Rene G wrote:I thought maybe folks had lost their enthusiasm for the egg roll diet. How wrong I was!

nah, but the crave has lessened after hitting approx 35+ different spots over the past 2 months. I am still getting to 1 a week. Mainly re-hitting all the good spots I profiled upthread.

Also been hitting this spot 3 times a week lately for lunch:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=41501

A few eggroll observations
1) eggrolls at the same spot can vary by visit re: quality depending on which cat in the kitchen is making them. I have had different variations of eggrolls from the same spot on different visits - more cabbage, less pork, some shrimp, no shrimp, shredded cabbage, chopped cabbage, minced pork, ground pork, etc, etc...

2) I dont get the freebie eggroll that comes with lunch specials - often those freebies eggrolls are different than the ones they sell by the piece. Shrimp fried rice is my choice and a 2 pack of eggrolls at the place I go.

3) good eggrolls seem to be harder to find the further west of the city one travels - though I do have a couple in Naperville an Plainfield on the radar that cite peanut butter in the menu description.

I did have a good one at a spot in Bolingbrook recently after 2 bad ones at 2 other spots.

This time was Golden Chopsticks right on 53 by I55:


I like spots that put their eggrolls in a carryout container or styro. easier car eats that way -



nothing wrong with these:


Golden Chopsticks
361 South Bolingbrook Drive
Bolingbrook, IL.

http://www.goldenchopsticksonline.com/

Had a few good ones over the past week or so:

Chi Tung down in Evergreen Park - menu stated egg rolls had a peanut sauce in the filling so I was down:



lighter wrapper - spring roll like - but classic egg roll filling: even some ham in there - peanut flavor evident - I liked em:



Chi Tung
9560 S. Kedzie
Evergreen Park, IL.
708-836-8180

http://www.chitung.com/

Had 2 great ones back to back - opposite ends of the area pretty much.

Had some business in Wheeling - so I popped over to Yen Yen in Arlington Heights for my standard carryout order once I spied they use peanut butter in their eggrolls:



As mentioned above I always get shrimp fried rice with my eggrolls - reason: I like it and I like to stuff extra shrimp in my egg roll while Im eating it.... Egg rolls here were really good - liked the house sweet and sour - their fried rice some was of the best I have had:



sorry no internal pic - that sweet and sour sauce was just asking to get spilled...

Out of my area but a spot I want to order from again.

Yen Yen
4226 N. Arlington Heights Rd.
Arlington Heights, IL.
847-259-3400

http://www.yenyenrestaurant.com/yenyencom1.html

Stayed near work yesterday and went to China Garden over in Hickory Hills - spot flew under my radar in searches - no exterior pic - its a chinese joint in a half vacant mall with a taco joint in it. - usually a good sign.

menu didnt state these would have peanut butter in them but they did - maybe a little heavy on the wrapper but I liked these(pork and some shrimps buried in there):





fried rice was also really good here -

China Garden
8839 W. 87th Street
Hickory Hills, IL.
708-598-8598

http://www.chinagardenhh.com/menu.html

Gen Hoe I in Chicago Ridge is next on the list.

Just finished making a batch of egg rolls . . . 25 of 'em -- green cabbage, Napa cabbage, green onion, shiitakes, peanut butter, Hon Kee bbq pork, poached shrimp, sesame and peanut oil, salt, pepper, sugar and cinnamon. Fried dark, but not at all burnt and very delicious. Making them at home gives you so much control over the filling and these are bursting with flavor.

Egg Rolls look really good BR -

1 new spot: Gen Hoe over in Chicago Ridge,



definitely turning out a respectable eggroll:



some shrimps and pork in there:


Gen Hoe I
10240 Ridgeland Ave.
Chicago Ridge, IL.

http://genhoeonline.com/GenHoeI/index.html

Here is a repeat but one that has changed over time - Big 4 Chop Suey over on Harlem in Garfields Ridge - profiled upthread -



the first few times I went they looked like this:


good eggroll - recently they switched to these monsters - more of a finely shredded cabbage with some carrot in there as well - these are Vangies favorites when I bring them home - this is a full size styro container for scale:



w/ sha cha beef lunch special



guess what I'm craving for lunch..

Sha cha? I thought myself an aficionado of the local Chinese joint menu but I've never seen that one.

Octarine wrote:Sha cha? I thought myself an aficionado of the local Chinese joint menu but I've never seen that one.

me as well. I had to look it up - thought it was a misprint. they offer beef, pork, chix and shrimp prepared "sha cha style" - lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shacha_sauce

http://www.big4chopsuey.com/menu.html


kind of a funky tasting sauce - similar to szechuan beef, not as hot/flavorfull.

