Day 1: Chinatown

Today's neighborhood is Chinatown. Chinatown is located on the south side of Chicago centered on Wentworth and Cermak Avenues. The area was fairly busy, considering I visited it at 1:00 PM on a Monday, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I took the number 8 Bus (Halsted) South until Cermak Avenue (about a 4 minute ride) where I switched to the number 21 Bus (Cermak) East until Wentworth Avenue. At 209 W. Cermak Road, right where the internet said it would be, was Three Happiness, the quintessential dim sum restaurant in Chinatown, according to my mother.

However, dim sum does not lend itself well to eating alone; everything comes in groups of three. Seeing as I have no friends... I brought home two-thirds of my lunch. Here is what I ate:

At 12:00 is a dish called "Rice Meat Wrapped," which is basically sticky rice and meat wrapped in a lotus leaf. The rice, meat, (what type of meat it is was not specified, so I am just going to assume, or rather hope, that it was pork) and whatever other ingredients were added to make the mixture sticky, were steamed inside of the lotus leaf and the flavors of the lotus leaf were cooked into the mixture. I came very close to actually eating the leaf, but luckily I asked a waitress who, after giggling at me, told me that I was just supposed to eat the inside. When I brought the leftovers home, my father took one look at this dish and asked me why I ordered a leaf that "smelled like Hell." He later conceded that it tasted very good:

Progressing clockwise, we have a dish called "Ham Sui Kok (Meat Filled)." I speak not a word of Chinese, however, something tells me that this name means something like "Deep-Fried Dumplings (Meat Filled)." Again, I am hoping that the generic "meat" in this pastry was pork, but a major ingredient of the inside was mushrooms. Seeing as I am not a huge fan of mushrooms, this was not my favorite dish that I ordered, but the pastry on the outside was very good:


Next is "B.B.Q. Pork Puff" which was basically a pastry with a little bit of B.B.Q. Pork on the inside. The outer pastry was a little dry, and there was so little pork on the inside that it barely made up for it. This was probably the worst dish that I ordered:

Next, the four pieces of meat on the plate are called simply, "B.B.Q. Pork" which was absolutely fantastic. Despite the fact that all my dishes so far contained pork, or what I am pretending was pork, I really do not like pork very much. However, the plain B.B.Q. Pork was great. It was very tender, and just the right amount of sweet and savory. If you are going to Three Happiness at some point in the future, I would recommend ordering the B.B.Q. Pork:

The next dish is called "Sweet Lotus Bun" which was tied with the B.B.Q. Pork in delicious-ness. I ordered it without really knowing what it was, and I still do not know what it was. But, it was really, really good. I am going to continue not knowing what it was, for fear that I really ate mashed squid brain or something. But, my Vulcan-esque logic tells me that I really just ate sweet lotus paste:

The next dish is called "Egg Custard" which was like a rich, thick, Jell-O-consistency pudding in a buttery, flaky crust. I do not like pie crusts, so I regret getting the Egg Custard (egg custard in a pie crust) over the Egg Custard Bun (egg custard in a bun). But the custard itself was very good, and the flaky crust was as good as a flaky crust can get:

Finally, I ate a "Fried Sesame Ball." This was by far the best dish that I ordered today. The dough was very warm and a similar consistency to fried dough, but not sweet. Inside was a red bean paste that was perfectly sweet and a delicious contrast to the buttery outside. This was my favorite dish today:


All in all, I had a very good day, even if it was a touch lonely. My bill came out to $30, but I only ate $10 of that, considering I ate a third of everything that I ordered. My conclusions: go to this restaurant in a group that is a multiple of three if you do not want leftovers. Also, order at least one thing that you are not comfortable with, because that is half of the fun of dim sum. Next time I go to Three Happiness I will get a couple of orders of "Chicken Feet." Mmmmm.

Tomorrow, I am going to Pilsen. If anyone is interested in eating some Mexican food with me, I could always use the company. And, as always, I am up for suggestions about where to eat. I'm hungry... Good night and good eating...