for Chinese restaurants, so I don't know.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Two, they have high chairs, but they are the most pointless high chairs I've ever seen. They're basically a barstool with a low back and arms, so not usable for any child younger than, say, three. I would have thought this was their way of discouraging youngsters, but the dining room was full of families which is pretty standard for Chinese restaurants, so I don't know.

Funny I saw those chairs being used by several families yesterday and wondered about them because they didn't look like any I'd seen before. I definitely saw children under three in them and they seemed to be strapped in just fine. The young man (under three) next to me spent a lot of time turned around in his high chair waving at me and he didn't seem like he'd either get out or fall over. It made me a little nervous though.

Regarding kids at Cai, its important to note that the fish tanks in the back are at ground level and have open tops. I and an innocent, formerly alive fish learned this the hard way when my little one found those tanks.

Huh, the chair they brought to us lacked straps and when we asked if there were seats with them they said no. Or perhaps it was a language barrier. At any rate, he hung out in his stroller and seemed pretty happy.

Kennyz, good tip on the fish tanks. I know there would have been mass fish death had my kid been within striking distance.

Not to start a flame war, but xiaolongbao are not Cantonese dim sum. Xiaolongbao are from Shanghai, many miles away from Guangdong or Hong Kong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaolongbao

Not to say that you shouldn't try to order it, but they are from different regions.

Have been here a couple times for dim sum. Better than any of the other places in town, I think. I haven't tried the XLB but their being bad/mediocre is not a surprise. Same is true at Phoenix. As noted, XLB is not a traditional dim sum item and it really takes some skill and scale to do properly. Yank Sing in SF is the only dim sum place I can remember having decent XLB (I'm sure there must be others) and they really feature it and sell a lot of them.

So I tried the XLB here. They were actually decent, better than Phoenix, not as good as Tao Ran Ju (though I haven't had XLB at either place in a while). The wrapper was a tiny bit thick, but not clumsily so the way they are are Phoenix and Lao Shanghai sometimes. The pork and crab filling was good and rich, with a respectable amount of soup. They came out hot, intact, and were served with vinegar. As I said, they were decent and I would absolutely order them again.

They have a seemingly broader range of items here. (I haven't done a careful comparison, but seems that way to me; it's possible Phoenix has a broad range too but they definitely have issues with cart circulation at busier times.) E.g., I had a rice crepe dish with bean curd sheets/dried scallops and steamed shrimp on tofu dish. The rice crepe was excellent. The shrimp/tofu was a little bland for me, but the shrimp, as on other items here, was of good quality.

Other dishes were of the same good quality as on prior visits. The tea is better here than other dim sum places. Service was good though we've generally gone at less busy times (which is easier to do when there's menu service). And the egg custard tart was absolutely perfect.

After a trip to Vancouver a few years ago I lost interest in eating dim sum in Chicago. The memories faded enough so a few months ago I tried Ming Hin (generally disappointing) and last month went to Cai (better). I agree with the comment above about the baked egg tart, the highlight of the meal.



A few years ago I bought one of every egg tart I could find in Chinatown. These are in a different league.

I enjoyed most of the other dishes, a few in this pic.



Deep fried spring rolls with taro and meat are interesting for the contrast of soft, starchy filling with the shatteringly crisp wrapper. Beef tendon with house sauce had a pleasantly smooth texture with a little fight left in; the mild sweetness and light texture of papaya with custard cake went nicely with the other, mostly savory, dishes. I'm back on the Chicago dim sum horse.

Cai
2100 S Archer Av, 2F
Chinatown Square, 2nd Level, NE Corner
Chicago
312-326-6888

Rene G wrote:After a trip to Vancouver a few years ago I lost interest in eating dim sum in Chicago. The memories faded enough so a few months ago I tried Ming Hin (generally disappointing) and last month went to Cai (better). I agree with the comment above about the baked egg tart, the highlight of the meal.

I didn't try the egg custard tart at Cai and that's too bad because that's one of my favorite treats. The best I've had in Chicago is without a doubt at Patisserie P on Argyle - pure silk. I'll have to try Cai's version.

BR wrote:I didn't try the egg custard tart at Cai and that's too bad because that's one of my favorite treats. The best I've had in Chicago is without a doubt at Patisserie P on Argyle - pure silk. I'll have to try Cai's version.

And I haven't tried the egg tart at Patisserie P yet. Every time I think to stop in, it's later in the day and they're out of things. I need to make a special early trip one of these days. I'd be happy to find a better one than Cai's.

For my Chinatown (south) egg tart survey a few years ago I think I managed to come up with about eight. As I recall there was only one I'd consider buying again (and it wasn't great). Unfortunately I mixed up some of the tarts so don't know which was the decent one!

Rene G wrote:After a trip to Vancouver a few years ago I lost interest in eating dim sum in Chicago. The memories faded enough so a few months ago I tried Ming Hin (generally disappointing) and last month went to Cai (better).

i'm told ming hin and cai have either the same owners or at least similar investors. i guess their business model has something to do with upscale interiors?

