Hidden gem in China town...Gourmet Food Inc!!!

I didn't see this place mentions in the forum. So, I thought I would add it in. There is a this place where I frequent on the way home after work or just lazy since I don't want to cook, and often times it is cheaper than cooking. It is Gourmet Food Inc. It is a family run establishment that is on a side street in China town. Their addy is:

Gourmet Food Inc
Address: 210 W 23rd St, Chicago, IL 60616
Phone: (312) 842-3366

I don't think there is an English sign out there, but it is a green shed looking thing on 23rd St. If you turn left onto 23rd St from Wentworth (heading east) it is on the right hand side.

Anyway, their food in my book is excellent. I only go there for take out since I don't live too far from the place. But, they do have tables and such inside. I usaully order gai lan fish filet, fish filet with fried tofu and pork, three kinds of seadfood with tofu, Prok with eggplant, beef with satay sauce, any of their fried rice, singapore vermicelli, and beef with rice noodle. All the non fried rice and noodle dishes come in a "rice box" and you can substitue chow mein or chow fun for and extra .50.

Their portion size is huge, it can double as lunch the next day. Also, a guilty pleasure there are their chicken wings. They are the whole chicken wing and come in 3 for $1.50...you cannot beat that. They are size of turkey wings. I am not sure if that is a good thing, but I have been eating these things since I was young and I am still fine. Also, the marinade in the chicken wings is delicious!

HI,

I have been to this place, which when I was there was pretty much filled with Chinese clients. They seemed to prefer the all-Chinese environment with barely a nod there was English spoken anywhere in the vicinity. I recall at the time ordering by pointing.

I'm not sure how I would react now, though I found it intimidating at the time. What differs today there is less and less I find intimidating and more and more my reaction is, "What the heck!" and dive right in.

Thanks for the reminder as well as your list of favored foods.

Regards,

in my experience, they seem to specialize in large "party trays" of food. i've seen quite a few fried rice and pan fried noodle dishes from there.

quality was about average, which i guess is pretty good considering the size of the tray.

i believe they also sell handmade frozen dumplings in bulk? correct me if i'm wrong.

I haven't found anything that is cheap and good in Chinca Town. They do give you a huge portion for less than $5. Plus their food is more edible than any american chinese restaurant.

Not too sure of their dumplings. I know of a lady in China town that makes then herself for $25 for a bag of 100. They are the big potstickers that you can pan fry or steam.

Bumping this one up....Tonight, we parked on a side street to grab some dinner at one of our favorites, Penang, and we took notice of Gourmet Food for the very first time.

I'm glad that I was able to find some positive feedback here before putting my stomach to the test. Any other insights, input? I think the chicken wings sound like a good bet.

Hi,

Today after listening to Jennifer 8. Lee lecture for the Chinese American Museum. We went to lunch at Gourmet Food Inc. recommended by Louisa Chu. I had been there once long ago. I was delighted to visit once more with Louisa to try her favorites, especially since the menu offers scant information. The almost all Chinese clientelle allows the staff few opportunities to use their menu English. In my prior visit, I felt they were far more comfortable with Chinese.

The service is very minimalist, which some may not like. You want water? There are styrofoam cups next to a water tank to fill yourself. Your food is served on foam plates or take-out containers. Everything was brought to the table on cafeteria trays, which were left in the middle of the table. We may have received a slightly upgraded service, I suspect we might have been expected to order our food and collect it at the counter.

501. Shrimp with Egg Sauce


Think Shrimp in Lobster sauce with peas and without the oyster sauce. I really enjoyed this dish because I could really taste the shrimp and peas without a lot of competition from the sauce.

709. Minced beef with egg (there was a second egg ordered)


Probably if this was not shared family style, I imagine the diner might have chopped and mixed the egg into the dish. On this occasion, people simply grabbed a piece of egg with their portion. It was a wonderful example of Chinese homestyle cooking without any expectations of guests. Pure comfort food.

(Side order menu) Beef Stew


For those who like tendon, tripe and other long cooked goodies, this dish is for you. I made sure to pick out the last tender bits buried in the rice leaving only a small mound of rice. No point putting that much work to waste.

819. Rice Vermicelli Singapore style


Often Singapore noodles are listed as spicy on Chinese menus, though it never impresses me as such. I thought today's version had more bite than normally encountered.

