Chinese Restaurants on the North Side?

By North Side I mean North of Belmont.

We used to go to Orange Garden, but had a few bad meals and haven't been back. Therefore, chinese has been out of the rotation for a while. I am craving some, but in this weather would prefer to stay local.

Suggestions?

P.S. Tried to do a search for a thread and it returned with 977 threads, so just thought I would post. Sorry!

Orange garden used to be my American-Chinese go-to for a very limited number of items. I don't know that much about other American-Chinese style restaurants in that area, but Sun Wah (the best restaurant in the milky way), offers very authentic Chinese bbq, and a ton of other stuff, and isn't too far. (1132-34 West Argyle)

It's not quite north of Belmont and it's not exactly in the same neighborhood as Orange Garden (I've always been somewhat scared of that place), but I enjoyed my first visit to Yummy Yummy Asian Cuisine a few weeks ago. It's very standard Amero-Chinese food with many vegetarian options and very tasty bubble tea smoothies.

Somewhat closer to Orange Garden and on the north side of Belmont is Asian Avenue, which is decent. I've never been to Susie China on Lincoln., but it looks a lot like Orange Garden. In this old thread, it was described as "pretty old school greasy Chinese."

Yummy Yummy Asian Cuisine
2901 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657

Asian Avenue
1624 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60657

Susie China
3248 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60657[/url]

fj123 wrote: I've never been to Susie China on Lincoln., but it looks a lot like Orange Garden. In this old thread, it was described as "pretty old school greasy Chinese."

Years ago I had the pleasure of doing business with a crotchety old man that insisted on having every one of our meetings at Susie China. The grease and watery tea are what stand out in my memory. I always check to see if the place is still there when I drive by because fifteen years ago I was the only customer the dozen times i visited the place.

My current favorite North Side old school Chinese is Wing Hoe. They execute the standard dishes competently and swiftly. And their deep fried items are to die for...literally and figuratively.


Wing Hoe
5356 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago
(773) 275-4550

If you're looking for a good compromise between decent Chinese food and convenience to the North Side, don't forget Silver Seafood.

Silver Seafood prepares surprisingly good Cantonese dishes and a selection of Amero-Chinese mainstays. While this place is no R&G lounge, the kitchen shows a deft hand with fried seafood and the vegetables are always cooked just right.

Not having been won over by Sun Wah BBQ, I consider this the finest authentic Chinese restaurant north of Roosevelt Road.

Silver Seafood Restaurant
4829 N. Broadway
Chicago
(773) 784-0668

You don't say just how far north of Belmont you're willing to go (or are interested in going). So I'll offer Mei Shung in a broadly defined Andersonville (more like Edgewater). I'll note that there are actually surprisingly few reviews. You might want to read this one, though. And we like it for take-out, too. They're very fast, reasonably priced, and the food is good.


Mei Shung
5511 N. Broadway
773.728.5778

You don't say just how far north of Belmont you're willing to go (or are interested in going). So I'll offer Mei Shung in a broadly defined Andersonville (more like Edgewater). I'll note that there are actually surprisingly few reviews. You might want to read this one, though. And we like it for take-out, too. They're very fast, reasonably priced, and the food is good.


Mei Shung
5511 N. Broadway
773.728.5778

I'll second Mei Shung for eat-in and take-out. Pleasant room and service, very decent rendition of standards such as hot and sour soup, and some interesting Taiwanese dishes, especially seafood. Parking is easier on Broadway there than on Argyle for places such as Sun Wah and Hon Kee, which are both very good for Chinese bbq (as seen in many posts on the board--thank you, LTH!).

Tasty House II - just south of Cornelia on Western.

Its pretty much been my go-to since I moved to Roscoe Village almost 2 years ago. Certainly not the best in the city or anything but what they lack in quality they MORE than make up for in quantity.

I second Wing Hoe and Silver Seafood!

jonathanlehman wrote:If you're looking for a good compromise between decent Chinese food and convenience to the North Side, don't forget Silver Seafood.

Silver Seafood prepares surprisingly good Cantonese dishes and a selection of Amero-Chinese mainstays. While this place is no R&G lounge, the kitchen shows a deft hand with fried seafood and the vegetables are always cooked just right.

Not having been won over by Sun Wah BBQ, I consider this the finest authentic Chinese restaurant north of Roosevelt Road.

Silver Seafood Restaurant
4829 N. Broadway
Chicago
(773) 784-0668

I agree. Recently I think Silver Seafood has been the best and most reliable Cantonese restaurant in the city. Stands up well to any Cantonese spot in Chinatown at this point.

