House of Wah Sun (Not To Be Confused With Sun Wah...)

I've only seen a few cursory mentions on the site here, but any Chinese outpost that can last throughout 5 decades is at least worthy of its own thread.

House of Wah Sun is Ameri-Chinese to a "t," but I think they do it far better than average. Their hot and sour soup has some good heat, fresh veg and not thick and syrupy. All the entrees I've seen have been well prepared with fresh ingredients and a light hand with the sauces, as opposed to the cornstarchy gloppy messes at lesser joints.

But where House of Wah Sun reaches levels of awesomeness is their cocktail menu, seemingly unchanged since the Ford adminstration, at least:



Tom Collins, Rusty Nails, Zombies and Singapore Slings. Plus, how can you dislike anything served in a porcelain Tiki (or a ceramic pineapple, peeking out from the side of my Tiki):



If you ever have a craving for old-timey cocktails* unaware that retro-kitch exists, made with sour mix and frothed in a blender as taught in community college bartending classes across the country, House of Wah Sun's drink list is right up your alley.

*complete with tiny umbrella and cherry/orange garnish

Edit in of address
House of Wah Sun
4319 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
773-477-0800

whiskeybent wrote:All the entrees I've seen have been well prepared with fresh ingredients and a light hand with the sauces, as opposed to the cornstarchy gloppy messes at lesser joints.

Can you be more specific? I've taken out from them twice with horrible results. I'd like to hear about what's good.

Best,
Michael

We've had good results with the chow fun with shrimp, the kung pao and I'm a sucker for just about any General Tso's Chicken, which was very good the last time I had it.

It's certainly no LSC or anything like that, but if you're thinking in terms of, say, Orange Garden (which I realize is damning with faint praise) then maybe we're in the same ballpark. We've never done takeout from HoWS, but it wouldn't surprise me to find that their strengths lie in the sit-down portion or their business.

whiskeybent wrote:We've had good results with the chow fun with shrimp, the kung pao and I'm a sucker for just about any General Tso's Chicken, which was very good the last time I had it.

It's certainly no LSC or anything like that, but if you're thinking in terms of, say, Orange Garden (which I realize is damning with faint praise) then maybe we're in the same ballpark. We've never done takeout from HoWS, but it wouldn't surprise me to find that their strengths lie in the sit-down portion or their business.

Thanks. I never expected it to be authentic Chinese, but I was hoping for some good, basic Ameri-Chinese takeout. I'm willing to give it one more try. I've never done the noodles or kung pao.

I will say that the pork fried rice really is a shame.

Best,
Michael

That cocktail menu brings back extremely fond memories of the Monday 10PM happy hour selection at the Lunt Avenue Marble Club, Tempe, AZ, circa 1975 (RIP) - except Lunt Ave. was a wonderful pizza place, the first place I ever had a deep-dish pizza (and still the best - like Malnati meets Burt, but better, no lie). The drink prices are only a buck or two more expensive, too.

Where is this Cocktail Oasis??? North Center? Lincoln Square? Spill!

sundevilpeg wrote:Where is this Cocktail Oasis??? North Center? Lincoln Square? Spill!

Sorry! Totally forgot.

4319 N Lincoln Ave (across from the former Feed The Beast)
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 477-0800
Menupages listing

I've driven by this place a million times and I always mean to get back and try it. From the looks outside, I assumed it would be mediocre Ameri-Chinese food with some questionable cocktails, and that seems to be about right, judging by this post. The tiki cups might bump it up a notch...

Sorry! Totally forgot.

4319 N Lincoln Ave (across from the former Feed The Beast)
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 477-0800
Menupages listing

OMG - Pensacola & Lincoln, just north of Jury's, south of Julius Meinl's, more or less across from the Jewels (as it was called in the 'hood)?

Dang. I lived just a few blocks away for six years. I never knew!

But thanks - you're a mensch. Skol!

whiskeybent-

Is that "scorpion" in a bowl?

sundevilpeg wrote:

Sorry! Totally forgot.

4319 N Lincoln Ave (across from the former Feed The Beast)
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 477-0800
Menupages listing

OMG - Pensacola & Lincoln, just north of Jury's, south of Julius Meinl's, more or less across from the Jewels (as it was called in the 'hood)?

Dang. I lived just a few blocks away for six years. I never knew!

But thanks - you're a mensch. Skol!

South of Jury's a block too.

I agree that this is exceptionally good old school Chinese.... actually, in my opinion, a slight notch above Orange Garden. And yes, the drinks are trippy and fun....and there's parking! Take out definitely does diminish the product significantly however. My only worry is, it's been WAY deserted lately.... I fear for it's continued existence.....

my parents used to take me here. my dad worked on his HVAC and we used to call the owner Uncle Melvin. the shrimp chow fun is excellent and so are the egg rolls. the interior is very cool; wish i had some pictures.