I made a couple of visits to Cai early on after they opened, but hadn't been back until today. For the most part, I was pretty impressed today, with some real hits and a few misses. I wouldn't expect them to excel in the XLB category, and there were certainly issues, but they were tasty. Ginger-vinegar sauce flavorful and served without requesting, although we did have to ask for soup spoons. Then again, after finding so little soup in the dumplings, maybe I now understand why spoons weren't offered in the first place. In any event, they were very flavorful, thin and delicate wrappers (though not very pretty), just very little soup to speak of.

There were a couple of misses in my book. The bbq pork buns with abalone sauce were a little on the bland side. They could have used a little more filling, and a more flavorful one. Also, shrimp and pork siu mai were like rocks - too dense and over-steamed. Hopefully, this was just a one-time mishap.

In the hit column, there were several. The pan fried pork bun with preserved vegetables featured a beautifully light bun, lightly yet crisply fried, with a very flavorful filling. Sticky rice with chicken in lotus leaf was very flavorful and so fragrant (big improvement since opening), although there were annoying bits of bone mixed in. Also, if you're a fan of a strong jasmine tea, Cai will put a big smile on your face.

Two very big hits were sweet items. First, the steamed egg custard bun initially showed off a light, perfectly steamed bun, but it was the sweet, oozing egg custard filling that impressed the most. Even better was the egg custard tart. As I noted above, Patisserie P has been my gold standard for this pastry, but today, Cai edged them out slightly. The pastry was perfectly flaky, the filling silky smooth and not too sweet; in other words, everything you should be seeking out in a perfect egg custard tart.

Cai won't necessarily cause me to forget Shui Wah (or the long gone Chicago Hong Min location), but it definitely offered me reasons to return.


One edit I forgot: I don't know how clean this place is, but the small plastic sign on our table indicating the table number was so laden with grease, dirt and food that seemed to have built up over months. It was one of the more disgusting things I've seen in a restaurant in some time. On the plus side, the lobster tanks seemed quite clean and I was happy to see surprisingly active lobsters moving about.

BR wrote:I made a couple of visits to Cai early on after they opened, but hadn't been back until today.

Brad, I must have just missed you there today. I generally agree with your comments (we ordered very similarly), although my XLB actually had a decent amount of soup in it (I pierced the skin with my chopstick picking it up so some spilled out and it still had a decent amount left by the time it made it to my mouth). Luck of the draw, I suppose.

One of my favorites of the meal, which you didn't mention, was a special they were bringing around of honeydew and coconut jelly. Very refreshing and simple and delicious. Another hit was the stuffed bean curd skin with pork and shrimp which really a great contrast of texture. There was also some sort of corn dumpling / patty of which I quite enjoyed the texture and flavor.

We ordered probably enough for 8-10 people for the 5 of us (I took home almost a meals worth of leftovers) and the bill was still only $25/pp all in. I definitely plan on returning.

I too made a couple trips to Cai after opening and had not been back until recently. There was virtually nothing that we thought was better than what's currently being served @ Lao You Ju, and most wasn't even equal. Consensus at the table was that the shui mai, egg bao, yuba w/shrimp and pork, soup dumplings, turnip cake and sticky rice are all lesser versions. For the few items that were in the same ballpark, there's so many other good selections @ LYJ that for me @ least, it doesn't warrant another trip.

My last couple of visits to Cai have been far better than earlier visits, and my dim sum meal there yesterday might have been the very best dim sum I've ever had in Chicago, perhaps even better than previous bests at Hong Min and Shui Wah. There was no cart service yesterday - but I'm fine with that . . . I've found that the best dim sum I've had is when it's brought out fresh.

Anyway, things started off well with a terrific pot of tea. Then we moved to the dim sum and there were some big hits:

The shrimp and chive dumplings were shaped so perfectly and featured perfectly cooked, tender shrimp and plenty of chives. I loved these. This was as perfect a version of these as I have ever tried.

BBQ pork buns here have disappointed me, but they've gotten better and yesterday they were pretty much perfect. Fluffy, not the least bit dry, plenty of filling and a delicious one at that. Also, about as good as I've had.

Shrimp and pork siu mai were perfectly steamed and also delicious.

Sticky rice and lotus leaf was just so wonderfully aromatic when the lotus leaf parcel was opened, and what great flavor the steamed leaf added to the rice. The sticky rice at Cai is not nearly as sticky as I've had elsewhere -- a small complaint -- but the flavor was spot on.

Xiao long bao - okay, these didn't quite hit the spot. They never do in Chicago. I should have immediately recognized cause for concern when they were delivered sans spoons - yes, foreshadowing. Indeed, there was barely any soup in the dumplings. The wrappers were a little too sticky too. At least the filling was tasty. But as good as other items are at Cai, you really should not waste your time with these.

Finally, the steamed creamy egg yolk bun was soft, delicate and most importantly, filled with oozing sweet egg yolk filling - delicious, perfect.

Overall, a terrific meal and all of the food was served piping hot. And if things keep heading in such a positive direction, this may just become my default dim sum place. Right now, I'd say it's just leading the pack in my discussions.

BR wrote: perhaps even better than previous bests at Hong Min

No way. Ever.