chinese delivery to bucktown? Not Yu Choy

After arriving home late Sunday evening from an unexpected trip back home to Virginia, I needed some food, and I absolutely didn't want to cook it. I decided Chinese delivery would be the way to go. I looked through my pile of delivery menus and found Yu Choy. Actually I found about 10 menus for Yu Choy. They have a top rate menu delivery team, too bad I can't say the same for the kitchen.

The egg drop soup was like a cup of saltwater with some egg added to it. Absoultely inedible. The Cantonese vegetables (which promised Chinese greens - ie Yu Choy) were bland and over cooked and featured no greens whatsoever. The Sezchuan eggplant was edible, but not good.

So, my question is what are peoples favorite delivery, Chinese or otherwise that will come to Bucktown. (Broad question I guess, but this is the second bad delivery experience in a row).

vegmojo

You might want to try Friendship Chinese, my go-to for Chinese delivery. They probably deliver to Bucktown. Poke around this board and you'll find Friendship has some strong supporters and no seriously vocal detractors (although many can take it or leave it). Even those who are ambivalent about Friendship's food would admit it's in a different league from the swill you describe getting from Yu Choy. Note that while Friendship is not overpriced (that is, if you like it!), it is about 50% more expensive than average delivered "greasy wok" Chinese. Some of this is due to the higher quality ingredients (the shrimp they use are always impressive, for example); part due to preparations (they don't just throw it all in one of two sauces); and probably partly just because they can get away with it in the neighborhood, based on lack of any clear competition.

Friendship Chinese Restaurant
2830 N. Milwaukee Ave.
(773) 227-0970

Another option is a Papajin which I personally really like but has detractors on the board. I generally get only Chinese dishes - and then basically just a small set of them so perhaps that is why my experience eating there since they first opened has almost always been uniformly good.

Shannon

I see you're a vegetarian. Still, you might find this post useful.

Yu Choy is HORRIBLE and your description of their promotional diarrhea is spot on. I'm also a Papajin detractor. Instead, try Eat First 2. They provide adequate Chinese American takeout. For instance, their Kung Pao chicken is stirfried with the appropriate red chilis (yay! no red chili flake, no jalapenos). They use jalapenos to decent effect in the orange beef(I typically dislike the flavor of jalapenos in Chinese food). Also, their hot and sour soup hits the right balance of notes(often Chicago takeout Chinese fails miserably in the hot n sour arena---I never order this soup from Empire as good as it is accompanying the lunch special; they always add an extra dollop of cornstarch-why???- turning the perfect texture to Chinese aspic). Eat First 2's wonton soup suffers from variability; sometimes the stock is bland, more often bright and chickeny. The wontons themselves are relatively unassuming and tender compared to the grotesquely chewy, tensile blobs found elsewhere(see Empire, if memory serves-Yu Choy). You might try Eat First 2's Empress Rib if you're in the mood for a General Tso alternative.

I couldn't find the address, sorry

Christopher,

I'm curious - why are you a Papajin detractor? I've never had a bad meal there - and I've eaten there dozens of times from nearly the first week they opened to last month. Personally I like many of their dishes and appreciate that when asked they will make dishes to the level of spicyness that I want - something I don't often find in many Chinese restaurants that tone things down more than I like. I'll admit that since there about 3-4 dishes on the menu that I really like (especially the seseme spicy chicken but also many of their pork dishes) and I'm usually dining alone or with just one other person - so haven't fully sampled their menu - perhaps other of their dishes are not as good as the ones I concentrate on (and I generally avoid their japanese dishes).

Shannon

The three times I dined there in the company of a friend or two the meals were lackluster. My last experience being at least two years ago(when Creative Artists was still upstairs) I mainly remember gummy, dry chicken dishes and bland hot and sour. I could always try them again wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt. If memory serves they were also a bit on the pricey side relative to the level of cuisine. Whereas, I'll readily pay 7-9 bucks for the entrees at Lao Sze Chuan I don't think Papajin worth it. Then again, it's better than Yu Choy(oy veh).

Thanks for the help everyone.

Shannon, I had forgotten about Papajin. I would categorize their style as "greasy wok", but done well. I remember really enjoying their fried rice and thinking their kung pao shrimp was a pretty good.

