Lao Sze Chuan (Downers Grove)

Saturday night I stopped into Lao Sze Chuan for hot pot. I was really looking forward to it. However, when I tried to order it, I was informed that their policy has changed. For hot pot, I would need to call ahead of time (several days ahead of time) to reserve it. Needless to say, this was quite a let down. What we ordered was fine, but not the same.

Hopefully this policy hasn't changed at other LSC locations.

On a related note, are there any other suburban locations for hot pot?


Tim

You can still get the hot pot in china town anytime, but there is usually a bit of a wait for a table. We love the other dishes...mongolian beef, orange chicken, pot stickers and garlic pea pod leaf.

I hear their egg foo young is pretty good too. Haven't had the chop suey but I bet it gets at least a double if not a triple yum from me.

Octarine wrote:I hear their egg foo young is pretty good too. Haven't had the chop suey but I bet it gets at least a double if not a triple yum from me.

Ouch. Okay those would not be my first choices either, though I do love LSC and frequent the DG location (where I am pretty sure you can get Egg Foo Young, since they maintained the old Foo Garden or whatever it was menu, too but it did not get to the top of my list), but let's not get snarky about it.

The nice new Vietnamese place in Glendale Heights, Tay Do, where Pho Saigon used to be, serves a very good Hot Pot any time you want to go. Need to go back a couple of more times to do a full report, but the one meal I had was quite good.

Tay Do
1232 Bloomingdale Rd.
Glendale Heights 60139
630-462-8888

Another distinct difference between the Chinatown Lao Sze Chuan and the Downers Grove outpost: The ma po tofu.

The Chinatown ma po tofu is my favorite rendition of one of my all-time favorite dishes. We were recently at the Downers Grove location and I ordered the tofu (without pork for a vegetarian dining companion).

When it arrived, I could tell just by looking at it that it wasn't the same. The sauce didn't have the same complexion or viscosity. Something looked "off". It may not be completely apparent in this photo, but I spotted it before the bowl hit the table:



...and I was right. It had the taste of run-of-the-mill ma po tofu, as if it was made with an industrial "ma po tofu sauce". Not a bad thing, mind you (even "mediocre" ma po tofu is a pleasing dish to me), but this ain't the LSC ma po that I dream about.

Here are a couple other dishes from our visit.

Home style tofu (ordered mild, just oyster sauce, for a younger dining companion) A very nice dish:



Vegetarian "chicken", Shanghai-style, which I can take or leave:



Lao Sze Chuan
1331 Ogden Ave
Downers Grove, IL 60515
(630) 663-0303



Best,
Michael

I never have been to the Chinatown Lao Sze Chaun, though I have been to the location in Downers Grove. Due to all of the praise of the Chinatown location, I sure hope it is better than the location in Downers Grove. The Downers Grove location is not very good. Subpar food, poor service, etc. Not what I consider the best Chinese in Chicago/suburbs.

Hmmm.... as it is one of my favorites I wonder if you'd mind sharing which Chinese restaurants you like better?

Diannie wrote:Hmmm.... as it is one of my favorites I wonder if you'd mind sharing which Chinese restaurants you like better?

Well, in terms of Chinese restaurants within 30-minute driving distance from Lao Sze Chuan in Downers Grove, I prefer:

Lan Dee - 3099 Ogden Ave, Lisle, IL

Yau's Place - 110 W. Burlington Ave, La Grange, IL

Hua Ting - 777 N York Rd # 18, Hinsdale, IL


All three of those places have better atmosphere, better food, and better service than Lao Sze Chuan in Downers Grove. I'm not saying anything negative about the Chinatown location though, since I haven't dined at that location.

I would agree, I think the suburban location is excellent, better than almost anything else outside the city.

Riffhard wrote:I would agree, I think the suburban location is excellent, better than almost anything else outside the city.

Agree with which?

While Lao Sze Chuan is a solid choice in the suburbs, and a regular stop for lunch for me, I choose Fabulous Noodles in Lisle over Lao Sze Chuan when I have the choice, or a longer lunch hour.

I do like Hua Ting in Hinsdale. It's where I take my parents for tasty but unchallenging Chinese food. The service is good and the owners know us. It is nice to be welcomed with a look of recognition

I love Fabulous Noodles, but again the style is completely different.

