I think Ken Kee has declined these few years. Food is just bland or just doesn't taste good anymore. Our last carryout order from them: Beef Briskets with Steamed Rice Noodle Roll - Wasn't very flavorful Chicken Congee - Chicken wasn't fully cooked so had to boil it. Deep-Fried Dough Fritters Chicken Wings in Sweet Sake Sauce - This was the best dish. Pork Chop with Spicy Salt & Pepper - Not much spicy or flavor. Pepper Chicken in Black Bean Sauce on Fried Rice Noodles - I use to order this a lot, but it's eh. Just too many other good restaurants to go too. read more

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Of all the restaurants this restaurant is my favorite. I have been coming here for years and it never disappoints. The food is phenomenal and the people greet you so kindly. They cook with love because i have never had a complaint. Food is fast and the food portions are big. The price is not bad at all for the portions of food. I love this restaurant read more

Ken Kee - 151. Wonton Noodle Soup 669. Crab Rangoon 1066. Passion Fruit, Watermelon, Mango and Pineapple Smoothie - Seafood Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Ken Kee used to be the go-to restaurant for my parents and I! We would order a variety of dishes and leave satisfied each time. Sadly, this is not the case anymore. Maybe they changed owners? Changed chefs? I'm not sure.. but something has definitely changed. To begin with, what's up with their service? I asked for some ice water a couple times- since I was ignored, my dad went up to get it himself. The waitress wanted to charge him money to use the cup he picked up and said if he wanted water, he would need to use a paper cup. How rude! I understand you're busy, but jeez. Anyways, the food lacked a lot of flavor.. most of the dishes turned out very bland. Food was also served lukewarm. There are other much better restaurants in Chinatown. read more

It's one of those few Chinese restaurant/ HongKong place that serve authentic food. It's best for family. The price for every single dish is very reasonable and large enough to share. Love coming here for their tofu and water crest dish as well as their egg white, seafood fried rice. read more

Ken Kee - Japanese tofu with water crest - Seafood Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Ken kee is a good place to bring friends when visiting Chinatown. It's at the very center of Chinatown square. The food is VERY cheap and the options are tourist friendly while offering authentic options. The fried rice noodles with beef is my favorite. It's pretty greasy but it's simple and delicious. The service is pretty quick. I've never exchanged a lot of words with the staff here but since it's a small space, you can flag them down easily. read more

Ken Kee - Fried rice noodles with sliced beef - Seafood Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

One of few original places left in Chinatown square. I'm glad it's still around, they always hit the spot. When you want something soupy (wonton noodle soup FIRE!), or something different sweet and sour tilapia! read more

Ken Kee - Seafood Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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My husband and I have frequented Ken Kee over the years for various date nights. He even proposed after dinner here! The food is good and the price is great. We usually get beef with vegetables and either orange chicken or Kung pow chicken, both are great. read more

I come here a LOT with a large group (either with friends or family)...so often that the workers recognize us. The Chinese food here is good (very flavorful) and affordable. No matter who I come here with, we always always get the salt & pepper pork chops, baby pea tips in garlic sauce, rice noodles with beef and fried fish fillet with spicy salt & pepper. The service is usually pretty good as they are attentive to your needs and check up on you from time to time. Be sure to review your check as they charged us for an extra dish one time by accident but were very apologetic about it. read more

I came here last Friday to meet up with a few friends for dinner around 8pm. I used to dine here often, but with the plethora of newer restaurants to try in Chinatown it's been at least 5 years since my last meal here. We honestly chose to eat here because a few our of first choices were packed with long lines. Thankfully our bellies were happy at the end of the evening! The new renovations were great and the service was attentive and patient with our indecisiveness. We ended up ordering salt and pepper fish fillet, dried scallop and egg white fried rice and sizzling beef ribs with sweet sake sauce. We enjoyed the entire meal and ended up staying until midnight chatting and weren't rushed by the staff at all! Thanks Ken Kee for a great time! read more

Horrible after renovation and reopening. Can not believe they can charge the hefty amount for a bowl of noodle which was tasteless and disgraceful. Meal was a joke. Words cannot even describe. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the noodles. read more

