Lao Beijing

 

12

37

Chan K.

Chicago, IL

I've been looking for soup dumplings ever since trying them in New York. The dumplings at Lao Beijing were not soupy enough and had too much sugar for my taste. The cumin spiced lamb, not something I usually see on a Chinese menu, was surprisingly tasty. I will have to come back and try their assortment of soups.

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0

4

Uni W.

San Francisco, CA

Lao Beijing was exactly the description of 3 stars... A-OK.

The XLBs (xiao long bao) were mediocre, no where near Joe's Shanghai or Din Tai Fung. So if that's what you are looking for, fly yourself out to NY or LA. (Lao Shanghai's XLBs were just as disappointing)

I also got their homemade soy milk. It was awfully weird that the waiter brought over a bowl of soy milk with a bunch of ice cubes floating around in it. The ice cubes diluted the flavor of the soy milk. It did taste like home made though, so maybe get the hot one instead if you are a soy milk lover.

You might be asking if it was that bad, why did you give it 3 stars...

Their "Famous Pan Fried Dumplings w/ Chives" (extracted word for word from their menu) was better than expected. The chives were fresh, it was authentically sprinkled with little pieces of scrambled egg and vermicelli in it. That's the only thing I would order again and maybe try other things on their menu.

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Elite '08

13

171

Karen L.

Chicago, IL

I am a fan of Lao Szechuan so I definitely had to try the other restaurants in this group. There are two new ones, Lao Beijing and Lao Shanghai. I have to admit that I was pretty excited to go there and eat the Peking Duck, as I have not been able to enjoy that dish for quite some time. They serve it in 3 different courses, which is pretty common. They come in the moo-shu style wrap (my fave), a soup, and a stir fry. The Peking duck was super yummy and I am glad I tried it. The rest of the stuff was just ok. We did order this glass noodle/fatty pork dish that was good. But then the other stuff was just ok: stir fried eggplant, pea pod veggies, green onion pancake, and of course, the pork dumplings. The pork dumplings were an issue. These dumplings were supposed to be the small dumplings like the ones you get at dim sum... they should have broth inside. Well, the ones we got were overcooked and dry inside. So we sent them back. The waitress was nice and apologized and said that she would get us new ones. The new ones came out right away... but they were half raw. We sent them back, again! So basically, for dessert, we had the edible dumplings.

I definitely liked Lao Szechuan better. I may try Beijing again, but probably won't go out of my way to go there again. I will try Shanghai and will probably just stick to the standard Szechuan.

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Elite '08

7

242

Michelle C.

Chicago, IL

I had high expectations for Lao Beijing after thoroughly enjoying myself at Lao Szechuan. Maybe I set the bar too high, because I walked away slightly disappointed. The food was just ok, in my opinion.

We first ordered the set of 4 appetizers. This was the best part of the meal. The sliced beef, smoked chicken, jellyfish and cucumber, and cold spinach in mustard sauce were all delicious. For our main entrees, we ordered hunan vegetable stir fry, which was a bit overcooked. We also had the crispy whole fish, which consists of breaded and fried whole fish (head and tail included). This isn't a problem for me, except there was very little meat on the fish (about the size of a hand span), and what meat there was, was too dry. We also ordered pan fried noodles with shrimp, which was way too greasy. Finally, we had spinach with pork ball soup. This was pretty good and definitely hit the spot on a cold day.

We met Chef Tony here, he was on the main floor and was standing right next to our table. As we were getting our coats on to leave, he asked how our food was, gave me his card, and encouraged us to try his other restaurants. I said, "Oh I know, I've been to Lao Szechuan. Next time I'll go to Lao Shanghai." Why not, might as well complete the trifecta.

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1

4

Ajay K.

Chicago, IL

Another winner from Tony Hu.  Have been there just once and decided to have the Beijing(Peking) Duck for Two.  All 3 courses were really good - although the duck soup could have used some additional seasoning.  Easily remedied with some salt.  Can't wait to go back to try the soft-shell crab.  Also really looking forward to trying Lao Shanghai.  Unfortunately the wife likes Lao Szechuan too much...