With my time running out in the SW suburbs for lunches here are a couple more:

Hunan Inn over in Palos:



Hunan - but tons of peanut butter flavor - might even be some sesame oil in the mix - pork and shrimps:



Hunan Inn
7222 W. College Dr.
Palos Heights, Il.

http://www.hunaninnrestaurant.com/

Next day I took a trip down to Crestwood/Midlothian Area - QQ China -



Figured this place was going to be good when I read some of the "complaints" about their fried rice being to "smokey" ..lol..

tasty eggrolls - thicker ribbons of cabbage - overall good spot:


QQ China
13803 Cicero Ave
Crestwood, IL.

http://www.qqchinacrestwood.com/

kind of doused the eggroll crave - fried rice as well - Gonna take a break for a bit.

Noticeably I had recently gone to getting lunch specials at spots to help get my tab to $10 so I can use my CC(sue me, but I like Generals Chicken, and szechaun type prep from time to time). To be safe I always order a couple extra egg rolls just in case I get a mini freebie with the entree.

You're in my neck of the woods, Jim! The boys and I ate at QQ once; it was fine, but I don't recall much about it. Hunan Inn is a couple doors down from Mister Mo's, my home bar in the South Side Dart League. I haven't checked Hunan Inn out but the Middle Eastern restaurant there is pretty good, and Mo's has a pretty excellent burger special on Wednesdays.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:You're in my neck of the woods, Jim! The boys and I ate at QQ once; it was fine, but I don't recall much about it. Hunan Inn is a couple doors down from Mister Mo's, my home bar in the South Side Dart League. I haven't checked Hunan Inn out but the Middle Eastern restaurant there is pretty good, and Mo's has a pretty excellent burger special on Wednesdays.

qq was a decent stop. Nice guy running it. I did notice the middle eastern place in the hunan mall as well, I'll have to give it a try.

Sharona wrote:This thread has been making me salivate for the past couple weeks, but my choices are severely limited here in Central Illinois. There are a whole lot of bland egg rolls down here. But I decided to give the egg rolls at the Grand Cafe a try. It is the oldest restaurant in Bloomington-Normal, having celebrated its 90th anniversary somewhat recently. The egg roll is pretty dang tasty, with BBQ pork and shrimp and cabbage as filling, with a hint of peanut butter. It was fried well and survived my 10 minute car ride home in the styrofoam container. I ordered it as part of the "PC Tray", which included fried wontons, house fried rice, and 4 slices of their sada steak.

Now it just may be the 6.5 month pregnant me talking, but this meal really hit the spot today. Dumbed down American-Chinese food? Yes. But it was pretty delicious today. Jimswside, if you haven't already, check it out on your next visit down here!

Grand Cafe had been on my list for a while - Im usually in the area on Saturdays and their 4pm open has made it tough to roll in. I found myself in the area on Sunday on my way back home from Decatur and they were open for lunch.

I enjoyed their eggroll - definitely a good one and one Id be glad to have this joint in my town or near my work. Their shrimp fried rice was excellent.

Locally im not really on the eggroll hunt anymore - still grabbing a couple a week but hitting the same spots(my favorites for one reason or another) over and over - QQ, Golden Chef, China Garden.

Egg roll crave never seems goes away - though sometimes its the fried rice crave that gets me going.

A new favorite over in the Lombard/Villa Park area I have weekly business in. - Hong Kong Carryout -



tucked in a strip mall by a 7-11 on Main street Lombard - read they had large, "oily " eggrolls - learning that usually means good - or more towards the style I like.

nice eggroll - house sweet and sour


Hong Kong Fried Rice(bbq pork, shrimp, chix) was the eggrolls equal as far as being very good:



Heading in for some more carryout today -

Hong Kong Carryout
592 S. Main
Lombards

https://www.facebook.com/HongKongCO

I like that you're checking out a lot of places in the near west burbs - Hong Kong Carryout is right down the street from me (I live in Villa Park).

Get to Kow Kow while you can:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=497577#p497577

I don't have any photos to offer, but I highly recommend the egg rolls at Ming Hin on Archer Avenue. They call themselves "Hong Kong-style Chinese" and the egg roll has the perfect amount of peanut butter and bbq pork. I also love their sizzling hot pot bbq duck udon noodles. It's a must!

