Uncle Zhang Chinese Cuisine (南来北往) — Restaurant in Chicago

They changed the fried shrimp for the worse. I took the shrimp out of the breading so you can see how much smaller the shrimp are.

They also taste different. I used to enjoy taking these apart and sharing them with my cat but now they're not worth buying.

Aside from that this is my go-to in town for Chinese.

The rice here is really wonderful. Even after it's refrigerated it's still moist and delicious even when it's cold, kind of like sticky rice.

I've ordered beef fried rice, eggplant in garlic sauce, which is very spicy as it has jalapeno slices in it. The jalapeno tastes fresh and not like the slices you'd get in nachos. I also get the seafood combo. The seafood is so tender. All their meats feel tender.

My favorite is braised eggplant. It's fall apart in your mouth creamy and awesome.

I liked the beef and cilantro. Nobody else in my family did.

The shrimp rice noodle (A26) was awful. It tasted like they just used ginger and soy sauce. Such a waste. We threw it away.

Their walnut mayo shrimp is not that great. It's watery and not creamy.

The green onion pancake was a hit at my house. I thought it was too starchy and dry.

Last thing I'll say is that I've tried a lot of dishes here from pork stomach to intestines and kidney. I'm pretty open as to what I'll try but I have to say I was disappointed for the most part. I think it's mostly cause the dishes weren't saucy enough but maybe it's just not my thing, or not westernized enough for me?

Probably...

But I assure you once you find something you love you'll always come back.

Update:

We got orange chicken because it's my son's fave. It has way too much orange peel. I added a picture so you can see.... and that was...

We celebrated kid's birthday here. The service and food were excellent. We were a party of 10 and ordered a lot. Almost every order came with excellent flavor and seasoning. One thing I can feel reluctant about trying Chinese food in America is the seasoning, because many Chinese restaurants there added A LOT of MSG. But fortunately not here in Uncle Zhang's!

I am trying to recall as many orders as I can remember now that impressed me:

地三鮮 黑白菜 大拉皮 (醋) 小拼盤 (should've ordered 大拼盤, was cautious if we could consume the whole thing initially) 揚州炒飯 孜然羊蝎子 干煸肥腸 糖芋頭

Not sure if I missed anything here, but I truly think Uncle Zhang's is easily one of the best restaurants in this price range I've ever tried in America. They serve authentic dishes without relying too much on MSG (as far I can tell, but maybe depending on the dishes one orders). I strongly recommend anyone interested in the Chinese Northeastern dishes give it a try, and better yet, with your friends, because they have an appetizing variety of items here. Explore with friends to get delighted!

Last but not least, the service was absolutely SUPERB. The waitress that served our table was very friendly, attentive, and considerate. She made sure that we didn't miss anything–food, water/tea, utensils–in a slightly large party like ours. We stayed way after their closing time because of the celebration, but they never rushed us.

They might not have the fanciest look on the outside, but they are a perfect example illustrating the saying: "don't judge a book...

We came here as four people and ordered about seven dishes. Overall the flavors were good, portions very big, and some dishes stood out.

• Sliced beef tenders and pork w. spicy sauce (夫妻肺片): The best dish of the night — seasoning was excellent, portion generous for an appetizer. We even packed one to go. • Shreded potato, the chilly one (尖椒土豆丝): Actually tasted more like sweet-and-sour potato, not really “chilly.” Flavor was fine, just different from the name. • Small combination (小拼盘): Pork head, beef, and Harbin dried sausage. All cured meats, flavorful but quite salty. • Ganbian string beans (干扁四季豆): Traditional and authentic, but a bit salty. • Sweet and sour sliced pork, the vinegar flavor (老式锅包肉): Very crispy, big slices, vinegar taste made it refreshing. Definitely recommend this version over ketchup style. • One pot dish (东北一锅出): With ribs, beans, corn. This one was disappointing and below expectations — I wouldn’t recommend.

Service wasn’t great: the waiter seemed rushed, kept pushing us to order, and one vegetable dish we ordered never arrived. Environment was okay, not too crowded.

👉Food overall is tasty and authentic Northeastern style. but skip the...