Katy's is also on our list but for the food rather than atmosphere.

Lao Sze Chuan is where I go for complex flavors, interesting ingredients, and food I don't find elsewhere in the area. I've never experienced "sub par food" or indifferent service there, however. I hope you'll give it another try.

G Wiv wrote:

Riffhard wrote:I would agree, I think the suburban location is excellent, better than almost anything else outside the city.

Agree with which?

I think the member Riffhard is agreeing with Diannie.

Diannie wrote:I do like Hua Ting in Hinsdale. It's where I take my parents for tasty but unchallenging Chinese food. The service is good and the owners know us. It is nice to be welcomed with a look of recognition

I love Fabulous Noodles, but again the style is completely different.

Katy's is also on our list but for the food rather than atmosphere.

Lao Sze Chuan is where I go for complex flavors, interesting ingredients, and food I don't find elsewhere in the area. I've never experienced "sub par food" or indifferent service there, however. I hope you'll give it another try.

One of the problems I've noticed with the food at Lao Sze Chuan in Downers Grove, which tends to be common with many Chinese restaurants which I have dined at, is the quality of the shrimp, which is mushy, and unflavorful. I had the same problem at Lan Dee one time, which they corrected. Yau's Place and Hua Ting cook the shrimp to where the shrimp are solid and flavorful, rather than mushy glumps which taste like scrambled egg.

Which shrimp dish? I think the only shrimp dish I have had at LSC DG is Mayonnaise Shrimp and they were not small or mushy.

I still go pretty regularly for lunch. If you stick with the lunch specials there are a lot of traditional Cantonese dishes (like Egg Foo Young) that are decently done, but not great. If you order the Szechuan lunch specialties like the spicy fish filet (just like Wendy's ) or just order the house specialties like Three Chili Chicken (insider tip - you do not get the free egg roll and have to live with white rice rather than the fried rice you get with the lunch specials, and it costs an extra couple of bucks, BUT you get more, much better food and they will give you the truly mediocre soup anyway), you will get a better meal.

One thing I have learned is not to get noodle dishes at LSC - I just end up regretting I did not drive a little farther and go to Katy's, or a little less and eat at Fabulous Noodles.

dicksond wrote:Which shrimp dish? I think the only shrimp dish I have had at LSC DG is Mayonnaise Shrimp and they were not small or mushy.

I still go pretty regularly for lunch. If you stick with the lunch specials there are a lot of traditional Cantonese dishes (like Egg Foo Young) that are decently done, but not great. If you order the Szechuan lunch specialties like the spicy fish filet (just like Wendy's ) or just order the house specialties like Three Chili Chicken (insider tip - you do not get the free egg roll and have to live with white rice rather than the fried rice you get with the lunch specials, and it costs an extra couple of bucks, BUT you get more, much better food and they will give you the truly mediocre soup anyway), you will get a better meal.

One thing I have learned is not to get noodle dishes at LSC - I just end up regretting I did not drive a little farther and go to Katy's, or a little less and eat at Fabulous Noodles.

LOL! Well, you answered the question. I ordered shrimp lomein. I regret it. Mushy shrimp and bland sauce mixed in with noodles. Not good.

I still go pretty regularly for lunch. If you stick with the lunch specials there are a lot of traditional Cantonese dishes (like Egg Foo Young) that are decently done, but not great. If you order the Szechuan lunch specialties like the spicy fish filet (just like Wendy's Exclamation ) or just order the house specialties like Three Chili Chicken (insider tip - you do not get the free egg roll and have to live with white rice rather than the fried rice you get with the lunch specials, and it costs an extra couple of bucks, BUT you get more, much better food and they will give you the truly mediocre soup anyway), you will get a better meal.

I agree with dicksond; stick with the lunch specials at LSC and you should get a pretty good meal. I have now eaten through almost every spicy dish on the lunch special menu, and have rarely been disappointed.

Just an FYI, but I also regularly go to the International Mart (off of Ogden and West of Kingery Hwy), and often have pretty good meals there as well. Because there are 3 different "restaurants", you have a huge variety of dishes to choose from. I usually pick the Chinese specials at the middle restaurant, but recently had cigar-shaped potstickers from the place on the right that were some of the best dumplings I have had in quite some time.

