deesher wrote:I made my third trip to the Katy's new Oak Park location this week. As a city dweller, I'm very happy to have a closer option than Westmont. I was happy to see that Dan Dan noodles were added to the Oak Park menu. As they are generally not the easiest item to share, we ordered two bowls for our table of three. When the noodles arrived, they were not in soup as they are served at the other locations. They were excellent and I will certainly order them again every time I go to any Katy's, but it was surprising that they were served in such a different fashion than the other locations.

I was also surprised that while downtown Oak Park was bustling, there was no one in Katy's (although there were a few to go orders picked up while we were there).

They were not in a soup when I ordered them in Naperville a couple of years ago.

Still very good!

Had a nice meal on Wednesday. The name has officially been changed to Katys, one menu. Not sure how much of the menu was carryover, but many of my favorites were there including Dan Dan noodle. Pork fried noodle was great. Few service issues but not enough to keep me away. Server had some communication problems. Soup dumplings came 15 minutes after entrees. Very difficult to get the check. The room was a great improvement over both Westmont and Naperville. All in all thrilled to have another outlet.

Not sure if it's been mentioned already, but Katy's is now is offering a more complete menu at the Oak Park location:

http://www.katysdumpling.com/Katys_Dump ... /menu.html

OP is not a place I get to often. Any Katy's old-timers from Westmont try any of the myriad new items such as the boiled fish or the hot pots? I used to kid that Mr. Red Shirt would follow in Mr. Hu's footsteps, but this OP menu smacks of a Hu place in good ways. Might need to get out there soon. And the Korean touches are interesting. Left over from the old spot? Here's a thought that is blowing my mind right now: bibim guksu with Katy's noodles. Let's make this happen.

Last night the Oak Park Boys Club re-banded and met up again at the Katy's in Oak Park to really test out their expanded menu and see if it would hold up. The short answer is that, yes, it can hold its own against the other Katy's. Not only that, but dare I say it that it can hold its own against any other Chinese restaurant in the city. There is no question that it is by far the best Chinese restaurant anywhere near Oak Park, and by extension that also makes it one of the best places to eat in Oak Park, period.

We ordered fast and furious, but if memory serves me correct here were some of our items:

Chengdu Dumpling
Dumpling with Spicy Sauce
Boiled Dumplings (beef and scallion, fish and chives, pork and chives)
Cucumber with garlic
Pickled Cabbage Pork Belly Noodle Soup
Stir Fried Shredded Pancake
Dry-Braised Chengdu Style Beef Tendon
Buddha's Delight
Pork Kidney with Sour Chili Pickle
Szechuan cold noodles with pork
Dry Chili Chicken

Everything was fresh, cooked well, and tasted great (and all that food split amongst 7 of us was only $21 total a piece). Standouts for me were the cucumber with garlic, the beef tendon, the Szechuan cold noodles, and the pork kidney. It is very exciting for me to now have a great Asian place in Oak Park, so I hope this restaurant does well. It was actually very busy when we got there, especially for a Monday night, but the waitress stated that Monday and the weekend tended to be their busy times. As long as the cooking maintains this level of consistency, this will be the new gem for Oak Park eats, at least IMO.

I enjoyed pretty much everything we had as well, but I'll add another standout. IMO, the dry chili chicken was damn good. It had a really decent, lingering heat. I don't think anything we had would supplant any of the fam's baseline order (dan dan, a pancake, and some form of dumpling,) but I can say without a doubt, that from now on, we'll always be ordering the cucumber with garlic, and dry chili chicken alongside our usual order. Really enjoyed getting to try the tendon, and the pickled cabbage soup.

I enjoyed pretty much everything we had as well, but I'll add another standout. IMO, the dry chili chicken was damn good

Thanks seebee - I forgot about the dry chili chicken somehow in my bloated post-food coma haze. I will add it as an edit.

Everything was great. The pessimist in me can't help but wonder how long the current menu will last. Really, how many people in Oak Park are going to order the spicy pork kidney with sour pickle? Anyway, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

The opening of the Oak Park location seems to be taking a toll on the Naperville outpost. Mother's Day lunch there was disappointing.

Greasy, oversalted food and pretty lousy service. For example: our noodles did not arrive and when we asked about it they said it was really busy and the kitchen was backed up. Looking around the room, there were 3 tables. Then we see a plate of noodles make it to the table near us, but they already had it. Instead of explaining the situation to us, we were ignored and the other table got apologies from the waitstaff for double serving the noodles. After 15 minutes, they try to serve us the noodles, but we had ordered the combination and that was just beef. Salt and pepper squid was severely oversalted, and sent back to the kitchen. What returned was bland, soggy and overcooked. Turns out they removed the batter from the 1st plate, and rebattered and refried it.

Sigh. Looks like they hired 2 younger waitresses and they were really trying hard, but the more senior waitress was busy chatting with the manager up front and couldn't care less... Sad...

I had lunch on Sunday at the original Westmont location, and was disappointed. I had my standard meal, pork fried noodle spicy, but the result was much oilier and saltier than usual.

Between that and the (justifiable) price increase to $8.95, I left with kind of a meh feeling. Hopefully it's just a one-off.

