Chicago, IL

Lao Sze Chuan

4 posts · Date unknown

Rene G.Date unknown

NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 16:46:10 CDT
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I've been only been to Lao Sze Chuan twice now but Im willing to go out on a limb and say it is by far my favorite Chinese restaurant in Chicago. The menu is one of the most interesting I've seen (for example, two different cold rabbit appetizers and two hot entrees) and from what I've tasted contains many more hits than misses. Most of the food is very highly seasoned.

Lao Sze Chuan is a relatively new restaurant at the southernmost end of Chinatown Square, the newer shopping center on Archer. It's at the corner of Cermak and Archer but the entrance is in the center court. Some of the English signs say Mandarin Chef.

The room is simple but not unpleasant. I could easily do without the several TVs however. It is often crowded and there's really no place to wait. Not all bad though, it gives you a chance to scope out what everyone else is eating. Service is okay. If you can get the owner to help you order its worth it. Overall I wouldnt give it high marks for ambience but the food makes up for that.

The meal starts with a small plate of sliced cabbage in chili oil, gratis. An awfully nice dish, very simple, but very well prepared.

Clam and ribs soup is interesting but not great. A thin, greyish, peppery broth holds little chunks of ribs on the bone and clams in the shell. One bowl easily serves 4, maybe 6. Not a bad start but you can do a lot better.

The cold rabbit appetizer in chili oil is pretty good but very hot, probably the hottest dish Ive had there. Kind of one dimensional though.

Beef maw was along the same lines but not nearly as hot and had more complex spicing. It came garnished with some vegetables and peanuts. Not bad (if you like beef maw).

We had a poached fish (not on the menu, I think; a friend ordered it in Chinese) with tofu and mushrooms. This was outstanding. A whole fish came in a shallow square pan covered with a thin broth. The fish was nice and fresh and the broth was subtle but incredibly rich. Obviously theres some real talent in the kitchen.

The smoked tea duck, made in house, is another highlight. Very meaty, not too fatty, with a very deep, complex smoke flavor. Though it's listed as a main dish, it would make a great appetizer, with drinks. Speaking of drinks, LSC has a full bar, including things like mao-tai. Apparently, they are open to people bringing their own beverages (better ask about this).

Garlic scallops was one of the least interesting dishes but not bad. The scallops were okay and there were a lot of black fungus, nice. Sauce was slightly glutinous but not very garlicky. Not too bad but you can get this sort of dish at lots of places in Chicago.

Long beans, dry-fried with dried shrimp were above average but very salty. If I have any overall criticism of LSC's food, it's that it's a bit over-salted.

Theres another green bean dish (a daily special, I think) thats even better. Here the beans are chopped into very small pieces and fried with spices. This dish was deceptively hot but everyone loved it.

Rabbit with chilies was another standout. Lots of little rabbit chunks (with lots of bone) seasoned with ginger, scallions, and spices come covered with dried red chilies. It's visually stunning--probably nearly a hundred bright red pods--and looks lethal but it's not nearly as hot as it looks.

Theres a similar dish made with chicken thats very good too (I only got to try a tiny morsel of this one).

Another excellent dish, not on the regular menu, is skewered lamb on sizzling onions. Vaguely like lamb satay, it come on a bed of onions liberally sprinkled with ground chilies. The spicing was intriguing, reminiscent of certain types of Indian cooking.

If you have room, the "Rice Pudding (for two)" is worth a try. The translated name is a little misleading as it's not pudding and should be enough for four. It's a warm, sweet, sticky rice pancake containing various seeds and nuts.

The glutinous rice dumplings in wine sauce sounds like an even better dessert but I have yet to try it.

Like I said, Ive only been there twice so it may not be quite as good as I think. Still, I can't wait to return. This is the kind of place where I repeatedly read over their takeout menu and try to plan my next few visits. I sure cant say that about too many other Chinese restaurants in Chicago.

Has anyone else eaten there?

Lao Sze Chuan
2172 S Archer Av
Chicago IL
312-326-5040

G W.Date unknown

NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 10:42:25 CDT
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On Tue, 01 May 2001 16:46:12 -0500, Rene G
wrote:
<snip>
>Has anyone else eaten there?

Rene,

I have eaten there 7 or 8 times, though not recently. My favorite Tribune reviewer, Monica Eng, wrote a short review in February 2000 and I was there within a week or two.

My favorite dish there, which you mentioned, is the sliced beef and maw Szechwan style, spicy with a texture like tongue or barbacoa. I have even gone there by myself for lunch and ordered the beef and maw with a veggie for lunch.

I have also been there with groups of 4-8 and ordered outlandish amounts of food, I think they do veggies and seafood quite well, the soups are interesting and the whole fish is excellent. I have not been there with a Chinese speaking person, but I have the art of plate watching down to a science and saw whole fish being served. (My wife calls it 'plate envy')

You mentioned the duck, excellent, I also like the jelly fish appetizer, squid with sour pickle and the sea cucumber. Wow, there are so many dishes that I like there, clams, crab, noodle dishes, Szechwan pickle, and twice cooked pork. This is ridiculous, I have to go there for lunch now.

