LTH North Lunch Group - Hong Kong Chop Suey - 3/14 - 12:30

Like it or not, I'm still here.

We're heading back up to Lake County for the March outing. Hong Kong Chop Suey gets some LTH Love via stevez and the American - Cantonese Egg Rolls thread - viewtopic.php?f=14&t=41121&start=90&sp=486707

I've driven past this place a million times. Never thought of stopping in. Time to remedy the situation. Please join us on the 14th. As always, bring a friend.

Hong Kong Chop Suey
316 N Lake St.
Mundelein, IL 60060
(847) 949-9019
http://www.hongkongmundelein.com/

Dave148 - Esteemed Coordinator LTH North Lunch Group
Cathy2
Helen
jnm123
EddieK
Katie
stevez
Jodie
WillG
JoelF

Hi,

Ok, I will bite. Probably my friend, Helen, too.

Thanks for taking us to the land beyond Highland Park!

Regards,
Cathy2

If I didn't need to be in downtown Chicago at 1:30, I'd be there in a heartbeat. If I can change my appointment, I will.

I've actually heard about this place for several years, so would love to join you. However, be advised -- I'll be on a road trip 3/2-3/13. So if I get a flat tire somewhere hours away from Chicago, I may not make it. But the plan is to be there.

Oh yes, in Katie's and my backyard. Don't know how we'll order, but the lunch specials are dirt-cheap and quite large and tasty in that wonderful comfort food-ish Kow Kow/China Chef Jewish-American-Chinese vein. A lot of us grew up with our tastebuds trained that way. Hong Kong is similar. And of course, the egg rolls.

One of my first jobs was driving delivery for Skokie's Ah Fong, which was first on Church/Gross Pt. kiddy-corner from the Skatium, then moving to adjacent to the Skokie Swift station on Dempster. Cantonese guys slaving over hot woks, great memories.

I'll be there.

Since this is my "go to" place about seven miles from my home in north Libertyville, I'm definitely "in."

Eddie, you talked Dave into this, didn't you? Constant haranguing---an excellent strategy!

I'll be there of course!

BTW, Hong Kong Chop Suey is a good place to know about if-no-when you visit either of Mundelein's two-count-'em-two craft brewpubs, both within a few blocks: Tighthead and Bosaki's. Neither has a kitchen but both welcome food deliveries and carry-ins.

p.s., Esteemed Coordinator: not big enough news to constitute an opening, but ... exterior lights on at Yu's Mandarin in Vernon Hills! A hopeful neon sign. Alas, still chain-link around the parking lot, but I am keeping an eye peeled.

Katie wrote:p.s., Esteemed Coordinator: not big enough news to constitute an opening, but ... exterior lights on at Yu's Mandarin in Vernon Hills! A hopeful neon sign. Alas, still chain-link around the parking lot, but I am keeping an eye peeled.

Noted.

stevez wrote:If I didn't need to be in downtown Chicago at 1:30, I'd be there in a heartbeat. If I can change my appointment, I will.

Mission accomplished. Appointment rescheduled. I'll be there.

Katie wrote:p.s., Esteemed Coordinator: not big enough news to constitute an opening, but ... exterior lights on at Yu's Mandarin in Vernon Hills! A hopeful neon sign. Alas, still chain-link around the parking lot, but I am keeping an eye peeled.

Off-topic, but what opens first--Yu's Mandarin or Burt's 2.0?

The suspense is killing me...

Count me in

Wow, Dave must have really cracked the whip on all of you or else he is giving everyone patronage jobs. All these quick responses and no talk of any rebellion. I will be there to investigate.

-Will

WillG wrote:Wow, Dave must have really cracked the whip on all of you or else he is giving everyone patronage jobs. All these quick responses and no talk of any rebellion. I will be there to investigate.

-Will

"Forget it, Jake. It's the egg rolls."
- Lawrence Walsh

WillG wrote:Wow, Dave must have really cracked the whip on all of you or else he is giving everyone patronage jobs. All these quick responses and no talk of any rebellion. I will be there to investigate.

