I came in here with my mom early in the morning so we got the leftoverr batch. It was obvious from the taste and look of the food. Needless to say, not impressed.
We tried steamed goods and fried dim sum. They were all nasty. The center of the egg rolls were still cold when I got them, and the exterior was very greasy. The service was mediocre. We had to find a different waitress to take care of the problem.
With four dishes, the meal ended at roughly $14 for four dishes (tips included).
If you just want a quick fix of dim sum without waiting much this place will do the job. Many local people come here to wait for work. Perhaps it is a culture developed because if you aren't a frequent visitor expect stares from other diners.
I am a regular at China Cafe, even though I know the food is average. Why? Well because they make the one thing I love right which is the beef funn roll ( crepe). That is my all time favorite dim sum dish, and it is the reason why I continue to give them my business. My kids also like their other dim sum dishes like their sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. I do not order their haw gow that often only once in a blue moon, because I feel their shrimp is not very clean and not very springy when I bite into it.
There are a few other dim sum dishes I also like their like their fuzzy foot ball, tora root with pork fried, and their steam black bean spare ribs.
If you're looking for affordable dim sum China Cafe will win out on price and you get what you want and get full. If you want fancy dim sum and quality dim sum go to Triple Crown Dim Sum.
Ate here tonight for a Chinese social gathering. We had 5 tables of 10 eating family style. I am an American who grew up eating American style Cantonese food. The food was Cantonese style seafood as seafood is the house specialty. Each table received 10-12 different dishes: lobster, shrimp and salad, bok choy and mushrooms, soup, fish and vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, whole roasted chicken, Chinese broccoli, and another green vegetable that I'd never seen before. This was followed up by two desserts: green bean soup and custard pastries. The entire meal was fantastic. I highly recommend trying the family style meal so that you can sample and taste many items in a traditional Chinese manner. Thumbs up! I'll be back with my family.
Review Source:To be fair, we didn't go here for Dim Sum - though I won't be coming back to try it.
As soon as we walk into their alcove to check their menu and prices, a goon is up in our faces, telling us that 'the restaurant is this way' and 'come in come in' in this weird tone like we had done something wrong by trying to look at the menu that THEY THEMSELVES POSTED IN THEIR LITTLE ALCOVE THING. We hadn't even opened the door, and we were getting bad vibes - but we decided to chance it. We have very open minds when it comes to restaurants.
We sit down and are served too-leafy stale green tea. I was spitting leaves out during my meal. Also, I'm all for innovation, but is the place really too cheap to buy new teapots when theirs break? All of the pot lids were attached with a macguyvered screw-and-nut. I like steampunk, but not while I'm eating, please.
The steamed wontons were fairly decent - the flavor came solely from the filling, as the wonton was slightly cardboard-tasting. Our hot-pot was fatty and gristly, and although it had a pleasing ginger flavor was nothing special. I could make better at home, easily.
We waited half an hour for our check, and the waitstaff seemed to want NOTHING to do with us - even though we had cash in hand to pay our bill, our check was dropped off at our table, and we were left for another 10 minutes to wait. If I had actually had somewhere to be, I would have been fuming.
Decor? Abysmal. It looks like a retirement home - but a nice retirement home, like an assisted-living one. Blue-green florescence and peeling wall paint abound. Their empty entryway was extremely off-putting.
Never going back. The food is okay, though not worth the price. The service is terrible.
While you can argue endlessly about who has the absolute best dim sum in Chinatown (and to be honest, no single place makes every single item to perfection), this is by far the friendliest and most welcoming dim sum restaurant in the area. I found everything to be hot, fresh, and resonably priced so that even if you happen to not enjoy a particular item but want to eat adventurously, it hardly makes an impression on your bill.
Service is pretty traditional, with steam carts navigating the fairly tightly packed tables. Naturally, the main risk here is jumping at the first good looking items and then regretting it once something else turns up! So, as always, a good group of people is preferable.
