Jewish X-Mas Eve at Lao Sze Chuan

Jews like us, (myself and petit pois), eat Chinese food on X-Mas. "Why?" is a question best answered in another thread, but the short answer is: Jews love Chinese food and they're open.

This year, the first night of Chanukah is synchronized with the 25th. We'll be eating latkes and lighting candles with our neices that night, so, we're moving the Jewish X-mas dinner a night earlier.

petit pois has requested a dinner at Lao Sze Chuan this year, and I am happy to accomodate.

We're opening this festive meal to any and all comers. We've learned that after feeding 58 people at LSC for our rehearsal dinner, the more the merrier at LSC.

If you've got nothing to do X-mas eve, Jewish or not, please join us for some three-chili chicken, chinese eggplant, tea smoked duck, and whatever other treasures we can dig up from that huge menu.

We're planning on a relatively early meal, 6pm. Please let me know as early as possible. If we get a lot of people, I'll probably cut off the list and make reservations mid-week. If we get no people (which is possible) then petit pois and I will toast to you all at LSC.

Email, PM, or post to this thread if you'd like to come.

Best,
Michael

HI,

I'm enjoying the high level of participation for the Jewish Christmas Eve. My family and I are visiting friends in a mixed religion home with a Christmas Tree and a Hanukah Tree.

Most of my Jewish friends growing up would go to movies then to Chinese restaurants on Christmas. If we didn't already have plans, then I would have brought my family to this event.

Best wishes,

As of now, we are 21 with a tentative 3 more. I am going to call tonight and see if they can handle a group of 25.

Options for ordering:

1) I can go early and set up a menu based on a set price per person (probably $25, plus drinks). Of course, I can take requests.

2) We can just order, catch-as-catch-can and work out the bill ourselves. People who don't care can leave themselves in the hands of those of us who have favorites or particular interests that night.

Personally, I think I'd prefer option number two, but if people feel really strongly about option number 1, speak now.

Here is the list as it stands. Please let me know if there are any mistakes or if you still want in or out:

EDIT: 28 People, 1 tentative

eatchicago
petit pois
leek + 1
sdritz + 4
TonyC + 1
JoelF + MrsF, Thing1, Thing2
mhl + Emma-Claire
VI + 2
JOJO
gleam + Beth
PIGMON
Evil Ronnie
The Lovely Donna
Marisa, the Empress of Japan
stevez

Tentative:
trixie-pea

Best,
Michael

I personally would prefer option #2 as far as ordering dinner is concerned. While my kids know we always share the dishes when we go out for Chinese, they can be picky. It makes sense, at least for us, to order several items that we know they will eat and maybe a dish or two we would prefer to try. That way everyone in the family leaves happy.

We're looking forward to this festive dinner! Thanks so much, eatchicago and petit pois, for setting this up.

Suzy

JOJO wrote:Sharing is fine with me--if we could be reasonable ($25 or so)

Please keep in mind that this is an off-the-cuff idea, a wholly unplanned event. It started as just a couple of us having dinner and now I'm planning a meal for 30. I can't guarantee the price without going beforehand and setting up a menu and a per-person price with Tony (not TonyC. the LSC-owner Tony). I honestly don't have the time to do that. If someone thinks that we are better served to plan our menu ahead of time, speak now.

If we're going to order as a group, on the spot, the price is going to be a bit unpredictable and could be as low as $20/pp or as high as $35/pp. I would expect it to be in the 20s, but like I said, I can't guarantee which way the tides will turn. After all, this is my annual X-mas Chinese dinner, and I'd prefer the freedom to order a bit un-reasonably

As for separate checks for people for booze, I think that introduces annoyances for the restaurant. It's pretty easy to just keep track of what you drink and pay extra above the food cost.

I'm glad there's such a huge turnout. I think we're going to have a blast.

Best,
Michael

(I have updated the list to reflect the newest people).

JOJO wrote:Sharing is fine with me--if we could be reasonable ($25 or
so)

I'd also like to point out that the two options for ordering BOTH involve sharing the bill.

This will be a family-style chinese dinner. The bill will be divided among attendees equally no matter what.