1401. Shrimp Funn Roll available only on weekends


I am accustomed to a rice noodle sheet with the filling inside. Probably due to the dried shriimp, it was rolled on the exterior instead. There was no other filling with the rice noodle conjealing to a solid mass.

1204. Sweet Sesame Ball
1205. Sweet rice paste bun (filled with minced pork)
1106. Chinese chive pancakes


When someone announced the sweet sesame ball filled with bean paste was dessert. Louisa offered in Chinese culinary traditions it is normally a snack with tea. It's always great to learn something new.

Finally, our entire meal for five people came to $7.68 per person with tip. I do believe my mental logjam to visit has been broken.

Gourmet Food Inc
"The Best Food and The Best Price in Chinatown"
Address: 210 W 23rd St, Chicago, IL 60616
Phone: (312) 842-3366
Everyday: 9 AM to 8:30 PM

CASH ONLY.

Regards,

The congee at Gourmet Food is not any plain congee either! Unless they have changed it, they put "foo chuk" (tofu skin) in with the rice to make the congee. Excellent for those days when you're not feeling well...

Congee... Chinese "Chicken Soup"

I also have great memories of the braised tripe there. This post has reminded me that it has been too long since I've been back.

Cathy - thanks for posting about our lunch - and adding some much-needed photos to this thread. I've said elsewhere that Gourmet Food is one of my favorite "hidden" gems too. It was nice to see one of the the Chinese-American Museum's board members picking up take-out there after Jenny's talk too. Yes, they do answer the phone in Cantonese, but the counter staff does speak English - and some speak Mandarin. And yes, normally it's counter service. Next time, order as take-out - even if you're eating in - big box, more food, better value - I still can't believe I broke my own rule.

To answer a few questions - some that go way back:

CrazyC - I haven't had the congee there in a while either, doubt they've changed it. The restaurant did change hands - the original owner is a distant cousin/fellow villager of my mom - but the food is the same - i.e. why we love the place. And jook is good anytime really, right?

kithat - any of the dishes mentioned in this thread. The wings are fine - they can be tough.

TonyC - still sell them - $24 for 100 - made there.

dudefella - yes, large styrofoam boxes - not aluminum party trays - but those are single orders.

Mario - there is an English sign out front - can't remember if it's always been there or not. Thanks for starting this thread - way back.

Gourmet Food Inc. has been suffering from a steady decline since the original owners sold the place a few years ago. It was not just the various other incidents that turned us off, but rather the decline in the food. The food has continued to taste off with every chef change and ownership transition.

With a group of foodie friends that grew up in Chinatown and have been eating at Gourmet since its GRAND OPENING many years ago, we have sworn after the last unmentionable incident 3 months ago, to NEVER RETURN to Gourmet. I, personally, used to eat at Gourmet about 3x a week since it was cheaper and easier than buying groceries myself and cooking it in my high school and college days. Maybe we're just used to the great food that they used to serve and we are not letting this mediocre food coast by.

Honestly, there are other places that serve much better food in the same style in Chinatown. Gourmet's heyday has long passed.

One of the original owner's children is in the same church fellowship group as my friends and me. The original owner is a member of the same church I attend. They no longer eat at Gourmet, if that's any indication.

BiGGie Nick wrote:
Honestly, there are other places that serve much better food in the same style in Chinatown. Gourmet's heyday has long passed.

I'd love to hear about them. Can you give us a few hints? Your local insights will be greatly valued.

I haven't been here in ages. I now frequent Grand Palace. It is another mom and pop Chinese restaurant and has a parking lot. They speak English very well since most of the time their son picks up the phone. A lot of times I just ask what they have fresh and they can make it into a dish. I find that their food isn't as greasy and salty as Gourmet. Their rice boxes still come with soup unlike Gourmet.

I wondered if they had sold the place since I stopped by during the Chinatown fair to get an order of chicken wings and none of the people that use to be there were there. I have heard from others that the food is no longer good and that might have something to do with it.

Grand Palace
225 W 26th St
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 225-3888

We were tired but in the mood for Chinese food the other evening so take out seemed right. After reading Cathy's and Louisa's reports, we decided drive over to Gourmet Food and give it a try, and I'm being completely honest when I say that my expectations weren't high based on the very low price point. I ordered 4 salt and pepper chicken wings which were the only item out of four worth eating, not bad actually. Our shrimp in egg sauce, Mandarin pork chops, and Singapore noodles went directly into the garbage bag.

