Phoenix Restaurant

I love dim sum.  There's no good dim sum where I live.  So, when I found myself in Chicago for the weekend, I was all over the chance to get some good dim sum.  I asked around for recommendations. I got a few tips to go to this place specifically.  Lemming that I am, and otherwise uninformed, I made a beeline for this place.

Annnnd...

(apologies for anything I misspell in the following review)
Well, as far as the dim sum, I was actually pretty disappointed.  There was a special cart for the siu mai and the har gow... It was as if they knew everyone would want it... they came out with extra.  Everything else was fairly sparse.  I'm used to aloof people pushing the carts, since I don't appear Asian, but honestly, the staff here was even less interested than usual.  

Deep fried octopus was pretty yummy

They had no char siu baus... they had a chicken bau.  Not the same.  I've never been to a dim sum place with no baus with char siu... steamed OR baked.  They looked at me like I had two heads when I inquired.

They did have a separate menu for noodle dishes and the like... we didn't order any, so I can't assess.  All I can say for sure is that I have had dim sum many many times, and I've had GOOD dim sum (Monterrey Park, CA) and this place really missed the mark.  I left feeling dissatisfied.  All the excitement I had, and it really was no better than the stuff hubby gets from the frozen food section and warms up on his own...

Came here during week as was in town for business. No soup dumplings during the week to my dismay and no push cart style dim sum but the waiter took my order quickly. Minus those 2 facts it was good stuff but in order to give a fair rating will need to try other restaurants next time.

What a fun experience!

I came here with a group of fellow tea lovers most of whom have many more restrictions on their eating than I do.  I realized this after I said sure to the pork buns and realized maybe one other person at the table would eat a half.  Lucky for me they were delicious!    And the tea was plentiful and terrific.

I didn't want to be the Dim Sum porker so I replied yes to less plates than I would have liked to have tried as it's a big commitment to want to eat all 3 pieces rather than nibble on one or a half.  It was still a great learning experience.  It was my first time doing Dim Sum so I want to come back now that I think I get the hang of it.  I am pretty sure I committed a faux pas when I said yes to something that sounded harmless and was in a steamer basket but when it was on the table I knew I would not want to eat it.  The woman graciously took it off the table.

I would NOT recommend Dim Sum at the Phoenix to vegetarians or groups which contain a majority of  vegetarians.  The cart arrival was fairly random and we had to flag down a manager to get the two vegetarian choices delivered.

My ideal table companions would have been one of the Chinese families who really looked like they knew what they were doing!  Barring an invitation from them, I think I will return with meat eaters next time!  It was marvelous however to come with a group and have reservations, no waiting for a great round table.

Super reasonable and fun time.