I had some pretty good soup dumplings last weekend in Philadelphia at Dim Sum Garden. They were filled with crab and pork and the flavor was very nice, Also, they offered thinner wrappers than I'm used to (the dough at Phoenix is so thick), could be eaten in one bite, and when I picked them up to place in my spoon, they did not fall apart. All in all, probably the best I've had (although I've only tried them at a handful of places).

PIGMON wrote:

LOL! Hannukah gift?

=R=

PIGMON wrote:

Very, very nice!!

Not sure of the best thread, but saw that Din Tai Fung in Hong Kong received a Michelin star.

Will shortly be in Chicago for five days and planning on having dim sum one time. Any place in Chicago that has good soup dumplings (xaio long bao)? Doesn't have to the same place that has dim sum. Thanks in advance.

I know Lao Shanghai in Chinatown has them.

PeterinPgh wrote:Will shortly be in Chicago for five days and planning on having dim sum one time. Any place in Chicago that has good soup dumplings (xaio long bao)? Doesn't have to the same place that has dim sum. Thanks in advance.

Have you seen the xiao long bao thread? Much of the discussion is of non-Chicago places but there's some local (if dated) information to be found. Unfortunately soup dumplings are not one of Chicago's strengths. The only restaurant I'd recommend is Tao Ran Ju, though I haven't been for a while. (Edited to add: I haven't tried XLB at Lao Shanghai, mentioned above.)

Thank you very much. I did a search for "soup dumplings" prior to posting the question, and got a lot threads with the words soup and dumplings in them, not too helpful. I should have also done a search for xaio long bao. The original post on this is incredible.

PeterinPgh wrote:Thank you very much. I did a search for "soup dumplings" prior to posting the question, and got a lot threads with the words soup and dumplings in them, not too helpful. I should have also done a search for xaio long bao. The original post on this is incredible.

I thought maybe you'd tried to search (note that xiao is the correct spelling). You've come up against a major limitation of the board's search function. Try entering "soup dumplings" site:lthforum.com into Google (use the quotes). There's more information to be found here about XLB and it's a useful approach if you're searching this board for other stuff.

can't believe I didn't stumble upon this thread until just now. I'm going to China this summer and I plan to do plenty of field research, but have any of the XLB experts here had the XLB at Lao Shanghai? Those are the only ones I've had in Chicago (I've had a few in NYC), and I think they are pretty good. I'd like to know how the experts think they compare to the other Chicagoland version mentioned in this thread.

Had some fairly lame ones today @ Northern City. To quote a friend, Tony is still the tallest midget in the cirucs.

I had some dim sum at New Furama on Wentworth and they have just added XLB to their dim sum menu (as steamed pork dumplings) - I thought they were quite good, although I don't have much of a frame of reference.

I tried the soup dumplings at Shanghai Terrace several months ago. No soup. Go figure.

Din Tai Fung needs to come to Chicago...

The frozen xlb from Wei Chuan is actually pretty good. The pork ones are better than the pork and crab ones... Skin is thinner than Katy's and has a respectable amount of soup inside. 10 mins in the steamer and you have a quick lunch/dinner.

It's no DTF, but it is better than most of what you find in Chicago...

XLB in Bensenville?!?!?

Yep I had this place on the radar since my buddy who works at O'Hare mentioned it to me. He hadn't said anything about the "Shanghai Style Dumplings" listed on the menu but gave their deep fried snickers plenty of praise. He's a southside boy. Since the Pigmon was nice enough to share his findings on this treat I hadn't had before, I figured I should share this here. Anyone else out there doing any food exploring anymore? Eggroll Crunch says they're inspired by traditional Chinese dim sum dining. The menu is small and for the most part so is anything you order.



Dim Sum Eats

The namesake Eggrolls are different than most places and they offer a few different fillings for them. These are crunchier than most I've had, tastier too. I particularly liked the egg and Chinese sausage stuffed ones. Pictured with them in the collage is something similar to Jin deui. Red bean paste balls coated with sesame seeds and fried. The crab rangoon might not be authentic but they were awesome. Potstickers and green onion pancakes were pretty good too. The Soup Dumplings come four to an order and will set you back $3.25 per.