Be warned that the Dan Dan at Oak Park is not the same! I made this discovery on Friday. It's just a pile of noodles with a different ground pork, no broth at all.

Grub1 wrote:Be warned that the Dan Dan at Oak Park is not the same! I made this discovery on Friday. It's just a pile of noodles with a different ground pork, no broth at all.

I was there last week. Great meal!

I also ordered the Dan Dan
...and after having the same situation in Naperville
...and mentioning that is was listed in the soup section on the menu
...and clearly explaining that it is always served as a soup in Westmont
...and asking, if at worst, the chef could be a little creative and cobble the dish together as a soup...

Nah! A bowl of noodles with the ground pork and vegetables on top and the hot oil down below.

Good! ... but far from my beloved soup.

I think the only thing else to be done is to talk to Mr Red Shirt himself.

Nah! A bowl of noodles with the ground pork and vegetables on top and the hot oil down below.

Sounds suspiciously like the Szechuan cold noodles I ordered this week from the Oak Park store, which is not officially on their menu, although sans vegetables. For me, though, that is one great dish, although perhaps it being served cold makes a difference and somehow makes it more refreshing/better. I personally would not want it to be in a broth (and I always thought their Dan Dan noodles were too soupy as well).

Sounds suspiciously like the Szechuan cold noodles I ordered this week from the Oak Park store, which is not officially on their menu, although sans vegetables. For me, though, that is one great dish, although perhaps it being served cold makes a difference and somehow makes it more refreshing/better. I personally would not want it to be in a broth (and I always thought their Dan Dan noodles were too soupy as well).

No, I've had both the Szechuan cold noodles and the Dan Dan noodles (both as a noodle dish and a soup dish), and they're definitely not the same. I'm with the previous poster in wishing they were served more consistently as a soup; the broth is phenomenal, and it's my go-to head cold cure. Always disappointing when I wind up with a bowl of noodles and an eensy bit of broth.

Thanks, LTH, for turning me on to this place.

Thanks, LTH, for turning me on to this place.

Once again Dave, a great video vignette. Can't wait for more.

I made it out to Katy's new Oak Park location for lunch. Quite the upscale spot it is compared to Westmont. Most everything was good, though I'm not sure I'd agree that it's up to what I've tried at the Westmont location. In particular, the stir fried pancake, though tasty, didn't bring me to my knees like it does at the Westmont location, though I can't necessarily say why (perhaps slight degradation in texture due to slight overcooking, and flavors seemed a little bit different). Still, most everything we tried was very good.

cilantro wrote:Yes, yes, but how are the xiao long bao, you may ask? Surprisingly good. Their major weakness is that the skin is very thick, which will likely be a deal-breaker to aficionados. But they are extremely flavorful, with a moderate amount of soup. (For dipping, you use the regular table black vinegar unadorned with ginger; this turns out to not be a problem, as the filling is very gingery already.)

It seems like whenever a new place around here begins to offer xiao long bao, someone immediately proclaims them the best in town. (Given our low baseline, it's actually possible that these claims are correct in every instance.) So are these the best in town? I have no idea, but I'd happily eat them again.

Cilantro, pretty sure you've sampled many of the same XLB I have and I respect your judgment. But perhaps they're not as good at the Oak Park location or maybe I didn't get the best batch. Yes, the skins were thick, and thick enough for me where it really threw off the balance of ingredients. But I also found the flavor to be somewhat bland, and there wasn't quite enough soup filling. And here's what they looked like (well, at least a crappy cell phone image):

How do I order those XLB? I had the Juicy Steamed Buns at Westmont Tuesday night but that was an order of eight with pork and just a bit of liquid. Do I need to ask for Xiao Long Bao by the Chinese name?

The Juicy Buns were very good. I've had the same dish at a restaurant in Cambridge, MA (Mary Chung's, an MIT hangout). In Cambridge, they're served with slivered ginger and a vinegar sauce. I missed them.

StevenHB wrote:How do I order those XLB? I had the Juicy Steamed Buns at Westmont Tuesday night but that was an order of eight with pork and just a bit of liquid. Do I need to ask for Xiao Long Bao by the Chinese name?

The Juicy Buns were very good. I've had the same dish at a restaurant in Cambridge, MA (Mary Chung's, an MIT hangout). In Cambridge, they're served with slivered ginger and a vinegar sauce. I missed them.

Hmmmmm - I'm at a loss. These are listed on the Oak Park location's menu as Juicy Steam Buns (menu item #68) and come with 4 to an order for $5.95. Sounds like the same thing (and yes, with ginger in the black vinegar sauce), except for the order size.

The few times I've had them @ Katy's they've been underwhelming. The best I've had in Chi, w/the caveat of "tallest midget in the circus" are @ Lao You Ju. Good, not great, which I'm not aware exist in Chi.

BR wrote:

StevenHB wrote:How do I order those XLB? I had the Juicy Steamed Buns at Westmont Tuesday night but that was an order of eight with pork and just a bit of liquid. Do I need to ask for Xiao Long Bao by the Chinese name?