I will say that the items in black bean sauce served here are literally the most fermented and pungent I have ever had. If that's to your taste then you'll be really happy. I would personally avoid those particular dishes in the future. Needless to say, most people there disagreed, since chicken feet in black bean sauce was by far one of the most common items to exit the kitchen.
Very little English is spoken here, but they have a dim sum menu and staff will point out which dumplings or other options are on their particular cart.
I've only been to China Cafe for dim sum, so I have no idea what their menu is like, but it's never very hard to get a table during lunch time (potential warning flag?) and their selection is fairly decent. Luckily my Chinese upbringing has taught me what all the different dishes are because if you're unfamiliar with dim sum it can be a little difficult to figure out what is what since the wait staff is not particularly proficient in English. More reasons for trying new stuff, right? Unfortunately, there is a definite correlation between the temperature of the food and how late in the lunch hour it is, so go early. Overall, the dim sum staples here are perfectly middle-of-the-road and it's good enough, for now.
Review Source:Tough call, but I just can't bring myself to rate this four stars.
Clean, well spaced tabled, attentive service, broad dim sum selection, no problem getting a table at noon on Saturday. Â Tasty but not great food. Â By far the best, in my view, were the fried triangles with many layers of dough, a bit on pork in the inside, and sesame seeds on top.
We had language issues with all the staff. Â The dim sum was warm, but never hot. Â General Tso chicken dish was good but nothing special. Â
I'll be happy to go back, but I wouldn't consider this one of Chinatown's finest. Â "A-OK" as the 3 star rating says.
DIM SUM! as soon as we we're seated, there was a cart of food at the end of our table. talk about service. the seat of my pants had just hit the chair, and i was already being served some steamy delights. mmmph. get a few plates/bowls clear and here come the carts w more dim sum. i can never get enough. wait staff is pretty efficient & friendly. the place itself isnt the best, but it's not a dum either. great for a group dim sum outing or just a casual meal. def give it a shot.
Review Source:I normally wouldn't do this to a restaurant I'm familiar with, but China Cafe no longer is the place to go. Their food is just terrible: lots of MSG, lots of oil, and quite salty. I went there last week, asking for no msg, no oil and no salt. The food prepared came out exactly the opposite. I'm trying to eat healthy, and I get exactly what I did not request? Plus, their dim sum is served cold (we went there at noon on a weekday).
Quite sad actually. I'm not going to China Cafe anymore. I think many people have already left this establishment years ago. I just wanted to give them more chances to clean up their act. Well, their chances are all up. I'm moving on.
I've been to this restaurant many times and it is very solid if you want good dim sum, a quiet lunch, or a huge heavy dinner.
The wait staff is pretty good to us and the owner is a nice guy.
Anything we order off the menu, we can order it special, with less salt, MSG, etc in order to have a healthier meal. Â We don't need to order off the menu.
My fondest memories is having a corner table ready for us on the weekends, with my grandmother, and just sitting around eating dim sum for a couple of hours. Â Chicken feet, shrimp dumplings, rice noodles, sticky rice, those are all of the things I typically order.
So I went to China Cafe today with my friends (we are all raised in Taiwan so we are quite picky about Asian food actually), and most of us didn't really want to go because we thought all dim sum places are  like Phoenix in china town (because we all hate that place) anyway so we started eating. all the dim sum dishes were AWESOME....we have been looking for a dim sum place for 4.5 years. this is the best so far in Chicago we think! We ate so much, about 18 dishes, the bill was only $41 for the four of us not including tip. They have AWESOME hot Jasmine tea there too. Didn't order any sweet stuff because we were all too full. hahaha. Im actually going back tonight to try their Thousand year old egg and chicken congee tonight because I saw someone else order it today at lunch but I was full already hahaha. Wish their location was at Chinatown square or something, because I never drive into old chinatown so I never discovered this place. anyway, great place, not bad service, you guys should definitely tryyy!!!
