Two great meals: Jacky's Bistro and Mei Shung

Jacky's Bistro
Last week my mom and I went to Jacky's Bistro in Evanston for the first time and had a great meal. We arrived at 6 and the place was almost completely empty, but by 7:30 every outside table had filled up. It's located on a side street off of Central, so it's actually quite pleasant to dine outside (less traffic noise and no exhaust fumes).

We split the seared foie gras appetizer, and the kitchen thoughtfully divided it up into two plates for us. It was served on top of lightly dressed frisee with a scattering of roasted hazelnuts and fried shallots. I ordered sturgeon as an entree, which was one of the daily specials. My mom had steak frites with bordelaise sauce. Both were superb.

The sturgeon (a nice big, tender piece - I think it was pan-roasted) was placed atop gnocchi, haricots verts, "deconstructed" brussel sprouts (just the leaves), and salsify. It was wonderful. My mom's steak and frites were delish as well; the steak was tender, the sauce was rich and glossy and the frites were pretty much perfect, as far as I'm concerned.

Desserts were a chocolate palet (I'd never heard of this before, but it was a disc of chocolate and hazelnut mousse atop a tuile crust, covered in chocolate and served with a raspberry sauce; very velvety texture) and a mocha pot de creme with a chocolate eclair on the side. Yes, we kind of went overboard. But I don't regret it!

Mei Shung
Last night my boyfriend and I tried Mei Shung. I'd always driven past and wondered about it, and had not yet found what I consider to be a decent Chinese restaurant in the Andersonville area. (If you've got a favorite around Argyle, let me know!).

We ordered three entrees (we had to try as many things as possible, right?) - beef with orange peel, fish fillet with leeks, and ma po tofu. I think if we did it over again, it would have been best to have eaten the fish with leeks first and then dive into the other two. Not sure what kind of fish it was (we were too busy stuffing ourselves to inquire), but it was very tender and was served in a very delicate ginger sauce. It may have been a little too subtle for our tastes, but it was fresh and light and beautiful.

The ma po tofu was silky, almost custard-like, and comforting. Orange peel beef was crispy and glistening and not greasy or tough in the least. And the presentation was lovely.

Mei Shung was doing a bustling business, and for good reason. I'm already craving ma po leftovers...


Jacky's Bistro
2545 Prairie Avenue
Evanston
847-733-0899

Mei Shung
5511 N Broadway
Chicago
773-728-5778

I used to live 2 streets away from Mei Shung, and it was my lazy delivery place for Chinese food. I agree, the food there is really good. There is a Taiwan menu, I believe... My standbys are the clams in black bean sauce, and the mushrooms wrapped in tofu skin appetizer.

I actually have not been back in years since I moved away from the hood. If you are a fan of the fish in ginger sauce, next time you are in Argyle, drop in Sun Wah BBQ. They make it there too, and it is fantastic.

I'm actually surprised Mei Shung hasn't gotten more press on LTH. I think it's one of the better Chinese restaurants in Chicago. And they have a not-so-secret Taiwanese menu. I live in Bucktown, but if I'm craving Chinese, I drive down Broadway to Mei Shung. I've been meaning to go down there with my digital camera to get some pics.
Here are some of the menu highlights:
The standard Chinese staples are all very good but not amazing.
They have excellent pot stickers (pan-fried or steamed).
I like the scallion cakes (but a friend of mine finds them too salty).
The real menu 'gems' are on the Taiwanese menu:
I love the chicken with basil and the lamb with leeks (oddly, they have sort of a similar presentation on a bed of fried mai fun).
Terrific spicy soups.
Fried silver side fish (a plate of little shiny fish with very mild seasoning).
All the seafood preparations stir-fried with chili and salt are terrific (head-on shrimp, scallop, fish).
Great dungeness crab (ask if available--they have several different preparations)
I've never tried the jelly fish salad, but I've been meaning to...
The lunch specials are a great deal but they don't feature any of the taiwanese dishes except for the soups.

My wife's old roomate Elaine was the hostess at Mei Shung for a long time- about four years ago. The food is really a cut above most and Elaine always got me their cool bamboo calenders.

I am a particular fan of their Mei Shung bean curd, which was the one dish a Taiwanese fellow student asked if they had when I mentioned I knew of a Taiwanese restaurant.

Also their spicy pork noodle soup is very good.

Also wanted to put in a good word for Mei Shung. We've had great dishes from the Taiwanese menu, including chicken with portabella mushrooms and pork with basil. Everything I've tried from the traditional Chinese menu is also very solid; in my opinion, there's no point in even bothering with other neighborhood Chinese restaurants that are often greasy and have an overly Americanized taste to their dishes. We've also ordered their whole fish Szechuan style - by delivery no less -- and it was spectacular. Great place.

After talking to BR at the condiment exchange about a recent meal he had at Mei Shung, I realized it had been far too long since my last visit.
We had their excellent pot stickers, lamb with leeks (though I think they are actually scallions), dry-fried string beans, salt and pepper soft shell crab (sounded great, but actually my least favorite) and orange chicken (yup, I'll cop to liking it--Mei Shung does a pretty darn good version which has actual orange pieces in it). The woman who waited on us was as nice/helpful as could be.