I am impressed with Ken Kee's creative interior design, as it brings back memories of restaurants I have visited in Hong Kong. I believe my favorite about Ken Kee is its iced lemon tea. Very icy and perfect amount of sweetness. At my previous visit, I ordered a beef brisket noodle soup and a side of crab rangoons. The rangoons were very hot when they served it, which was fresh and there were a lot of fillings/toppings inside! On the other hand, customer service was great. The staff would check on me from time to time, making sure my needs were accommodated. I look forward to bringing my family with me next time to Ken Kee again! read more

I don't have any problems with the cleanliest of the restaurant or the staffs. Taste is not as good as other restaurants around, pricing is high, and meats in the meals are on the low side. Unless you want to try once, otherwise I would recommend to eat at other places. read more

I am so upset! This was one of my favorite places to eat in Chicago and they went and ruined it last night! So here's what happened... Service was seriously horrible. I mean it's never really been that great but it was sooo bad! We were completely ignored and had to flag someone down for the check and then had to flag him down again to ask for our food to be boxed. Of course they boxed my entree with no rice so I took the rest of the rice out the bowl and poured it in the box. That's when I saw it. There was some type of INSECT stuck in the rice. I was very upset especially since I had just finished eating the food. So, once I again I had to flag someone down. When I showed it to him the clump of rice with the bug in it he dropped it on the ground and didn't even bother to pick it up! Then he says well we won't charge you for the rice. I look at the bill and there is no extra charge for rice anywhere on it. He tells me that the rice is 50 cents. I was like so I find a bug in my food and you are going to deduct 50 cents??? So I lean over and pick up the rice and bug off the floor and ask to speak with a manager.The manager comes over and after I explain it to her she says that she will give me some more rice. I looked at her like she was crazy. I am not interested in anymore rice especially when I know it's all cooked in one big pot! I informed her that we were not interested in anymore food from them. She's looking at me and I'm looking at her. Still nothing. So I finally hold up the rice/bug and say "this is nasty". (I'm not sure if she knew that or not. So she says she'll take off 10 percent. WOW. KEN KEE: If having a bug in your food is that nonchalant to you then my friends and I definitely won't be returning. read more

While the images on the extensive menu were helpful, the sheer length of the menu and some of the unusual (at least to me) dishes still made the ordering experience a bit daunting. Luckily, the menu photos didn't do the actual food justice. Each of the dishes brought to my table looked and smelled great, and I got a large portion for the money. I ordered the Japanese tofu and mushrooms based on other glowing Yelp reviews, and it was a good choice. Although I won't be rushing back here because there are so many other restaurants in Chinatown I want to try, I would certainly be happy to come back again sometime. I can see why this restaurant was completely full with locals on a Tuesday night. read more

Ken Kee - for greasy, cheap, delight in ChinaTown Chi My perception is based on: Fish Filet w/ Sake Sauce (9/10) - worth coming here for. that good. Beef Chow Fun w/ gravy (6/10) - not like thanksgiving gravy, it's more a sauce. Steamed Vegetables (plain, but good) Sweet and Sour Shrimp (6/10) Egg Drop Soup (8/10) Hot n' Sour Soup (8/10) Fried Wantons (8/10) (wanton= an odd looking fried shrimp-like creature that tastes good) Strawberry Smoothie -OK doesn't compare to Joy Yee a skip away And yes it is amazingly cheap. A plethora of Hong Kong styled food for $30 each person. Lastly, I was amazed by how long I stayed full for. Lyke an absurd amount of time. To the point where I was perplexed as to why I was not getting hungry. And then I ate the left-overs. read more

Hong Kong style fast food. I always feel like you need to categorize Chinatown restaurants by dim sum, bakery, BBQ, family-style banquet, family-style regular, by specialty (Taiwanese, Northern, Malaysian), pan-Asian, or takeout. Ken Kee is diner-style so kinda fits squarely between family-style regular and takeout. Good, cheap fast-food in "small" (by Chinatown standards) portions. Absolutely delish very low key fried tofu and peapod greens with enoki mushrooms and egg. Haven't had it lately, but really really good HK milk tea. They have 3.95 mid afternoon specials, but I forget the times. Good stuff. read more