Actually I'm glad to see the positive comments on Silver Seafood. I had a great meal a few days after xmas there-way better than years in the past. But I was concerned about the lack of customers on a Friday between 6:00 and 7:30, especially since this was post "Check Please". Maybe post xmas and pre new years week had something to do with it...

tapler wrote:My current favorite North Side old school Chinese is Wing Hoe. They execute the standard dishes competently and swiftly. And their deep fried items are to die for...literally and figuratively.


Wing Hoe
5356 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago
(773) 275-4550

Ugh. I live across the street from them. Completely pedestrian. Not worth a visit. Some of the worst Chinese I've ever had. And I'm a fan of Lao Sze Schuan. etc. Really bad everything, though the egg rolls are OK, but only just. In my humble opinion. And the smell in the summer is insupportable.

Trpt 2345

stewed coot wrote:Actually I'm glad to see the positive comments on Silver Seafood. I had a great meal a few days after xmas there-way better than years in the past. But I was concerned about the lack of customers on a Friday between 6:00 and 7:30, especially since this was post "Check Please". Maybe post xmas and pre new years week had something to do with it...

Silver Seafood on the other hand is quite good, I chime in on the opinions that champion them. Even my better half who usually doesn't like Chinese likes them. Very close and very good.

Trpt 2345

Commbrkdwn wrote:Tasty House II - just south of Cornelia on Western.

you mean north of cornelia...right? next to the chase in the strip-mallish, just a bit south of the gyros joint and the dunkin donuts. their potstickers are acceptable, but the rest of the menu disappoints me (although i will admit the portions are fine).

to answer the original post, let me suggest the excellent sesame chicken or the black mushrooms/straw mushrooms with tofu at Plenty.


Plenty Chinese Restaurant
2002 West Montrose
773-728-5969

hanse_coloursmay wrote:

Commbrkdwn wrote:Tasty House II - just south of Cornelia on Western.

you mean north of cornelia...right? next to the chase in the strip-mallish, just a bit south of the gyros joint and the dunkin donuts. their potstickers are acceptable, but the rest of the menu disappoints me (although i will admit the portions are fine).

to answer the original post, let me suggest the excellent sesame chicken or the black mushrooms/straw mushrooms with tofu at Plenty.


Plenty Chinese Restaurant
2002 West Montrose
773-728-5969

Yup - my mistake. Any idea how far south Plenty delivers?

Commbrkdwn wrote:Any idea how far south Plenty delivers?

belmont, i think.

hanse_coloursmay wrote:

Commbrkdwn wrote:Tasty House II - just south of Cornelia on Western.

...to answer the original post, let me suggest the excellent sesame chicken or the black mushrooms/straw mushrooms with tofu at Plenty.

Plenty Chinese Restaurant
2002 West Montrose
773-728-5969

I'll trust that the above-mentioned dishes are better than what I've had delivered from Plenty: barely edible, tasteless versions of Ameri-Chinese dishes. 2 dishes had meat so dry you wanted to choke, with greasy, cloyingly sweet, gloppy sauces that I would have guessed had been poured out of a bottle over the pre-cooked chicken and canned mushrooms. I will say that the egg roll fared a bit better, which along with the sesame chicken praise may be a sign that deep-fried is the way to go (if you must go at all) at Plenty.

By contrast, there's a fine little cheap Ameri-Chinese place called Wok Cuisine that shares a Kedzie Ave strip mall with McDonalds and Starbucks. The meat is always tender and juicy, the vegetables are always fresh, and the sauces taste real. Delivery arrives in a flash, too.

Wok Cuisine
4554 N. Kedzie
(773) 588-8883

Could it be that I've actually found the decent delivery choice in my area?

I've tried lots of Chinese places that deliver on the north/heading northwestish side, and even with sharply lowered expectations, I can't say that I've found any of them better than half good. (That includes Tasty House II and Plenty, of the places mentioned above.) Despairing of anything better, I decided to just try some place randomly, and immediately thought of Wing Chong, which I have driven by on Elston a mere trillion times (but that was when trillions were something, as Senator Dirksen would have said, a trillion here and a trillion there...).

Anyway, I ordered the hoariest of old school American-Chinese classics-- General Tso's Chicken, cashew chicken, and egg roll. And you know what? It was all pretty good. As in, there was nothing off about it pushing it into the not-good category. Not too gloopy-sweet, some actual heat in the good general's favorite dish, egg roll not as good as Kow Kow (no peanut butter) but serviceable. Not too greasy, exactly what you'd ask for in a Chinese-American meal. Give them an A, for hitting dead center the gentleman's C that is Chinese-American delivery food.

Everybody Wing Chong tonight!

Wing Chong
4077 North Elston Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618-2121
Tel: 773 588 3808

i like furama, not just for their glorious dim sum, but for their take out and delivery at dinner time. they've got all the classics and i've simply had nothing but good experiences and meals. though i do strongly urge for the dim sum.

