Hon Kee, Chinese BBQ [Pictures]

LTH,

Of the three Chinese BBQ joints on Argyle I tend focus on one at a time. For years I was a Sun Wah man then, ever fickle, Hon Kee was my meat, Chinese BBQ wise that is, brief fling with La Banh Mi Hung Phat, then back to my current fav Sun Wah.

Lately I've started to drift back to Hon Kee for the occasional bowl of shrimp wonton w/noodle, duck and roast pork or inexpensive plate lunch of mixed BBQ on rice. Yesterday, motivated by a board mention of Filipino style soup, BBQ pork and eggs on rice by Kuhdo I met a couple of LTHers at Hon Kee.

I'm not sure what makes Hon Kee's Mamee/Filipino style soup, which is not listed on the menu, Filipino, but I enjoyed the mix of thin noodle, shrimp dumpling, tender beef and scattering of head to tail bits and pieces.

Filipino style soup (Mamee)



BBQ pork w/egg on rice is a study in simplicity, with both Peter D and Jazzfood commenting it reminded them of the type of home-style breakfast dishes they grew up with. Drizzle of the house chili oil put it over the top for me, something I will definitely order again, and soon.

BBQ pork w/eggs on rice


We also shared a mixed BBQ plate on rice, roast pork, duck and chicken. Roast pork, which is often excellent at Hon Kee was fine, but did not shine on this occasion.

BBQ on rice (chicken, duck, roast pork)


In keeping with the Filipino theme of lunch we had Pansit Canton, which I found uninspiring.

Pansit Canton



Hon Kee has a full menu and wide rang of Chinese BBQ, though it's been years since I explored options other than BBQ and soup with wonton and noodle.





Enjoy,
Gary

Hon Kee
1064 W Argyle St
Chicago, Il 60640
773-878-6650
9am - 9pm
Closed Tuesday

Sun Wah BBQ
1134 W. Argyle
Chicago, Illinois 60640
773-769-1254
Closed Thursday

La Banh Mi Hung Phat
4940 North Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60640
773-878-8688

Great pics as always. They're givin' me a serious hankerin' for a bowl of that there mamee stuff.
I've found Hon Kee's roast pork to be more intensely spiced than Sun Wah's, but also a bit drier. But nobody with a penchant for tripe should miss Hon Kee's spicy beef tripe.

The iceberg lettuce on the BBQ plates blows my mind... must be a cheap Chicago Chinatown thing. Whatever happened to a few sprigs of gai-lan, yu-choy, cheng-gong-choy (Shanghai-nese bokchoy) or even napa cabbage? I confess I have never seen that in my life... much less not cooked. I know some Hong Kong Cantonese households which used to cook/wilt iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce as a vege dish, but raw iceberg? That is so... non-Asian...



Edit: Good lord, I took another look at the soup noodle and noticed the iceberg in that as well.... WTH?

Great pics -- I too am a bigger Sun Wah fan than a Hon Kee fan (prefer their bbq items), but I like Hon Kee a lot, and those close to me (who are not as big fans of the bbq) seem to prefer Hon Kee to Sun Wah.

I suspect Sun Wah makes everyone (including myself) forget that Hon Kee on Argyle is pretty damn good too, but on Thursday nights when Sun Wah is closed Hon Kee is the perfect replacement for Chinese comfort food. Tonight, I absolutely loved the bbq pork w/ scrambled egg on rice (pictured in Gary's post) and the spare ribs in black bean sauce with crispy noodles was also an excellent dish. Hon Kee always hits the spot for me and on this night when Sun Wah was closed, I wasn't the least bit unhappy.

i'm a huge fan of Hon Kee's seafood with rice noodle in brown sauce. No one else makes it quite like they do. Their scrambled egg with bbq pork is also excellent.

Jay K wrote:The iceberg lettuce on the BBQ plates blows my mind... must be a cheap Chicago Chinatown thing. Whatever happened to a few sprigs of gai-lan, yu-choy, cheng-gong-choy (Shanghai-nese bokchoy) or even napa cabbage? I confess I have never seen that in my life... much less not cooked. I know some Hong Kong Cantonese households which used to cook/wilt iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce as a vege dish, but raw iceberg? That is so... non-Asian...







