S.Y Chef — Restaurant in Lisle

Update 4/7/24

It’s been like a year since I was last here but we decided to give it a try again. We came here for a late lunch. It’s located in a small outlet, so parking can be limited since it’s shared. They do have some places to sit and eat but it’s limited especially during peak hours. When we came in, we practically had the whole place to ourselves. I believe it’s family owned and the owners are very nice and attentive. They have one gender neutral bathroom.

We ordered stir fried lamb with onions, sweet and sour pork with pineapple, and shrimp, chive, and egg dumplings. Portion sizes are very generous and prices are reasonable.

-stir fried lamb with onions 5 - lamb meat is very tender, requires very little chewing. -sweet and sour pork with pineapple 5 - most Americanized Chinese places, the pork would be soggy, but here the skin is very crispy. Pork inside is succulent. -shrimp, chive, and egg dumplings 5 - I really liked how they listened to my feedback from last time and added more moisture inside. They were definitely juicier and tastier than before. Skin is thin, good sized dumplings, and flavorful.

Rating is 4

No, the owners have not changed. I recommend getting dishes that are not the typical Americanized Chinese dishes like mongolian beef. Try something new and different.

Dumplings I would give 4/5. I’ve tried several different kinds but they could be juicier. They have good flavor, just a little dry. I’ve tried shrimp, chive, and egg, beef onion, lamb carrot, and chicken and cabbage mushroom.

Scallion pancake was too dry for me. It could use more flavor.

Quick fried sauteed intestines were very tasty. I really like this dish.

Shredded pork dishes were good. Spicy is really spicy. Shredded pork is not dry, is moist and just a little chew.

Portions are generous. Service is good, they take care of their customers. Prices are fair for all the food...

What a delightful little restaurant! It's small, but pleasantly laid out with about 8 or 9 tables. We live in Lisle, but discovered it only yesterday, even though it's been around for a couple of years now and we drive past it frequently.

The staff is attentive, and helpful with suggestions. The food tastes very good - yes, it's Chinese, but there's something about the preparation and that strikes a good chord.

We ordered the dumplings and the Stir fry eggplant with peppers and potatoes. Being partial to potatoes myself, it was a very plesant surprise to find them in a Chinese dish - and the taste and texture went well together.

As an aside, the hot pepper oil on the side looks like the regular stuff you get at any chinese restaurant, but it has a uniquely pleasing taste, too.

Definitely worth making it one of my regular go-tos.

I asked them what the "SY" stood for. It is an abbreviation for the city the Chef comes from, ShenYang, a city in the far north east part of China. It evidently has a different cuisine compared to Schezuan, Cantonese or Hunan, which might explain the subtle...

Came here with a group of 10. Kara was very flexible working with me - she gave me until the day of to let her know what my party size was for a 6:15pm dinner reservation.

We were all comfortably seated and the waitress was very hospitable.

We ordered: (Apps) hot and sour soup; (sides) napa cabbage pork dumplings and pork/shrimp/chive dumplings, and (2) scallion pancakes; (entrees) dried chili chicken, orange chicken, mongolian beef, mapo tofu, and shredded pork with garlic sauce; and (veg) bokchoy with mushrooms, stir dried string beans and garlic.

The orange chicken was very good - the coating was nice and crunchy. The star favorite was the shredded pork.

My friends enjoyed the dumplings so much, they got the 80ct frozen ones to go. We ate every last bit and had no to-go boxes.

A hidden gem of this place was the chili oil - spectacularly flavorful and spicy, despite looking like any old chili oil you see at every other chinese joint.

A lovely way to end our group hike at the Morton...