Shared three dishes between two people. Singapore fried vermicelli, Japanese tofu with watercress and fish with yu chou. The portion size was good - took a lot home, currently eating multiple meals of leftovers. The Japanese tofu was good, the fish was a bit salty, some of the Yu chou stems seemed too undercooked. The vermicelli didn't have quite enough flavor. Service was quick. Overall, the veggies were cooked nice and green/fresh, but the flavor could be worked on. read more

What would I do if Ken Kee did not exist? I LOVE HK style cafe's, just as they have in Toronto and Vancouver. I'm SO glad I finally tried this place last year. I usually have a hard time choosing between Ken Kee and Chi Cafe that just opened. Though I did hear that maybe they are the same owner??? If you want TRUE & AUTHENTIC HK food, this is the place to go. Definitely does not cater to "western" tastes. I have a coworker that was not happy with their chicken dish because is was dark meat, and not breast meat. People - it's very typical to get dark meat in a Chinese restaurant because that is what Chinese people like! Everything I've tried was really good. I always get a fresh plate of veggies stir fried with garlic. Just ask them what's in season. Will everyone that rated this place 5 stars please add me as a friend? I want a food group to eat with! read more

When Hong Min burned down and didn't reopen I was devastated - then I found Ken Kee. Wandering forlornly about China town, desperately wanting to find a new favorite, I saw about a dozen people in line in front of this place waiting to get in and said, "Yeah - I've gotta try this place." I was not disappointed - screw the lines, this place is well worth it. Ordering is tough as their menu is more like a novel, but the pictures section is helpful when ordering something new. The salt and pepper tofu is the best tofu I've ever had in my life, the satay beef noodle soup is great and a fantastic hangover cure, greens with garlic, dough sticks...I have yet to have a bad dish here. Plenty of condiments on the table if you want to spice things up. Waiters have always been nice enough to me, we had a great waitress tonight that unobtrusively checked on us every 10 minutes or so. Half the fun is watching other diners - I watched a family attack a plate of spicy duck beaks, something I'm way too chicken shit to order, but it was cool to see them enjoying them. Did I mention that it's cheap? We had breakfast at the Cozy Corner today for $23.00. Our full dinner (for two) with more food than we could eat was $16.00. Also, this is even better than the food I had during my stay in Hong Kong. Love it. read more

The portions here are huge! Seriously people I eat like a fat kid - actually I have a fat kid living inside me and that's why I eat so much. But either way I had leftovers for two days! That's technically three days worth of food. My bill with drink (strawberry smoothie) and tip ended up being around $15.00. That's super cheap! The menu is huge, well unless you are vegetarian then you might find the menu a bit underwhelming. I ordered the shrimp fried rice and above mentioned smoothie. Both were tasty and the shrimp fried rice was the perfect amount of greasy. It's a good place to go but I think next time I'm in the area I'll have to try some place else. read more

We had the sake-fish, some green vegetable in condensed curd and the salt & pepper squid. The sake-fish and vegetables were delicious and I was really pleasantly surprised by the vegetables because it really didn't sound that appetizing before I had it. The salt & pepper squid was okay but the seasoning was not evenly distributed at all so there would be some pieces that had lots of flavor and some that had none. For good salt & pepper squid, go to New Chinatown restaurant...theirs is the best! Don't get their bubble tea. We got the taro and it was horrible...we actually had to throw it away and I hate doing that with anything. I don't even know what we were thinking, especially with Joy Yee's being right there and with me knowing that their taro freeze is uber awesome. read more

Went there with a group of people after their renovation. Pretty much the entire menu changed. I got the fried squid and it didn't come with anything else; no sauce, no rice etc. My party's food all looked disappointing too. Honestly frozen Chinese food from the grocers looked better than what they ended up getting. I don't know what kind of trick they are trying to pull by having you piece-meal your food. I lived in Hong Kong before coming to Chicago and this food is not authentic at all. Such a shame, the previous Ken Kee was so much better. They ended up trading good food for instagram walls. read more