The Juicy Buns were very good. I've had the same dish at a restaurant in Cambridge, MA (Mary Chung's, an MIT hangout). In Cambridge, they're served with slivered ginger and a vinegar sauce. I missed them.

Hmmmmm - I'm at a loss. These are listed on the Oak Park location's menu as Juicy Steam Buns (menu item #68) and come with 4 to an order for $5.95. Sounds like the same thing (and yes, with ginger in the black vinegar sauce), except for the order size.

My last visit to Westmont, I asked the taller, thin lady if Juicy Steam Buns were, in fact, Xiao Long Bao. She said yes, and gave me a little smirk for knowing the words xiao long bao. I ordered them, and wasn't a big fan. Those were the only ones I've ever tried, anywhere. Well, I did try them at a stall in the Richland Food Court, but those CAN'T count. They were just dumplings filled with meat, no soup, but were labeled clearly as xiao long bao.

I will find the great ones, someday.

BR wrote:Cilantro, pretty sure you've sampled many of the same XLB I have and I respect your judgment. But perhaps they're not as good at the Oak Park location or maybe I didn't get the best batch. Yes, the skins were thick, and thick enough for me where it really threw off the balance of ingredients. But I also found the flavor to be somewhat bland, and there wasn't quite enough soup filling.

This is a bit worrisome, for as best I can tell there are only three possibilities:

1. The XLB are made differently for the Oak Park branch.
2. The XLB are made differently now than when I first tried them.
3. I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

Of these, the first strikes me as the least likely. From what's been reported about the new location (I've never been), I'd be surprised if the dumplings are being made on-site. (See however Option 3.) Seems much more likely they're all made in one place and brought in frozen (as they are even at the original location).

The last possibility is, sadly, usually the operative explanation with me. However, it is entirely possible that there's been a drop-off in quality since I tried them. After all, it was maybe a week after they were first announced (and not since then; I keep meaning to return, but Westmont is so damn far and it's been a DTF summer...), so who knows: maybe after the initial excitement they proved unpopular (at the time of my visit, every table had an order), or maybe a new cook is putting them together, or corners are being cut, or whatever. But the one criticism that definitely would not apply to what I had (thick skins and all) was "bland".

I guess I need to try them again, although my expectations are now suitably tempered.

Challenging day. At the end of it all, I came home to Dry Chili Chicken, Kung Pao Beef,
Green Beans & an assortment of pot stickers. Everything exemplary.

Even at 2 hours old & room temp., it put all other Contenders in the area to shame. Asian or otherwise.

So so happy Katy's has an outpost in OP.

neighborhood Rookie of the Year.

No pancake?

No pancake this time. Substituted for 12 potstickers & dumplings. So good. Juicy, chewy, perfectly pan fried.

A recent visit to the Westmont flagship confirmed what I had been feeling; namely, although I very much enjoy the new Oak Park location of Katy's, as the late, great Dobie Gray sung to us, the original is still the greatest. There's just something about the well seasoned woks and the funky storefront atmosphere that makes the Westmont location my favorite place to enjoy Katy's creations.

On this visit, I didn't stray far from what have become "standards" in the Katy's repertoire; Pot Stickers and Onion Pancake with Pork. Both were outstanding, as usual.

Katy's Westmont Pot Stickers


Katy's Westmont Onion Pancake with Pork

I'm making my first-ever voyage to Katy's tonight, to the Oak Park location. There will be 4 of us- we're moderately adventurous and tolerant to mild-medium heat.

I've read the last 14-18 months or so of posts here and made a list of the dishes that get mentioned a lot so I have a rough plan going in, otherwise it would be totally overwhelming.

There were a few dishes that were called something slightly different by the poster than what they're called on the actual online menu, so I went through and matched them up with the number on the menu. If anyone's bored today, could you make sure I've got the right numbers here?

"Pancake Noodles"- is that the "Stir Fry Shredded Pancake", #110/111?
"Dandan noodles"- #86
"Beef Noodle Soup"- #80
"Pork & Scallion Potstickers"- is this actually "Pork & Chive Potstickers", #61?
"Xiao Long Bao", called "Juicy Steam Buns", #68
"Pickled Cabbage W/ Fish Fillet Noodle Soup"- is this #89-93, depending on the protein?
"Stir Fried Noodles with Dry Chili" mentioned in this post- is this #100/101?
"Fish & Chive Dumplings- #67
"Scallion Pancake"- #70
"Cucumber w/ Garlic"- #22

I doubt we're going to order all of that, and I'll have to see what the other people in my party are interested in, but this is a good start. Anything else you'd recommend?

Abe, we were there last Sunday with mamagotcha, buttercream and others, and we were amazed at how quickly the food comes out at Katy's. You'll probably be done with dinner sooner than you think...consider an evening show at the Lake.

We're actually going afterwards to see a friend's band at Chalk, a bar in Forest Park, who, if Yelp reviews are to be trusted (ha!), only has average bar food. This is defintely an upgrade.

In general, I think the fish fillet dishes @ Katy's are mediocre at best. There are some good shrimp items, with the dry chili shrimp, shell-on, being my favorite.