The difference between the two options only involved someone setting the price and menu with the ownership beforehand, or not.

eatchicago wrote: After all, this is my annual X-mas Chinese dinner, and I'd prefer the freedom to order a bit un-reasonably

As for separate checks for people for booze, I think that introduces annoyances for the restaurant. It's pretty easy to just keep track of what you drink and pay extra above the food cost.

I'd like to emphasize this point. I don't want to have to second guess what we order in order to "keep the price down". This is a special occasion and I expect to be excessive in true LTH fashion. As to the liquor issue, I don't drink, but I don't mind subsidizing those who do in order to avoid the issue of having to pick apart the check and deciding who had this and who had that. I HATE THAT WITH A PASSION . Since this is Jewish X-Mas Eve, let's just be Menshen and divide up the check evenly.

I just got off the phone with LSC.

We are confirmed for 30 people, Sat. 12/24, 6pm.

Please let me know if anyone is not going to make it.

I think it is best if I show up a tad early and start placing the some of the order.

I plan to make sure that the following favorites of mine are there:
Ma Po Tofu (non-vegetarian)
Tea-smoked duck
Tony's 3-Chili Chicken
Dry Chili Chicken
Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce

Look at their menu online and let me know your must haves.
http://www.laoszechuan.com/menu.htm

I think hot pots, if desired, can be ordered on the spot , since they come out so quickly.

Best,
Michael

Looks like a great start Michael. Someone should make sure there are plenty of szechuan string beans to go around, too.

This thread has, for some reason, been incredibly fascinating to follow. I had no idea about the Jewish-Chinese-XMas connection. I really really wish I could be there, but other plans prevent.
Anyhow, following this thread had me craving LSC food. So this afternoon A2Fay and I managed to make our way to our favourite Chinese restaurant for lunch. The fu chi fei pian (I think) - one of our favourite sides was outstanding today (A01).

Happy Chanukah, happy Chanukah * 28 (and Merry Christmas JOJO)!

eatchicago wrote:I plan to make sure that the following favorites of mine are there:
Ma Po Tofu (non-vegetarian)
Tea-smoked duck
Tony's 3-Chili Chicken
Dry Chili Chicken
Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce

Look at their menu online and let me know your must haves.
http://www.laoszechuan.com/menu.htm

Can you get two of the ducks? Also

553 Lamb with Pure Cumin Powder Xin Jang Style*
And they have some fish dish that I don't remember the name of, I think it was a filet, not whole fish, and it had szechuan pepper in it and was fantastic - this was at the very first Chowhound Chicago dinner that Seth organized.

gleam wrote:Looks like a great start Michael. Someone should make sure there are plenty of szechuan string beans to go around, too.

Good call.

JoelF wrote:But you've got to have Hot and Sour Soup and Pot Stickers.

Hot and sour soup is a good call. Not sure if we need it for 30 people. Maybe we can take a poll when we're there.

I'll happily throw in some pot sticker orders since I've never met a dumpling I didn't like, but I don't really consider them to be one of the better things that LSC does. Dumplings aren't really part of their bailiwick.

leek wrote:Can you get two of the ducks? Also
553 Lamb with Pure Cumin Powder Xin Jang Style*
And they have some fish dish that I don't remember the name of, I think it was a filet, not whole fish, and it had szechuan pepper in it and was fantastic - this was at the very first Chowhound Chicago dinner that Seth organized.

With both myself and stevez there, I think we might need 4 of the ducks

Lamb with cumin is a great idea. It's one of my favorites that I always forget to order there.

I recently had the fish filet in black bean sauce, but I don't think that's the one that you mean. I'll see what I can find.

Best,
Michael

One of my daughters has a day planned with her cousin, including a party that night. My other daughter is quite jealous. Trying to console her, I said, but can Sophia get tendon in chile oil?

So, Mike, make sure we have that dish.

I'm also a big fan of the potherb and the diced salty vegetable thing (sorry forgot the right name).

Of course, I'm still interested in organizing a dinner where we just order the misspelled dishes on LSC's menu.

BYOB?