A few hours ago we were able to exorcise the experience by having pretty much the same menu items at LTH (at double the price ). My mother was correct when she said "when you buy cheap, you get cheap". Not that cheap equates to bad.

Santander wrote:

BiGGie Nick wrote:
Honestly, there are other places that serve much better food in the same style in Chinatown. Gourmet's heyday has long passed.

I'd love to hear about them. Can you give us a few hints? Your local insights will be greatly valued.

My new regulars are Happy Cafe, China Cafe and Chi Cafe. (there's a cafe theme here...)

Happy Cafe and China Cafe are both on Wentworth Ave, with China Cafe being almost across the street from Gourmet. Both serve lunchboxes that are fairly cheap (Gourmet-esque prices). Both include soup. Happy's chicken wings are great. @ China Cafe, I get the mince beef with peas and egg but it differs from Gourmet because the egg is mixed in and not fried on top. It also helps that China Cafe has good sui mai and I can get an order with my lunchbox during lunchtimes...

I am hearing ok stories from Go 4 Food, 2 storefronts from Gourmet, heading AWAY from Wentworth. I have not tried it yet so I cannot comment.

Chi Cafe is over in Chinatown Square and I like their congees plus they are open till 4am. I like their other food too but I really like their fish fillet and scallop congee. However, it is not as good as Congee Wong in Toronto or a Vancouver congee place whose name escapes me right now.

Grand Palace is also good but I've only been 2x since their parking lot is always full and the restaurant is full whenever I want to eat. I assume that's a good sign. Instead of soup, you can ask for a crab rangoon. I personally like Grand Palace's soup both times since it was exactly the kind of soup that my grandma made and not overloaded with salt and msg.

My personal favorite for Hong Kong style milk tea is HING KEE over in Chinatown Square, across from Joy Yee's. it also has the distinction of being the cheapest cold HK milk tea @ $1.50 (before tax).

Of course, those are for Canto/Hong Kong food. I enjoy Spring World as well as many on this forum. I wish Ed's was good again. I remember going for their grand opening too and wondered who in their right mind would go to that location to eat. I guess all the folks on this forum are nuts enough to travel across the street from a housing project to eat good chinese food...nuts like me.

BiGGie Nick wrote:[Of course, those are for Canto/Hong Kong food. I enjoy Spring World as well as many on this forum. I wish Ed's was good again. I remember going for their grand opening too and wondered who in their right mind would go to that location to eat. I guess all the folks on this forum are nuts enough to travel across the street from a housing project to eat good chinese food...nuts like me.

You've found your tribe!

Regards,

The food at Gourmet has changed with different ownership. I still enjoy the jook and chicken wings. They now have a Chinese BBQ section. The roasted duck is one of the best in Chinatown and I have tried others in C-town. The duck is flavorful and the skin is crispy. The duck lunch/dinner box meal cost around $5. Their BBQ pork is good but you have to tell them your preference otherwise you get BBQ pork with all the fat pieces. I like my BBQ pork somewhat lean without fat.

Gourmet Food is the most inexpensive restaurant I've been to in ages. Their motto, "The best food and the best price in Chinatown," is about half right.

Hot and sour soup (only $1.50) was over-thickened but had a surprisingly good balance of flavors.



Xiao long bao ("pork soup bun") also fell into the bargain category—nothing spectacular but not a bad deal at $3.95 an order. I'd order either of these again.

The two main dishes we tried were disappointing.



Baked rice and pork chop with Portuguese sauce ($5.75) was a real oddity. I was unfamiliar with this dish but I see Ken Kee offers it as well. GF's version is basically a large tub of plain rice (supplemented with some frozen peas and carrots) topped with boneless (but not gristle-less) pork chops and a thick eggy sauce. The sauce had the barest hint of curry flavor. This might not be a bad dish to share as a side dish between four or five diners but it was completely overwhelming for two.

Beef stew with radish ($4.75) is not something I'd want again.



I didn't so much mind the tripe, spleen and who knows what else but the sauce was bland and heavy. Portion was generous and then some.

I'm curious about the Portuguese sauce dish. Does anyone know its background? A quick internet search suggests a Macanese origin (Macau was a Portuguese colony) but I'm not sure how similar the recipes are to GF's. Has anyone tried this dish, in Chicago or elsewhere?