A Deadhead rhapsodizes about egg rolls at Grateful Dead shows.

http://luckypeach.com/the-transitive-ni ... egg-rolls/

Zach Brooks in Lucky Peach wrote:I am constantly surprised by what passes for an egg roll these days—not the Easter game with the long wooden spoon, but the food. And by food I don’t mean the sweet dessert roll served in mainland China, or the Vietnamese egg roll known as chả giò, or the egg on a roll you get in a New York City bodega.

All are delicious, but when I say egg roll, I’m talking about the Chinese-American egg roll. The thing that comes in a delivery bag with tiny packets of duck sauce and hot mustard. The thing Jewish families eat on Sunday nights after the wonton soup but before the shrimp with lobster sauce. It’s made of some kind of veggies—shredded so finely that they’re indistinguishable—with maybe some small cubes of bright-red pork. All of it gets stuffed tightly—and this is key, tightly—into an egg-roll wrapper and deep-fried.

And I don’t care what lazy Chinese food restaurants call those things they buy frozen in bulk. If it has a smooth wrapper, it’s called spring roll. A proper egg-roll wrapper bubbles up when fried, becoming pockmarked like a teenager’s face. Which coincidentally enough was the age I was when I had my first Grateful Dead parking lot fatty egg roll.

Had a very good one on Saturday at Whey Chai in Zion.
Very crisp, not at all greasy, with prevalent shrimp, and perhaps a hint of peanut butter.

It's a strange restaurant: nearly lightless, old vinyl booths, a large second dining room cordoned off, but good cantonese, wonderful service.

Whey Chai
2683 Sheridan Rd, Zion, IL 60099
(847) 746-3003

Map

Nice work Johnny -

Ive been remiss in sharing some here -

one of the best - just right over the border in Janesville Cozy Inn - Wisconsins oldest Chinese Joint -





What a cool spot - Located on the 2nd floor of this building, on top of an Irish Pub. A steep ascent up about 20 stairs takes you to a dark old school dining room. Ill be heading back to eat there - Had to get some eggrolls and fried rice right..?



Eggrolls - nice & plump - Shrimp fried rice - top notch. High on my list for a return visit asap.

Cozy Inn
214 W. Milwaukee St.
Janesville, WI.

http://www.cozyinnchineserestaurant.com/

I hate working where my work has relocated to - the Route 59 & I-88 - A frickin madhouse of traffic and folks at all tims of day - add to that weak to bad food options - unless you dig chains(I dont):

My one oasis is China House in Warrenville- Right on 59 - north of the I-88 - I hit this spot once a week for lunch special # 1 - pork fried rice and the eggroll -




consistent family run joint - quick carryout - eggroll is chock full of pork, also some shrimps - nice flavors,

China House
2S676 Route 59 - #3
Warrenville, IL.


http://www.chinahouse88.com/menu.html

Far edges of the areas I know - but knowing of a good eggroll nearby is always a good thing.

HI,

Is the Cozy Inn run continuously by the same family or changed hands? The Chinese American Museum is in search of the oldest Chinese restaurant in the same family.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

Is the Cozy Inn run continuously by the same family or changed hands? The Chinese American Museum is in search of the oldest Chinese restaurant in the same family.

Regards,

Re: Cozy Inn - I am not sure of that nor could I find anything online - went back a few weeks ago with the fam. and ate in vs carryout - not good all around -


I have been hitting Rising Sun over in Mokena, and New Lennox a bit lately - i really enjoy their eggrolls - creamy peanut butter finish, greasy in the right way

one from New Lennox:



I prefer the Mokena location and eggroll assembler - just a little better imho - that said both are pretty solid.

Rising Sun
19215 LaGrange Road
Mokena, IL.

http://risingsunrestaurants.com/locations/mokena+il

Jim,

How are the other non-eggroll offerings at Risiing Sun in Mokena? I have family who live just far enough that Mokena is halfway. I am always thinking of places to meet, eat and hopefully enjoy the food.

Happy New Year!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Jim,

How are the other non-eggroll offerings at Risiing Sun in Mokena? I have family who live just far enough that Mokena is halfway. I am always thinking of places to meet, eat and hopefully enjoy the food.

Happy New Year!

Regards,

we enjoy their potstickers and other offerings (Kung pao, Mongolian Beef, fried rice, etc. ) all are solid I think, nothign groundbreakingly authentic but good.

popped into the Rising Sun on Monday on the way home from the city and some perch in Lansing - I needed egg rolls(these are some of my fav's, Shay needed pot stickers -

a cold one and both of these fatties went down just fine -




bonus pic: pot stickers are pretty good as well -

Any recent intel on great egg rolls? I'm still in search of a worthy Pekin House replacement.