I think Mei Shung is a really nice option for Chinese/Taiwanese on the north side--next time I won't let so much time go by between visits.

thaiobsessed wrote:After talking to BR at the condiment exchange about a recent meal he had at Mei Shung, I realized it had been far too long since my last visit.
We had their excellent pot stickers, lamb with leeks (though I think they are actually scallions), dry-fried string beans, salt and pepper soft shell crab (sounded great, but actually my least favorite) and orange chicken (yup, I'll cop to liking it--Mei Shung does a pretty darn good version which has actual orange pieces in it). The woman who waited on us was as nice/helpful as could be.

Let me say that I almost always hate orange anything at Chinese restaurants -- beef, chicken, whatever. I almost always find it painfully sweet and gloppy. This is not at all the case at Mei Shung where they make quite a good version of the dish. I even felt bad for ripping into my friend when he ordered it.

Those on the north side should also know that Mei Shung delivers, and I would be shocked if there's a better option for Chinese food delivery on the north side of the city.

BR wrote:Those on the north side should also know that Mei Shung delivers, and I would be shocked if there's a better option for Chinese food delivery on the north side of the city.

This is an important piece of information. I have often wished for a thread-cum-map that details the best Chinese delivery options in the city. This came up while living in Streeterville briefly, and learning only at the 11th hour that the various Tony Hu establishments deliver.

Josephine wrote:

BR wrote:Those on the north side should also know that Mei Shung delivers, and I would be shocked if there's a better option for Chinese food delivery on the north side of the city.

This is an important piece of information.

So is a link to their website, where you can find their menu: meishungchinese.com

It says "Estimate delivery time is 30 to 60minutes.
Delivery fee is $3 in 3 mile(s) range"

There's a coupon on Grubhub for a free sweet and sour chicken with a $30 purchase.

Looks like Mei Shung delivers to Rogers Park! Good news. Just got a vestibule menu from Apart, too - they not only deliver to RP for free, but to Evanston, too, for a modest tariff. Good news on a dreary night!

Mei Shung even delivers to Lincoln Square upon request (usually), but they'll warn you that it might take a little longer - tip well! I know that they also deliver to Lake View, as I used to always order in from them when I lived there.

The fact that they deliver to all of these places may have something to do with the fact that it took 1 hour and 55 minutes to deliver to me in W. Lakeview tonite. I know the weather was sucky but geez

The worst part of it was how much it impacted the food which tasted like it had been riding around in a bag in a car for 90 minutes. Everything was pretty soggy. I could tell that the flavors were there though. Jellyfish salad was crunchy and perfectly sauced--but slightly gritty. Fortune dumpling was a miss--didn't care for the heavy texture of the wrap and the sauce was too sweet--especially since nothing in the fairly detailed description hinted that it would be a sweet soy. Spicy salted shrimp would've been delicious if warm and even slightly crispy--still tasty even cold and soggy. Sauteed on choy with garlic was delicious. Ma Po Tofu was disappointing--pretty gelatinous sauce, components didn't integrate well together. Free order of sweet and sour chicken came with the sauce on the side which would've been great if the chicken had been delivered closer to the time it was made. By the time it arrived it was pretty much a mess. I didn't taste the sauce but the chicken was seasoned well and probably would've been good freshly fried.

All considered, I'd try again but may want to eat there first to get a better sense of the menu. I did notice a number of things that looked good on the menupages menu that weren't even available for delivery so that seems like a good plan.

boudreaulicious wrote:The fact that they deliver to all of these places may have something to do with the fact that it took 1 hour and 55 minutes to deliver to me in W. Lakeview tonite. I know the weather was sucky but geez
The worst part of it was how much it impacted the food which tasted like it had been riding around in a bag in a car for 90 minutes. Everything was pretty soggy.

Mei Shung used to be one of my faves until I had a similar experience with delivery (and I live fairly close). I have dined in the restaurant since then, and the food was still pretty tasty, but I have given up on their delivery. I like to order from their (not so secret) Taiwanese menu.

I certainly won't contradict others but I will just add as another "data point" that we live about five-ten minutes' walk away and have ordered from them for years and have never once had that kind of mishap. Lucky, I guess.

I have spent lots and lots of money on bad Chinese delivery. So much so that I had sort of given up and had ignored my cravings for Mongolian Beef when they came (sorry folks -- I like Ameri-Chinese and I don't care who knows it). But I decided, after reading this thread, to give Mei Shung a shot. I had tried them many years ago and while I don't recall what the exact experience was I remember not enjoying the food. So...I haven't tried them since.

Tonight I ordered a very basic menu. Potstickers, Mongolian Beef and Orange Chicken. All good. All hot. All delivered 20 minutes earlier than predicted and I am a happy camper. I feel so content to have found a place where I know I can order something I crave and have it arrive and actually be edible. And more than that -- tasty. And most important -- worth the money I spend on it.

Thank you ThaiObsessed and BR -- you've saved this girl's faith in decent, local Chinese...