I have not tried two dishes you mentioned, lamb and rabbit. I have not been there for at least 5 months and they may have changed their menu as I do not remember seeing rabbit on the menu as I most certainly would have ordered it, I am a rabbit fan. I will look for both the lamb and rabbit next time I am there, especially the cold rabbit appetizer in chile oil, which sounds excellent.

Lately I have been going to two places in Chinatown Square, Joy Yee's Noodle Shop and Shui Wah. Joy Yee's is a bustling, crowded place that has a mish mosh of Asian, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, though it is more a nod to the various cultures than a faithful rendition.

The allure ofJoy Yee's is large portions of inexpensive, fresh, well made, aggressively spiced food served in clean, though somewhat crowded surroundings. I also like the fruit drinks/smoothies, they are served with these weird iridescent tapioca balls that you suck up through the straw, it is gross and fun at the same time. Actually, it is quite juvenile, somewhat like playing Space Wars on your Palm Pilot instead of going through your appointment schedule. <G>

I have only been to Shui Wah for lunch/dim sum and it is quite good, not Phoenix or Tong Kiang good, but not crowded and they have a decent chili oil, an essential component of my enjoying dim sum.

Neither Joy Yee's or Shui Wah are romantic date places, they have little or no ambiance, but for a casual dinner or quick inexpensive lunch they are very good.

Enjoy,
Gary (who will be eating cold sliced beef and maw Szechwan style for lunch at Lao Sze Chuan today)

Lao Sze Chuan/Mandarin Chef
2172 S China Pl (Archer Av)
Chicago IL 60616
312-326-5040

Joy Yee's
2159 S China Pl (Archer)
Chicago, IL 60616
312-328-0001

Shui Wah
2162 S China Pl (Archer Ave)
Chicago, IL 60616
312-225-8811

Rene G.Date unknown

NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 22:17:02 CDT
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G W. wrote:

> I have eaten there 7 or 8 times, though not recently. My favorite
> Tribune reviewer, Monica Eng, wrote a short review in February 2000
> and I was there within a week or two.

I read that. She recommended the Dong Po fried-steamed pork elbow. Both visits I forgot to order it. Sounds great. Have you tried that one?

> My favorite dish there, which you mentioned, is the sliced beef and
> maw Szechwan style, spicy with a texture like tongue or barbacoa. I
> have even gone there by myself for lunch and ordered the beef and maw
> with a veggie for lunch.
>
> I have also been there with groups of 4-8 and ordered outlandish
> amounts of food, I think they do veggies and seafood quite well, the
> soups are interesting and the whole fish is excellent. I have not been
> there with a Chinese speaking person, but I have the art of plate
> watching down to a science and saw whole fish being served. (My wife
> calls it 'plate envy')

Im going to try to find out what that fish in broth was. The whole fish Ive seen on others tables was served on an oval platter with fairly minimal sauce (looked good). This one was in a shallow metal pan submerged in broth.

> You mentioned the duck, excellent, I also like the jelly fish
> appetizer, squid with sour pickle and the sea cucumber. Wow, there are
> so many dishes that I like there, clams, crab, noodle dishes, Szechwan
> pickle, and twice cooked pork. This is ridiculous, I have to go there
> for lunch now.

I did try a little of the jellyfish. It was okay (but Im not a huge jellyfish fan). Its kind of funny, the Chinese friend brought his young daughter who is a slightly picky eater. Jellyfish is one thing shell always eat.

> I have not tried two dishes you mentioned, lamb and rabbit. I have not
> been there for at least 5 months and they may have changed their menu
> as I do not remember seeing rabbit on the menu as I most certainly
> would have ordered it, I am a rabbit fan. I will look for both the
> lamb and rabbit next time I am there, especially the cold rabbit
> appetizer in chile oil, which sounds excellent.

First time I went, the specials were on a separate page in Chinese only. The lamb skewers were on there. A week ago, the specials were listed in English also. No lamb though. Its worth asking about.

That cold rabbit is certainly worth a try but it might be better with a larger group. Im not sure Id want a whole plate for myself (and I do like rabbit and very hot food).

Its nice that they now list the specials in English. Frustrated after my first visit, I finally got a copy of Jim McCawleys Eaters Guide to Chinese Characters. Its out of print and very tough to find. Do you know about this book? Even though I probably wont need it at Lao Sze Chuan I hope it will come in handy for deciphering other menus.

> Lately I have been going to two places in Chinatown Square, Joy Yee's
> Noodle Shop and Shui Wah. Joy Yee's is a bustling, crowded place that
> has a mish mosh of Asian, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese,
> though it is more a nod to the various cultures than a faithful
> rendition.

These must be the two places my friend was talking about. Havent been but theyre going on the list.

G W.Date unknown

NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2001 00:50:35 CDT
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Plutonium wrote:
>> > Lao Sze Chuan rocks!

>The Chinese name is Lao Sze Chuan, I can't
>remember the American name -- maybe
>the _(something) Kitchen.
>
>It is at the Southwest corner of Chinatown Square.

I agree,  Lao Sze Chuan Rocks.

Lao Sze Chuan/Mandarin Chef
2172 S China Pl (Archer Av)
Chicago IL 60616
312-326-5040