"Shanghai Style Pork Dumplings"

Let me first off state that I've never ate Xiao Long Bao outside of Chicago. So I'm no expert by any means. I'm guessing some people looked at the picture above and wondered why they "weren't served in the usual steam basket?" That I dont know. But I do know I enjoyed them and that they held up well as far as no holes and soup exploding into your mouth goes. I enjoyed the crab and pork ones enough to order 5 rounds for me and my buddies who were with me.


Tasty!

I cant say if this little spot on Main street across from the Metra station is worth the ride from the city but if you happen to be anywhere near I think it's worth seeking out. Its all in the family with the daughter who's idea it was to open the place up-front and in the kitchen. Her mother and sister handle the recipes while a brother does the legal work. She was very welcoming and everything except maybe the fried rice was worth ordering again. Including those deep fried Snickers bars my guy loves. I'll be back.


Mini Snickers bars wrapped in won-ton and deep fried

Eggroll Crunch
11 W Main St
Bensenville, IL 60106
(630) 608-4318

Thanks for posting Da Beef - will have to hit them up. I suppose the primary concern with the way they are served is the potential for sticking . . . then the wrapper breaks and the soup pours out. And if they're not sticking, it could be that they're oiling the plate or bottom of the dumplings, thus possibly altering the flavor. But, can't necessarily knock 'em 'till you try 'em and I'm definitely going to give them a try. Thanks again for the post - true, I never would have expected to find XLB in any form in Bensenville.

CrazyC wrote:The frozen xlb from Wei Chuan is actually pretty good. The pork ones are better than the pork and crab ones... Skin is thinner than Katy's and has a respectable amount of soup inside. 10 mins in the steamer and you have a quick lunch/dinner.

It's no DTF, but it is better than most of what you find in Chicago...

Anyone know where to find these?

I've found them at the Tony's Supermarket on Dempster as well as the Asian market/BBQ store also on Dempster in Morton Grove.

On another note... After seeing a picture of XLB on The Dolinksy's twitter, I headed down to Chinatown to try these out. Now my admittedly small experience with XLBs in the past makes me no expert, but these were the best Xiao Long Bao I've had in the city. Which there wasn't much competition... But it was definitely better than Hing Kees or Lao Beijing.

The place is Ga Ga Taste, 2342 S. Wentworth Ave...

The XLB had a thick enough skin to hold the soup inside. And there was soup enough unlike Hing Kees.

(Link to my pic of the XLB because I am too lazy to resize from my phone.)
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/305/46pm.jpg

zoid wrote:

CrazyC wrote:The frozen xlb from Wei Chuan is actually pretty good. The pork ones are better than the pork and crab ones... Skin is thinner than Katy's and has a respectable amount of soup inside. 10 mins in the steamer and you have a quick lunch/dinner.

It's no DTF, but it is better than most of what you find in Chicago...

Anyone know where to find these?

H-mart or Assi has them as well.

I agree that these taste better than what I've found in chicago.

DrkDragon wrote:On another note... After seeing a picture of XLB on The Dolinksy's twitter, I headed down to Chinatown to try these out. Now my admittedly small experience with XLBs in the past makes me no expert, but these were the best Xiao Long Bao I've had in the city. Which there wasn't much competition... But it was definitely better than Hing Kees or Lao Beijing.

The place is Ga Ga Taste, 2342 S. Wentworth Ave...

The XLB had a thick enough skin to hold the soup inside. And there was soup enough unlike Hing Kees.

Sure enough.

I find Ga Ga's over-sized pork xiao long bao to be frustratingly decent, having soup that is exceptionally unctuous (silky to the lip) with a loosely formed, tasty pork filling to boot. Their troubles, however, begin and end with their well-crafted wrappers. If not for their having been grossly understeamed (downright doughy, really...at least on this outing) as well as smelling yeasty, this would be a great example of XLB - especially for Chicago.

Hopefully, their steaming troubles aren't the norm because this XLB here is certainly worth a re-try.

PIGMON wrote:Sure enough.