JILS, I'm going to have to try Friendship - if only because of your continuous, unwavering and vocal support of them

And Christopher, if I remember correctly Eat First II is down there on Milwaukee by the Jewel?

vegmojo

I guess people's measure of price is all relative but I have usually found Papajin very reasonable - both the neighborhood in general and for the quality. They are priced just above a hole in the wall takeout Chinese place (though not by all that much actually) but I find the quality much better.

And as they are much closer to me than Chinatown, I find them a very good option. I do get the hot and sour soup from time to time - nothing amazing but haven't found it bland either. I've never had a chicken dish that was gummy or dry there - but then I normally only get the spicy seseme chicken (which is breaded and fried, though in small chunks and in a style that I enjoy) or pork dishes - so perhaps they have other dishes they do not do as well.

In terms of price most entrees are in the $8-10 range, I usually spend about $12-15 for myself, a bit more if I get something to drink or an appetizer as well as soup and an entree. Not cheap but also not unreasonable - especially since I usually bring about half of my entree home.

But as I said that's me - and I do very highly value convienance - Chinatown is a long 30+ minutes away for me - and very out of the way (I don't have a car so getting there involves either walking 10 minutes to the red line or taking the brown line into the loop and transfering to the red line, repeating on the way back - okay if I'm going to meet up with LTHers for a group dinner but a bit much for day to day dining. Papajin on the other hand is a fairly quick bus ride up North Ave, is in an area of town I visit fairly regularly anyway and is even walkable if the weather is good. And they are certainly significently better than the options for Chinese in Old Town or Lincoln Park (I don't mind the Japanese/Chinese place on Armitage but find them higher priced than Papajin and to my tastes at least not as good for Chinese as Papajin.)

Shannon

vegmojo-you're correct...Eat First 2 is across from Jewel. I should have posted as much, but I got caught up in searching out the specific address.
(in case I pumped it up too much: they've had off nights and we're talking ADEQUATE takeout not mindblowing).

shannon-you make me want to try Papajin again . As for Chinatown, I utilize the CTA for my transportation so Lao Sze Chuan is always a special occasion. This goes part way to explain my fearless exploration of
chopsuey palaces in the neighborhood(s). I hope to find something special and mostly aquire the mediocre(if that).

In the Midwest Cantonese diaspora its wonderful to discover a Chinese-American takeout offering serious contemplation of it's food and patrons.

addendum: at the risk of overstating my case, I think Eat First 2's interior resembles an early Rirkrit Tiravajian installation. Or, vice versus.

I just had a good meal delivered from Friendship this evening, and Chef Allen was answering the phones when I placed my order. I let him know a little about this thread, and he assured me that they do deliver to Bucktown (he guessed about half their orders are delivered there, actually).

Christopher Gordon wrote:Yu Choy is HORRIBLE and your description of their promotional diarrhea is spot on. I'm also a Papajin detractor. Instead, try Eat First 2. They provide adequate Chinese American takeout. [...] Also, their hot and sour soup hits the right balance of notes(often Chicago takeout Chinese fails miserably in the hot n sour arena---I never order this soup from Empire as good as it is accompanying the lunch special; they always add an extra dollop of cornstarch-why???- turning the perfect texture to Chinese aspic).

I was in the mood to hibernate this evening, and your post reminded me that it had been awhile since I'd ordered from Eat First II. While I found my food to be thoroughly mediocre, I certainly cannot fault them for the breadth of their menu (by Chi-Am takeaway shop standards), or the promptness with which my order was handled. And that was perhaps enough on a night such as this.


Eat First II's "hot & sour soup with pork"


Eat First II's "curry chow mai fun"

I found the hot & sour soup quite "muddy" tasting, and while the requisite vinegar was very much in evidence, sadly, the ground white pepper was not.

The vegetables, pork and shrimp in the curry chow mai fun were more than decent, both in terms of their quality and preparation, but the noodles were mushy and weak. The dish itself tasted mostly, and unmistakeably, of acrid, scorched curry powder.

Hereabouts, I am generally more impressed with Mon Lung, on Ashland. I will admit that I have secured a certain rapport with the shop's staff, and that I am able to customize my orders quite a bit, but--most critically, and yet, most simply--Mong Lung just gets better wok hay. I have good success with the lo mein and chow mein dishes, the curry, bean, and lobster sauce dishes, and house specialties like lung fung kow and kon bo chicken. If you order in at Mon Lung, you also have menu options like a whole steamed or fried fish and beef chow fun. Order in? Yes, I know, we are talking about delivery options, but still. The room is actually quite a trip. Check it out.

