Bowl of Fortune — Restaurant in Wheeling Township

We’ve been here a few times and are still so happy to have authentic Szechuan Chinese here in the Northern burbs! It’s about time!!

So, I will say this, there can be some “misses” on the menu, specifically if you try and stick to American- style Chinese or you aren’t prepared for the level of authentic spice in some of the dishes. We’ve tried quite a few and here’s what our experience was like:

House Special Beef Noodle Soup - Outstanding! The broth, which is more like hotpot broth and less like drinkable broth, is a bit oily and perfectly spicy if it is served the authentic way, but it is not too spicy, so don’t be afraid to try it. The beef is super flavorful and compliments the noodles perfectly. Are they handmade noodles? Not likely, but they are still really great at soaking up that rich broth flavor.

Spicy Cumin Lamb - we both did the Mark Weins face with our first bite. Need I say more??? Get this!

Stir Fried Beef with Peppers - this is a miss for us, too bland. If you are coming here for something that isn’t spicy, this may work for you.

Spicy & Sour Sliced Potatoes- this is a staple dish we order, so perfect every time and refreshing when you are ordering other spicy dishes. Highly recommend!

Green Peppercorns with Crisp Fish Filet- this was good, but the spice level quickly became too much for us.

Mapo Tofu - really good, crazy spicy, but my husband is addicted to it.

Tofu is Salted Egg Yolk - odd flavor, not our style, perhaps this is an acquired taste?

Eggplant in Garlic Sauce - this is usually one of our staples, but the balance was off when we ordered. Far too much vinegar in the sauce to enjoy.

Yangzhou Fried Rice - order this with some of the dishes we have raved about above, like the Beef Noodle Soup or a meat dish. It is such a great compliment to the spicy dishes and mixed well with everything. Good wok hei in it as well!

Twice Cooked Pork - amazing when you take some of the pork and green onion and mix it with the Yangzhou Fried Rice. I definitely recommend those two together. The pork by itself can taste (and smell) a little too “porky” but when mixed makes a perfect accompaniment to the fried rice.

Sesame Balls - a table of the most adorable Chinese ladies, who are originally from Szechuan, fed us some of these. It was so sweet of them. I was, as usual, the only non-Asian in the place, so they wanted to share their dessert. The sesame balls are incredible, so save room for a slightly sweet after-meal treat.

Overall, we highly recommend this place. The staff is so friendly, the food is authentic and amazing, and you’ll find yourself addicted to those peppercorns...

We visited this place during the week and was not impressed at all. We thought it would be a good place to visit as a friend highly recommended it. When we arrived, the host didn't seem thrilled that we were there. They threw a couple menus down on the table and immediately asked for our drink selections (I hadn't even taken my coat off yet).

The place was busy, but not packed. The clientele matched the restaurant which told us that we were in a good place. If members of your own culture visit and are the majority of your patrons, then you know they're doing something right.

I saw soup dumplings on the menu and was ecstatic! I love soup dumplings and to tell you the truth, this was the false front that we didn't expect. Or maybe, we just don't know what we should order in a good Asian restaurant.

I followed that up with the Handmade dumpling without chili sauce (I've hand pork dumplings at Dough Zone and Din Tai Fung in Seattle and know that you mix the vinegar with the chili sauce). The dumplings were very bland on their own and had an excess amount of dumpling as if they were made to cover the pork on the inside, placed in a press to connect the dumpling and the excess wasn't trimmed off. It was weird, but bland. And the chili sauce and vinegar were kind of tasteless too. Lastly, I had the chicken/beef/shrimp combo fried rice. It was a huge dish. It easily could feed three-to-four people. And unfortunately, it was also very bland. The beef had been boiled or steamed to the point that they were almost grey strips of beef and no flavor. The chicken looked like chewed up bits, the rice and vegetables in them were flavorless. However, the shrimp were huge and flavorful, but didn't make up for the lack of flavor in the rest of the dish.

My wife had a similar experience. She ordered the crab rangoon which were fried way too long and had barely any filling in them. She had the vegetable fried rice with a similar experience, not flavor either. Lastly, she ordered the vegetable spring rolls. They were large. She asked for mustard sauce from two different servers and they brought out some mustard packets, tossed them on the table, and walked away.

The experience was not so great, the food was insanely bland, with the exception of the soup dumplings. I don't think I'll visit Bowl of Fortune again, but I'll definitely order the soup dumplings...

Heard about this restaurant opening in the same plaza as HD Cuisine (great Malaysian food). For those of us that don’t live close enough to Schaumburg options, so glad to have an authentic Chinese restaurant opening up north.

Since we were celebrating Chinese New Year, we ordered a little extra: If you’re a fan of spicy food you’ll find a lot of amazing dishes like the preserved egg in chili oil, handmade dumplings in chili oil, and I saw other Szechuan dishes we’ll have to try next time. Non-spicy options like the stewed pork belly and the steamed whole fish were really good. Yangzhou (combination) fried rice was very good and not overly salty or oily. The lo mein we got for the kids was unfortunately greasy and salty even though the waiter noted the preferences in their system; will have to try the other noodle or rice dishes.

We came early on Sunday night and the restaurant filled up quickly. Sometimes you had to flag a server down, but otherwise the service was friendly and...