Delicious. The kind of place where there's always a kid doing homework or playing with legos at one…read moreof the tables in the back. Built on consistency and neighborhood loyalty. Basically two places in one: * Boba Tea - Grab a drink and walk the park across the street. Fantastic boba texture and flavor. * Restaurant - Focus on the Popcorn Chicken and the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup A easy place to make a regular haunt.

The food here is always consistent and you know what to expect. The purple rice roll is fresh,…read moreflavorful, and the ingredients insides come together perfectly. They also have a parking lot, but finding an open spot can be a bit challenging. The service is usually pretty quick even for togo orders.

I came to Hello Jasmine during a conference at McCormick Place because, let's be real, my dudes,…read morefood at the conference center is largely uninspiring and expensive. One of my friends who went to grad school in Chicago (whose food recommendations I trust with my life) told me I had to check out Hello Jasmine, so I hopped on the bus. I'm so glad I did. The cafe itself is ADORABLE. I happened to visit just before Halloween (10/28), and it was decorated in the most charming "spooky cute" way. There were little Halloween touches everywhere, and someone on staff is very clearly a Harry Potter fan. It somehow managed to feel festive, cozy, and cheerful all at once. I ordered the matcha fresh boba milk tea with fresh milk. My default is always 0% sugar because my biggest beverage pet peeve is when drinks are too sweet. (Despite being an ABC, one thing that definitely survived is my instinct to say "not too sweet, please".) The cashier gently talked me into getting 30% sugar because she said the matcha could be a little bitter otherwise. She was absolutely right. 30% percent was perfect. It was balanced, smooth, and so good that I accidentally drank it much faster than I meant to. (Oops.) I also ordered the pig blood rice cakes (made them spicy), and wow. I don't think I've ever seen these anywhere in Boston. They were seared, spicy, savory, just a tiny bit sweet, and 100% delicious. I was so excited to find something that felt a little harder to come by. 11/10, I would absolutely come back. In fact, my only complaint is that it wasn't closer to the convention center. I probably could have expensed lunch there, and honestly, those corporate dollars would have been much better spent here than on conference catering. I wish I lived in Chicago just so I could stop by more often. Hats off to Jasmine and the staff. It feels bright, authentic, and full of joy. I imagine it's exactly the kind of cafe where students go after a long week to recharge over a really good drink and something comforting to eat, and I'm so glad it exists.

I got the combo braised pork rice bento. The braised pork was a bit greasy and too rich for me this…read moretime. My fruit tea that I got with my combo bento was also too sweet for me; though I got half sugar, it tasted like more than half. Really generous portions for one though. From my experience, they seem to give more volume if you dine in vs take out. The wifi/password also did not seem to be working when I was there. This spot is away from the main Chinatown plazas, so it doesn't feel super crowded or overwhelming.

The food here was unique and tasty. Having smaller portions for the appetizers made it easier for…read moreme to try different ones from the menu. The restaurant itself isn't fancy and lacks décor. Tasty Tofu $6.25 - Crispy on the outside and silky on the inside. I would order these again. Crab Rangoon (4) $5.50 - Small but delicious. Pan-fried Chicken Dumpling (6) $6.95 - Tiny delicious dumplings. Sichuan Style Diced Beef over rice $16.25 - The beef were lean, tender and full of flavor! Shrimp fried rice $14.95 - Flavorful fried rice. Kung Pao chicken - $18 - This didn't taste like your normal kung pao. The chicken was breaded, deep fried and covered in a sweet sauce. It looked more like a sweet and sour dish and there was no spiciness. .|\---/| | @_@ | ..\_^_/..2025

I do not know what happen to this restaurant I took my other son because he loves Chinese food and…read moreI order the lamb soup again but with different noodles. He order the beef and rice with broccoli and the meat was COLD and very hard the chew. The only thing that he liked was the rice which was hot. He love the beef won tons because of the spicy chile. It was so upset that the soup had no flavor I put so much salt and also a pack of soy sauce which I never put soy sauce on anything I even Added the chile it look Like the cook took a bucket full of dirty wash water and served it to me the noodle had no flavor. The server was always on her phone. I asked her so many times to removed the dirty plates from the table and she completely ignored us. The ambiance was empty just a few orders to go. I feel SAD that I took an hour drive to be so disappointed at the horrible tasting food and also the bad service

Part 3 of 5 Memorial Day weekend APIHM series…read more Currently, the Mall comprises a bank, a couple of TCM doctor's offices, and a dental office. There are a variety of dishes to choose from 4 different vendors on the first floor. I enjoy coming here every so often to treat myself and my family to authentic dishes that are hard to find elsewhere, particularly stinky tofu, ba wan (Taiwanese meatball), oyster omelet, and pig blood soup. It is a food court. You are expected to return the tray and empty dishes back to designated areas. Although not required, I've never seen anyone do otherwise. The bathrooms are small and could use additional lighting in my opinion. Parking, you asked? Yes, there is a large parking lot. It is easily accessed from Route 83 (Kingery Hwy) or Ogden Avenue. On this particular visit, 988 Oriental Food House was closed. Reopening date is May 30, 2023.