There was much deliberation deciding a Chinese restaurant. We didn't want to drive far so the Broadway hood was out of the question. Chinatown it would be. We had been wanting to try Joy Lee, but some trusted Yelpers showed a lack in confidence with that particular establishment. We wanted authentic rather than Americanized, reasonably priced, and some noodle options. Ken Kee fit the bill. The biggest obstacle was walking past my beloved Lau Sze Shuan. The smells, the line, knowing my perfect meal was inside, I tried to not look, I kept walking to my unknown destination. I looked, chopsticks flying and smiling faces all around. As we approached Ken Kee a man walking towards us walked smack face first into a steel column, this was just the sign I was looking for. For me, people tripping, falling, stumbling, are all signs that real humans abound. Ken Kee was jam packed with Asians, some take this as a good sign, but I have had experiences to the contrary. We were sat quickly and given ample time to peruse the giant menu. We were also given some unremarkable tea to start things off. I decided that I would order extra food so I could just play with my new cat and eat leftovers this weekend. I started with the Brisket, large noodle soup it was huge and an amazing bargain for $2.75 The few pieces of brisket were excellent, i actually enjoyed all the "nasty bits" cartilage, tendon, and some chewy thinly sliced membrane was my favorite. Next came the Spicy fried calamari. Battered in tempura, then dusted in ground red chilies, this dish features only squid bnodies, they are sliced open and curl back together when they are cooked. I really enjoyed these, a slight toothsemness, but not chewy. These squids are thicker and older than most, resulting in a meaty flavorful experience. Vegetable chow mien an assortment of very fresh vegetables including four different types of Chinese shrooms. The noodles were crispy on the bottom and soft on the top, a texturally pleasing affair. My only negative comment about this meal was the noodles were in a puddle of oil. I am no prude to grease but this was over a 1/4 inch of oil. The pan fried Butter fish in a sweet Sake sauce was very nice, Butter fish are light and clean tasting. The preparation was pretty basic and was basically two fish in a pool of sauce and some rice. All in all a delicious meal for under $30 American. read more

Oh man, no. At first, the menu looks great and the pictures are a definite plus, but as you look more closely at the menu, you'll realize that much of the stuff on there is a random mash of vegetables and meat pieces that at some times, make no sense at all (and it isn't a good kind of creative). It reminds me of my own cooking when, prior to going away on a long trip, I have a random fridge of leftover stuff that I just want to hurry and get rid of in one large dish. Having lived in China for a significant amount of time and having eaten a lots of asian eateries in the States, this place is just....pretty bad, yeah. Family was here on their last night prior to going back to Atlanta and wanted some good ol' Chinese food. After flipping through their colorful menu for 15 minutes and realizing that there actually wasn't anything appetizing on it, we asked one of the waiters what the specialty items were. My parents always get certain things when they eat at a Chinese restaurant: they always want a soup, a dish with tofu/vegetables, and a dish with fish (other meats are optional, but fish is a must). We ended up ordering a seafood soup, the pocket tofu, a fish of some kind (the waiter picked it for us given that none of the fish dishes with pictures looked good) and a duck with taro dish. It was, in short, a sensory disaster. First of all, nothing was seasoned. Dishes that looked like they had soy sauce in it were not salty at all. The duck with taro tasted burnt. The "fish" dish looked and smelled like someone just dipped small pieces of fish into the thinnest layer of cornstarch, deep-fried it, then took a spritzer and spritzed some duck sauce on it (the pink sauce you sometimes get with egg rolls), and the soup looked like they used 2 of the smallest eggs and added some frozen vegetables and water to it. The duck dish, their specialty, was SO DRY and overcooked, despite it being visually appealing (which raised our hopes, unfortunately), and the taro was burnt on the bottom with no overall flavor at all in the whole thing. I had to DIP their fried tofu in SOY SAUCE to eat it, which was super sad given that it looked actually decent (another high expectation dashed). We had to ADD SALT into the soup...usually I don't like too much cornstarch in soups as a thickener, but seriously...the soup was literally water. And the fish...reallyguys? At first, I complained to the waiter that the dish looked too naked and there was not enough sauce on it (this was prior to tasting the sauce or the dish, so I didn't even know what the sauce was), then to my astonishment they gave us a BOWL of the sauce...and it was, unbelievably, DUCK SAUCE, SMH. Surprisingly, this place was packed...but I'm never coming here again, especially given that this place is in Chinatown (i mean, you need to raise the bar if you're surrounded by other chinese restaurants!). Sigh, sometimes you just have to rant. read more

