Just had my first meal at The Phoenix Noodle and Dumpling House today. This is the one below Phoenix Restaurant in Chinatown, famous for its Dim Sum (which really isn't all that)

Background: Why I decided to go pay this restaurant a visit is because of a recent review in the Tribune and how good their Steamed Juicy Pork Dumpling was. Steamed Juicy Pork Dumpling (also known as Xiao Long Bao in chinese) is something I enjoy during my 12 years in Singapore and have not found any place that serves anything close to decent taste. So my fiance and I took a ride on my limo (red line CTA) to the restaurant.

Arriving there, we see the same hordes of people waiting for the famous Phoenix dim sum. We went straight for the smaller cousin and were seated immediately. They have a fairly limited menu, consisting of some appetizers, noodle soups, fried rice and small selection of dim sum (probably cooked from above)

Food: We ordered the Steamed Juicy Pork Dumpling ($6.95 for 8), Shrimp and Mushroom Dumpling noodle soup, shredded pork and pickle noodle soup, Steamed Roast Pork Bun and a cold Soya milk drink.

The two noodle soups arrived first, same as every noodle soup that I have had, nothing special about them. The Steamed Juicy Pork Dumpling came next and I took my first taste of them. The way these dumplings are made is that the pork is inside a flour skin and also partially filled with soup. You are supposed to take a small bite of the skin and drink up the soup and then finish off the dumpling. Most of the other places that serve this either had: no soup inside, too thick of a skin or simply not soft enough. But BABY THESE DUMPLINGS ROCK!

Skin was soft, soup was delicious inside the skin and the pork was tasy. PERFECT! Almost as good as what I have had in Singapore. The rest of the dishes that I had suddenly pale in comparison to what I just had. To be fair, the Steamed Roast Pork bun was also good.

For anyone trying this restaurant, I would highly recommend the aforementioned dish, as well as ordering the other appetizers instead of the noodle soups and fried rice as I feel they taste better. Other things that I noticed but did not try and will next time are the availability of 2 versions of fried dough, one to be had with their congee and one just for an appetizer.

Price was very reasonable, about $24 for what we considered good food with the exception of the Steamed Juicy Pork Dumpling.

Sorry for my continued rambling but I am very excited about them being in town. Email me if you have any questions.