Dinner was so good last week that I went back for lunch this week with a couple of friends. Cold chicken in house special sauce, and ox tendon and maw in chili sauce were both excellent. The dish that stood out for me was a chalkboard special of spicy snails. We finished with popcorn chicken, dipping the pieces in the leftover sauces from the previous dishes.

There are sweet sake?

DutchMuse wrote:There are sweet sake?

Sweet is a relative term. I’m talking about a Sake with a SMV of around +3. SMV stands for Sake Meter Value, a measure of density and a proxy for perceived sweetness. The scale runs from -5 to +15, with the higher the number, the drier the Sake. The median is +3, which is not sweet, but not bone dry either.

FYI, for the past week or so, Peppercorns has been dark, with a handwritten sign saying they are closed due to a power outage. They've always seemed pretty busy, so hopefully this is not a candidate for this thread, but I would call before heading out there.

cilantro wrote:FYI, for the past week or so, Peppercorns has been dark, with a handwritten sign saying they are closed due to a power outage. They've always seemed pretty busy, so hopefully this is not a candidate for this thread, but I would call before heading out there.

I have a friend who works at the mattress store next door. According to him, a transformer blew in the basement. Everyone should be back up and running now.

Dinner Saturday night was another win. We were trying to change things up a bit so I got the beef wraps and tendon with maw as appetizer. Beef with cumin was ordered mild but came out absolutely fiery. The server quickly and cheerfully brought us another dish much more mild and all was well. I caved and got my usual fish in spicy Szechuan broth.

The wraps were kind of bland although the fresh herbs were a nice touch. Tendon and Maw was very tasty if not sliced as thinly as I usually prefer it.

Irrespective of the order, the beef with cumin was tasty but won’t dethrone the lamb with cumin any time soon.

Fish in spicy sauce was excellent, plenty of Szechuan peppercorns and the mung beans were a fresh and crunchy counterpoint to the tender fish and slippery glass noodles.

I have to mention the service again, even with a 10 minute wait, the staff was incredibly helpful and accommodating.

Peppercorns Kitchen moderately busy on a Tuesday night as good if not better than ever. One of the owners mentioned they opened up a new restaurant in Chinatown, Chef Xiong-Taste of Szechuan in the old Mandarin Kitchen space (2143 S Archer Ave), can't wait to check it out.


Peppercorns Kitchen, count me a Fan!

Eating leftover dan dan noodles from Monday as I read this. Along w/the cold chix in chile oil it made for an excellent lunch w/a pedestrian lunch mate who ordered "safe".

This may have been mentioned in other threads, but Peppercorns now offers dim sum Fri-Sun. I'd rate it as a solid C+, which is probably the best you can hope for from a Sichuan joint. Not a bad option for those who can't get to Chinatown. (Never got to try Koi's dim sum, which they don't seem to be making these days, but my experiences with Koi have been so dismal that I'm not sure I want to chance it anyway.)

I've had good luck ordering delivery from here during the pandemic, settling into a standard order of Dan Dan Noodles, Tea Smoked Duck, and Bok Choi with Garlic - all of which travel well. Food's always shown up at or before the promised time. Solid place.

I love Peppercorns and have been giving them as much business as possible during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, I gave up on their Dan Dan a couple years ago because they used capellini/angel hair noodles which were too weak. Is that still the case?

I've been making due with pot stickers, tendon & maw, and spicy fish in chili oil, but would love to have local Dan Dan as opposed to only when I make the drive to JMC (I usually go once for every 3 orders from PK).

bweiny wrote:Unfortunately, I gave up on their Dan Dan a couple years ago because they used capellini/angel hair noodles which were too weak. Is that still the case?

Not the half dozen times I have ordered them - more like the thickness of regular spaghetti noodles than angel hair - no issues with breakage, even the leftovers after a night in the fridge.

ChiNOLA wrote:

bweiny wrote:Unfortunately, I gave up on their Dan Dan a couple years ago because they used capellini/angel hair noodles which were too weak. Is that still the case?

Not the half dozen times I have ordered them - more like the thickness of regular spaghetti noodles than angel hair - no issues with breakage, even the leftovers after a night in the fridge.

Great news, thanks for confirming. Lo/war mein was all I really was hoping for.

