Evanston Lunch Group: Shang Noodle & Chinese 10/18, 12:30

Shang Noodle and Chinese has only been open a month but they have an interesting menu that includes house-made noodles. No web site but quite a bit of information on Facebook and Yelp has pictures of their menu.
Join us on Wednesday, October 18 at 12:30 at
Shang Noodle and Chinese
608 Davis Street
Evanston, IL 60201
847-859-6868
https://shangnoodlechinese.eat24hour.com/

B2B
nr706
moetchandon
nsxtasy
GAF
Chapulin +1
EvA
George R

See you there!

Here is what I believe is their complete menu online.
http://shangnoodlechinese.eat24hours.com/index.php?SCR=m_restaurant&id=96539
I can state that the House Noodle Platter is near-identical to the Ping's Noodle Platter from Chef Ping. The Mandarin Duck was okay. I definitely see staying power.

I'm in.

In with +1. EDIT: Make that in, but without +1.

bweiny wrote:I can state that the House Noodle Platter is near-identical to the Ping's Noodle Platter from Chef Ping.

IIRC, Shang has the same owners as Chef Ping. Chef Ping's LTH discussion topic is here.

nsxtasy wrote:IIRC, Shang has the same owners as Chef Ping. Chef Ping's LTH discussion topic is here.

They do (here), that's why I made the parallel (and was honestly expecting to, going in). The problem on my first order is they don't offer my other Chef Ping go-to's. I'm frustrated by the only dumpling option being a 15 piece $10.75 presumably-boiled chicken filling, when Chef Ping's pork pot stickers are first rate. The pork spring rolls (egg rolls in every sense) would've been decent if they provided spicy mustard (bear in mind this was carry-out, so might've just not been placed in the bag) to contrast the (non-packeted) sweet & sour. The aged tofu with "spicy sauce" wasn't spicy, but the firm tofu has good texture and the entree with it and pork might be bolder.

I'll probably have Shang again before the 18th (maybe again at the ELG). Expecting to get the dumplings and Yu-Shang Pork, Cumin Lamb, or Szechuan Fish. I'll report any findings.

I'll be there.

We will both be there.

I plan to be there.

Although I am still coming, I will no longer be accompanied by a +1.

I'll be there

Making a reservation for Wednesday, 12:30 under Neiman for party of 9.

Had to visit the Dentist today and found myself with some unaccustomed weekday mid-afternoon time in downtown Evanston, so I stopped into Shang to try the noodles. Looking at the menu I saw a dish along the lines of Japanese Sardines with Garlic Chives. This caught my eye and I went with this instead of the noodles. I envisioned a Chinese take on Shioyaki Sardines perhaps stuffed with Garlic Chives or on a bed of same. Instead, the dish was large plate of stir fried garlic chives with very small, plentiful dried fish mixed in. It was a very tasty dish which I would gladly order again, but was very different from what I expected to be getting. Plan to be back to this place and to explore the menu and will be interested to hear how other menu descriptions convey the nature of the dish.

How was everything? I'd love some feedback before I get Shang again. The sardines w/ garlic chives and fish w/ douban sauce are what I'm leaning toward.

I hope to hear about how fantastic the dumplings are.

bweiny wrote:How was everything?

The spicy shrimp was very good, tasty and nicely spicy, IMHO the best dish we had. The red chili chicken was also very tasty (and spicy) and not greasy like LSC's (good), but wasn't trimmed so many of the bites contained non-meat (bone, gristle, skin) (not so good). The duck appetizer, which was cold, was also pretty good, although it too needed trimming, which is difficult when you're eating with chopsticks. The rest of the items we had, eh - not terrible, but didn't impress me either. We didn't discuss this much so the opinions of others may differ from mine.

bweiny wrote:I hope to hear about how fantastic the dumplings are.

We didn't order them, per the recommendation of Bib (B2B) on her past experience with them. She can tell you more.