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Food served as quickly as it is at Joy Yee's, less of a wait and still delicious. The waitstaff are friendly, the restaurant is clean (nothing special in terms of decor but I'm not coming here for that, really) and completely affordable. The fish or, well, any of the offered meats in sweet sake sauce are excellent as well as the staples, like barbecued pork on rice with a fried egg. There's a smaller collection of bubble teas here than there is at a lot of places but it's certainly not a bad selection. The menu is rather extensive and you can get away with dinner for two at under $20 - and I can't really complain about that when the food is so tasty and the quantities are rather generous. I will be back. read more

This is an authentic, Hong Kong style diner. We always stop in here for traditionally cooked noodles, fried rice, and other dishes. Yesterday we enjoyed Beef Chow Fun, Portuguese Sauce over Rice, and their Chicken Wings. A dish like Beef Chow Fun (ubiquitous in Chinese restaurants everywhere now) can taste so good on such a different level when it is cooked traditionally and authentically like the way Ken Kee does. While it would not win if you compare it against many restaurants in other cities' more developed Chinatowns, Ken Kee would be my pick for one of the best choices for authentic Hong Kong dishes in Chicago. read more

The food was good, they give a large amount of food! It's not too expensive either. It does get packed on the weekends so I would recommend checking it out during the week. The service was very quick! The price isn't bad at all either. read more

Lots of Hong Kong diner food (you can get your 'I'm drunk as hell and I've got to eat' noodle soups) served up fast and cheap, along with interesting 'variety' meats from duck, geese, pigs and more. One of the best dishes we had was rice stick served in the chiu chow style. Dishes that incorporated a lot of meat weren't so good -- the chicken was some of the worst I've tasted. Sauces were a bit thick and gummy. This isn't my first or second choice in the mall but if you are looking for a lot of food, served adequately, Ken Kee may not disappoint. read more

Someone told me the magic cappuccino here is good. So I got it but it wasn't that great. Also , mocha with tapioca is one of my mains

My favorite Chinese restaurant in Chicago! Ok so I know going to authentic Chinese restaurants can be intimidating... because usually there is more than 1 menu you can order from and part of the menu is in Chinese. Even though I am not Chinese, I have been to restaurants with my Chinese friends enough times to know what is good. Ken Kee is usually busy and sometimes the wait can be long. However, food comes out very fast and is well worth the wait. Prices are so cheap that you will probably spend less than $7 total. I love this place because I love bbq pork! I almost always get the bbq pork with egg. This is placed on top of a bowl of rice. Ok this is like sodium over-load but its ok! It tastes so good =) This place isn't the best looking restaurant nor the cleanest but gets the job done. If you are in Chinatown, check it out! read more

Overall -4.5/5 (My favorite go-to Cantonese restaurant as a Hong Kong raised Chinese person living in Chicago) Taste -4 (A tad salty on most of the dishes, but authentic flavors especially the steamed fish!) Originality - 3 (Served anything and everything you'd expect at a local Hong Kong restaurant) Plating - 3 (Average looks for a speedy Chinese restaurant) Value -5 (You can't get any better than this!!! I recommend the seafood dishes) Service - 4 (FAST and decently polite waiters made this a pleasant experience) read more