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Elite '08

18

252

nana h.

Chicago, IL

The last time I was in Beijing, I had a horrible time. I had nothing good to eat there and I wouldn't willfully go back to Beijing. Who cares if the Olympics are there! Everyone will die of heat strokes.
So thankfully, I came here this Sunday, during all the Chinese New Year hoopla. It was great! We got steamed veggie dumplins, Fried Onion Pancakes, and my boyfriend insisted on the MooShuu Chicken. Blah!
But it was good over all and We got blessed by like 3 dragons.
On the way out, I noticed a flyer for $1 dim sum before noon! If I ever make it out there by that time, I'll be sure to stop in to try them.

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6

46

Terri M.

Chicago, IL

As fans of Lao Sze Chuan, we went in with expectations of good quality food presented in a clean environment and at reasonable prices.  We got that and more.  We were pleasantly surprised by the impressive selection of dishes, the tastiness of the food, and the attractiveness of the decor.  We became instant fans--BIG fans.  We might even like this place more than Lao Sze Chuan!

First of all, probably because it is newer and in a smaller space, the dining room was less frenetic than LSC.  It's also got slightly classier, more tasteful decor.  With an accent wall painted mustard yellow and interesting wood trim, the designers clearly paid some attention to detail in creating an attractive environment.  The chairs were nice as were the serving platters: they were a dark brown matte glaze that probably has a special name, but I don't know it.

Finally: the food.  Wow!  We were actually in the mood for something a little less spicy that evening, but didn't reallly want Cantonese food, so we decided to try this place.  We made an awesome choice.  We had the tofu and Napa cabbage cold appetizer and boy was it good!  It was a home run out of the park!  The dish ws made with tofu ribbons, which I had never seen before, tossed with shredded Napa cabbage, garlic, and cilantro, and dressed with something sweet and tart and a tiny bit of chili.  My dining partner said it tased a litle like the green papaya salads we get at Thai restaurants.  It was amazing--an kind of addictive!  For our entrees we had stir fried fish fillets in black bean sauce; shredded potatoes with chili; and dried (firm) tofu with celery.  The black bean sauce on the fish was perfectly balanced,  The sauce was not too thick or overwhelming and the entire dish was studded with just the right amount of sliced garlic, ginger, and fermented black beans, all poured over a bed of baby bok choy.  The shredded potatoes were basically matchstick potatoes sauteed with jalepeno slices, but the dish was not hot/spicy at all.  The chilis lent flavor but not heat.  The tofu and celery dish was good.  Probably the least impressive of the three (because we get a similar dish at LSC that uses Chinese celery and includes different vegetables), but tasty nonetheless.  We loved the use of the smoky dried tofu.  It was just what we wanted that day.

Overall, I would hugely recommend this restaurant.  On another day, we plan to go back for the Beijing specialities.  They seem to have a good selection and seem more veggie friendly than Ed's Potstickers.

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1

19

Jared J.

Chicago, IL

Where do the chefs eat?  
At Tony's.
Thats why Lao Beijing will be open for breakfast everyday.

Over 700 menu items, Beijing style:
(in order of favorites)
stir-fried eggplant
lamb satay -- it's spicy
Pancake Northern style
special shrimp -- sweet

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Elite '08

49

197

Nancy X.

Chicago, IL

Had a great first time here.  The menu is a little overwhelming, so we ordered 4 dishes from the house specials to make it easy and 1 plate of pork cabbage dumplings as our appetizer since every table had an order of dumplings.  And they were great!  One orders comes with at least 10 dumplings for $6.95.  We also had the cumin lamb satay (kebobs; a little chewy and spicy), chef's special whole fish (deep fried tilapia with spicy gravy), famous beijing pork (tasted like orange chicken but crispier and less meat), and chef's special crispy eggplant - my absolute fave (fried chunks of eggplant made spicy).  Next time, I want to try the Peking duck and scallion pancakes, which are staples in Beijing.  Overall, I think our bill came to around $55 for 4 people before taxes, and the waitstaff speak understandable English which was a little more helpful than Lao Shanghai, which made it a much better experience.

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