Review Source:Maybe it was bad because we came at around 2pm when most of the food was gone, but this was some of the worst dim sum I've ever had - it rivals how bad the dim sum was at this place in DC that I went to where when we said that something we ordered was cold, they brought it back to the kitchen and microwaved it! The Chinese meatballs we ordered were still raw, and the ha gow (shrimp dumplings) had skins that were waaaay too thick. Yuck!
The bathroom is also freezing and grungy. Wish I had Yelped a Chinese place to eat in Chinatown Chicago before I randomly (and wrongly) picked this place.
Have been going to this place for years it only gets better with time! As many of the restaurants in Chinatown don't be fooled by the dated decor, place is nice and clean and bright and the food is consistently good! I usually get the Dim Sum to go because I can get in and out in 5 minutes, they are pretty busy all mornings and will have everything ready. Order the steam shrimp dumpling they cut up large pieces of shrimp for the filling (vs rock shrimp), noodle rolls and pan fried buns if you're a first timer . They also have these prepared mini rice boxes with steam ribs in garlic or stewed chicken feet with soy sauce for just a few dollars and filling for a lunch. We have also been there for dinner, their dinners for 2,3,4 etc are very well priced and usually include a fresh seafood item (seen in the tanks in the front) of lobster,dungeness crab or fish. I recommend the honey pork chop, it has a nice crispy edge and tender with the right proportion of meat to fat and the Sole Fish Kow, they take the edges of the fish and deep fry then and then fillet the rest and stirfry it with veggies, texture and flavors are really good. Â Food travels well for carry out!
Review Source:Dim sum here is average. They use the normal cart system, so your most food is hot and good, but a few things like the deep fried dishes (the taro filled things, for example) sometimes are cold by the time they get to you. I don't like eating dim sum here too much though. It's very greasy.
The rest of their foods are generally more greasy than the rest of Chinatown. Try Tasty Place right next store.
Before this review, I just want to say I only go here for Dim Sum since dinner is so pricey here. So the 4 stars are for the Dim Sum plates and prices.
THE GOOD: The entire dim sum menu is pretty legit. My dad somehow stumbled upon this place with my mom awhile back, and we have been going here for dim sum ever since. The service is always nice, but that maybe due to our family being regulars and them knowing my entire family already. Actually, I'm surprised they're nice to us since my dad is infamous for being a piss poor tipper. IMO, they have the best pan fried pork buns in Chinatown. That is a must have when going there for dim sum. Other very good dishes are the spare ribs, any of the dumplings and rice rolls, deep fried taro roll with meat, the congee, actually since I'm pretty much naming everything on the dim sum menu, I will just say the dim sum menu. There's a certain dish my parents would recommend but I only like this from time to time: Chicken Feet. If you are a fan, China Cafe probably has the best I've tasted compared to other places I normally go to. My father seems to be a chicken feet expert and he says the same too. Another great thing about this place is that they do dim sum by carts. This guarantees prompt service and since the place is usually busy, the food is always replenished quick and fresh. I find that some places without the carts end up bringing out the order 1-2 dishes at a time with long breaks in between dishes. I grew up on the bigger Three Happiness's dim sum and love the carts. I need my food on the spot people! All the food is priced fairly cheap, which is surprising considering that their dinner menu is so expensive.
THE BAD: At times, there is a language barrier between customers and the waitresses. This problem apparently has been solved though by the restaurant designating 1-2 specific waitresses that know English well enough to help out. Parking can be bad during the morning hours since it's in the middle of Wentworth, but there's a parking garage south of the restaurant that isn't too steep.
THE UGLY: The dinner prices. That $$ price range isn't for the dim sum that is for sure. I'm sure the food is good since the dim sum is tasty, but the prices are that bad. There really isn't much bad besides that.
Go for the dim sum, and don't go for dinner. And try the Chicken Feet if you're adventurous enough and like sucking on toes.