Rob

Vital Information wrote:One of my daughters has a day planned with her cousin, including a party that night. My other daughter is quite jealous. Trying to console her, I said, but can Sophia get tendon in chile oil?

So, Mike, make sure we have that dish.

Fearing the wrath of Sophia, I would say that she can have whatever she wants Tendon in chili oil sounds like a nice choice.

Honestly, I don't want to deny anyone any dish. I just thought I'd throw out a core bunch of stuff to get us started. We can certainly order whatever interests us while we're all there.

Vital Information wrote:I'm also a big fan of the potherb and the diced salty vegetable thing (sorry forgot the right name).

We'll track it down, I'm sure.

Vital Information wrote:BYOB?

I noted earlier in the thread that LSC does serve alcohol. I was there once with a small party that did bring a bottle of wine and, while they allowed it, they weren't happy about it. When we had our rehearsal dinner there, I asked about BYOB and they wanted to charge us per person which made it cost-prohibitive. Basically, I'd say that LSC is not BYOB-friendly.

Best,
Michael

I wasn't proposing separate checks for each person... I was thinking a separate booze check---you know, the booze came to $100, everyone who drank, divy up.

I wasn't proposing a planned menu and a fixed price--just a ball park figure....if people think it might run $50 to $75 dollars, I need to know that. JOJO

We've never been to LSC before -- but judging from all the delicious dishes being requested by the group, we will not only enjoy ourselves this time around, but be back for more.

I'm hungry already.

Suzy

Michael,

Do they do a good job with S&P shrimp, smelts, squid, etc.? If so, add them in.

P.S. 4 ducks should just about cover it

gleam wrote:My mom, who is a big fan of the S&P seafood genre, likes their "three delights" (shrimp/scallops/squid), but isn't a big fan of the smelts, which she's never found to be very meaty or tasty. I think in general she prefers LTH's S&P seafood on all counts.

Though I don't have a dog in this fight, as it were, that's exactly what I think. I also think LSC's hot and sour soup is pretty mediocre, not that anyone asked me.

Ann Fisher wrote:

gleam wrote:My mom, who is a big fan of the S&P seafood genre, likes their "three delights" (shrimp/scallops/squid), but isn't a big fan of the smelts, which she's never found to be very meaty or tasty. I think in general she prefers LTH's S&P seafood on all counts.

Though I don't have a dog in this fight, as it were, that's exactly what I think. I also think LSC's hot and sour soup is pretty mediocre, not that anyone asked me.

I tend to agree with you on that front, but I'm not a big H&S soup fan.

I'd also agree on the smelt front. They've always been a bit scrawny and chewy. But I don't mind a chewy fried little fishie.

The three delights may be a nice seafood element for the evening. Thanks.

eatchicago wrote:I just got off the phone with LSC.

We are confirmed for 30 people, Sat. 12/24, 6pm.

Please let me know if anyone is not going to make it.

Please delete me from the reservations for Saturday. JOJO

EDIT
The list as it stands:

29 yes

eatchicago
petit pois
leek + 1
sdritz + 4
TonyC + 1
JoelF + MrsF, Thing1, Thing2, Nephew
mhl + Emma-Claire
VI + 2
gleam + Beth
PIGMON
trixie-pea
Evil Ronnie
The Lovely Donna
Marisa, the Empress of Japan
stevez


Best,
Michael

Michael, I will be sans kidz. So, just my wife and I (2).

For those of us, like myself, unfortunate enough not to have visited LSC before, clicky for map.
2172 S Archer Ave
(312) 326-5040
At the corner of Archer and Cermak.
If coming south on 90/94, Google says to take exit 52C for 18th st, but stay on Union, which become Emerald, and make a left on Cermak.

On X-mas eve, twenty-eight LTHers (and family) met to celebrate the holidays Jewish-style: at a Chinese restaurant. This celebration did not just take place at your average Chinese restaurant, but at Lao Sze Chuan, the heavyweight champion of Szechuan food in Chicago.

