Foodventures: MingHin Cuisine

Recovering from a long night of drinking is always a struggle.  The mixtures of alcohol just end up sitting in your stomach and cursing you as lay there, dying in your bed or praying to the porcelain god for mercy. How do we at The Bearded Whale recover from the struggle? Dumplings. Specifically dim sum. And MingHin Cuisine in Chicago has amazing dim sum.

For those of you who have been living under a rock or have never seen a Chinese restaurant in your life, dim sum, or yum cha, typically consists of dumplings, steamed dishes, and other delicious foods served with a piping hot cup of tea. If you’ve never done dim sum you need to make it happen. Spending an entire morning leisurely devouring assorted dumplings is an excellent way to cure your pesky hangover.

MingHin is an extremely popular restaurant for dim sum. Popular as in you need to arrive early in order to get a table otherwise you could be waiting forever for a table. Dim sum is serious business and waits for no one. Even semi intoxicated whales, blerches and birds. Located in Chinatown, MingHin, like most dim sum restaurants, offers a variety of noodles, dumplings, meat, and bun dishes and the menu can be a bit intimidating–especially if you, like The Bird, have never experienced this before.  With this in mind, we kept our order pretty simple.

(Starting from the top left: Siu Mai, BBQ Pork Bao, Shrimp Dumplings, Rice Noodles with Beef, and Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaves)

Pretty standard fare for your average Sunday morning Dim Sum.  As always, everything was delicious. The siu mai and shrimp dumplings were succulent and well seasoned. The rice noodles with beef were sticky and the beef was salty.  The dough was thin and held together when smothered in sriracha and shoyu. The bao were nice and fluffy and the bbq pork center was tender and drenched in an amazing sauce that had the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

(The Bird attempting to feed the Whale)

While Master Snowwhale enjoyed the bbq pork bao, my favorite part of the meal was the sticky rice–savory gluttonous rice balls filled with mung beans, salted duck egg, pork belly, dried shrimp, peanuts, and mushrooms. I have always had a soft spot for these bad boys and MingHin makes some damn good ones.  The rice was savory and the fillings were tender and did not lack any seasonings. And the salted duck egg, good lord. If you’ve never had a salted duck egg you need to find the nearest Asian grocery store, buy a pack, and make yourself comfortable, because you are about to experience a joygasm in your mouth and possibly your pants. The egg yolks are creamy and compliment the rice and pork without being overpoweringly salty.

After devouring this meal, we walked over to Kung Fu Tea for some delicious boba.

Boba, or bubble tea, is a sweet tea based drink typically mixed with milk or fruit and tapioca balls.  Kung Fu tea makes some of the best boba in Chinatown.

(Youths in their natural habitat)

My favorite is the taro milk green tea while Master Snowwhale’s go-to drink is the mango freeze but to each his own.

Another day, another successful foodventure.

Foodventure Fridays: Nha Hang Viet Nam

Finding good Vietnamese food was easy back home in California.  My friends and I would go to Little Saigon and gorge on spring rolls, phở, bánh mì, bánh xèo, and a multitude of other things growing up. But after moving to Chicago for school, I was severely disappointed in the lack of quality Asian food–especially Vietnamese food–around Hyde Park.  Sure, there is Argyle up north that has a multitude of Vietnamese restaurants, and while some, like Tank Noodle, are good, they are not quite up to par with what I had grown up with.  At my last job, my former supervisor I was bemoaning the absence of these restaurants when she told me of this little gem of a restaurant.

Nha Hang Viet Nam is a hole in the wall restaurant that is easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention. While it may not look like much on the outside, the inside is filled with random artwork and decorations that give it a homey vibe and reminds me of living with my grandma.

(An eclectic collection of stuff)

The decor isn’t the only thing that reminded me of home.  The staff were extremely attentive and brought us our food promptly and always came to check on us to see if we needed anything. Water? Tea? Coffee? Food? Moving small yelling children away from your table? Anything.

Since Master Snowwhale, The Bird (Our Special Recurring Guest Star), and I were feeling particularly ravenous, we decided to order a few appetizers to get us started.  We started off with some spring rolls, egg rolls, and bánh xèo just to be safe.