Went to Evanston, parked and wandered until we found something we looked the look of... And we were not disappointed.

Wonton in chili sauce was wonderful, that sauce was incredibly complex.

We didn't order anything challenging: walnut shrimp had a heavy batter but perfectly crisp and a little spice hiding in there.
With a picture of Kung Pao without being stuffed with veggies, had to try it, it was pretty darn good. I could have used a little more heat, but happy to have the right flavors of vinegar, garlic and ginger.

Hope to go back soon

Believe it or not today was the very first time I ordered restaurant food from a third party app. Its been my experience, from the other side of the coin, that orders are regularly screwed up and there is little or no quality control on the delivery side.

That said, Peppercorns Kitchen delivered via Uber Eats was smooth as silk, delivered fairly quickly, hot, fresh, well packed, exactly what I ordered and, above all, delicious. I even got a friendly wave from the socially distant driver as she drove away (I tipped on the app, though was ready with a couple of extra bucks)

Was this an anomaly, maybe, will I order through Uber Eats again, maybe, was this a positive experience, absolutely. I should point out this was lunch time and probably not a busy time for either restaurant or delivery service.

click to enlarge





Peppercorns Kitchen, count me a Fan!

About the only place I've ordered Kung Pao chicken and actually gotten
宫保鸡丁

Do we have confirmation that Chef Xiong in Chinatown is a sister restaurant? I went there and it was by far the best Chinese I've had in Chicago.....

Needed noodles de dan dan to bring to a client and my go to (JMC) is indisposed @ the moment. May they rise again but wouldn't count on it. Szechuan Cuisine also is no mas and Lao Sze Chuan what I opted for last time left something to be desired. Unfortunately so did the version here. Prefer them soupy like when I was little girl growing up in Chengdu- but did have a huge score w/the dry chile fish filet, a dish I used to chase w/Stevez all over town. Katy's is a bit far for a client's needs and I'm not aware of a soupy version elsewhere. Maybe Four Seasons (the place that took over another RIP Homestyle Taste)? So many great places we've lost over the last couple yrs.

The fish was obviously better in every way to the point of me asking the server if it was cod or tilapia? Cod it was, and elevated this dish to new heights as did the perfect crunchy mala balance (lips, throat progressively tingling) as opposed to hit over the head w/a baseball bat that many incorporate. The best rendition of this dish I've had since Chairman Mao stared from the wall of the hole in the wall on Wentworth whose name escapes me to New China Station where we decamped to post Mao but is now resting in peace as well. Not certain about the rest of the menu but this would no doubt be Stevez approved.

Lastly, the server confirmed their sister restaurant in Chinatown Chef Xiong.

I wouldn't expect much from Four Seasons--it's much more Northern food, we've had good luck with some casseroles and the dumplings are a notch below QXY in both quality and price.

Dongpo Impression has still put out a few good meals for us, and they bring the spice, but haven't had Dan Dan from there. Chef Xiong is pretty reliable too, but again, haven't gotten the Dan Dan--with small kids now who love noodles, but not so much spice, it just isn't in our ordering rotation anymore.

Min's definitely does soupier noodles, but they have never impressed me much. My favorite meal from them is breakfast, with doufu nao/dou hua in three styles and some of the better pork baozi around.

I'll keep an eye out for JMC, they were a pretty regular stop for us.

Jazzfood wrote:since Chairman Mao stared from the wall of the hole in the wall on Wentworth whose name escapes me

Lao Hunan, a Tony Hu restaurant.

Fitting you mention Steve Z, was his B-Day a couple ago.

I thought it was Lao Chengdu but realized it wasn't. Thanks. We were there a lot, weren't we? Yeah, I've felt his presence lately.

Knowing my client wouldn't like what I'd bought @ Peppercorns (she lika de sauz) my search continued. Went back to see if JMC might be open but was not (that's 3 trips to Chinatown for her and 1 to Evanston). Walking back to the car I saw Dangbo Impression across the street and gave them a try. While not exactly what I was hoping for, much closer and won't embarrass me. No idea what the rest of their food is like but nice heat, more toppings, more "sauz". The top pix is a comparison of the two versions. L is Dongbo, R is Peppercorns. Bottom is Dongbo once mixed.