Hai Yen - 2 Locations, Any Good?

I've heard decent things about Hai Yen. There seem to be two locations, one in Lincoln Park and another around Argyle and Clark.

Which of these locations is better? Is Hai Yen a decent spot to grab some Vietnamese food? Anything better out there? Not looking for just a pho or banh mi shop, so something of a broad menu would be nice.

The Lincoln Park Hai Yen is a bit of a "dumbed down" version of the one up on Argyle. The menu is far more limited and lacking in some of the funkier offerings. The Lincoln Park Hai Yen is certainly fine if you're in the neighborhood, but if you're looking for a more authentic experience I'd stick with the Argyle branch.

Hai yen on Argyle was good the couple times I went, but my last visit was around a year or so. No opinion on the LP location.

Ok, so Argyle it is. Is there anywhere else I should be eating instead?

BryanZ wrote:Ok, so Argyle it is. Is there anywhere else I should be eating instead?

GNR Tank is very good and has a huge menu; not just Pho.

BryanZ wrote:Ok, so Argyle it is. Is there anywhere else I should be eating instead?

I personally love Hai Yen and think it superior to Tank Noodle (especially where Pho is concerned). In addition to the Pho, for starters I'd recommend the 9 piece Bo La Lot appetizer; the seven courses of beef (wonderful porridge included in this) and especially the terrific Red Snapper.

I liked the Pho at the old Pho Hoa in the mall down the block on Broadway more than Tank's and Hai Yen, but it changed ownership and name to "Le's Pho". The Pho there now doesn't have the same depth and complexity of flavor that Pho Hoa's had, but its still pretty decent. I think the beef broth is one of those things that comes down to a matter of personal preference. You could spend a week trying all the different versions on Arglye alone to figure out which is "best".



Hai Yen
1055 W Argyle Street
(773) 561-4077
http://www.haiyenrestaurant.com/

Le's Pho
4925 N. Broadway
(between Ainslie St & Argyle St)
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 784-8723

If you are looking for a decent Vietnamese experience May I suggest a better restaurant: Hoanh Long at 6144 N. Lincoln.
The Pho is very good but so are several other authentic dishes. Personally I like anything with lemmongrass

There are a number of places on Argyle that I prefer to Hai Yen. My favorite is Pho Xua. Dishes I recommend:
1. springroll with shrimp and pork
2. grilled betel leaf beef
3. papaya shrimp pork salad
4. beef salad
5. kohlrabi salad
6. fried duck noodle
7. house special pho
8. lemongrass chicken

BYO, no corkage, pleasant room and good service.

Pho Xua
1020 W. Argyle Ave.
773.271.9828

I'm a big fan of Hai Yen and haven't had a bad meal there in at least seven visits.

The menu is huge. I love the scallion pancake crepe thing and the beef and lettuce leaf cup wraps.

alain40 wrote:If you are looking for a decent Vietnamese experience May I suggest a better restaurant: Hoanh Long at 6144 N. Lincoln.
The Pho is very good but so are several other authentic dishes. Personally I like anything with lemmongrass

I'll second the Hoanh Long recommendation. I just posted about a great lunch I had there recently.

Hoanh Long
6144 N. Lincoln
Chicago, IL 60686
(773) 583-7770

Made it up to the Hai Yen on Argyle last Monday. That stretch of Argyle isn't the nicest section of Chicago, but if there's good Vietnamese to be found I'm there. Had a somewhat small meal--only three dishes--but liked the place well enough. I guess the biggest issue I had with the place--this is surely among the most cliched issues out there for SE Asian restaurants in the US--is that the food lacked intensity. It was all tasty, but I didn't feel the soul. Wow, cliche number two, and so soon, too.

The banh xeo, for instance, was the best of the three items we had--I freaking love banh xeo--but the filling just a bit bland. The herbs helped--I certainly appreciated the purple basil in addition to mint and cilantro--but it just didn't sing to me the way banh xeo can. The crepe wasn't quite crispy or eggy enough. The filling could've used, salt, sugar, soy, fish sauce, something. The shrimp were a bit too scarce to make enough of an impact. Small things that keep a dish from being great.

Banh xeo


The koh toh had the right flavors, just wasn't rich enough. That dish is all about the rich, sticky sauce that you want to put on everything, rice, body, whatever. This was a bit insipid. A reminder of koh toh in Vietnam but nothing more. The bo luc lac was fine, just a bit generic. I liked the watercress bed for its bitterness.

Mains


Between my two Vietnamese meals over the past couple of weeks I found Nhu Lan to be much more memorable and endearing. I'll make it a point to get back to the former, I'll return to Hai Yen when I need a fix. I think there's a fundamental difference there that speaks to how much I enjoyed each place.