Gourmet Food Inc
210 W 23rd St
Chicago
312-842-3366

Rene G wrote:
I'm curious about the Portuguese sauce dish. Does anyone know its background? A quick internet search suggests a Macanese origin (Macau was a Portuguese colony) but I'm not sure how similar the recipes are to GF's. Has anyone tried this dish, in Chicago or elsewhere?

Ah "Portuguese" sauce... Grew up in HK where every local coffee shop had a "Portuguese" sauce based dish somewhere. Basically a cream sauce that has a slight curry taste to it. Not as heavy as Indian curry. Think 1 part Japanese curry and 4 parts cream... HK has a tendency to have "watered down" foreign food in the local coffee shops. Kind of a way to introduce Western food to the masses. Think Panda Express in the US... only in a mom and pop atmosphere!

Baked spaghetti was my childhood favorite. Overcooked pasta (al dente? what's that!?), tomato sauce that has a strong ketchup-y texture and taste, and ground beef smothered by a layer of "cheese". Not really mozzarella (like the pizza stuff), more like cheese singles... Honestly, I had thought pasta was supposed to be soft and limp. It was only when I came to the US that I was introduced to "al dente" pasta. Till this day, sometimes I overcook my spaghetti on purpose!

CrazyC wrote:Ah "Portuguese" sauce... Grew up in HK where every local coffee shop had a "Portuguese" sauce based dish somewhere. Basically a cream sauce that has a slight curry taste to it. Not as heavy as Indian curry. Think 1 part Japanese curry and 4 parts cream... HK has a tendency to have "watered down" foreign food in the local coffee shops. Kind of a way to introduce Western food to the masses. Think Panda Express in the US... only in a mom and pop atmosphere!

Thank you, that's very helpful. Now when I Google "portuguese sauce" "hong kong" I get plenty of information. From what I can tell, the version we got at Gourmet Food might have been a fairly authentic one (whatever the hell that might mean in this case).

CrazyC wrote:Baked spaghetti was my childhood favorite. Overcooked pasta (al dente? what's that!?), tomato sauce that has a strong ketchup-y texture and taste, and ground beef smothered by a layer of "cheese". Not really mozzarella (like the pizza stuff), more like cheese singles... Honestly, I had thought pasta was supposed to be soft and limp. It was only when I came to the US that I was introduced to "al dente" pasta. Till this day, sometimes I overcook my spaghetti on purpose!

I notice Gourmet Food serves baked spaghetti with either Portuguese or tomato sauce. I think pork, chicken or seafood are the only options (no ground beef). Have you tried theirs?

CrazyC wrote:Baked spaghetti was my childhood favorite. Overcooked pasta (al dente? what's that!?), tomato sauce that has a strong ketchup-y texture and taste, and ground beef smothered by a layer of "cheese". Not really mozzarella (like the pizza stuff), more like cheese singles... Honestly, I had thought pasta was supposed to be soft and limp. It was only when I came to the US that I was introduced to "al dente" pasta. Till this day, sometimes I overcook my spaghetti on purpose!

Nothing to be ashamed of, Charlotte. My top favorite at age 4 was Franco-American ravioli, soft and limp, with a mystery meat filling, and pink tomato sauce. Only we didn't top it with cheese singles. There was always the green can of pseudo-Parmesan. I remember worrying, when we moved from NJ to MN that it would not be available in our new town. I happen to know that certain other LTH-ers who shall not be named also counted this among their early favorites and, up until recently bought it for the nostalgia value.

Josephine wrote:I happen to know that certain other LTH-ers who shall not be named also counted this among their early favorites and, up until recently bought it for the nostalgia value.

Josephine -- I do hope you are properly taking the opportunity to extort goodly sums of money out of these people.

A

Josephine wrote:

CrazyC wrote:Baked spaghetti was my childhood favorite. Overcooked pasta (al dente? what's that!?), tomato sauce that has a strong ketchup-y texture and taste, and ground beef smothered by a layer of "cheese". Not really mozzarella (like the pizza stuff), more like cheese singles... Honestly, I had thought pasta was supposed to be soft and limp. It was only when I came to the US that I was introduced to "al dente" pasta. Till this day, sometimes I overcook my spaghetti on purpose!

Nothing to be ashamed of, Charlotte. My top favorite at age 4 was Franco-American ravioli, soft and limp, with a mystery meat filling, and pink tomato sauce. Only we didn't top it with cheese singles. There was always the green can of pseudo-Parmesan. I remember worrying, when we moved from NJ to MN that it would not be available in our new town. I happen to know that certain other LTH-ers who shall not be named also counted this among their early favorites and, up until recently bought it for the nostalgia value.