This place is always packed when we come to Chinatown. Food is indeed Hong Kong style "diner" food. They also specialize in Hong Kong style afternoon tea snacks (ie: chicken wings, ham & egg sandwiches, braised brisket on steamed rice noodle rolls, etc). They also offer Hong Kong style "western" entrees (ie: baked rice or spaghetti casseroles like mixed seafood in white cream sauce baked on rice or Portuguese chicken rice - which seems to be a crowd favorite). We tried the Singapore style rice noodles, oyster egg pancake (huge and came in 4 pieces - looked like they filled a whole wok w/ the egg/oyster mixture and folded it into 4 pieces to fit the plate) and stir-fried gai-lan and beef on flat rice noodles done in sauce style (vs the usual dry stir-fried style). They also offer Hong Kong style breakfast and brunch options such as various types of congee (porridge with minced beef, sliced fish, chicken, etc), fried dough sticks and traditional side dishes. Soup noodles are also offered. Interestingly enough, this place is somewhat like Joy Yee's without the gimmicky servingware. Self-seating. Bubble smoothies available. A couple can easily dine for slightly over $10 (as we saw the couple next to us do). Decent prices with good-sized portions. We'll definitely be back (although the wait times may be discouraging, albeit not as demoralizing as the one at Joy Yee's). I would come here for the Hong Kong style diner food (ie: congee, noodles, casseroles) and not necessarily order entrees here. Update: The Portuguese chicken is terrible. The baked seafood in cream sauce on fried rice casserole is good. read more

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This Cantonese mainstay has been consistently good - and consistently affordable - for years. The beef chow mein and the bone-in salt and pepper pork chops are our favorite dishes. The chow mein mixes Chinese broccoli and mushrooms with tender slices of beef in a savory sauce served over a bed of crispy egg noodles. Look for the single flower-shaped slice of carrot hiding in the dish. The pork chops are a fatty, bone-in cut dredged in a coating with lots of salt and pepper before they're fried crispy. They are tossed in a highly flavorful mix of garlic, onion, and red and green jalapenos. The large wonton soup comes with 8 shrimp wontons in a delicate broth. It is garnished with plenty of sliced green onions, but the large leaf of iceberg lettuce floating in the broth is a bit odd but easy to avoid when ladling up bowls. If you're looking for soup, this is a much better choice than the icky hot and sour soup here. Like most Chinatown spots, don't expect great service. Make sure to get the attention of one of the servers when you walk in, or get your name on the unattended list by the door to ensure you get a table. read more

Delicious and crazy cheap. With huge portions. What more could you ask for? I've been here several times and it's always been a pleasure. I've had rice noodles with beef and shanghai style curried rice cakes. Both are winners. Their shrimp purse dumplings are also quite good - it's all shrimp inside so it's really quite a bang for your buck. Also, my Chinese friends (looking at you Mei Z.) and their parents love Ken Kee so it's gotta be somewhat authentic right? :) One thing - the wait staff seems very keen on leaving you to enjoy your meal and conversation once the food has come out so be kind of aggressive about getting your check at the end! read more

The authenticity of their food is why I love this place. Not much can be said about their service, they aren't really friendly but not necessary unfriendly either. They kind of just take your order and do their job. I guess you can say.. they are efficient? This place is a Chinatown favorite. Most of my friends who grew up in the area come here all the time. I love this place for their Man Tao. It's the only place in Chicago I know that serves Man Tao which is a shame because they are sooo good. Restaurant is small so if you have a big group and decide to stop by for dinner, expect a little wait. It's very worth it though. I would order family style and come with someone who is Chinese unless you like doing the whole "Can I have (point)" thing.. read more

Excellent food at a reasonable prices. My favorites are the salt and pepper shrimp and the beef chow fun. The only drawback is the wait for the table. read more

After searching for a new place to get Chinese, we stumbled upon Ken Kee. We got in right before there was a small rush of people, so we got a seat right away. I know other posters were annoyed with their service, but I thought that service was good. The people were nice, they answered our questions and the food came out fast. Here's what we got: 1. Fried wontons: fried up wonton filled with shrimp. Beware, if you try to eat them when they are super hot, they'll burst open. 2. Beef Chow Fun: good, a little greasy, but it's exactly what I had a taste for. 3. Salt and Pepper Squid: I love this stuff. If you don't like squid, you won't like this at all, but it had a great amount of salt and spice. 4. Ma Po Tofu: I know this isn't the most popular dish, but sometimes you just want some spicy tofu. I liked it. 5. Fried Fish in Sweet Sake Sauce: The husband loved this one. He thought this was the best part of the meal. Of course we ended it with bubble tea, and it was awesome. read more

