LTH,
My brother and one of his daughters are in town and, not unlike me and his home city of San Francisco, where Swan Oyster Depot and
Ton Kiang are mandatory, we went to his two Chicago favorites, 'Little' Three Happiness and Tufano's. My brother loves chicken, be it Salt Baked at Ton Kiang, Lemon at Tufano's or Crispy Skin at LTH, and both LTH and Tufano's were dead-on delicious subsequent nights.
Friday at LTH Crispy Skin Chicken was plump, moist, crisp, perfectly complimented by lemon quarters and 5-spice accented dredging salt. Not to mention salt and pepper shell/head-on shrimp, dry stir fry crab, rice noodle so crisp the sound, as you bit in, was like a glass rod breaking, and a multitude of other dishes, including a very good version of seafood fried rice my 13-year-old niece requested.
My brother, who feels about Ton Kiang the same way the Zurer family feels about
Full Kee, and me about
LTH, paid 'Little' Three Happiness the highest compliment. When asked by his daughter which he preferred he said both equally, though he may have been in crispy skin chicken afterglow at the time.
Saturday Tufano's Lemon Chicken, crisp, with portions slightly charred, juicy, swimming, along with extra crisp cottage fries, in a pool of olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, with the potatoes on the bottom soaking up the olive oil and chicken juices, was perfect. We started with antipasto salad, which was a fine counterpoint to the crisp, greaseless, tender calamari and an order of steamed clams in red sauce, though the tomato sauce was a bit blah.
Ellen had veal w/fresh mushrooms, which was fine, nothing earth shattering, but tender veal and a multitude of mushrooms, and my niece a simple dish of shells w/butter to which she liberally applied Parmesan. My brother and I split a lemon chicken which was so delicious we ordered another.
Add to this warm bread with Tufano's table giardiniera and you have a deliciously over the top pure Chicago experience.
As an aside, I've come to the conclusion I am (most) always dissatisfied when ordering Chicken Vesuvio as I compare it, unfairly, to Tufano's terrific lemon chicken.
Enjoy,
Gary
Tufano's Vernon Park Tap
1073 W. Vernon Park Pl.
Chicago, IL
312-733-3393
'Little' Three Happiness
209 W Cermak
Chicago, IL
Swan Oyster Depot
1517 Polk St
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-673-1101
Ton Kiang Restaurant
5821 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121
415-752-4440
http://www.tonkiang.net/