Gypsy Boy, Sure!~ I'll do my best to produce memory of the delightful meal. I enjoy this board tremendously and have been lurking for a long time. I have re-entered Chicago restaurant discovery mode and hope to provide more reviews as time allows.
Other dishes that the family ordered were:
Fish Fillet and Eggplant Casserole
MingHin Special Casserole
Beef and Vegetable on Pan-Fried Rice Noodle
Except for the pork belly, all dishes were ordered as "1 order" (not 1 1/2). The 1 order portion sizes are definitely not small. I enjoy getting great value (I am an eater, of course) and MingHin delivers.
I've had Fish Fillet and Eggplant Casserole at a few different places and always enjoy it. Both casseroles ordered arrived in a casserole pot still sizzling hot delivered on a large wooden block. The fish was lightly breaded, fried, and incredibly delicious. Rich and in the right proportion, the sauce very nicely balanced the eggplant and fish flavors. Unlike other places where the eggplant turns to mush, the eggplant was cooked just right. The eggplant meat stuck to the skin, still had some bite, but was correctly saturated in flavor. The dish is a family favorite and everyone agreed that MingHin did it incredibly well.
The MingHin Special Casserole was ordered without actually knowing what it would contain. I usually assume that if a place is going to name a dish with the restaurant name that it must be good. As anticipated, it came with the "standard" mix of seafood. Octopus/squid chunks, scallops, shrimp, sea cucumber (I love sea cucumber!), and a medley of vegetables were uncovered once the casserole lid was removed. The dish on appearance alone was no different than other restaurant's Seafood Casserole offerings. Everything was covered in a light colored sauce. Again, the sauce pulled everything together. The light broth based sauce wasn't too overbearing for the seafood contents and also had the same rich quality of the previous mentioned casserole dish. The contents of the dish were not at all overcooked and the sea cucumber had the slurp I expected.
Of note, the casserole dishes popped out of the kitchen far faster than any of us expected. They usually take quite a while. We were either lost in time while enjoying the pork belly or they really have their act together in the kitchen. Perhaps both? The casserole dishes themselves were incredibly hot and did cause some of the contents to stick to the inside walls. This is not a bad thing. The variability in texture and that super fresh from the kitchen feeling added to the enjoyment.
As it was a birthday, we had to order a noodle dish (it represents long life). Everyone was without opinion on what to order so we "decided" on a dish with beef and vegetables (gotta get your greens in). The waiter asked what kind of vegetable we'd like. Blank stares for a second; then he suggested a mix of vegetables. We all nodded in agreement and hoped for the best. After ordering, I had regretted not asking if they could do the chow fun crispy (oh, how I miss Hong Min). The dish came out and contained a very interesting mix of vegetables. I was incredibly skeptical on the taste when spotting watercress, american broccoli, and bok choy. This was a very interesting hodgepodge of vegetables to be assembled. Surprisingly, it worked out pretty well. The noodles were well separated and cooked correctly. The beef sizes were single bite worthy. The beef was tender, flavorful, and, again, cooked without error. Of all the dishes, this was the least amazing but still managed to produce smiles around the table. This was also the dish we all agreed we'd probably not order again; not for any disappointment but only for the lack of WOW as compared to the others.
After giving the experience some time to settle into my mind (between my first posting and this update), I still think that MingHin will be my Chinatown restaurant of choice. The entire family is interested in sampling from the expensive set of items listed on the front page of the menu. Based on our experience we'll definitely find an excuse to return to complete the task. I will also have to try the dim sum offerings but I know that judgement on dinner vs the dim sum menu isn't always fair. From what I've been told there are different management teams / cooks that prepare the meals at other restaurants.
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I did notice that on the wall there were some decorations with a small plate reading "Donated from Hong Min restaurant." I should have asked if it were same Hong Min that burnt down some years ago.
I'll try anything... even if I know it will make me sick