Long before I began cooking for a Bolognese family in NYC, my favorite pasta dish was spaghetti with ketchup (Heinz only!) and butter. I still long for it sometimes.

Antonius wrote:

Josephine wrote:I happen to know that certain other LTH-ers who shall not be named also counted this among their early favorites and, up until recently bought it for the nostalgia value.

Josephine -- I do hope you are properly taking the opportunity to extort goodly sums of money out of these people.

A

Antonius,

Discretion in such matters is part of the LTH code of honor. I would never dream of revealing the names.

Kennyz wrote:Long before I began cooking for a Bolognese family in NYC, my favorite pasta dish was spaghetti with ketchup (Heinz only!) and butter. I still long for it sometimes.

My mother used to make us "ketchup noodles"--egg noodles with butter and ketchup (of course Heinz). Sometimes we added "cheese" from the green can. I liked them very much. Isn't it funny how you can recall a taste like that decades after last eating it?

CrazyC wrote:

Rene G wrote:
I'm curious about the Portuguese sauce dish. Does anyone know its background? A quick internet search suggests a Macanese origin (Macau was a Portuguese colony) but I'm not sure how similar the recipes are to GF's. Has anyone tried this dish, in Chicago or elsewhere?

Ah "Portuguese" sauce... Grew up in HK where every local coffee shop had a "Portuguese" sauce based dish somewhere. Basically a cream sauce that has a slight curry taste to it. Not as heavy as Indian curry. Think 1 part Japanese curry and 4 parts cream... HK has a tendency to have "watered down" foreign food in the local coffee shops. Kind of a way to introduce Western food to the masses. Think Panda Express in the US... only in a mom and pop atmosphere!

Baked spaghetti was my childhood favorite. Overcooked pasta (al dente? what's that!?), tomato sauce that has a strong ketchup-y texture and taste, and ground beef smothered by a layer of "cheese". Not really mozzarella (like the pizza stuff), more like cheese singles... Honestly, I had thought pasta was supposed to be soft and limp. It was only when I came to the US that I was introduced to "al dente" pasta. Till this day, sometimes I overcook my spaghetti on purpose!

Reviewing the menu for Sweet Station (2101 S. China Place), I noticed there was a section of the menu devoted to Hong Kong Style Baked Rice and Spaghetti. Portuguese sauce is one of the options for dishes like Macau Baked Pork Chop and Portuguese Baked Chicken.

David Hammond wrote:Reviewing the menu for Sweet Station (2101 S. China Place), I noticed there was a section of the menu devoted to Hong Kong Style Baked Rice and Spaghetti. Portuguese sauce is one of the options for dishes like Macau Baked Pork Chop and Portuguese Baked Chicken.

Sweet Station, is that the new place in the mall? In any case I'm pretty sure I haven't been there. Those in search of baked rice with Portuguese sauce can also get it at Ken Kee.



At least that's what I think it says on the menu.

Ken Kee
2129-A S China Pl
Chicago
312-326-2088

Rene G wrote:Sweet Station, is that the new place in the mall?

Yes, it's been open only a month or so. The Wife and I went last week and were heartbroken that they had no luffa (I was really looking forward to that)...but they did have about 300 other items.

David Hammond wrote:...but they did have about 300 other items.

Wow, you aren't kidding, Sweet Station's menu is huge! I ignored this place thinking it was a bakery or sweet shop but there's barely anything sweet listed on their menu. I look forward to hearing more and/or trying it myself (I guess a new thread would be appropriate). Their website indicates hours of 6am to 2am every day so this could be a very useful addition to Chinatown.

Sweet Station
2101 S China Pl
Chicago
312-842-2228
http://www.mysweetstation.com/

Hi,

A 6 am opening is extraordinary for Chinatown. The bakeries open earliest at 7 am, which also serve dim sum. If you strolled in fifteen minutes earlier, that was fine, too. Seven Wives, now closed, opened for Hong Kong style breakfast at 7:30 am.

If Sweet Station really opens at 6 am, this would certainly inspire me to go for a dead early breakfast sometime soon.

Regards,

I certainly can second China Cafe. they are open early, the sui mai is good and inexpensive. If I am in Chinatown early before Phoenix opens and hungry, its China Cafe.-Dick