The spring rolls came out first and we quickly devoured these beauties. The veggies were crisp and fresh and the shrimp was nice and tender.  The peanut sauce was a nice balance of salty and sweet and paired well with the rolls.

The egg rolls came out next.  The wrapper was nice and crispy without being overly greasy and the pork and veggie filling was good as well. Overall, there were pretty standard egg rolls that you can find in most restaurants.

The bánh xèo, a savory rice pancake, was our next victim.  Filled with shrimp, pork, green onions, and bean sprouts, these pancakes are then fried to crispy perfection and served with a side of vegetables (lettuce, mint, basil, and cucumber) for wrapping. This was probably my favorite part of the meal.  The bánh xèo stayed nice and crisp even after being doused in fish sauce and the pork was well seasoned and tender. The fish sauce was nice and salty, but didn’t overpower the pancake.

Just as we were finishing the bánh xèo, our waitress returned with our entrees: BBQ pork bánh mì and phở with rare steak and flank.  

The bánh mì at Nha Hang Viet Nam was probably one of the better ones I’ve had here in Chicago.  The crust was nice and flaky on the outside and soft on the inside and the sandwich didn’t fall apart after biting into it, which has sadly happened to me at other bánh mì places.  The vegetables were fresh and provided a nice crunch to the sandwich and offset some of the fat from the flavor.  I also liked the pickled daikon and carrots as they were well seasoned and provided a nice salty flavor to offset some of the heat from the jalapeño.

Master Snowwhale ordered the phở, which may or may not of helped myself to, and it was amazing. The broth was flavorful. I could taste the ginger in the broth which only enhanced the beef flavor. The noodles were nice and soft but not bloated and the meat was nice and tender. You don’t need to add anything to the broth to enjoy the soup but of course we added everything.

By the end of this, we all had little food babies and were about to go into a food coma when our waitress brings out FREE ICE CREAM.

(Pretentious ice cream eating technique. Do not try at home)

I love ice cream and getting free ice cream is probably the best thing ever. Especially when it’s a billion degrees outside because summer decided to show up 3 months later than it was supposed to.

(The Aftermath)

We destroyed everything that was put in front of our faces. Nha Hang Viet Nam exceeded my expectations in every way; from its mom and pop vibe to its authentic food, to the free ice cream, we here at The Bearded Whale give it a solid A.

On a side note, shout out to Baby Narwhal for buying me this awesome t-shirt.

(Can we please trade sisters Master Snowwhale?)

You da real MVP.

Foodventures: The Almost Taco Crawl Edition, Part 1

What could possibly be better than a foodventure? A god damn taco crawl foodventure.

You may have noticed from our first post that we love tacos and have dedicated a small portion of our lives in pursuit of finding the best tacos in Chicago.  So today, we bring you two separate and very different foodventures.

Del Campo Tacos, located on 12th street beach near the Adler Planetarium, is a welcome respite from the otherwise bland food options around Museum Campus.  Since I work fairly close to the Adler, I decided to rent a bike and head over to the beach for lunch.

(Gorgeous, is it not?)

This small taco stand has a fairly sizable menu that includes elote, a classic Mexican street dish of grilled corn smothered in chili, cheese, and lime juice, burritos, tortas, and of course, tacos.  I ordered a carne asada and al pastor taco which I slathered in their homemade salsa. Sadly, they did not have their mango salsa, which my coworkers recommended.

(Get in my belly)

The al pastor was fantastic.  The meat was tender, flavorful, and not greasy. The salsa complimented the meat without being overpoweringly spicy and the taco shells and veggies were fresh and not soggy. Unfortunately, the carne asada was the exact opposite. The meat, while tender, lacked seasoning and was extremely greasy. I had to douse the taco in extra salsa to achieve a decent level of flavor.

Overall, my experience here was above average and I will probably come back to try their veggie and pollo tacos and the elusive mango salsa at some point. Harris B+

If you guessed that I was controlling myself at lunch, you would be correct. Two tacos cannot completely satiate a taco fanatic such as myself for very long.  I was saving myself for the foodventure Master Snowwhale and I planned.