Had Dim Sum here. I'm don't eat meat (pork or beef), so I'm not sure how the shu mai tastes or the ha gao or their beef with noodle dish. Â I did have the sesame ball filled with lotus bean though and their size and ratio of filling to pastry was delish. Â I ordered the chinese donut wrapped in noodle and in comparison to San Francisco's Chinatown dish, the donut was too crunch and the noodle too gummy. Also had the Chicken with mixed veggies. Â Overall this place was tastey and cheap!
Review Source:If I hadn't experienced utter duck BLISS at Sun Wah, I might have rated this place higher. As it is, this restaurant is very nice, very clean - and the duck is not that fatty! Delicious duck, served in a "3 Way".
One of my dining companions was extremely adventurous, as he wanted to consume the duck HEAD. Realized quickly, that the head was just for decoration and abandoned that idea.
We started with duck skin sandwiches, then Duck Soup (with apologies to the Marx Bros) and then a plate of duck meat with vegetables.
The bathrooms are clean, and the staff is endearingly ESL. All in all, a fine little boite in Chinatown. This would be a good place for a big group. They don't serve alcohol - hey, you can take a break now and then, right?!
Dim Sum.. When one thinks of that for chinatown I don't think China Cafe is a place first thought of by most people.
Despite having my doubts I did go with my friend here instead of the usual Phoenix which I'm used. I have to say.. with all the Chinese people here I shouldn't have been so skeptical. The dishes were as good if not better than other places. Their kai-lan/gai-lan (chinese broccoli) was really good and I usually don't eat the stuff since my parents grow the stuff in their backyard. It was just boiled I think and had oyster sauce on top of it!
And then there's their bao. Sooo hot and fresh during dim-sum hours. I think I should of ordered some to go! The nice thing is they don't even use the red food coloring or whatever it is to make the pork red. It was just good bbq pork buns.. light, fluffy, and perfect flavors!
While not where I would usually go, I'd say this is going to be a place I will think of going with friends that just want good food without worrying about simple decor!
China Cafe is one of those Chinese restaurants that focus on group meals (at least 2~3 person) as opposed to cheaper Chinese eateries that has a long list of a la carte offerings.
On Thanksgiving night, I walked into China Cafe solo, and asked for something off-menu. It was served in 2~3 minutes and it was perfect. Generously portioned, flavorful but not too salty. Quality of ingredient is reasonable.
The check came up to $4.40 including an unsolicited albeit welcomed dessert. I would definitely go there again and seriously recommends China Cafe to anyone who's looking for Hong Kong-/Cantonese-style Chinese food.
IF you want authentic chineese food and good prices, this is it right here. There are many good chineese places in chinatown (duh) chicago but If you pay attention you will quickly find the hotspots since it seems to be where most locals eat. China Cafe is one of them. Not only the quality and service of the food but the price is excellent. The fried rice is delicious (not dry like most places) nice and moist just like if uncle ben made it. The Orange Chicken is problaly the best ive had in my lifetime. and the Egg Foo Yong is unrealistic. Great place to go with the family or when in china town for lunch since they have specials. You will notice how quickly the room fills up with chineese families and parties. Great place, good enviroment, good speedy service, great prices and a fortune cookie.
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I like this place. Â This used to be my family's regular spot before Le Wing Wah. Â The decor hasn't changed in at least 20 years but the food and service has gotten much better! Â I absolutely love the fish here and they have a decent dim sum when other, more crowded and touristy dim sum spots are packed. Â Hands down, the best baos in Chinatown. All the baos are good, especially during dim sum hours because they're super hot and fresh. When my slightly grumpy Grandpa Woo leaves the suburbs to brave his old Chinatown stomping grounds, he insists on coming here.
Review Source:This place is delicious if you don't mind the decor! Â What Chinese restaurant in Chinatown is actually clean, right? Â And really affordable. Â It's like $5-8 for a large noodle dish or rice dish. Â The food is usually good but they occasionally change chefs.. and then, it could not be good.
Bah to Phoenix which I really think caters to the American crowd. Â You can always tell if a Chinese restaurant is good by how many Chinese people go. Â
I would definetely go there for their Chinese dinner dishes. Â They have great deals like.. you order dinner for two or three or four and they give you a free lobster. Â Lobster with ginger and scallions is yumolicious!
