Chicago Hong Kong Cafe on Jewelers Row

LTH friends and I were introduced to HK café at the Chizakaya sake dinner, so I went to scout it out today for lunch around 2pm. The dining room is spacious and clean dining room with a leftover relic of an old time diner lunch counter that is great for single diners.

The dining room is brighter than my poorly executed picture:


Initially, I placed a carry out order, but the owner, Florence, invited me to take a seat and have a cup of tea. Since I ordered the lunch special which comes with soup (only if you dine in), she offered me the cup of soup. As I settled down with the tea and soup, she asked if I wish for my spring roll. Who really need to sit at my desk in front of the computer for another meal? So I ended up dining at the counter, and ordering another entrée.

She was very gracious and accommodating as she efficiently moves from serving another couple in the dining room, packing and cashing out takie outie orders, and putting up with my numerous change requests.

All in all the food is very decent compared to Chinatown quality but great compared to other Loop choices, hands down. Everything was well executed in the traditional Cantonese/Hong Kong style, clean delicate and non-greasy flavors.

I am so excited to have a viable choice for Chinese food in the Loop area and just 2 blocks from my office. We’re planning to organize a loop lunch for ordering power.

L27. Mandarin Sliced Fish Fillet with Vegetable & Ginger Lunch special ($7.45) includes soup (dine-in only), spring roll, tea, and choice of rice.

Hot & Sour Soup – Basic and decent



Spring Roll – Crispy but not hard nor whimpy, not too greasy, with a clean vegetable and glass noodle filling. The house made sweet and sour sauce has just a slight tang of tartness that I like.



L27 – Was in the mood for something light in white sauce, so this fits the bill.



Of course, since I am here, how can I resist ordering something else? They asked if the 2nd order was for take out. Of course, not, silly, tricks are for kids.

N10. Singapore Chow Fun with Shrimp & BBQ Pork – A combination of my beloved wide rice noodle, but done Singapore noodle style. Had this dish in Kowloon years ago for the first time, and OMG, I was right, there is a foodie God who heard my wishes. The Kowloon version had amazing wok qui, the texture of the rice noodle was right now, and the curry was of the true Singapore style, slightly sweet but rich and robust. The Chicago HK version is acceptable, not much wok qui, but not greasy at all, with nice curry flavor and noodle. Again, much better than other Loop choices by far.



Chicago Hong Kong Café
Maller’s Building
3rd Floor
5 South Wabash
Chicago, IL 60602
312-726-8830
Monday-Saturday (opened until 8pm according to owner)
http://www.chicagoHKcafe.com (site under construction)

Singapore chow fun looks good

October Loop lunch group?

boudreaulicious wrote:Singapore chow fun looks good

October Loop lunch group?

Sure, why not? Let's give it a whirl.

Just wanted to give this place a bump. HongKong Cafe place reminds me of Oasis in concept, a hidden gem in Jewelry Row. They are opened from until 8pm, so an inexpensive pre-theatre option as well. Entry after 5pm is from the Madison street entrance east of Pizano pizza.

For full disclosure, I am not affiliated with the restaurant at all, but do enjoy having an authentic jem hidden in the middle of the Loop as an alternative option to the likes of Panda Express or 65.

Solidly good without being ladened with MSG or grease. The space is also surprisingly bright and airy with an old-fashion lunch counter leftover from the previous diner establishment.

Florence, the one-woman-front of the house/owner show, is very nice and accomodating. She will have chef prepare anything off menu as long as they have the ingredients, so requesting your old favorites is doable. It may not be exact to your fond memories of that dish, but it will be well-prepared and delicious.

I selfishly would like to see them succeed in the Loop, so that I can continue to have a solidly good standby for lunch options in the Loop.

I ventured over here for lunch with my trusty lunch pal and we were really happy we did. He and I are always bemoaning the lack of decent Chinese in the loop and neither of us have the time to venture down to Chinatown at lunch time so this really is a major find for the both of us. And so cheap!

We tried a version of Kung Pao, which had beef, shrimp and chicken and it was nice, if a bit milder than I usually look for. For me the key was fresh ingredients, good proteins (the beef especially seemed good to me) and a a decent sized portion for lunch. Soup was egg drop and it was fine but it had more stuff in it than I prefer for my egg drop -- i tend to be a purist in that way. My pal had the hot and sour, which he said was fine and sort of grew on him as he ate it.

