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A few weeks ago, we came to you with a problem; we wanted to eat some delicious Chinese food, but didn't want to travel south of the Loop to find it. Based on your comments we decided to check out Friendship Chinese in Logan Square. The night we were planning on heading there was on the rainy and gross side of things, so we opted to order in.
We ordered the vegetarian spring rolls to start. When we pulled them out of the styrofoam container they were in, we were pleasantly surprised to find the outside wrapper perfectly crisp. The filling had a variety of vegetables in it, including cabbage and mushrooms (we think — difficult to tell when everything is all chopped and mixed up). Our meal was off to a good start!
Since there were three of us, it seemed reasonable to order three entrees of various types that we could share family style. Our order included sesame chicken, shrimp lo mein and "curried tofu tofu," which interestingly enough had three, not two, types of tofu in it. The sesame chicken was described as being tossed in "caramelized sesame soy glaze," aka sweet gloppy sauce. The chicken itself was white meat, and lightly fried to give it just enough crunch without turning it into something you might find at a country fair. This dish had some good aspects to it, particularly the chicken itself, but we found the sauce cloyingly sweet and lacking any significant sesame flavor.
The shrimp lo mein we tried came with a good number of medium-sized shrimp as well as some long strips of vegetables. The sauce was more flavorful than we expected, darker somehow than a standard lo mein, and with more flavor too. And we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the oil we were expecting to see pooled in the bottom of the take-out container was nowhere to be found. Either we'd eaten all the grease, or there wasn't any to begin with.
The third dish, curried tofu tofu was delicious, but it didn't taste very Chinese; with the coconut milk and lemon grass curry sauce, this dish leaned much more to the Thai side of Asian cuisine than the Chinese. And yes, it is our own fault for ordering something with curry in it at a Chinese restaurant. That being said, this was the most interesting dish of the night; it featured five-spice tofu, regular tofu, and tofu sheets with a mix of mushrooms and peppers in a tart and flavorful curry broth. We appreciated this innovative take on tofu in curry sauce.
So where does this leave us? Friendship was pretty delicious. We weren't wowed by the food, but everything we ate tasted good and there were no ill effects on our system. Like some of the commenters, we had some sticker shock. Dinner for three came to about $50, which in the grand scheme of things isn't high, but for Chinese take-out, seems a little pricey. Keep checking back over the next month or so, as we visit more of the restaurants you previously suggested in our epic journey to find the best Chinese on the north side.
Photo by Olivia Leigh.
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regardless of the sticky-sweet sauce, i'm so jealous your sesame chicken had white meat. i had some today from a place in the west loop and definitely noticed the darkness. blech.
You find an authentic chinese place outside of chinatown and i'll eat my shorts.
eh, I find Friendship's appetizers are generally bland and almost come from the freezer at your local grocery store (thinking of their egg rolls, crab rangoon, anything they might fry). Their main dishes are pretty darn tasty, but expensive for being basically better versions of what you get at any north side Chinese restaurant.
Yeah, Chinatown restaurants are "authentic."
North or South side restaurants can't get the same ingredients, or at least the same quality of them, in Chicago as are more readily available in China/SE Asia itself. Just because non Chinese folk aren't used to seeing it on the menu elsewhere doesn't mean it is the real thing. Telling people on a blog how real you are by eating Chinese food only from Chinatown shows your lack of knowledge on the subject.
Your best bet for authenticity is to trek to some of the northwest/west suburbs where most of the fairly well off Chinatown restaurant owners live and also keep some smaller restaurants. It still won't substitute for a trip overseas, but its closer.
Friendship is awesome. If you want to test the authenticity yourself, you should go on a Tuesday where all entrees are $8.95 (dine in only).
I wish it was cheaper... I'd order online from them at work :(
Isn't Friendship the place that had the traditional Chinese musician-cooks on weekends?
I think guest comment 4 has a bone to pick with our community's authenticity. I don't know if I would claim that a trip to International Mall or Katie's Dumpling House in Westmont would make me, as #4 seems to claim, an expert in what is real and what isn't. I think it's food snobbery.
As a real South Side Chinatown resident from a family with four generations of back and forth history between Toisaan County and Cook County across the worst period of Chinese American relations, the Chinese Exclusion period, I think I trump all y'alls claim to authority and authenticity.
Which part of China are we talking about here for authenticity? Is Chinese American food invented here not an American ethnic cuisine along with saganaki and Chicken Vesuvio, btw, both of which invented here in Chicago? Is Hong Kong style Chinese food in a cha chaan teng less authentic because it is incorporates Western techniques? Is the St Paul sandwich not authentic?
This authenticity you are searching for is not real. There are things that we eat at home and in restaurants that I have rarely seen non-Chinese eat, and, even when prompted to do so, would still not order. There are Cantonese dishes here we eat that don't exist elsewhere in Guangdong because culinary trends change across time.
We are all food experts. I eat at the rapidly dwindling chop suey palaces like China Chef or Kow Kow, and I proclaim them to be authentically Chinese American. It's tasty, filling and a good value. Hard to argue against that cooking when that cuisine put a roof over many of my relatives' heads and put them through school.
I don't give a fuck about authenticity, I just wish that I could find a Chinese-ish place that wasn't so disgustingly: a) Sweet b) bland c) slimy d) soggy e) gross
As far as the Chicagoist "review"...$50 for 3 people? For Friendship? I don't care how catchy that guy's slogans sound, his food is, basically, a slightly decent version of the really average chinese food you find anywhere else. For a whole lot more money. It's not worth it in any way...I'd rather get cheaper (and much, much tastier) Thai food from my local Thai place than EVER bother with wasting my time on this crap..
You want authentic? Then go with someone Chinese and order items not on the menu. No matter what city or small town I've lived in, the owners are very willing to make you dishes not on the menu because that is what they eat.
You purport to be knowledgable about cuisine but you need to research better. Writing about something that you have not thoroughly investigated is irresponsible and offensive to others' culture. Curry is indeed authentic and indigenous to Chinese cuisine as the result of the Indians. Singapore noodles and other Cantonese dishes use curry. If you are going to write about food then you need to know about it first.
In regards to the lo mein sauce I ask what exactly is standard. Just because a sauce looks brown doesn't mean it tastes the same. And like good old Italian gravy, there are many variations though truthfully authentic sauces are not what you describe.
Ms. Oppenheimer, if you continue to write about food, I recommend that you know more about it and explore it more. Without this, you cause a disservice and the material has as much clout as if you were comparing all Italian restaurants to a gold standard of an Olive Garden. Get out of your comfort zone of what you interpret as Chinese food. And if anyone wants to know where there is a good Chinese restaurant to eat at the answer is simple. You look for one where there are Chinese eating.
This is not about being a foodie. This is about the respect for other's cuisine. If you ever want to know more, I will gladly take you and show you the world of Chinese cuisine. The caveat is that you try everything. Post back in the comments if you are up to the challenge.
Wow, his prices must have gone up (it's been about 6 months since I've been down there) because I remember Friendship being ridiculously cheap. Didn't he close for renovations not long ago?