“80% of the menu at a Chinese restaurant in the United States is not authentic Chinese food that you will find in China,” says Hannah, our Chicago Food Planet guide. “Today we are going to test the other 20%.”
And, boy, do we eat at Chicago Food Planet’s Chinatown Food Tour? We started by weaving our way through the crowds to a reserved table with dim sum at Triple Crown, one of the most popular restaurants on the outskirts of Chinatown. Dim sum is brought to our table in small carts and soon a large stack of dishes is placed on the rotating susan. We learn that the person to the right of us must pour our tea and that dim sum originated in teahouses, where the owners would place baskets of steaming dumplings on top of steaming kettles.
Soon, dim sum became one of the most delicious traditions in China.
Then we visit Chiu Quon Bakery to try moon cakes, a dense cake traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This was a bit unusual for the American palate and appears to be the underdog dish on the tour.
As we walked, Hannah told us about the difference between “old” and “new” Chinatown, in the sense that Chinatown has expanded beyond its traditional borders, now stretching for almost half a mile. Hannah emphasizes that Chicago’s Chinatown is one of the oldest in the country because Chinese immigrants started on the West Coast and moved further east, making Chicago’s Chinatown older than New York’s Chinatown. We also visit a small Buddhist temple hidden in a low-key shop. The neighborhood is full of beautiful architecture, including the giant gate that enters Chinatown and a large group of statues of the Chinese zodiac.
Our next two stops were two restaurants associated with Tony Hu’s Lao Chinese restaurant group. Tony Hu is known unofficially as the “Mayor of Chinatown” due to the large number of restaurants in the area. Each of the restaurants is named “Lao,” which means “ancient,” followed by a region of China. For example, we visited Lao Sze Chuan, where we sampled authentic Szechuan fare, including spicy and numbing aubergines. In Lao Beijing, we sampled the city’s most famous food, Peking duck served with tender rice wrappers and plum sauce.
We finished the tour at Saint Anna Bakery with some Portuguese cream cakes.
This is the third Chicago Food Planet tour that I have done and, in my opinion, the best. The tour offers a great in-depth look at an intriguing neighborhood and the food is absolutely delicious, without being too unusual for those who are picky eaters.
What you need to know:
Tickets can be purchased here
P rice harvest: $ 55 for adults and $ 35 for teens and children
Tour duration : 3.5 to 4 hours (ours ran closer to 4 hours so they plan to spend a little over 3.5)
Amount of food – plenty of food, but no alcoholic beverages On this tour, no one will go hungry and you may just want a light dinner.
Distance: 1.3 miles