He had the Singapore chow fun which has been mentioned above thread and he liked it very much -- i'm not one for curry so I passed on that. We also got ourselves Mongolian beef, which was the best of the three entrees. Really nice sauce, lovely onions that still had a bit of crunch to them, excellent beef -- I could eat it several times a week.

Didn't have the egg roll -- instead we tried Shrimp balls, which were really delicious -- just lightly fried balls of shrimp -- not as doughy as a shrimp toast but really a good mouthful of shrimp. We also had the crab rangoon with our lunch specials but they were Krab rangoons -- so I didn't care for them much. But that was the only downside.

So happy to have heard about this place -- LTH, you brought Chinese back to me at lunchtime. I will never have to venture to a Panda Depressed again.

+1 to all of the above. Very happy to have found this place. Stopped in this past week for lunch with a friend. The BBQ Pork w/ Greens was very good, and certainly the most authentic Chinese dish I've eaten in the loop. The hot & sour soup and egg roll that were included with the lunch special were serviceable. If anyone in your party is looking for something a bit more Americanized, the General Tao's was a perfectly fine rendition.

I've eaten here only a few times, but echo the above sentiments based on my experiences (and personally I rate the hot & sour a bit above average -- not mind-blowing, but it's definitely something I will be eating more of come the depths of winter.) Loop workers are definitely fortunate to have this place as an option.

+1 here. Have been there twice and was very pleased with their food. I really would love to suggest to them to put some dishes that they themselves would eat on the menu. I really think they can capitalize on some of the momentum they have with LTH.

As a matter of fact, when I was eating lunch today, someone came in and mentioned LTH to the owner, very cool.

Today I had the bbq pork with greens. Very nice. Wasnt a huge dish but just enough where I felt fine leaving.

Oh, big bonus, I noticed they had wifi access. So I asked if I can get a password, no problem! Great to have a nice Chinese lunch with free wifi!!

pocky wrote:+1 here. Have been there twice and was very pleased with their food. I really would love to suggest to them to put some dishes that they themselves would eat on the menu. I really think they can capitalize on some of the momentum they have with LTH.

As a matter of fact, when I was eating lunch today, someone came in and mentioned LTH to the owner, very cool.

Today I had the bbq pork with greens. Very nice. Wasnt a huge dish but just enough where I felt fine leaving.

Oh, big bonus, I noticed they had wifi access. So I asked if I can get a password, no problem! Great to have a nice Chinese lunch with free wifi!!

Florence is the owner, and she makes authentic home cooking Cantonese if you call ahead. She makes something for me at least 3 times a week, items that I seldomly see on restaurant menus, such as:
- Steamed salted fish and ground pork
- Steamed rice bowls topped with chicken and dried mushrooms
- Savory steamed egg custard (royale) with salted duck eggs.

I have brought her chinese delicacy ingredients and she will cook to order.

If you are interested, I can organize a Loop lunch with some of these homemade(off-menu) items.

If you are interested, I can organize a Loop lunch with some of these homemade(off-menu) items.

I'd definitely be interested!

AnotherMike wrote:

If you are interested, I can organize a Loop lunch with some of these homemade(off-menu) items.

I'd definitely be interested!

Me, too. I dream of a good eggplant & salted fish casserole.

kl1191 wrote:

AnotherMike wrote:

If you are interested, I can organize a Loop lunch with some of these homemade(off-menu) items.

I'd definitely be interested!

Me, too. I dream of a good eggplant & salted fish casserole.

ditto (and about time already ) Pick a day other than Tuesday or Thursday if you could. Thx!

I'm intrigued. If the date/time works, I'd like to attend the lunch.

that sounds awesome! I've been lurking for years and have never gone to an LTH meet up

me too! Next loop lunch place?

Yep. Loop Lunch or not go. It's too quiet, which is fantastic for me as a customer, but not necessarily a great idea for them.

They even have sesame balls.

pairs4life wrote:Yep. Loop Lunch or not go. It's too quiet, which is fantastic for me as a customer, but not necessarily a great idea for them.