I've had some rather schizophrenic experiences at LSC Downers Grove. I've had outstanding szechuan dishes, and some rather run of the mill non-szechun dishes. Back before LSC moved to their current location, it used to be Lo Garden. I've wondered if they kept some of the old dishes around to keep the old customers happy? Just a theory on my part.

At dinner I usually stick to the couple of pages in the middle of the menu, and I'm not disappointed. I've only tried lunch there a couple of times, but I haven't been impressed. Is there a second lunch menu that I missed?

For example, once I ordered the mao po tofu on their lunch menu. I had previous had it from their dinner menu, and thought it would be great. But the lunch version was very much like the mao po tofu I've had at most typical suburban Chinese restaurants. Not bad, but nothing too memorable.

Should I give their lunch another try?

Tim

For example, once I ordered the mao po tofu on their lunch menu. I had previous had it from their dinner menu, and thought it would be great. But the lunch version was very much like the mao po tofu I've had at most typical suburban Chinese restaurants. Not bad, but nothing too memorable.

I have only had the ma po tofu off the lunch menu once at Downers' Grove, and I agree that it was not that special. However, for lunch there I have enjoyed the beef tendon with sour pickles, the chengdu dumplings, the home-style squid, and many other szechuan dishes that I cannot recall at the moment. I think you should give lunch another try, pancake.

borborigmy wrote:I think you should give lunch another try, pancake.

I don't know why, but this cracked me up. Tagline!

Milk coming out of my nose. Agreed.

I was driving past LSC - DG and decided to stop in for lunch. I had only been for dinner twice. I ordered the eggplant in garlic sauce and a beef dish that had many similarities to the Ma Po Tofu. Both were excellent. much better than the bland hot and sour soup and the egg roll. It wasn't worth the space in my stomach.

If only this place was closer to the west side of naperville. I would be a regular.

Going here for lunch today:
Lao Sze Chuan
1331 Ogden, Downers Grove 630.663.0303

I know there is a thread with a many many many long descriptive entries singing the praises of their great food, but that is the problem - I cannot spend all morning reading all the threads as they get pretty involved and was hoping a kind expert LTHer sitting at their computer with knowledge of said restaurant would be kind enough to throw a few recommendations my way, especially since the menu seems to change and the varieties of ways they serve their food seems staggeringly complex, especially when compared with something like Johnny's where you know what you are going to get when you go there.

Moderators: ok ok throw my thread into the Lao Sze Chuan thread now. I know you like to keep things neat!

Dry chili chicken or lamb in cumin

Spicy: The name "Dry chili chicken" is used by the poster above; I'm not sure but I think it's the same dish that might be called "Tony's Chicken with Three Chilis" on the menu. The informal name is "Chicken Crack" but I think that name was made up here on LTH.

Mild: Crispy Shrimp in Mayonnaise Sauce

"Chicken crack" so described in many threads, is not "dry chili chicken" (which I prefer, but I'm a minority I think) but "Tony's 3 Chili Chicken"

Pretty much anything 'dry chili' will be good. I like the beef.

Also, another favorite is pot herb with pork, not spicy, and another is szechuan string beans.

nsxtasy wrote:Spicy: The name "Dry chili chicken" is used by the poster above; I'm not sure but I think it's the same dish that might be called "Tony's Chicken with Three Chilis" on the menu. The informal name is "Chicken Crack" but I think that name was made up here on LTH.

Mild: Crispy Shrimp in Mayonnaise Sauce

Dry Chili Chicken and Tony's Chicken with Three Chilis are separate dishes. The former only uses the dried red chiles and is much spicer than the latter, which uses those chiles, jalapenos, and bell peppers.

Mhays is correct, they are two different things. I don't remember seeing Tony's 3 Chili Chicken on the Downers Grove menu, that doesn't mean you can't order but I don't remember it being listed. Dry chili chicken is definitely listed on the menu.

Thanks! You can see my dilemma from your descriptions!

Someone like you all who seem to know the menu well should offered guided tour for the price of your lunch or something like that. I'd do it.

My favorite dish at LSC is the dry chili prawns. There is no close second for me, but YMMV.
--Rich