I went here with my parents who were visiting Chicago for the first time. Â We decided to try this restaurant based on the fact that there were lots of other Chinese people in there eating. Â :) Â
We went there for dim sum and decided to stick to that when we saw the menu - kind of limited options. Â Besides, everyone else was happily ordering dim sum, so why not do as they were? Â We got the duck feet, pork spareribs, shrimp dumplings, daikon/radish cakes and beef tripe. Â Honestly, the duck feet, radish cakes and beef tripe were really good. Â The pork spareribs and the shrimp dumplings weren't so hot. Â
Amazingly, I am the tough grader of the bunch - I think this place is a solid 3. Â My mom rates this 3.5-4 and my dad rates this 4 for food and 3 for choices. Â Did I mention that we're Chinese? Â :D Â I think that should count for something in the rating of their food.
When it comes to dim sum China Cafe is one of these all around places that is overlooked by it's neighbors, but can hold it's own once you get in the door.
Despite being on the smaller side, I find this a plus when it comes to dim sum. You know the carts can't run and hide like they can at Phoenix or Furama. Also, a quick glance around the room can tell you which carts are carrying what. Then you can flag one over if you see something you like.
If you are intimidated by Chinatown service or aren't traveling in the company of people in the know, at least you can see what's in the carts. Of course the unexperienced (and the non-Asian) will be the first targets of the cart servers pushing the unpopular food items, and then trying to explain what you are looking for is always a challenge due to the language barrier, but hey...this is Chinatown. Because of its prominent location you will see both locals and the more adventurous tourists (or suburbanites) come in. If they have an open mind and/or were referred by someone in the know, this is a good place to start.
Have some adventure and try the dumplings, get the shrimp wrapped in noodles (aka 'fun'), covered with soy sauce (my favorite no matter what dim sum place I eat at). I was there last week and the bill came out to $13 a person, and we must've had at least 4 or 5 different selections before we filled up.
China Cafe also serves regular lunch and dinnner items. The late lunch and dinner choices are good, but I tend to eat elsewhere for dinner, and half the time they are closed for the day when I arrive in the area anyway.
Pros: Easy to find, small seating area makes it easy to find what you want during dim sum, selection and taste is good for the price. A good place to try if you are feeling adventurous, but not too adventurous. Central location in Chinatown makes it easy to walk off whatever you ate.
Cons: Not limited to this restaurant, but language barrier may be a turn off if you don't know what you want (or do know, but can't explain it), expect to walk if you can't find parking, although not as bad as other places, this place does have a dingy look which may be a turn-off to some.
To 'dim sum' it up: It's not Phoenix, it's not Furama, and it's definitely not Three Happiness (the unofficial tourist trap of Chinatown), it's just a small corner restaurant that serves good food at good prices. And you can't ask for much more than that, regardless of what and where you eat.
If you're obsessed with cleanliness, then go to Phoenix--you'll be among like-minded people and get decent food at high prices. Â If all you care about is price, then get your dim sum at Happy Chef--one of the cheapest dim sum joints in Chinatown. Â
But if it's an honest desire for good dim sum that inspired you to leave the house, then try out China Cafe. Â The place doesn't look like much, but the food is delicious. Â Their pork buns & chive dumplings are great. Â And the best treat is at the end--try out the warm yellow sponge cake if you have even the mildest sweet tooth--it will not disappoint.
They do not speak a lot of English, so bring a Cantonese speaker!
Dim Sum here is fabulous. Â My Hong Kong Chinese friend says its better than what you get in Hong Kong. Â The items are mostly made on premises and unlike some other Dim Sum places are very fresh. Â Chive dumplings are a particular standout but everything is good. Â They have good dinner offerings too but only the menu given to Chinese customers is authentic, so bring a native speaker with you.
Virtually no atmosphere but that does not make a difference. Â Much better than Three Happiness and other places which outsiders tend to choose.
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