It will be me and my 2 friends, so 3 in total

Monique

mhl wrote:I was getting over a cold and was conserving myself to be able to attend the Picnic.

Matt,

This isn't directed solely at you personally, but since you brought up the subject, I would hope that anyone who is sick would be considerate enough of your fellow LTHers not to come to this dinner (or any other LTH event). On the other hand, you can do what you want, but I would ask that you respect us enough to let us know that you are sick so that people who are concerned about such things in these days of the Swine Flu can opt out of the dinner.

hi, sorry for the v late notice on this, but I've got a work crisis that has come up - have to go back to the office & will be there late tonight & therefore unable to attend. Enjoy the duck for me,

Yeah... Mike is catching an earlier flight so I have earlier airport pickup duty. Can't make it!

stevez wrote:

mhl wrote:I was getting over a cold and was conserving myself to be able to attend the Picnic.

Matt,

This isn't directed solely at you personally, but since you brought up the subject, I would hope that anyone who is sick would be considerate enough of your fellow LTHers not to come to this dinner (or any other LTH event). On the other hand, you can do what you want, but I would ask that you respect us enough to let us know that you are sick so that people who are concerned about such things in these days of the Swine Flu can opt out of the dinner.

Steve,

Unfortunately, I believe that due to a bit of artistic license on my part, and by your quoting me out of complete context this time, I think the meaning of what I wrote, i.e., "...until recently, I was getting over a cold..." has been skewed. Let me state my situation in other words: while I was still getting over it sometime ago, I chose at that time not to join my LTH friends in this event. Subsequently, after a "final" call, some folks cancelled, which seemed to reopen seats. Now that spots seem to be open--and I'm over my illness--I'm opting-in.

Be assured, Steve, that my decision to join my compatriots at Sun Wah tonight is a mature, reasoned, and considerate one. I won't, however, feel too badly if you choose to sit at another table--your esteemed presence would be preferable to your staying away in fear of me, H1N1, pork blood-bourne trichinosis, whooping cough, sniffles, and/or hydrophobia....

However, if the quality of my judgement is not sufficient in your--or others'--opinion in this matter, say so and I'll pass on tonight.

Your friend,

--Matt

mhl wrote:
However, if the quality of my judgement is not sufficient in your--or others'--opinion in this matter, say so and I'll pass on tonight.

Your friend,

--Matt

Nope. I trust your judgment and take you at your word. As long as you're not contagious, I'd love to see you. Like I said, my comment was meant more as a general observation and request for common sense, not necessarily to single you out.

The dinner was GREAT we really enjoyed it, including the company of Matt (despite fear of plague, we boldly called him to sit at our table when he arrived)

Seriously, though, excellent food, service, and not enough ducks

The pork blood was fine, but not particularly exciting. As there were many dishes that were exciting, we tasted the blood and moved on. The cold chicken dish was particularly excellent, as were the Beijing Duck and the duck fried rice. The dessert, strawberry mousse shaped like a fish, was gorgeous.


Ducks



Fishies



Thanks so much to the organizer PigOut and to our hosts at Sun Wah

Really great dinner last night, thanks to everyone who came and to Kelly for hosting us! Really enjoyed the drunken chicken (cold chicken) with scallion sauce, the mushrooms, and my all time favorite roast pork. I can't get enough of crispy pig skin! As I'm sure a lot of people will mention, the pork blood was rather mild, borderline flavorless without the chives...and was a lot like eating tofu. I actually thought the squab was a much more gamey, exotic flavored dish. I've got pictures, but they suck, and I'll leave it to the pros to post theirs.

Another great dinner at Sun Wah last night. While the duck and pork were as great as they always are, the squab and the cold chicken were the real highlights of the meal for me.

I agree with Josh about the best dishes of the evening (although I found the deep fried intestines and the mixed mushrooms also quite good - two separate dishes). But what struck me about the meal was how minimalist the meal was in the sense that most plates were simply very high quality meats or vegetables cooked simply and perfectly. There was not a lot of frou-frou on the plates. In this sense dining at Sun Wah is a very different experience than dining at, say, Lao Sze Chuan, where their excellent dishes are more complexly organized and sauced. Sun Wah is the Chez Panisse of Chicago (Chinese) dining.

Thanks, pigOut, for organizing the send-off dinner for Sun Wah's soon-to-be-former location. I thought the meal was really nice and loved that the offerings included items like fried intestines, pig blood and head-on squab. It's been a busy weekend and I don't have time to post pictures at the moment (soon, though, I hope) but I think my favorites were the pig's blood, which I thought had a richness that worked very well with the slightly bitter chives and the baby bok choy, which was just about perfect. The mushrooms were extremely delicious, too.

The squab was too gamey for my taste but I did enjoy nibbling the fatty meat from the neck and the crunchy skin on the head, which were both a bit milder. There was probably something worth eating inside the head, too, but I just couldn't get over my personal squeam factor and didn't try it. I actually felt guilty for taking and essentially wasting something that many people probably would have relished eating.