Another enjoyable meal at Sun Wah a few days ago. On the "chef's specials" menu they listed a spicy "hot braised chicken" dish which piqued my interest. It turned out to have a flavor akin to LSC's chicken crack - both sweet and spicy - but sauced, not dry. It was restrained, spicewise, and more Americanized, of course. Anyways, take a look-see:



Classic cocktails still excellent - the wife had a pina colada (served in a ceramic pineapple, natch) and this here Scorpion was tart and sweet and frothy and boozy.



And yeah, those are crab rangoons down in the corner of that photo. Nothing special there. We went on a weeknight evening at 6ish and were the only table in the place at the time. I was worried we were entering "save this restaurant" territory but the room filled in with families and parties which was good to see.

whiskeybent wrote:Another enjoyable meal at Sun Wah a few days ago. ...

You mean Wah Sun, right?

Ha! I failed to take my own thread title's advice.

My wife and I ordered delivery from House of Wah Sun last night and it was delicious! We hadn't tried it before, but driving by nearly every day had peaked our interest. We ordered the hot braised shrimp and the BBQ pork chow fun. Both were excellent. Like the whiskeybent's description of the hot braised chicken, the shrimp had a nice mix of sweetness and spiciness. There were some really flavorful, smokey peppers in there. The BBQ pork in the chow fun was tender and flavorful, and the noodles were...well...I don't think I've ever disliked a chow fun noodle.

We also tried the crab rangoon and fried won tons - both were very good, especially considering this was a delivery order.

We were quoted a 45 minute delivery time, but it probably arrived in 30 minutes.

Wife and I used to go to Wah Sun all the time when we lived about two blocks away in Lincoln Square. We ventured there again last night on the way home from a show at The Biograph and had another good experience. Always a very cheery and welcoming staff among those beautiful red vinyl booths and just a touch of mid-century kitsch. I love how they wheel the entrees out on pushcarts and serve everything family-style. Wife and I are big fans of tiki and I'd put this place at a solid 6 out of 10 on the "unintentionally tiki" scale. Nicely-mixed and well-priced cocktails started off the meal (I know a good Mai Tai and theirs was very tasty and just as strong as Trader Vic would prescribe). We always order their delicious steamed dumplings as a starter. They're about as large as an adult woman's closed fist and five per serving assure that you'll take home much of your entree. I usually order the Singapore noodles (thin rice vermicelli, diced BBQ pork and ham, baby shrimp, green onion, curry powder) and am always quite satisfied. Wife had the Empress Chicken which was bathed in a thick lightly-spiced brown sauce. Sauce was pretty unremarkable, but the chicken was among the most tender and fresh-tasting breast meat I had ever had in a Chinese restaurant.

Definitely worth a stop for an inexpensive and casual meal out with friends. If you set expectations for mid-range sit-down Chinese fare, you should be pleasantly surprised.

LTH,

House Wah Sun offers better than average American Cantonese, I've had mostly pick-up, I'm a fan of their clean flavored chow fun with chicken which has a bit of wok hay. Wah Sun offers a tasty low impact lunch menu, good hot sour soup, egg roll and entree w/rice for a reasonable price.

All this leading to today's lunch with two friends, they had egg fu young, which they seemed to enjoy, I had General Tso's Chicken.

I recently watched The Search for General Tso and was keen on trying Wah Sun's version, which pleasantly surprised. Crisp with noticeable vinegar tang, hint of heat and, for the setting, surprising lack of sweetness. If they had used dark instead of breast it might be in my regular rotation.

General Tso's Chicken


General Tso is not available on the lunch specials menu but, even with my extravagance, a filling lunch for three came to $11 per person.

Wah Sun fills a niche, no LTHer is going to go full-on Action Bronson after a meal there, but for solid American Cantonese in Chicagoland its hard to beat.

House of Wah Sun, count me a fan.

House of Wah Sun
4319 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
773-477-0800

Since my initial post about this place back in 2009, it's been in our regular delivery rotation. In fact, we had delivery from Wah Sun last night. Hot braised shrimp was as good as ever. We tried the sesame chicken for the first time and it was quite good, though a tad on the sweet side.

This is our go-to Chinese place for take out and delivery. The freshness of ingredients definitely seems like a cut above other Americanized Chinese joints. Hot braised chicken, baby bok choy, mu shu vegetables, and potstickers are all favorites of ours.

I can vouch for the hot braised shrimp/chicken. Never really been blown away by anything else there but that's a solid dish.