Hi,

I was listening to Bob Sirott on WLS-AM this morning, when he teased about where to get Pekin House egg rolls.

If you are willing to go to DeKalb, Illinois and from a search, also in Rockford:

FromThe Return of Pekin House Egg Rolls
Old thread
http://chicago.everyblock.com/announcem ... g-4782080/

Pho N' Grill Vietnamese Cuisine
Contact: Calvin Quan

http://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-n-grill-dekalb-2
https://www.facebook.com/PHO-N-GRILL-16 ... /timeline/

Lung Fung 2
Contact: Tai Hwang

http://www.lungfung2.com/menu.html

Lung Fung 2
2209 S Perryville Rd, Rockford, IL 61108
http://www.lungfung2.com/
Phone: (815) 484-9886

Lung Fung 2 does not make any special mention of their egg roll's pedigree.


Pho N' Grill Vietnamese Cuisine
913 S Annie Glidden Rd, DeKalb, IL 60115
phongrilldekalb.com
(815) 901-0374

On their menu, they mention the golden words: "2. Pekin House Egg Roll (1 Piece)$1.75
"(A 60+ year recipe rated as one of the best egg rolls in Chicago by ABC news.) Cabbage, green onions, shrimp, pork mixed in our peanut butter sauce wrapped in a eggroll skin deep-fried."

While Lung Fun2 is specifically mentioned in the link above, I found a Lung Fun location in Zion with no online menu:

Lung Fun
3306 Sheridan Rd
Zion, IL 60099
(847) 872-1189

I would call first to verify they have what you seek before heading west, northwest or due north.

Regards,
Cathy2

Thanks for the post Cathy.
IF anyone does try any of the above, please post here your experience.
I do not know when I will have anytime soon to venture so far for eggrolls.
Jill

jilter wrote:Thanks for the post Cathy.
IF anyone does try any of the above, please post here your experience.
I do not know when I will have anytime soon to venture so far for eggrolls.
Jill

Someone already did. Personally speaking, there's a trip to DeKalb in my future.

stevez wrote:url=http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=526532#p526532]Someone already did[/url]. Personally speaking, there's a trip to DeKalb in my future.

I looked for another mention expecting someone may have mentioned it. I search for 'Pekin House,' when this thread popped up.

I have a feeling there will be an Armada of cars going to DeKalb.

Regards,

stevez wrote:

jilter wrote:Thanks for the post Cathy.
IF anyone does try any of the above, please post here your experience.
I do not know when I will have anytime soon to venture so far for eggrolls.
Jill

Someone already did. Personally speaking, there's a trip to DeKalb in my future.

Well, it took a few months, but I finally made it to Pho N Grill in DeKalb a couple weeks ago. I was expecting to find an old school Cantonese place, but instead, Pho N Grill is a very modern quick serve restaurant in a strip mall just off the tollway. Their menu lists "2. Pekin House Egg Roll (1 Piece)$1.75
"(A 60+ year recipe rated as one of the best egg rolls in Chicago by ABC news.) Cabbage, green onions, shrimp, pork mixed in our peanut butter sauce wrapped in a eggroll skin deep-fried.", as Cathy 2 pointed out upthread, but that distinction seems to be completely lost on the college kids acting as the front of house staff.

Me: Are these really the same eggrolls as they served at Pekin House?
Waiter: I don't think there was an actual restaurant, it's just a style, I think.

Hmmmm. Well, anyway, I ordered the egg rolls from this heathen and sure enough, what arrived at my table was a pretty good rendition of a Pekin House eggroll.

Pho N Grill Pekin House Eggroll


OK, it wasn't an exact replica, it was more of an Epcot-like simulation of a Pekin House Egg Roll. The taste was right on, but it was served with a bright cherry red extremely sweet sauce, rather than the usual clear/orange stuff, and, most importantly, it was not greasy at all.



Now, this may sound like a good thing, but anyone who's ever had an actual Pekin House Egg Roll can tell you that it was never not greasy. In fact, Pekin House Egg Rolls oozed grease (in a good way), and that had a lot to do with their taste and charm.

These sterile, strip mall versions are pretty good, though, and come the closest ever to scratching the Pekin House/Far East egg roll Jones. They sell them frozen to go, and I plan another trip out at some point to stock up.



Pho N Grill
913 S Annie Glidden Rd,
DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 901-0374

If this has been posted, I did not see it when I searched.
I was browsing for a recipe for egg rolls and stumbled onto this article published March 8, 2018:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/foodfocus/ct-food-chicago-deep-fried-peanut-butter-egg-rolls-20180302-story.html