(He twerks at work)

Birrieria Reyes De Ocotlan in Pilsen serves authentic, family-style Mexican food, but is known for their goat tacos. Unfortunately, they are closed on Wednesdays and, with us being the scrubs we are, we didn’t check to see if they were open. So instead of delicious stewed goat meat tacos (which is postponed till further notice, aka this weekend), we went up the street to Honky Tonk BBQ.

(Pilsen has some interesting street art)

Our good friend Mastress Seal introduced us to this place a few months ago, and it is probably one of the best BBQ places we’ve been to in Chicago. Master Snowwhale, who was hangry after a long day of work, suggested we start the evening off with some candied bacon and beer. Of course I didn’t object. How can you say no to this?

(Behold it in all its glory)

If you’ve never had candied bacon, you need to reevaluate your life choices. If you’ve never had candied bacon at Honky Tonk, you need to reevaluate your life choices. The bacon melts in your mouth and the glaze is sweet without overpowering the natural bacony goodness. After our hanger was briefly subdued, we decided to split a brisket platter, southern style greens, candied yams, and beans with pork.

(Mother of god)

(Panda mask just because)

Look at that glorious feast. Are you not salivating? ARE YOU NOT SALIVATING? (Insert your best Maximus impression here)

Everything we had was excellent, but the candied yams were my favorite. The yams were left to soak in this delicious simple maple syrup which made them extremely soft. They were not overly sweet and complemented the rest of the meal.  The pork and beans were a nice mixture of sweet and salty and paired well with the mustard sauce, which added a much needed kick to the food (spicy food is love; spicy food is life). The brisket and sausage were perfection. The sausage had just the right amount of salt and the skin wasn’t thick like sausages you would normally buy in a grocery store. The brisket was extremely tender and no sauce was needed to enhance the flavor of the meat (though we slathered it on anyways). While Master Snowwhale enjoyed the greens, I thought they were rather disappointing. They were made with kale which I absolutely hate. Something about the texture, flavor, and the fact that they are lauded as a super food irks me to the point that even the spiciest of hot sauces could not make me like it.

Another great thing about Honky Tonk is their live music.  On Wednesdays, The Jake Sanders Hot Three performs jazz, pop, blues, ragtime, and other oldies from the 1920s and 30s.  When we got there, they were already deep into their set and were playing some very relaxing blues tunes.

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Honky Tonk and will certainly be back for more. Harris A to you Honkies.

Foodventure Fridays: The Tacos and Trump Edition

It’s not Friday. We also didn’t go on an adventure to bring you this post.  We literally sat on Master Snowwhale’s couch and devoured tacos while we watched 10 GOP rivals try to out-crazy each other.  This inevitably turned into a drinking game.

You can play along for the next debate at the Iowa Caucus or submit your own rules for us to add!

Anyways, onto the food.

Is there anything more satisfying than guffawing at Trump during one of his tirades while drinking a beer and eating a taco? Probably, but it’s still pretty great.

After dumplings, rice, and bourbon, tacos are quite possibly our favorite things and De Pasada makes damn good tacos. Conveniently located near Master Snowwhale’s apartment so we can order delivery and never move again, this gem of a Mexican restaurant satisfied our almost insatiable need for tacos during last nights debate. Al pastor, pollo, fish, steak, and lengua in a soft shell taco, topped with fresh cilantro and onions served with a cold beer and side of nachos is absolute perfection. If you aren’t happy after consuming one of these bad boys, you are probably a soulless fascist (drink).

The tacos were delicious to say the least.  The meat was well-seasoned and not chewy like some other restaurants we have been to.  The one complaint we had was that the nachos were pretty lackluster. There was a single layer of chips, crushed by a mountain of cheese and topped with a few pickled jalapeno slices and steak.  While they tasted alright, it definitely wasn’t enough for three people and we ended up making dumplings as emergency rations.

Overall, a Harris B+ to you De Pasada.