Can I also add that $6 corkage is within the realm of reasonable but a bit lame too. Boo.

BryanZ wrote:The crepe wasn't quite crispy or eggy enough.

Should be crisp, but there is no egg involved with Banh xeo, yellow/egg color comes from turmeric.

Sounds like a nice overall meal, though if you have not found a Vietnamese restaurant that 'sings' to you yet, I suggest keep on keeping on, you will find one that appeals.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:...if you have not found a Vietnamese restaurant that 'sings' to you yet, I suggest keep on keeping on, you will find one that appeals.

Agreed. I live just a couple of blocks away from the Argyle/Broadway intersection and have been trying to explore more of the strip since I moved to the 'hood in July. While I've yet to find anything that quite matches the taste (and experience) of eating in a Hanoi alley, I'm finding individual dishes at different restaurants along the strip that come close.

Most recently I tried Pho Xua, where I had a great meal including Bo La Lot, Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio and Banh Cuon Nhan Thit. I look forward to going back and exploring more of the menu there - the Banh Cuon were a bit of a disappointment, but everything else was great.

-Dan

BryanZ wrote: The koh toh had the right flavors, just wasn't rich enough. That dish is all about the rich, sticky sauce that you want to put on everything, rice, body, whatever. This was a bit insipid. A reminder of koh toh in Vietnam but nothing more. The bo luc lac was fine, just a bit generic. I liked the watercress bed for its bitterness.

What's "koh toh"?

Koh toh is a claypot dish that usually involves braised fish and a sticky, sweet braising liquid that usually has soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce, and probably some other items.

Had my first visit last night to the Hai Yen on Argyle and got to sample a handful of dishes.

Goi Ngo Sen - Lotus Root Salad

This dish was a very similar preparation to the kohlrabi salad down the street at Pho Xua. I think I prefer kohlrabi to the jarred lotus root, but as far as the overall preparation I liked this dish just fine.

Bo La Lot - Betel-wrapped Ground Beef

Also something I've had at Pho Xua and I really enjoyed this rendition. Definitely a hit at our table.

Bun Bo Hue - (Spicy) Beef Noodle Soup

When we order this, the waiter asked "spicy?" and we made it clear that yes, we wanted it at full heat level, but unfortunately it came out with only a hint of heat. A dollop of chili paste spiced it up, but it didn't have the depth of spice you'd expect had it been made spicy from the get-go. The broth itself was quite good, better than Tank but not as good as Cafe Hoang.

Banh Cuon Nhan Thit - Ground Pork and Mushrooms wrapped in Rice Noodle

I have special memories associated with banh cuon, and no version in Chicago will live up to the overall experience when I first tried this dish. That said - really delicious. The rolls themselves were very neatly rolled and the beautifully presented , though I found the sprouts and cucumber on top to get in the way a bit (I've always had this with just fried shallots on top).

Com Ga Nuong - Lemongrass Chicken

Straightforward and quite tasty, though perhaps a bit sweet.

Suon Non Rang Muoi Tieu - Salt & Pepper Fried Pork Ribs

Tender but with a bit of chew remaining, these meaty strips of fried pork were tasty if not particularly interesting.

I really liked everything we had at Hai Yen - there were no misses in my opinion - but we didn't have any standout dishes where I thought "this is better than anywhere else on Argyle". It may be that we simply didn't hit on the highlights of the menu. We spotted some little cabbage rolls (for an employee meal) and some clams being delivered to a neighboring table, that both looked really good - I'd like to try those.

Prices were reasonable, though corkage was a bit steep in my opinion - $1/beer, $6/wine. We brought a few large format beers (including a growler from Half Acre) and negotiated down to $3 for those.

I'm really looking forward to going back to Pho Xua, which I've recently taken a fondness to, and trying Dong Ky which now tops my prioritized list of places around Argyle that I haven't yet gone to.

-Dan

dansch wrote:I really liked everything we had at Hai Yen - there were no misses in my opinion - but we didn't have any standout dishes where I thought "this is better than anywhere else on Argyle".

This pretty much mirrors my experience at Hai Yen. Nothing wrong with it but nothing particularly compelling for me, either.

Nice shots, btw.

=R=

Couple of questions regarding the Argyle location.

1) BYOB or do they offer beer? I see mention of a corkage fee upthread, but wonder if they offer beer as well as being BYOB?

2) anyone try the Seven Courses of beef - # 111?

