MingHin Cuisine — Attraction in Chicago

My husband and I loved most of what we ate at MingHun Cuisine! We chose mainly from the Dim Sum menu to get the most out of our experience. It's so easy to go overboard - we ended up ordering way too much food! Each item came with three servings.

We began with the Deep Fried Jumbo Sesame Balls ($5.25) and Regular Sized Deep Fried Sesame Ball ($4.65). Get the Jumbo ones - they were a hell of a lot better! The bean paste was perfectly sweetened and they were delicately soft, unlike the small ones that were definitely overdone and rather tough. BBQ Pork Buns ($5.25), absolutely phenomenal. Generous amounts of meat in a super fluffy light bread.

BBQ Pork Crepes (or Rice Rolls, $5.95). Growing up eating these at Singaporean hawker centers I didn't find these to be authentic enough for my enjoyment. The "crepes" or wraps were slimy, not a very pleasant feeling for my buds. If I were you, skip these.

Baked Creamy Egg Yolk Bun ($5.75). Absolutely delicious, this worked out perfectly for us as it came in the middle of our meal when I was just about ready for something sweet. The filling was super rich and cake was not super sweet which balanced out with the cream filling.

Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce ($5.25). A generous amount of meaty bones in a delicious sauce! If I'm really feelin' the need for trip down memory lane, this is what I'd get. I'd eat this religiously as a teen. Lots of bones, so you may want to skip if that's not your thing but you're missing out in my opinion.

Cream Cheese Rangoon (4 for $5.25). Of course, my very American husband couldn't say no to these. I didn't try but he loved them.

Someone in our party ordered the Bean Sprout Soy Sauce Chow Mein ($9.25) from the dinner menu so we got to try a little of that. It was pretty good, a great dish for a vegetarian.

Additionally we ordered two flasks of sake ($11.50 per flask). I’m not sure of the maker but it was great!

I totally wished I had more room in my stomach for more food but at this point I was well beyond stuffed. There were so many more item I would have loved to eat! This is a great place for large groups, the more people the more food to order and try! I would...

Chinatown Dim Sum

My son had an assignment for one of his classes to visit a restaurant in Chinatown, and I wanted to introduce my children to the delicious and unique experience of having dim sum. My husband and I used to go to Chinatown in New York for dim sum feasts, and I found the MinHin restaurant perfect for our first dim sum experience with the kids.

I was initially worried about parking, but we easily found a spot in the parking lot behind the restaurant. When we pulled up, my daughter was a bit concerned when she saw the back of the restaurant, but once we turned the corner and entered Chinatown street, it was lovely. The restaurant was more spacious than it appeared from the outside, with plenty of space all around, and we were seated in a nice booth. We arrived around 4:30 pm on a weekday, so I wasn't sure if dim sum would be served during that time, but it turns out that it's served all day, every day.

The restaurant has a separate menu for just dim sum, and everything is visually presented, making it easy to decide what to order. The server also made some suggestions for us and helped us choose between similar items. You can also order regular entrees using a tablet on each table that visually shows each item. Everything was very user-friendly, making ordering dim sum and being in Chinatown easy, even for first-timers.

Prices were very reasonable. After eating until we were pretty full, the three of us paid less than $70 (+tip). Each dim sum item typically contains three or four pieces, costing around $7. We loved everything except the stuffed sticky rice, which was filled with meat and mushrooms (although my husband would have enjoyed it). Everything was fresh and delicious, and our favorites were the small deep-fried sesame balls, BBQ pork buns, and shrimp dumplings. To be honest, we ate everything except the stuffed sticky rice.

We plan to return and bring my husband, who couldn't join us due to travel. We highly recommend the MinHin restaurant for a first dim sum experience or anyone looking for great food...

The food was EXCELLENT in flavor, and the seating was comfortable. We had reservations so we were seated immediately, which was great because this place was absolutely slammed to where people waiting for tables were spilling out the door and into the plaza in DROVES. We were grateful for the efficiency in the reservation system and being seated quickly.

The restaurant was also beautiful inside, with lots of interesting and tasteful decor, and tables spaced appropriately.

However, there were also a few rough spots in our experience. First, a paper dim sum menu and a tablet were slammed down on our table by a surly waitress, with no explanation. We figured we were supposed to order on the tablet, but a lot of the dim sum items were not found there, and nobody mentioned that the paper menu offered totally different selections than the options on the tablet, but some of them did overlap. We only found out after we placed our tablet order.

It was also not expressed to us that there was a translation option on the tablet, which would have made it much easier for us to muddle through the ordering process.

Second, our food took about AN HOUR to all come out, and we had to ask about it. The waiter explained that during busy times, the dim sum and deep fried dishes might take as long as 45 minutes. It would have been great to know that in advance. But then, although the calamari came out piping hot, the fried shrimp balls were at room temp, which meant they had NOT just come out of the fryer, but had been sitting on the counter for a while.

We never got water to drink, but they did bring us a pot of tea, which was appreciated. And once we got our food, everything extra we requested (soy sauce, chili oil, etc.) was brought out very promptly.

So we're going to chalk our experience up to the fact that this place was a madhouse on this Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Would still recommend for the excellent quality...