Cruisin' to Chinatown

Three years ago, after a very traumatizing late night trip to Chinatown, I vowed to myself I would never return there. (My trauma to be shared later... **shudder**)

Unfortunately, since my last trip to NYC (and this lovely crisp fall weather Chicago is experiencing) has left me craving soup dumplings. ME WANT! So I spent the week scrolling through all the online reviews I could find, in search of "Chicago's Best Soup Dumplings" (literally what was entered into every search).

Well this brought me (+1) to dinner at Lao ShangHai in Chinatown, go figure. WoW~ how much Chinatown has changed! Not drastically so, but there are definite improvements in the area, and notable changes in accessibility to the Chinatown-Cermak red line stop.

photo a la Metromix Chicago

The Chinatown mall was, as usual, packed and crowded with hoards of teenage cliques and posses waiting in line for a seat at the hipper/trendier looking restaurants like Chi Cafe or Joy Yee's. Lao ShangHai, despite great online reviews, was particularly empty and appeared to serve an older crowd and small families. For a bustling Saturday night, it appeared only half the restaurant was filled.

Me and +1 were glad, though, that we didn't need to wait in a horrendous line. We weren't particularly hungry, I just really really wanted the soup dumplings! So we ordered:

SOUP DUMPLINGS

Shanghai Style Fish Fillet

I'm not going to lie, the soup dumplings were a definite disappointment. There wasn't enough soup inside, and the dough was disproportionately more than the filling/soup. I guess nothing can compete with Joe Shanghai's soup dumplings! Craving has subsided for now, but I'm sure it'll come back with full force again soon!

The surprising dish of the night was the Shanghai Style Fish Fillet. The photos didn't make it seem that appealing, and from reading the descriptions online, I was expecting something that was cold and bitter. Was I wrong! It was warm, grilled fish fillets in a tasty, under-stated white sauce and it came out piping hot, keeping us warm despite the draft that floated around the restaurant.

Next step: Seek out soup dumplings in "Little Vietnam" which is MUCH closer to home than Chinatown, on the other spectrum of the red line.

**Chicago Food Film Festival photos coming soon! Currently battling some technical errors with my little Olympus SLR~