Looking to go for Vietnamese on Saturday night for an early dinner (around 6:00), and maybe somewhere new, we have tried and liked Tank, and Cafe Hoang(Chinatown).

Thanks for any help, or info.

I think they have beer, although I'm not 100% sure as it's been a while since I've been to Hai Yen.

I've had the 7 courses of beef and I liked it, although I'm certainly no expert on Vietnamese. It might be less interesting for those who eat Vietnamese often.

I've had and greatly enjoyed the 7 courses of beef at Hai Yen. It's a bit much of the same thing but certainly worth a try to see how you like it. A guy like you, Jim, won't be disappointed.

jesteinf wrote:I think they have beer, although I'm not 100% sure as it's been a while since I've been to Hai Yen.

I've had the 7 courses of beef and I liked it, although I'm certainly no expert on Vietnamese. It might be less interesting for those who eat Vietnamese often.

thanks folks,

I am also for from an expert, the 7 dishes on that menu all look good to me. I heard the 7 course is maybe $14 per person is this accuarate?

I am also thinking of maybe the 5 course, and add a few items from the menu that look good.

That price sounds about right. I don't remember it being an absurd amount of food, so you could probably get away with doing 5 courses plus some other things that look good.

jesteinf wrote:That price sounds about right. I don't remember it being an absurd amount of food, so you could probably get away with doing 5 courses plus some other things that look good.

thanks, it may sound funny coming from me, but the 7 course looks like beef overload, we may need to mix some seafood in there, or at least some chicken wings.

We may even take the red line up there from the Sheriden and Irving Park area.

As I mentioned last November on this thread, I think that Hoanh Long at 6144 N. Lincoln is a much better option.
I had lunch at Hai Yen on Argyle a couple of weeks ago and I found the food, although still perfectly edible, that used to be quite good a few years back, bordering on the mediocre, tame and over cooked.
Or, if you want to stay in the Argyle area, may I suggest that you walk 2 blocks back West and have a decent meal at Tien Giang at 4925 N. Broadway. The old location on Argyle was closed for 2 years but the place reopened 3 months ago and is now fully operating under the same management and chef as before. No wine or beer though.

alain40 wrote:As I mentioned last November on this thread, I think that Hoanh Long at 6144 N. Lincoln is a much better option.
I had lunch at Hai Yen on Argyle a couple of weeks ago and I found the food, although still perfectly edible, that used to be quite good a few years back, bordering on the mediocre, tame and over cooked.
Or, if you want to stay in the Argyle area, may I suggest that you walk 2 blocks back West and have a decent meal at Tien Giang at 4925 N. Broadway. The old location on Argyle was closed for 2 years but the place reopened 3 months ago and is now fully operating under the same management and chef as before. No wine or beer though.

Jim--these are the same two places I PM'd you about...I've heard the same about Hai Yen although since I haven't eaten there, I didn't want to say anything...

Jim,

I liked some elements of our meal at Hai Yen on Argyle but didn't love it overall. It certainly wasn't bad but most of the meal didn't really resonate for me, either. We had the 7 courses of beef and I remember enjoying 1 of them, Bo La Lot (betel leaf-wrapped grilled, marinated beef), so much that we ordered more of them, thinking a couple others -- Bo Nhung Giam (eye of round, sliced thin and served fondue-style with a warm vinegar broth) and Cha Dum (steamed beef meatballs mixed with mushrooms and spices) -- were good and feeling that the rest were nothing special. I also really liked the Ca Hap Xi Dau (steamed sea-bass filet topped with ginger-soy sauce and scallions). The fish was moist and flaky and the sauce was tasty and aromatic. I've only been once and would definitely go back because there's a lot to explore but that one and only visit yielded only a couple truly memorable dishes.

Hope this helps,

=R=

I really like Hai Yen--two of my favorite dishes are the sea bass in a clay pot (this usually features catfish which I'm not a big fan of) and a dungeness crab with carmelized onions. I also enjoy their banana blossom salad and their version of bahn xeo.

ronnie_suburban wrote:We had the 7 courses of beef and I remember enjoying 1 of them, Bo La Lot (betel leaf-wrapped grilled, marinated beef), so much that we ordered more of them

I like Hai Yen, very much like their rendition of bo la lot, but in the year plus since I have last been have not felt a strong urge to return.

Nice pictures Dan.

good info folks, Ill keep reading as much as I can, the beer option BYOB or otherwise is necessary.

FYI, Hai Yen Argyle has wine and beer. (I believe Lincoln Park has since closed shop.) And this is the first time I've seen a rice paper water bowl used, almost every table of Vietnamese diners was using one. http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/20 ... eview.html