I should say, for the sake of completeness, that I am also able to enjoy a number of items on the menu at New China. The satay shrimp, curry chicken, bean sprouts with green onion, egg foo young, and the "old style" Mongolian beef come to mind.

Eat First II
1289 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773.227.8899
www.Eat1st.com

Mon Lung
1009 N. Ashland
773.227.8824

New China
2438 W. Division St.
773.394.9188

Regards,
Erik M.


...now I lay in wait, to see if anyone can possibly take this sh*t seriously. Are you out there, Richard?

hi erik...

well...I was afraid I was pumping Eat First 2 a little much

it's more a case of okey-dokey(E2) vs. the abysmal Yu Choy.

I think I tried Mon Lung(delivery) once(years ago) and didn't care for it.

I don't agree, but I understand what you mean by a hot n sour soup tasting "muddy."

over the years I've encountered so many variations of this soup(it seems every restaurant's is a little bit different) that I've acclimated myself to enjoying anything that's close enough---I've had really really atrocious hot n sour to the point it's like, "what are they thinking/smoking?"

then there's the texture issue: at least three different restaurants(one aforementioned) have offered me Hot n' Sour Pudding after overindulging in the cornstarch. How anyone could seriously ladle glop into a container and deliver it with a straight face is beyond me.

Also, my myopia: I never order noodle dishes from Eat First 2. It skipped my mind that many others do enjoy chow mein...etc.

es tut mir leid

Does Mon Lung deliver?

I love their food, but I've always gone and picked it up - under the assumption that they don't deliver.

I'm going to feel pretty foolish if they deliver.

My old standby for delivery has been China Station on North Avenue. (Or as it's referred to in my household, "the pink menu place". Their menu is pink, and it can be spotted in my considerable stack of menus from across the room.) I tried Eat First's original location about 1.5 years ago and was left with a strong inclination to never call them again.

China Station is thoroughly decent Americanized Chinese food, and it's always -very- hot and delivery is exceptionally quick to my address near Chicago & Damen. I have zero complaints about them, really.

China Station
2411 W. North Ave
773-252-1023

Pete wrote:Does Mon Lung deliver? I love their food, but I've always gone and picked it up - under the assumption that they don't deliver. I'm going to feel pretty foolish if they deliver.

No, Pete, they don't deliver. Exhale.

I'll try China Station on your recommendation.

Regards,
Erik M.

If Mon Lung doesn't deliver(and I had a suspicion as such after I typed just that) then perhaps I should try them yet. As I wrote: it'd been many years since "ordering" in from "them."

A couple of quick observations. The Singapore rice noodles at Eat First II were good although the curry powder was somewhat unevenly mixed through. Other dishes were serviceable, about what you would expect for delivery Chinese. Had had a few inconsistent experiences at Friendship. Last night, everything was spot on, but other times I've had problems. One time the shrimp was slightly off; another time, the chicken in one dish was dry and another dish was oversauced. But last night, the ingredients and preparation were impeccable and delivery was very fast. Maybe the moral is to go there or order on the right days?

Any other suggestions for delivery in the area, anyone?

We ordered delivery from Eat First on Tuesday 11 October and found it to be really just awful. I don't think it was spoiled or anything, just NOT good tasting.

We got takeout from Mon Lung on Friday. I think it's great that the dishes come in small and large sizes. We got the orange chicken (not very authentic, but my secret vice), and beef with tomatoes and green pepper.

My fiance really liked the orange chicken. I prefer my orange chicken with the batter crispy more of an orange glaze, rather than chunks of chicken covered in soggy batter in a soup of orange sauce. But aside from the textural disappointment, the flavors were good. I really liked the beef dish. It had a nice amount of pepper in it, and a good balance of the three ingredients. The beef was suspiciously tender. I've always wondered what Chinese restaurants do to their beef to make it so soft. But I'm probably better off not knowing.

Overall, a positive experience. I would definitely get take out from Mon Lung again, especially since it's a 5 minute walk. A bonus is that even though I forgot to ask for no MSG, they don't seem to use much of it, judging from the lack of raging thirst after dinner.

Thanks to LTH! I would never have ventured in there on my own.

I haven't eaten at Eat First 2 in months. In previous posts I opine that it's somewhat better than the other choices in the neighborhood(having never eaten at Mon Lung or Friendship). I've never had truly great(um...better than average?) delivery Chinese in Chicago. If you want the good stuff you have to go to Chinatown.