We were situated at three separate but adjacent tables. Each table ordered separately, which resulted in a wide array of interesting dishes. Some of the more interesting dishes to result from the distributed ordering were pork intestine with pork blood cake, pork elbow, and a "chili platter" appetizer.

The "chili platter" was one of the hi-lights of the evening for me. It was a small plate of minced peppers and some pickled vegetables. petit pois accurately described it as a Szechuan giardiniera.


Chili platter appetizer

Among the nearly twenty other dishes I sampled, the standouts were the excellent Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce, lamb with pure cumin, and the ma po tofu.


Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce


Lamb w/cumin

Dinner seemed to be a hit, across the board.


The three tables

After dinner, a smaller group headed southwest on Archer to Huck Finn Donuts. As their menu and website will tell you,the Huck Finn operation consists of three basic groups of products: food, donuts, and ice cream. Since we had plenty of food at LSC, we decided just to have donuts and ice cream.

The signature at Huck Finn is the Donut Delight, a not very good donut topped by some not very good ice cream and some not very good whipped cream. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but not by much.

A couple brave souls decided that the little donuts weren't enough, and went for the Texas-sized model:


VI has more than his fair share


My normal-sized model. It tastes about 20% as good as it looks

I was overwhelmed to have such a huge turnout to what I thought was a humble post about a small x-mas eve dinner. My only regret is that I didn't get to chat with more people. Time and time again, LTHers prove themselves to be festive, affable, reasonable when necessary, and just plain fun to be around.

Let's do it again next year.

Happy holidays and a happy and healthy new year to everyone.

Best,
Michael

Lao Sze Chuan
2172 S. Archer Ave
Chicago
312-326-5040
www.laoszechuan.com

Huck Finn Donuts
(multiple locations)
3414 S. Archer
Chicago
773-247-5515
www.huckfinnrestaurants.com

I had a great time last night. It was a great idea, that as all great ideas do, just came together naturally. Thanks again to Petit Pois and eatchicago for letting us all share such a great holiday tradition with them. It was a bona fide LTH mitzvah!

Here are some more pictures:

beef tendon



fish in black bean sauce


chile appetizer


eggplant in garlic sauce


stevez can't get enough heat!


edited to resize pictures

I've eaten at Lao Sze Chuan at least a dozen times and I can say, without any hesitation, that this was easily my favorite experience there. Maybe it was the great LTH company alone ( I don't think so ) but it seems to me that LSC can showcase its greatness when you're able to try several of their offerings at once with many people.
We were able to try a minimum of 8-10 dishes and one was more enjoyable in this communal setting than the other. If I had to pick a highlight dish, it would be the Ma Po Tofu with pork. Tremendous stuff.

This was a great way for any Hebrew (self included) to spend Xmas eve and I believe a number of gentiles present last night would surely agree.

Eatchicago & Petit Pois, thank you for allowing us to share in your version of holiday cheer. And a damn good version it is. Another fun time with great LTHers.

Good yuntiff to all. (don't press me for anymore Yiddish, I've just about tapped myself out.)

Let me echo my thanks to eatchicago and PetitPois for being the driving force behind what I hope will become an annual tradition, Xmas eve at LSC. I enjoyed the food and company and TP's picture of the chili plate has me jonsing for this dish already.

Edit:

Hey TP, what happened to the pictures? And while I'm on the subject, that eggplant picture of eatchicago's has me wanting to to to LSC for an encore performance.

Sounds like you all had a great time, sorry I couldn't make it but I spent the night with my family:)

All alone now and thinking of clams in black bean sauce or salt and pepper shrimp. Hmmm, wonder if Silver Seafood is open today.

Excellent time! We had a great table of food and extra fine company.

Hugs to all,

Leek

Add another vote to the "awesome experience" column.

Highlights included the spicy rabbit appetizer, the aforementioned lamb with pure cumin (gotta get a recipe for that one), two different crispy spicy chicken dishes (not sure of the titles)... hey it was all good, even if we didn't try Tony's dangerous looking pork intestine and blood cake hotpot. The way that thing was bubbling it looked alive, which didn't help any -- I'm just not an organ meat guy.

Nice to meet a few more faces, and Merry Christmukkah to all.