Thanks for the rundown. I would never have thought to order the spicy shrimp, but I definitely will now. I thought the duck was good, but like all other room temp/cold duck, skin and fat were a nuisance.

Red Chili Chicken also will be in my next 2 orders.

I think nr706 will post pictures, but we tried:

House Special Mandarin Duck (cold, from appetizer section). I thought this was tasty. Yes, it’s hacked in slices in the Chinese style with bone and skin on, but it was flavorful and moist. A sauce with it would have been nice.

Wood Ear Mushroom Salad (also cold appetizer). At our end of the table (opposite end from nsxtasy), we were quite enthusiastic about this dish. I liked the somewhat spicy, somewhat sweet, somewhat chewy wood ears. Probably not a dish for everyone. Despite what our waitress advised, the appetizer serving was generous.

Spicy Shrimp. The shrimp were tender but not particularly spicy, and the sautéed vegetables were crispy. A very pleasant dish.

Japanese Sardine Sautéed with Garlic Chives. I found this an odd dish, I confess. The combination of smoky, salty sardine bits with garlic chives was something I would never have thought of. Glad I tried it, but I doubt I’d order it again.

Kung Pao Chicken. Boring.

Red Chili Chicken. As nsxtasy says, gristly. I thought this was the worst dish we ordered; I’ve had better versions at LSC and Peppercorns down the block. Overly breaded and salty as well as tough and gristly. YMMV.

Cumin Lamb. A well-prepared standard and one of the better dishes, I thought. I would order this again.

House Noodle Platter. A bit disappointing. Noodles and accompaniments were competent, but the promise of house-made noodles wasn’t followed through on.

Sautéed Peapod Tips. Simply and nicely cooked with a good touch of garlic.

Pleasant and prompt service overall. The room is clean and bright—hardly recognizable from the old Phoenix Inn days. Shang is certainly worth another try--I would go back to try more of the unusual dishes.

I ordered the dumplings for carry out and when they handed me my order, I opened the bag to check for a dipping sauce. When I didn’t see any I asked for one but the host opened my container of dumplings to show me they were in a broth and no dipping sauce was needed. I was surprised and wondered why the menu hadn’t stated this. It wasn’t exactly a “dumpling soup” but it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It was a generous serving of approximately 15 dumplings. I say approximately because I only removed 5 from the container, with some broth, to reheat a bit at home and was so disappointed that I never ate the rest.
The dumpling filling was described on the menu as chicken, egg, cilantro and scallion and I found it bland and very dense. I made my own dipping sauce and that helped because the broth was also very bland. The dough might have been more enjoyable if the dumplings had not been sitting in the broth for a while, perhaps since they had been made.

I enjoyed most of the dishes we ordered but shared my experience with the dumplings with the group and they decided to skip them for this outing. Perhaps someone else will order them, have a better experience and share that information. I wish they had a more traditional dumpling preparation on their menu.

Okay, having been sufficiently shamed, I’ll add my pix from Wednesday’s lunch (hey, I’ve been busy lately).


House Special Mandarin Duck — I didn’t expect this to be a cold preparation, but it was good, with slight citrusy overtones to the duck. Our server suggested we’d need two servings (listed as an appetizer) for our group of nine, but the serving was almost solid meat, and one might have sufficed. Like other items here, there were a few little pieces of bone and gristle that had to be picked out, but the flavor more than made up for that.


Wood Ear Mushroom Salad — again, one serving would have been enough for our group, but I liked this quite a bit. Although wood ear mushrooms don’t have a lot of flavor, their texture, abetted by the slightly sweet, spicy dressing, made this a personal favorite.


Spicy Shrimp — Medium-sized shrimp (probably 26/30s) in an array of veggies … not too spicy, but the shrimp were very tender - just barely cooked.


Japanese Sardine with Garlic Chives — I thought the salty, tiny sardines added an anchovy-like note to the chives, which were only slight cooked through, and thus a little chewy/crunchy. The texture wasn’t my favorite, but the flavor combination made me glad we ordered it.