Edit: Good lord, I took another look at the soup noodle and noticed the iceberg in that as well.... WTH?

The lettuce on the BBQ plate looks like it's been cooked, then drizzled with oyster sauce. Iceberg/romaine with oyster sauce and/or garlic is a common side dish in cantonese restaurants in every city where I've ever lived (Calgary, Vancouver, San Francisco). It is also very common to see lettuce in noodle soups.

G Wiv wrote:

Maybe worth even more than 1,000 words. (in spite of the iceberg) Wow!

=R=

Agreed. That looks absolutely fantastic.

I'd love something like that on the northwest side. Wonton Gourmet in Mount Prospect has left me just short of satisfied with their noodle soups every time I've tried them. Frankly, I gave up on them after my third and last attempt. They're simpley adequate and that's not good enough.

LTH,

Simple, tasty weekend lunch at Hon Kee. Crisp roasted piggy, shrimp dumpling soup w/noodle and house made chili oil.

Crisp skin roast pork drizzled w/chili oil



Shrimp Dumpling Soup w/noodle



Soup with strategically placed crispy pork and chili oil



Enjoy,
Gary

Since Sun Wah has been closed, I've been to Hon Kee a couple of times for some meat and soup. While Hon Kee has filled my needs well enough, let's just say that I can't wait for Sun Wah to reopen again.

I decided to give Hon Kee a shot over Sun Wah in the interest of promoting competition. Have to report that the public is right in its preference.
I wanted to see if Hon Kee could do a decent version of one of my SW favorites: wide rice noodles cooked crispy with duck and peapod shoots. Chinese broccoli was an acceptable swap for the veg. The skin on the duck seemed better than what other LTHers have encountered. But the noodles killed the deal. Apparently they did cook them longer than usual, as the noodles has absorbed a lot of oil, but they were not close to crispy. At least the oil seemed fresh, as is not the case at so many places.
The dish was actually okay, but when you're looking to re-experience something transcendental, you leave disappointed.
I do have to say that I am impressed with the low prices at Hon Kee. They do a good job on a lot of stuff. But they just can't match those folks down the block.

Our family eats here almost every Saturday morning. The girls (age 7+8) eat the bbq pork and fried rice dishes, I get the chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, and hubby is always trying new things and have never been disappointed. I do think that Sun Wah is better but at 9 am it is not up and ready to go with its full array of dishes as HK and HK is a bit cheaper. We can get everthing on the menu at any time. The hot and sour soup-small feeds a family of 4 and is delicious and the black bean and pepper sauce is good too.

Tip Top Hon Kee lunch with a fellow LTHer last week highlight of which was beef stew on thin egg noodle with the addition of tripe and tendon served dry with a bowl of rich stew gravy on the side.



Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, simple yet surprisingly satisfying, soy chicken, duck and shrimp dumplings w/soup on the side rounded out our nap inducing meal.




It should be noted that Hon Kee appears to be moving into new digs on Winthrop just North of Argyle. I have no idea when the move will transpire.




While I dearly love Sun Wah a couple of recent lunches put Hon Kee firmly in rotation.

Hon Kee, count me a fan!

Uptown Chinese restaurant gets a makeover
https://trib.in/2GDSILD

Can anyone comment on Hon Kee's congee? I'm under the weather and live on the north side (so delivery from Chinatown isn't an option). My illness is craving some good chicken congee. Thanks!

LaurenL wrote:Can anyone comment on Hon Kee's congee?

I've not had Hon Kee's congee, but in the couple of times I've been to Hon Kee since the move I've left less than pleased.

That said, Sun Wah offers congee, which I've had and liked, though for under the weather I would pro baby opt for Nha Hang's Vietnamese version of congee. My pick would be Chao Vit #46, duck with green onion and ginger fish sauce. They also offer chicken, ground beef, catfish, shrimp and combo.

Nha Hang
1032 W Argyle St
Chicago, IL 60640
8:30 - 10:pm
Closed Tuesday

G Wiv wrote:My pick would be Chao Vit #46, duck with green onion and ginger fish sauce.

Recent picture in Nha Hang thread. -----> Thread Had not had Nha Hang's duck congee in a few months, even tastier than remembered.