Rich in history, the International Mall in Westmont was the place to go for authentic Chinese food…read more(prepared and ingredients) in the 1990's: with its very large grocery store and a large food court serving various cuisines from China. It has definitely seen better days: still open but very empty (of customers, of vendors, of products). But when we stopped by on a Wednesday for lunch, we found the food to be quite good and of really good value along with plenty of space to dine comfortably and nonchalantly: a good stop to refuel while on the way to central Illinois.

Great food. A lit bit of a wait to dine in tonight (Friday night) but is always a good sign…read more Pork & vegetable dumplings Chicken and Beef fried noodles BBQ buns

The Mapo Tofu is delicious. The texture of the dumplings is perfect. I have been to this location…read more3xs in the last 3 months, and its consistently amazing! The staff is always kind & maintains excellent service, while busy!

The best Taiwanese food in the Chicago area! Popcorn chicken is legit with the light crispy coating…read moreand tender chicken. You can customize the spice level by adding your own togarashi. The deep fried basil leaves just melts in your mouth. I got the beef noodle soup and it was very flavorful with very generous portions of beef shank that is perfectly cooked. My husband got the braised pork bowl which he really enjoyed, and he said the sausage was the best he's ever had. The drink options were vast and one can customize the amount of ice and sweetness level, which I appreciated. So glad we found this gem of a place. We will definitely be back!!

Doing an updated review of this place and it's just been consistently amazing. So great that you…read morecan order online and they love to send you the coupon. Coupons and deals as well via text to your cell phone. This place has been so super consistent that visitors have really enjoyed it. And people who've never even tried Taiwanese popcorn chicken have legitimately loved it and fallen in love with it. I love that the cook behind the scenes is truly Taiwanese and it brings a real hundred percent level of authenticity to everything she touches and makes. I appreciate that completely. This is definitely a go to for me and so super convenient because it's near my house.

I came to grab two lunch bentos around 11:30 AM on a Tuesday. The person who took our order at…read morefront was very friendly. However, it did take a while for me to get my food. We ordered one pork chop and one chicken bento. Each bento came with an egg drop soup which was tasty. The bento itself came with rice that had minced pork on top, marinated daikon/carrot, marinated egg/seaweed and stir fried vermicelli. The item qualities were tasty as were the protein options. Everything was seasoned well. The main thing was just that the vermicelli was a little too oily. All in all, a great lunch area in the food court.

Currently my favorite Chinese restaurant. Recommend the stir fried dishes or chicken thigh / pork…read morechop set meals. A bit pricy for a food court place but the food itself is very high quality

Went for the end of happy hour/dinner and had a great time sitting at the bar. I started with an…read moreOolong Island Iced Tea cocktail, which was so smooth but probably as potent as its namesake. They have non-alcoholic options available as well. The sweet potato fries had a great texture from their light batter and delicious flavor. My friend and I both got the red braise noodles. I definitely recommend getting the combo beef and tendon. The tendon added a great texture unlike anything else. The flavor starts out almost like pot roast, but it gets richer and spicier as you eat. Makes for great leftovers! We shared the fried chicken, which was another great bite. I loved the seasoning, I think it was sour plum. I got the pineapple tart for dessert and my friend got the cheesecake. Both were really solid. The pineapple tart was super unique, definitely recommend. This was kind of a last minute thing for us, so I'd love to try table service instead of bar seating next time. Really nice looking restaurant.