Kung Pao Chicken — I wouldn’t go so far as to call it boring, but it wasn’t as flavorful as some of the other offerings. The chicken pieces were pea-sized, which made them a bit challenging for those of us who weren’t brought up with chopsticks since we were in the womb.


Red Chili Chicken — The flavors were good, but even more than the case with the duck, was marred by the little pieces of bone and gristle that I was constantly picking out of my mouth. Not a pleasant eating experience.


Cumin Lamb — A good, competent version of this dish.


House Noodle Platter — The noodles were fine, but I couldn’t taste anything special about them resulting from being house-made. The wide variety of proteins - cuttlefish, shrimp, scallop, and pork - is what made the dish worthwhile, if a little bland.


Peapod Tips — I thought these were a bit chewier than I’d have liked; they could have been cooked a bit longer. (Moetchandon disagreed with me on this point.) Flavor was good, though.

I agree the space is a lot brighter and more inviting than the old Phoenix. Service was attentive and responsive. We’ll be back.

Great photos and feedback EvA, B2B, and nr. I love the portion and abundance of pork and shrimp (not a scallop fan) in the noodle platter, but have always (Chef Ping orders included) wished that the noodles were more al dente or otherwise substantial in texture. A shaved noodle, or the wide rice noodle of Lulu's down the street, would take the dish to another level IMO.

The dumpling tip is crucial since nothing short of a direct inquiry would lead a customer to think they'd be served in a broth. If anybody from Shang sees this - please add traditional pot stickers!

bweiny wrote:If anybody from Shang sees this - please add traditional pot stickers!

They can just use the recipe from Chef Ping (which they call fried pot stickers even though they're the usual pan-seared version).

Also if anybody from Shang sees this - if you trim the chicken and use only pieces of chicken meat (not gristle, bone, or skin) in the red chili chicken, it would greatly improve the dish.

nr706 wrote:Kung Pao Chicken — I wouldn’t go so far as to call it boring, but it wasn’t as flavorful as some of the other offerings. The chicken pieces were pea-sized, which made them a bit challenging for those of us who weren’t brought up with chopsticks since we were in the womb.

The dish that made me ask for a fork was the noodles. As adept as I am with chopsticks, eating those noodles with them was damn near impossible.

I am glad to have Shang Noodle in Evanston, and I particularly enjoyed the Chives and Sardines. However, I always ask whether I prefer Lao Sze Chuan (Evanston branch) and based on this lunch, LSC will remain my go-to Chinese restaurant in Evanston. There was no "wow" dish at our lunch.

Lunch this past Tues - excellent pork ribs with noodles soup. Noodles - not as good as Katy's but very good. The broth was excellent. Could have had more veggies. Pot stickers very good.

lthDave wrote:Lunch this past Tues ... . Pot stickers very good.

Thanks for the info. Pot stickers were not on their original menu last autumn. The only dumpling option was a boiled chicken version in broth, priced as an entree. A grievance of mine, and others, especially since Chef Ping does a strong pot sticker.

bweiny wrote:

lthDave wrote:Lunch this past Tues ... . Pot stickers very good.

Thanks for the info. Pot stickers were not on their original menu.

Despite not being on the printed carry-out or online menu (only referenced in random places), Shang does still have pot stickers, and as of Wedns night, they remain damn good. None better in Evanston, or within 5 miles (mind you I had sauce and chili oil at home, if not on the tables a lack of chili oil could be a detriment).

Co-starring among appetizers was the Tripe in Chili Oil. Great stuff! I'm a fan of tripe, can't get tacos anywhere that doesn't offer them so I can at least get a couple tripa. Nice big chunks of the rich fatty-but-not-soft (ie unlike pork belly) pieces in this. Not very hot, shouldn't be too much heat for anyone.

It had been a while for me at Shang, but I'll be back much sooner thanks to these. This or Peppercorns Kitchen is a good, tough choice to have.