Dude! Frogs Legs and Chines Chives! That as all I needed to see. I sat down at the table, I opened up the menu, saw Frogs Legs and Chinese Chives and that was all I wanted to know. Frog Legs are disappearing off menus everywhere, but man! These were succulent and perfectly seasoned, sauteed in a light brown sauce with garlic chives. Loved it! Since my favorite restaurants in Chinatown have all closed I do believe I will make Ken Kee a new standard down there! read more

Ken Kee is my go to place to bring friends who want to try genuine Chinese food but would be too scared to eat anything that came out of a grungy, hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. It's got a contemporary feel to it; the service is great and the decor is modern. The place is clean (for a Chinese place) and they even have wifi! Every time I come here I always order the Deep Fried Japanese Tofu. It's addictingly crunchy with a salt-and-pepper flare and a go-to-dish. I also order the Braised Taro and Duck and have it over rice. All in all, this is a good place for groups and newcomers to Chinese food who want to sample something authentic but not be too daring. read more

I recently polled my Facebook friends for recommendations in Chinatown, and to be perfectly honest, took the advice of a Chinese American friend, reasoning he should know better than a bunch of white people. So I found myself at Ken Kee, which made his top four. While I can't really speak to the authenticity of Ken Kee--I've never been to China--the dining room was full of Chinese families, which I take as a good sign. Another friend said this was "Hong Kong" style Chinese, but how whould I know? What I can say for sure is that the food was lightening quick, abundant, and satisfying. The menu is extensive--and I mean *extensive*! It comes in two parts: first a photo gallery of all the food, then a price list of dishes, most of which are very reasonable if not downright cheap. Either look at their website and figure out what you want before you go, or plan to spend 5-10 minutes agonizing over your innumerable choices before you conclude you have to come back ten more times to try all the stuff you skipped. I tend to crave tangy/acidic flavors, so we started with hot and sour soup, which was easily one of the best I've tried. It was absolutely loaded with shrimp, chicken, pork, tofu, mushrooms, and more. A cup makes a generous appetizer, while a bowl could easily serve as a satisfying meal. The egg rolls, served with a sweet, complex sauce, were also terrific--much better than others I've had in Chicago, perhaps with the exception of Friendship Chinese in Logan Square. For entrees, I wish I'd ordered more adventurously (duck tongues, duck chins, goose intestines, and other offal appeared variously on the menu), but on this day my dining companion and I both really wanted noodles. I ordered Fried Rice Noodle with Beef and Soy Sauce, and my companion chose the Vermicelli with Pork and Shrimp. The Fried Rice Noodles featured wider noodles, a nice, light, slightly smoky flavored sauce, and meltingly tender beef. It also featured an unfortunate profusion of scallions--just too many for my taste. This isn't a problem with the dish--it's perfectly composed--I just don't like scallions THAT much. I'd rather have had shreds of some other green vegetable--even plain green cabbage would have worked for me. The vermicelli, which had lots of nice shrimp, also featured a lot of scallions. In both cases the noodles were perfectly cooked, and the dishes were abundant--perhaps overly so--in portion size. Also in both cases, aside from the scallions, there were not a lot of fresh vegetables involved. I found my mouth watering as I watched the servers take huge plates of perfectly brilliant greens to other tables--I wished we'd ordered the Baby Pea Tips--they looked amazing. My advice if dining with only one other person is to choose one meat (or tofu/fish) dish, and one all-vegetable dish, and share both. This way you'll get a more balanced meal, and the portions are so ample you won't leave hungry. The restaurant was spotlessly clean, and well-lit, with lots of windows. The service was fast and efficient, but be mindful that they won't rush you out the door with your check at the end--you may need to ask for it. The bathroom was clean, spacious, fresh-smelling, and well supplied. Ken Kee is certainly on my short-list for Chinatown. read more