They even have sesame balls.

The sesame balls are quite delicious. They included some in one of my delivered lunch as an unexpected treat. Very well done. Grandma, who makes them, tends to them personally, and will be delighted by the request to be included in our Loop lunch menu.

So glad to hear the interest, I am more than glad to organize something after Thanksgiving. I will PM those that have expressed interest to propose a suitable date for most, and work with Florence on a menu.

Would like to set a menu with healthy savory Cantonese home cooking that I grew up with. Some may find it to be bland when compared to Szechuan and the likes, but true Cantonese is delicate but flavorful, and above all, a balance of energizing and cleansing for your chi.

p_g, please include me in this, I've been wanting to try it ever since our Chizakaya dinner. I'm somewhat booked up during December so if I can't join you I'd love to do something there in January.

Pls include me in this one too. Thanks!

I'd be game.

I would also be interested in checking it out. Sounds like a good time!

Folks -- had another great lunch at Hong Kong Cafe today and I'm concerned. We were there at 12:00 noon and there only 2 other patrons in the joint for at least 30 minutes.

Stop planning to eat here and just Eat Here! You won't regret it.

Today's lunch was the Mongolian Beef, which had caused my lunch pal extensive daydreaming. We also tried the Beef Chow Fun (nice but next time I"ll order it more crispy) and the Mandarin Chicken with Garlic and Celery and it was really delightful. Crisp veggies, tender chicken, light flavorful sauce -- I totally recommend it.

They deliver in the Loop -- so order in if you can't leave. Give these people your lunch dining out dollars.

Please forgive my fervor here but I really want these people to do well. It's been a long time since we had good Chinese food in the Loop and their location is really hidden. Spread the word!

I just called. Delivery range is only within 2 blocks. They will try to make an exception for larger orders, but my request for delivery to Michigan/Wacker was turned down.

Unfortunately, I believe business has not picked up to the point where they can hire drivers and expand their range.

earthlydesire wrote:Folks -- had another great lunch at Hong Kong Cafe today and I'm concerned. We were there at 12:00 noon and there only 2 other patrons in the joint for at least 30 minutes.

Stop planning to eat here and just Eat Here! You won't regret it.

Please forgive my fervor here but I really want these people to do well. It's been a long time since we had good Chinese food in the Loop and their location is really hidden. Spread the word!

I whole-heartedly agree with you, please spread the word. They have more culinary depth than what is on the menu. I am trying to talk them into offering some of those items to everyone.

I am going to organize a lunch that features some of those items, it's just that my schedule is impossible at the moment. However, please do go before then to try it out. They are open until 8pm, so it's a good BYOB option for a bite after work or before an event.

petite_gourmande wrote:

earthlydesire wrote:Folks -- had another great lunch at Hong Kong Cafe today and I'm concerned. We were there at 12:00 noon and there only 2 other patrons in the joint for at least 30 minutes.

Stop planning to eat here and just Eat Here! You won't regret it.

Please forgive my fervor here but I really want these people to do well. It's been a long time since we had good Chinese food in the Loop and their location is really hidden. Spread the word!

I whole-heartedly agree with you, please spread the word. They have more culinary depth than what is on the menu. I am trying to talk them into offering some of those items to everyone.

I am going to organize a lunch that features some of those items, it's just that my schedule is impossible at the moment. However, please do go before then to try it out. They are open until 8pm, so it's a good BYOB option for a bite after work or before an event.

p_g, after work might be better for some than lunch. It'd be better for me, but I'm flexible.

I'm intrigued, and would also love an after work LTH dinner. Please include me on the PM!

Me too!

lemoneater wrote:I'm intrigued, and would also love an after work LTH dinner. Please include me on the PM!

David Hammond wrote:p_g, after work might be better for some than lunch. It'd be better for me, but I'm flexible.

Great idea! I prefer an early dinner as well, and we can avoid the lunch rush.

I will seriously negotiate a menu and post it on the events thread for a date soon after Thanksgiving.

Hope to have everyone join us.

After work sounds great!! Just not the 30th or the 2nd

lunch - no, dinner - yes.

if there is room that is.