MingHin Cuisine

It's been a while since I had dim sum and I decided to come here on my second day in Chicago.

I had the following :
- fried noodles
- turnip cake
- 4th item on the menu from the top that I don't remember what it's called (dumpling-like thing)

I was sad that the fried noodles portions was tiny, but it was really good (which led me to order the other 2 things to fill me up). The other two items were delicious as well.

I am a new fan! We came here one freezing Saturday morning craving dim sum. There was a little bit of a wait (maybe 10+ minutes) but we were seated in a large booth even though there were only two of us. I usually like dimsum places that come by with the carts (instead of picking from the menu like MingHin) but that was not a problem. There isn't a lot of variety of meat dishes FYI. There are a ton of seafood and veggie options though. We ended up ordering: shrimp  dumplings, stuffed sticky rice, short ribs, a noodle dish, peking duck... some other things I can't remember now but both our favorite for the morning was the deep fried crab meat in seaweed roll - absolutely delish.

The service here was good for the most part. The host/hostess can be a little nervewracking as everyone crowds in like cattle and she's yelling out numbers. But the server we had was good. There is also a lady there that was absolutely delightful (probably a manager or owner since she wasn't wearing a uniform) and she came by to our table several times.

Words can't even explain how much I love MingHin. Best place in Chinatown. MingHin was amongst the first in Chinatown to have nice ambiance. The first being Chi Cafe. Don't get me wrong, Joy Yee has a decent ambiance but eh. Chi Cafe and MingHin are actually owned by the same owners. Well first time I went to MingHin I expected typical average dim sum. It was on Saturday. I waited for 20 minutes with my friend! I know now to make reservations. When we were seated, we sat at a nice warm mini room. Let me just say first MingHin has some pretty hostesses and cashiers! Well me and my friend ordered the must haves. Our waiter was Jacky btw! He's my favorite, cute little accent (:

-Siu Mai (shrimp and pork dumplings)
-Shrimp dumplings
-Beef crepe
-Egg custard tart
-Egg yolk paste bun
-Pork w/ preserved egg congee
-Roast duck
-Deep fried sesame balls
-Chicken Feet w/ special sauce

I died. Not really but yeah. Food came out piping hot. The siu mai are to die for, we ended up ordering another dish! I had mine with white pepper powder, pure bliss. The perfect amount of flavor. You can tell that the siu mai was home made. Shrimp dumplings are filled with large shrimps hot and delicious. Now I didn't try the beef crepe not being a fan on crepes but my friend ate it all and said it was amazing! Chicken feet was piping hot, a tad bit spicy, and so delicious. Pork w/ preserved egg congee was hot but so good. Not too liquidy and not too thick. Perfect amount of salt. Roast duck. Everyone just stop right now. It is a musy order. The skin was so crispy and the ducks aren't too fat making it perfect. Dipped in caramelly sauce, it was like heaven. I ordered a whole duck to go! Now here comes the dessert! Egg custard tart. Omg omg omg I died. I regretted not ordering two because they take a while to come out but they were amazing. Layers upon layers of flaky crust, the way I like it with the perfect amount of sweetness in the egg custard. Egg yolk paste bun were amazing. It came out with three hot buns with a cute little red dot at the top.  The filling had the perfect amount of texture. Sesame balls, need I go on? Exactly what it says. Deep fried balls of dough with a sweet filling. So good.  MingHin has never disappointed me.

Service - 5 stars, all the waiters and waitresses are good, but ask for Jacky! He only works weekends! Other days he works at Chi Cafe.
Cleanliness - tired of dirty bathrooms? Filthy places? Well come to MingHin. They are cleaned every single day. The bathrooms look amazing.
Food - if I could give more than five stars I would. Delicious, hot piping food. Although it may be busy, food comes out quick.
Ambiance - MingHin by far has the nicest ambiance you will ever find in Chinatown. It doesn't look like cheap s***. You can tell they spent the time to design it.
Owners - I've never personally met the owners but they are Joyce (Sometimes known as Ling) and Phil. My friend knows them and said that they are a big help on planning huge party events and other things.
Overall - MingHin is my favorite place in Chicago and I wouldn't go anywhere else. Their dinner menu is great and they ate constantly expanding and adding new things into the restaurant.

Thanks MingHin love you guys! Stay perfect!