User-Agent: slrn/0.9.7.3 (Linux) X-Nntp-Posting-Host: mulford.dyndns.org Message-ID: Lines: 55 Organization: Tanzen mit Blumen Reply-To: [email removed] X-Complaints-To: [email removed] X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly. NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 05:36:18 EST Date: 11 Dec 2001 10:25:24 GMT Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:12329 I haven't seen Chinoiserie reviewed here before, nor does it show up in dejagoogle, so this might be a first review of it here :) Chinoiserie is outright one of my favorite restaurants. This isn't a review of a specific time there, as I've been there a number of times. The cuisine is listed as Chinese, but there are definite French, Thai, and other Asian influences as well. For appetizers, the carnivores enjoy Crab Pockets and Chicken Satay, while the herbivores go for the Spring Rolls and Vegetable Crepes. You get a salad with a wasabe dressing. I don't care for it myself, but it gets high marks from others. For entrees, I've tried a good portion of the menu by this point and have yet to find something I didn't like. Personal favorite is the Chinoiserie chicken or shrimp. In either case, it is lightly battered and fried (think sweet and sour chicken) and served in a light, sweet garlic sauce. Close runner-up is the Drambuie Beef with Orange Glaze. Entrees are served with rice and papas (mashed potatoes and yams, very good). Drinks are BYOB. No corkage or anything like that. They'll give you glasses and a corkscrew. Dessert used to be a joke (see below about size of place). It didn't exist because they wanted to turn over the tables. Now it's not and it's quite good. There are two choices, Creme Brulee and Lava Cake. The former is quite good, the latter excellent. Hint, it's served with berries, don't eat them before the cake. The chocolate is so rich you'll need them later. The service is very friendly, but can be slow. Don't expect all your entrees to show up at the same time. They're brought out as soon as they're finished and if that's not the same time, too bad. I've usually gone with groups (6+) and we usually order family style. Gives you more tastes and makes things showing up at different times a moot point. I'm stating this because if you go there expecting great attentive service, you will be disappointed. However, you're not going for the service, you're going for the great food. Getting a table used to be a huge problem. The place used to be a single storefront, but is now two, which has more than doubled the size of the dining room. Reservations are a must on weekends and strongly suggested on weeknights. Prior to expansion, turning over tables was a big deal. Chatting after dinner was discouraged and you'd quickly get dirty looks, both from the staff and the people who had your table next, who would be there waiting outside. That's not the case anymore. If you want to imagine how small it used to be, look at the left (as you walk in the door) dining room and cut it in half. That's how small it used to be. Entrees are in the $15 range, appetizers $6-7. Total bill for us usually ends up being around $25/person after tax and tip. Chinoiserie 509 Fourth St. (just north of Linden) Wilmette 847-256-0306 Transit: Purple Line to Linden Parking: ample street parking
Chicago, IL