Food Tour in Chicago’s Chinatown

Chicago is one of my favorite eating towns. The city has so much to offer for the traditional eater (e.g., steaks and hot dogs) as well as cutting edge offerings for the adventurous eater. Chicago was also home to the famous Charlie Trotter’s restaurant. Many famous chefs, including David Lefebvre (MB Post, Fishing with Dynamite) have worked there.

I recently had the opportunity to have an extended weekend trip to Chicago. While I’ve eaten at a number of different restaurants in Chicago, I thought that it would be way more fun to do a walking tour. Since I was traveling with my mom, I selected the Chinatown walking tour from Chicago Food Planet Tours.

Prior to eating, our group met with our tour leader, Carlyn. She explained that we would experience food from a number of different regions of China and that while we were going to stop at a number of different restaurants, enough breaks were built in so that everyone could establish a reasonable pace.

Our first stop was a dim sum restaurant named Triple Crown. We were seated in a traditional round table with a Lazy Susan. Two different types of dumplings and Chinese broccoli were served family style. Steamed dumplings with pork and shrimp, cha sui bao, deep fried taro root dumplings filled with pork, shrimp and mushrooms and stir fried Chinese broccoli was the last item. Carlyn explained that dim sum means “to touch the heart.”

We strolled down Wentworth Ave and entered the Chiu Quon bakery. This was a bustling place and obviously very popular with the locals. Since this was Autumn, it is very traditional to have a mooncake with Lotus seed paste. The exterior was flakey and the inside had a rich thick filling. The other pastry we tried was their winter melon. This one was filled with almond paste.

We traveled across the Square from old Chinatown to new Chinatown and walked up a flight of stairs to a Szechuan restaurant named Lao Sze Chuan. Ma Po Tofu, Stir-fried Eggplant with Garlic and Ginger and Dried Chile Chicken were served family style. Szechuan style Chinese food is known for its spicy nature and both the Ma Po Tofu and the Dried Chile Chicken were quite spicy. Fortunately, the steamed rice helped to mitigate the heat.

Peking Duck is considered a Chinese delicacy and is usually reserved for a holiday or a special occasion. Since this is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, I was happy when I found out that we would be eating that on our tour. The duck was perfectly cooked – very crispy skin and moist meat on the inside. A light layer of plum sauce is applied to the crepe-like pancake. Slivered scallions and cucumber are added and finally a couple pieces of duck. The crepe is then rolled like a burrito and eaten.

The last stop on the food tour was St Anna Bakery. This was another traditional Chinese sweet shop, only in the newer section of Chinatown. There we were served an egg custard tart and Hong Kong style milk tea which is a black tea with evaporated milk and sugar. Serving milk with tea came about due to Hong Kong being a colony of Great Britain.

Carlyn taught us quite a bit about the history of Chinatown, Chinese immigration into the US, culture, religion, architecture, and customs. We visited a Buddhist temple and learned some interesting facts about Buddhism in Chicago. Visiting the Chinatown Square was a nice break as we had a chance to learn a bit about the Chinese Zodiac. Towards the end of the tour, we visited Ping Tom Memorial Park. I was glad to be introduced to this beautiful paradise adjacent to bustling Chinatown.

Places Visited on this tour:

• Triple Crown, 2217 S. Wentworth Ave Chicago IL
• Buddhist Temple, 2249 S. Wentworth Ave. Chicago IL
• Chiu Quon Bakery, 2242 S. Wentworth Ave. Chicago, IL
• Chinatown Square
• Lao Sze Chuan, 2172 S. Archer Ave. Chicago IL
• Lao Beijing, 2138 S Archer Ave. Chicago IL
• Saint Anna, 2158 S Archer Ave. Chicago IL
• Ping Tom Memorial Park – on the Chicago River.

So what was my favorite? I’d have to say that the Dried Chile Chicken from Lao Sze Chuan earned my vote. Super crispy bite size pieces of chicken were seasoned with varying chile flavors. The enjoyment of this dish was the delayed reaction of flavors once they enter your mouth.

This tour is a great way to introduce yourself to Chinatown. Before each restaurant, Carlyn let us know what type of restaurant we would enter and the type of cuisine (e.g., Shanghai, Cantonese, etc)  we would experience. If you are somewhat fearful of the unknown, this type of tour is ideal because of the knowledgeable tour guide and the preselection of well-established eateries.

Chicago Food Planet 

• http://www.chicagofoodplanet.com/
• (312) 818-2170