I find Ga Ga's over-sized pork xiao long bao to be frustratingly decent, having soup that is exceptionally unctuous (silky to the lip) with a loosely formed, tasty pork filling to boot. Their troubles, however, begin and end with their well-crafted wrappers. If not for their having been grossly understeamed (downright doughy, really...at least on this outing) as well as smelling yeasty, this would be a great example of XLB - especially for Chicago.

Hopefully, their steaming troubles aren't the norm because this XLB here is certainly worth a re-try.

This! I didn't know how to exactly articulate what was 'off' but yes I noticed that they were a little doughy. Perhaps in fear of cooking them too much and having leakage issues. Maybe a little more steaming and these would be great!

What's the latest scoop? Best place to try this in the city? Had Xiao Long Bao for the first time in Shanghai last year. Been craving it ever since...

Although I have not yet been to Shanghai, I've yet to find XLB in Chicago that come anywhere close to the ones I've tasted in both New York (multiple places, but Nan Xiang in Flushing my favorite) and LA (have only tried at Din Tai Fung). . . hell, even Philadelphia and Dim Sum Garden for that matter. Even when at their best here, they've only been okay.

I do hope to try Ga Ga Taste soon though since I think it's the only version I've yet to try in the area.

Well... that may have been short lived. Drove dowb to Chinatown to do an XLB comparison. First stop Ga Ga Taste.... 7pm and closed.. No signs all dark and a few other people puzzled at their cnot being open. I will call and pass by later to see what is up.

DrkDragon wrote:Well... that may have been short lived. Drove dowb to Chinatown to do an XLB comparison. First stop Ga Ga Taste.... 7pm and closed.. No signs all dark and a few other people puzzled at their cnot being open. I will call and pass by later to see what is up.

I've tried visiting this place three times in the past month (weekend lunch and weekday dinner), never open. Today was down there with friends and there was a for sale sign in the window, so I'm guessing we'll never get to find out how good the XLB are.

Xiao Long Bao aka XLB aka Xiaolongbao aka 小籠包 aka Soup Dumplings aka Shanghai Style Dumplings aka Steamed Buns, at least that's what they're called on the menu at Sing's Noodle House. But it's not easy to figure out since they have that listed twice, you could point to the order with six included or say Xiao Long Bao and the friendly waitresses will ask if you want "pork or seafood and pork mix".


An order of Seafood/Pork

The more English friendly waitress told me these were homemade and the skin was much thinner than the other ones on the menu, as soon as I said Xiao Long Bao she knew I knew what was up. They took a little longer than the fried potstickers but came to the table steaming. We waited patiently as they warmed down a tad. Result? I've better outside Chicago! I keed. Actually, I've never eaten them outside the 'land. I thought they were pretty damn good. Not as much flavor as I remember the ones upthread in Bensenville to have but as good as the ones I tried at the Tony Hu spot a few doors down at the mall. The skin was indeed thin and there was a nice tablespoon or two of soup surrounding the meat. They promptly burst when bitten into. I'm sure there's better in Canada and California but an order of these with some hand pulled noodles is a good meal in my book.


No Holes, we're good to go

Sings Noodle House
2172 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 225-2882

The new Chengdu Impression serves XLB. We enjoyed them. Minimal sticking and not until the last couple, after sitting on the table a bit. Purists might balk at ordering them in a Sichuan restaurant, but given Philly cheesesteaks can be successfully served at a Chicago restaurant I think it's fair, plus the Hu family has already demonstrated deftness at crossing provinces.

2545 N Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60614
www.chengduimpression.com

I've had some pretty crappy XLB in Chicago, often served in candy foil cups or atop carrot slices. But I have to say that the last couple of times I've had them at Katy's Westmont location (both times in the last month or so) I've been pretty impressed. They don't really serve them the way I think they should be served (no wide soup spoons and no ginger with the black vinegar), and the dough is too thick. However, they taste terrific, have a good amount of soup and just enough fat. By the way, Katy's also offers SJB (also decent) so get 'em both. In my opinions, they're far and away better than any others offered in the Chicago area, though the pale in comparison to ones you'd find at some of my favorites, like Dim Sum Garden in Philly and Nan Xiang in Queens.