Golden Bull Restaurant — Restaurant in Chicago

After a very brief online survey of restaurants in Chinatown, I decided on Golden Bull after seeing the photos of the egg tofu (I love egg tofu). We arrived at 8 p.m. on a Sunday and the restaurant was full but luckily we waited less than 15 minutes to get a table. The service was very quick and they were very clear about wait times for food and were very straightforward and their answers to questions about the menu. The menu has small sizes listed, but those are only for lunch, so for dinner and holidays, the large sizes are the only options.

We got the salt and pepper egg tofu and it did not disappoint. This was one of my favorite preparations of egg tofu that I've ever had. I haven't had dry egg tofu dishes before (have only tried saucy versions) but this was lovely. It was quite salty, the jalapeno had a good crunch, and the egg tofu was so tender inside and crispy outside. This hit all the right notes for me. I would definitely get this again and I'm inspired to try making it at home.

We then got the fish fillet with yellow chives. Fun fact: apparently yellow chives are chives that are grown in the dark. I am a sucker for fish fillet and this one was quite good. It was bursting with savory flavor and was tender inside while being a bit hard on the outside (maybe flash fried?). I thought this dish was good and the chives added some nice freshness but I'm not sure if I would get it again.

Lastly we got the eight treasures tofu with came with a lot of seafood and meat. The tofu didn't absorb any of the seasoning and so the inside is bland. The highlight of the dish was the shrimp because it had good texture. The meats were pretty dry and a bit tough. Overall I didn't really like the flavors of this dish and the components were not very good.

This seems like a great place to come with a big group and order a bunch of things. The service is attentive and efficient and the restaurant is small but operates pretty efficiently. We ended up paying $70 with tip and tax for three people which I thought was pretty decent because we were very full at the end. In the future I would like to try one of the shrimp dishes, and I would absolutely get the...

Chicken Fried Rice, Orange Chicken, Beef with Ginger/Green Onion. All large orders (large indeed, small would probably have been plenty), big well plated portions, all very tasty.

Rice portion was especially huge with plenty of chicken. Orange chicken a mix of big huge chunks and some random just crunchy breading bits mostly, but definitely didn't seem like fried chicken nuggets with sauce. The beef was very tender, even my mom who typically doesn't like Chinese beef dishes because the meat is generally tough and chewy ate plenty. GOOD TENDER BEEF. Careful though, there is literally ginger slices among the green/regular onions. I ended up with two slices in my mouth not realizing the authenticity and was like oh no...

Table soy sauce was oddly smoky unless it was something else and I'm dumb. The spicy chili oil was nice as well to spoon onto plate and dip stuff into.

Service was great, a man and woman duo kept up with us between orders and bringing food out. Drinks constantly topped up. Lady even boxed our leftovers up at the table for us instead of just letting us struggle with it.

Ambiance was nice and low key. We walked the Chinatown Square earlier and there were some places like MingHin that looked much more fancy, this was much more smaller setting and personal feeling.

I think the portion sizes are in line with the value for sure. Probably have enough leftovers for 3-5 meals I'd wager.

Overall I'd recommend this place for sure and would have to justify going somewhere else rather than coming back here if I come back to Chicago. The service was nice and personable dealing with us goobers and our silly questions and the...

This is my favorite restaurant in Chicago because it excels in the two core components of the ideal restaurant: great food and great service.

Service — I don’t mean great service as in just asking “how are you as a greeting,” checking in halfway in the meal, and being pleasant. I mean seating you efficiently, saying “you must be hungry, just take a look at the menu and we’ll get it ready right away.” I also ordered ahead once on the way back from a road trip and when we got there to pickup, they noticed we were tired and hungry so they insisted that we sit down and served us like a sit down meal. Another time I went, there was a miscommunication in the waiting time so we left to find another restaurant, but the sever and owner came out to the streets to grab us because a table was actually ready. Every time I go to this restaurant, it feels like they genuinely care about their costumers and it feels like going to a big family dinner where your aunts making sure you have a good time.

Food — This is the place to go for authentic Cantonese style Chinese food. The hand-pulled chicken is so flavorful and soft. You can’t go wrong with the leafy vegetables cooked in any style you like. They do have more American-Chinese style dishes if that’s what you’re craving.

I’ve been to this restaurant multiple times and it has never disappointed. It’s feels home-style, cozy, lively if you want to go for Chinese comfort food or a celebratory meal any time of day. You have to experience...