In any case, I wish for the Cheng family prosperity and the very best of luck in their new location. I got a sneak peek inside the space last night and all I can say is wow! It's absolutely gigantic and it looks like it's going to be ultra-deluxe in many, many ways. It's located at 5041 N. Broadway and is supposed to be open about 10 days after they close the current location, which is supposed to happen early next week.

Btw, nice pic, Steve!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Btw, nice pic, Steve!

=R=

I'm in the same boat as Ronnie. I hope to post some pictures after the LTH picnic madness is over. In the meantime:

Coming Soon

ronnie_suburban wrote:The squab was too gamey for my taste but I did enjoy nibbling the fatty meat from the neck and the crunchy skin on the head, which were both a bit milder. There was probably something worth eating inside the head, too, but I just couldn't get over my personal squeam factor and didn't try it. I actually felt guilty for taking and essentially wasting something that many people probably would have relished eating.=R=

(From another ronnie post):

ronnie_suburban wrote:Had a glorious meal at Mado on Saturday night and the highlight of highlights was this dish, which the kitchen sent out for us . . .


Pig Brains and Eggs on Toasted Brioche

Wow! Wow! Wow!

=R=

How in all-that-is-holy did this squab manage to make ronnie_suburban cry uncle? Was it wearing fishnets and doing Ethel Merman impressions?

Thanks to PigOut for organizing! It was also great to finally make it to a LTH event and meet people in person! The food was delicious and I agree with PigOut's assessment of the favs. I also really enjoyed the fried intestine!

Bridgestone wrote:How in all-that-is-holy did this squab manage to make ronnie_suburban cry uncle? Was it wearing fishnets and doing Ethel Merman impressions?

Now there is an image that simply cannot be improved upon! Thanks, bridgestone!

Bridgestone wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:The squab was too gamey for my taste but I did enjoy nibbling the fatty meat from the neck and the crunchy skin on the head, which were both a bit milder. There was probably something worth eating inside the head, too, but I just couldn't get over my personal squeam factor and didn't try it. I actually felt guilty for taking and essentially wasting something that many people probably would have relished eating.=R=

(From another ronnie post):

ronnie_suburban wrote:Had a glorious meal at Mado on Saturday night and the highlight of highlights was this dish, which the kitchen sent out for us . . .


Pig Brains and Eggs on Toasted Brioche

Wow! Wow! Wow!

=R=

How in all-that-is-holy did this squab manage to make ronnie_suburban cry uncle? Was it wearing fishnets and doing Ethel Merman impressions?

LMAO! I think it was because it still had a head around it. I just couldn't bring myself to crack it open and get up in there. Next time . . . perhaps.

=R=

Since no one else at our table seemed interested, I took home the leftover pork blood and chives, which made for an excellent lunch today with some steamed rice. If anything, I found it even tastier than Friday.

I enjoyed all the dishes already praised upthread. In particular, I really enjoyed the acidic punch provided by the freshly squeezed lime on the squab. I thought the only disappointment was the shrimp dish, which wasn't quite as tasty as I expected when it was brought to the table.

Many thanks to pigOut and Kelly for putting the event together. Good luck to the Cheng family in the new location.

BJY wrote:Since no one else at our table seemed interested, I took home the leftover pork blood and chives, which made for an excellent lunch today with some steamed rice. If anything, I found it even tastier than Friday.

I enjoyed all the dishes already praised upthread. In particular, I really enjoyed the acidic punch provided by the freshly squeezed lime on the squab. I thought the only disappointment was the shrimp dish, which wasn't quite as tasty as I expected when it was brought to the table.

Many thanks to pigOut and Kelly for putting the event together. Good luck to the Cheng family in the new location.

The steamed rice is probably a great accompaniment to the pork blood. Maybe all of the other dishes overpowered the pork blood? Kelly mentioned that she likes the pork blood with congee. That sounds like a good combo!

I finally got around to downloading the pics off my camera. Here are a couple:

Crispy intestine - is that the name of this dish? This was actually one of my favorites. I didn't mind the bit of chew to these things. A little squeeze of lemon and some chili paste made these a bit addictive for me. I love how crispy the exterior was.


Close up of intestine(?)


Another favorite - crispy-skinned roast pork!


Infamous pork blood!


Plate of sliced Peking Duck


Assembled Peking Duck in bun


Drunken Chicken

Wanted to come back and post a few images from our dinner. I think I have more coverage of Sun Wah than any other restaurant but the reason I always make sure to bring my camera there is because they're always serving something I've never had before. As was discussed above, that was certainly the case with this 'goodbye' dinner . . .


Beijing Duck, carved



Crispy Fried Pork Intestines



Drunken Chicken



jesteinf enjoys some duck soup



Mushrooms



Squab (with geno55's camera snapping away)



Pork Blood and Chives



Roast Baby Pig



Pan-Fried Shrimp with Soy



Baby Bok Choy



Fruit Mousse in Fish Form



That's all folks (for this location) . . .

=R=