Hing Wang Restaurant

With so many Thai restaurants on the north side, it's hard to find a good Chinese food restaurant when you are looking for one.  Well today, I really had a taste for shrimp fried rice. I thought about Mei Shung on Broadway @ Catalpa, but the rice wasn't memorable. Next, I thought about trekking to Young's Chinese (Ashland/Irving Park), but I found their rice to be a bit salty.  Then I remembered my friend (a Chicago native) mentioning a place on Wilson that has THE best spicy fried rice, which I had never heard of. I figured that I'd give it a shot since it was on the way to my nail salon.

Hing Wang is on Wilson, near Broadway--definitely a daylight only, get in/get out type of neighborhood. So I went in with the intention of getting my food and getting out of there.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea in mind, because the place was noticeably empty. You can tell that it used to be a carryout only place, because all of the patrons got their food to go.

I ordered a small shrimp fried rice, non-spicy, from a lady who was eating sunflower seeds at the front counter. Gross. Before completing my order, I took a quick peek at the chefs to see if they were eating on the job too, and was relieved to see them all busy at work (not spreading their saliva all over the place while cracking nut shells).

My food was ready in about 10 minutes. I took my bag to the car and opened the visibly stuffed box to find very fresh, steamy hot fried rice with the right amount of shrimp, egg, green onions, and bean sprouts.  A lot of Chinese food places put small shrimp in their rice, but not Hing Wang. The shrimp were medium sized and plenty in number.  Very satisfying. Glad I didn't waste my time with the other foods (like the Vietnamese food).

Did I find my go-to place for fried rice? I don't know. The rice was a bit on the salty side, but that might be a Chicago thing. (I now what you're thinking. For the record, my taste buds are fine. I had some some shrimp fried rice from my favorite spot in Los Angeles, and it wasn't salty. ) I might go back and try the spicy rice...when it's light out...get in/get out.

I grew up in Uptown and I have been going to this place for YEARS, since they were located across the street underneath the Red Line. I really believe that they have the BEST fried rice I've ever had. I always get the combo rice, spicy. There are huge chunks of beef, and the shrimp are always the jumbo shrimp, which is rare for Chicago chinese restaurants. The people that work there always remember me, and ask me how I've been. They recently opened up their Vietnamese portion of the restaurant, and I am a huge fan of their spring rolls (no pork, thank you) and their Pho.... this place just keeps getting better. I hope they are around forever!

The rice is good, if you don't mind getting the worst service ever. It's been twice they've lost my order while I'm waiting for it. Between the guy playing guitar and the women talking to each other while "taking" your order, it's easy to see why they would lose a simple order of rice. I'm never going back to that place again!