Minyoli? Meh. I ventured into Minyoli this evening for the first time and was sincerely hoping that…read morethe food would be better than the verdicts rendered by several of my friends- which, unfortunately, ranged from mediocre to disappointing. Let's start on a positive note. The ambiance is inviting and the service was decent to good. The prices are on par with other places in the neighborhood. As for the food and drink, well everything was ok, with a couple of stand-outs. My friend and I started with shared appetizers of the talow wings, which were tender, nicely seasoned and accompanied by sweet potato fries that were also good. The other appetizer was the cucumber salad, which was plentiful and offered a nice balance between the pickling and the spice. We originally planned on another starter, but they were out of that. Glad we "settled" on the cucumber salad, since that was the best part of our meal. When it came time to order our main dishes, I selected one of the specials. No dice. They were out of that too. My friend ordered the noodles with beef and the server talked it up enough that I followed suit. I mentioned light-heartedly that I never usually order the same meal as the person I'm dining with and the server said: "You won't be disappointed." Only problem is...I was disappointed. When the entrée arrived, it looked good enough to eat. There was a lot of chili crisp on one side of the bowl, which I love, and about five slices of beef- all over a heap of noodles. I mixed it all together and was excited and ready for a pow of heat and flavor. Only problem is...there was neither. The chili crisp was less than mild and not at all crispy. The noodles were bland, and the meat was way over cooked, chewy and fattier than it should have been. As my friend perfectly put it, the whole bowl was very "one note." As if to add insult to injury, I had a non-alcoholic pineapple and ginger soda. I asked the server if this was very sugary and he said no. In fact, since the soda is made in-house the server told me that they could keep the sugar level down for me. He also said that the drink was very "ginger forward," which was great by me since I love spicy, spicy ginger. When the drink arrived, it was bland, just like the entrée. It wasn't too sweet, so that was good. But there was only a hint of ginger and a whisper of pineapple. The final coup came at the end of the meal. When the bill came, my friend and I both presented our cards to split the bill as we customarily do. That's when the server told us they only take one card. I get not splitting a bill by more than three or four cards per table, but two? That's preposterous! Look, it wasn't a big deal since my friend and I are like brothers. But what if someone happened to be on a first date or whatever? Yes, Venmo, Zelle, etc., can all happen. But not everyone has that luxury. It's awkward, unnecessary and, frankly, cheap of a restaurant that doesn't want to pay the swipe fees. When I politely mentioned to the server that taking only one card was a bit of a surprise, he told me that it was posted on the menu. He was also seemingly a bit annoyed that I brought it up...like I was being bratty or something. Ok. I'll take his word for it. But if it was on the menu, then it wasn't prominent enough to take note of as I was looking at all the meal options (my friend also didn't see it). I checked to see if the one card policy was posted on the front door when we were leaving, and it wasn't. Anyway, not the end of the world, but something you should be prepared for if you dine here. In the end, I sadly have to agree with my friends' assessments of Minyoli as a mediocre to disappointing dining experience.

At the Taiwanese, I was very excited to try this restaurant since there aren't many Taiwanese…read moreplaces in Chicago. Taipei Cafe is a small restaurant in Lakeview. There aren't many seats available so it feels like a semi boba shop as well. To sum it up, I would say it is ~70 to 80% authentic, which is not bad in my opinion. Braised Pork Over Rice 招牌滷肉飯: The presentation was beautiful and the flavor was actually pretty good. In Taiwan, this dish is usually more on the sweeter side, due to the sugar and shallots added. Here, it is more peppery and savory, and the flavor was actually really good. The beans and the mustard greens were very delicious as well. Even though the flavor profile is slightly different, this was well made and something I would come back for. Noodles with black pepper sauce 胡椒鐵板麵: traditionally this dish is called蘑菇鐵板麵, which uses mushrooms, black pepper and other sauces as a base. The flavor was good, but I wish that there were more mushroom and sauce to balance the black pepper. In my opinion, this dish tasted very different from what I used to eat, but it is not bad on its own. 2/4 Fried pork chops: the meat was fried very well, and it was pretty peppery and crispy. However, I think there are different spices and flavor missing, including white pepper, msg, garlic, Thai basil, cayenne pepper, and more. I wished that the savoriness and spiciness popped up more, and I thought the spice blend and the marinade could definitely use some improvement. 3/4 Beef noodle soup 牛肉麵: I thought the bone broth was pretty good, but I believe the flavor profile should be wider, like tomatoes, five spice, 豆瓣醬, soy sauce, and more. It was a stripped down version, and I wished that is reflected in the name of the item (renaming it "clear soup" etc). Also, the amount of meat they gave us was a little bit pitiful (there were like four pieces), and there were two pieces of bok choy. When Taiwanese people eat beef noodle soup, we definitely expect more. 2/4 Additionally, I wish the drinks were made with some fresh ingredients (not just syrup or creamer), as standard/good quality boba shops from Taiwan try to make drinks as fresh as possible. That is high ask, but I just wanted to note that as a suggestion for improvement. Overall, I thought the food was pretty decent. Would I say it is the most representative Taiwanese restaurant in Chicago? No. The staff was actually Chinese loll. But I do think it reminds me of some flavors and food I grew up eating in Taiwan. If you like popcorn chicken and pork, it is likely a good place for you.

Solid, tasty taiwanese food!…read more We enjoyed a mix of dishes (chicken bento box for me, beef noodle soup for my boyfriend, as well as fries with Thai seasoning and a boba tea for me). The green beans came as a side with my bento box and were amazing. The ordering system is a little clunky and annoying but we got through it. Vibes in the space are fine, it's an efficient little cafe The biggest thing is that there's really an opportunity for more sauces! For the fries, for the popcorn chicken, for example, a sauce would make a big difference to dip it in. I like this place and expect to be back