-M@

I ordered a spicy chicken dish (can't recall the exact one) from Silver Seafood a few weeks back, and the chicken was almost inedible. Slimy, limp, and fatty. If I had to go back, I'd order off the non-American menu.

I agree with the others here who have noted Silver Seafood and Sun Wah. They are, in my opinion, the best authentic Chinese on the North side (that I've had the fortune to try). Per Ameri-Chinese, I've had a couple terrible experiences at Orange Garden. They're dead to me. But, just up the street on Lincoln is House of Wah Sun. I've had very respectable Ameri-Chinese there. In particular their egg rolls are excellent. They are short, fatter kind, but have a bit of peanut butter with pork and shrimp. Szchuan chicken is serviceable. Mongolian beef as actually pretty good. I think their standout is the hot and sour soup though. I always get a large which is a huge amount (enough for a couple meals). It has the balance of hot and sour that so many places seem to mess up.

Actually, the worst "Chinese" food I've had lately was at Tank. It wasn't my intention to order something "Chinese," I just picked a dish with noodles figuring youngest son would eat the noodles if nothing else. It didn't seem Chinese from the description, especially. But it came out like a bad burlesque of Chinese food, dripping flavorless brown cornstarchy gravy. Amazing that something that awful could exist a few yards from Sun Wah! But fortunately, everything else was good. And Vietnamese.

Mattkrc wrote:i like furama, not just for their glorious dim sum, but for their take out and delivery at dinner time. they've got all the classics and i've simply had nothing but good experiences and meals. though i do strongly urge for the dim sum.

-M@

This is the first positive mention I've read about Furama, much less such glowing praise. I'm not discounting Mattkrc's opinion at all. It's just that even though I live a few blocks from Furama I've never gone there, opting to head down to Chinatown for dim sum. If Matt or anyone else can offer a little more detail about Furama's dim sum, I'd love to read about it.

tapler wrote:

Mattkrc wrote:i like furama, not just for their glorious dim sum, but for their take out and delivery at dinner time. they've got all the classics and i've simply had nothing but good experiences and meals. though i do strongly urge for the dim sum.

-M@

This is the first positive mention I've read about Furama, much less such glowing praise. I'm not discounting Mattkrc's opinion at all. It's just that even though I live a few blocks from Furama I've never gone there, opting to head down to Chinatown for dim sum. If Matt or anyone else can offer a little more detail about Furama's dim sum, I'd love to read about it.

I go to Furuama for dim sum once a year. My uncle organizes a big weekend dim sum meal there for the whole family.

I find the food quality to be highly variable. This past visit was good on many items (the chicken feet were really flavorful), but the previous two years were so bad (many items were bland and abnormally greasy) I started to lobby for a new location.

On a good day, Furama serves "good enough" dim sum with decent variety. But the flavors never leave me wanting more like they do in some of the more heralded Chinatown spots. On a bad day, Furama can be just awful.

Best,
Michael

We went to Furama a little over a year ago. Every dim sum item we ordered was lukewarm (at best), and seemed to cool to below room temperature (only a slight exaggeration). We stopped ordering from the carts, and tried one of the "weekend specials", a seafood chow mein, thinking it would at least be made to order (and therefore, hot). It was indeed hot, but it was by far the smallest portion of chow mein I've ever seen, and had a strangely sweet sauce. In hindsight, we definitely should've sent the food back, but I think we were too shocked by the whole situation.

Obviously, this was only one visit, but it was bad enough that we likely won't ever give it a second chance.

I second Wah Sun on Lincoln for good ol made in the USA Chinese.....not to mention the groovy (and cheap) tiki cocktails....and free parking!

I understand that sometimes the food, particularly the dim sum per this discussion, can be hit or miss sometime; and at times, those misses can be horrible ones. However, I have had, upon repeated visits since I live down the street, far more great experiences on Saturday or Sunday mornings at Furama than bad.
-I love the sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves and steamed around a filling of piping-hot pork sausage.
-I'm a BIG fan of fried sesame balls with red bean filling. I seek them out at Chinatown bakeries frequently. Here, they are some of the best I've had. I always get a bunch to go, chill them in my refrigerator, and they're even better the next day.
-The shrimp toasts, albeit extremely greasy, have always been perfectly crisp, hot, and all about the shrimp flavor, as opposed to any excess fried outer shell.
-One of my favorite sweets comes courtesy of the Furama dessert cart. The coconut balls, sweet rice encompassing shredded coconut and sugar and rolled in more coconut, are far superior to the American counterpart they initially reminded me of: the candy aisle snowball.

I will continue to go to Furama because, aside from the sheer convenience, I find it succesful time and again.

-M@

Mattkrc wrote:I will continue to go to Furama because, aside from the sheer convenience, I find it succesful time and again.

Thank you for sharing some details. Now I'm armed with some useful info if and when I try Furama for dim sum.