-Will

Sheee-yit. At one point Dave started choking on some unknown (and possibly psychosomatic) morsel of his bathtub of mish-mosh soup, and Eddie and I nodded knowingly to each other, and we both mouthed the phrase, "...too much hemlock..."

Much like the present admin in the country, the silent coup is still in play...

I've been getting take-out from here for years. I think it is pretty good. But sometimes I question my palette. I'm very interested in any comments about the food, positive or negative.

D.

Well, I made it back from my trip, but I picked up a bug of some sort at the last hotel. So I'm thinking that, since I'm not great company at the moment, it would be wise if I were to stay away tomorrow. Sorry to miss this -- but I'll hope to be well for the next outing.

I was about to post my commitment as I usually do, last minute, to keep our EC off balance so he won't know when the revolution is coming, when I realized that I had already committed. So, I'll just mention that while there is a small parking lot immediately in front of the restaurant, patrons can also park in the large lot just to the south.

jnm123 wrote:
Off-topic, but what opens first--Yu's Mandarin or Burt's 2.0?

The suspense is killing me...

Burt's wins the prize.

EddieK wrote:I was about to post my commitment as I usually do, last minute, to keep our EC off balance so he won't know when the revolution is coming, when I realized that I had already committed. So, I'll just mention that while there is a small parking lot immediately in front of the restaurant, patrons can also park in the large lot just to the south.

Deflection and diversion are keys to a well-crafted overthrow, but not until after lunch.

I wouldn't try parking in front. As Eddie says, the lot to the south is good, also the street just south of the lot.

Oh wait, I can actually make it to this one!
I thought it was yesterday and I was booked around lunchtime.

Can you take one more for lunch?

JoelF wrote:Oh wait, I can actually make it to this one!
I thought it was yesterday and I was booked around lunchtime.

Can you take one more for lunch?

Most certainly.

There's a reservation under Dave. See you later!

Leaving the city now. I should be there on time, unless there are road delays. See you soon.

Good lunch and good company, and plenty of leftovers......we had the EC surrounded yet he survived to lead another month.

BTW, the wall has fallen so can the opening of Yu's be far behind?

-Will

HI,

Loved the wonton soup, egg roll and Lo Mein. Beef Chow Fun would have been much better if they kept it dry and not pour all that sauce on it.

The company was terrific, too!

Regards,
Cathy2

WillG wrote:Good lunch and good company, and plenty of leftovers......we had the EC surrounded yet he survived to lead another month.

Based on the message in my fortune cookie, my days may be numbered.

Dave148 wrote:Based on the message in my fortune cookie, my days may be numbered.

Well, I'll be off on a delightful escapade, and Eddie and Jay will be at a really strange party, so you're a little bit safer, for a while at least.

I should have stuck to soup and egg rolls - both were pretty darn good: The egg roll crisp and savory, a nice fat bundle of flavor. The hot and sour soup was indeed both hot and sour (something many places can't seem to manage), but the broth was lacking that tooth-stickiness of gelatin from long-simmered pork bones that the best versions have (alas, poor Pine Yard, still my benchmark).

The kung pao chicken, though, seriously underwhelmed. It's still better than many other versions which can be gloppy and overloaded with vegetables: everything cut nicely, a good amount of wok char, and terrific textures. However, it lacked any heat (even though I asked for extra spicy) -- not a single charred pepper in the dish. It also had none of the essential garlic/ginger/vinegar/soy/sugar punch that is the dish' signature.

Hong Kong is not going to be authentic Cantonese. It's an Americanized substrata that has merits of its own, and at least for me was popularized by Pekin House, Kow Kow, China Chef, Ah Fong and Bamboo House in days of yore in Edgewater, Lincolnwood, Skokie & Morton Grove. That's what we knew growing up.

And that genre has migrated up this way to Buffalo Grove, to Golden Dragon and to a certain extent Yen Yen. Comfort food all the way.

However, to verify my attendance at yesterday's luncheon, witnessing serious and inane conversation almost simultaneously (as happens with pre-revolutionary dialogue), I will submit my pics of a stellar won ton soup and a slightly-massacred (but still tasty) egg roll. Enjoyed the company yet again--Dave's laissez-faire manner of governing may be growing on me...like moss.