Chinatown Etiquette & Lao Sze Chuan

Just found this wonderful forum recently--thanks for all the great advice.

I got to try out it out when I was in Chinatown this weekend--I've always had mediocre meals there but decided to try one of your suggestions, Lao Sze Chuan. It was easy to get a seat there Sunday evening and I had a very nice bowl of the house special sweet & sour soup. It arrived with a small plate of spicy cabbage--I wasn't sure how to eat it--fingers, fork/chopsticks...is it ok to add it to the soup?

Unfortunately I was eating alone, so I could only order one of the many vegetarian options that sounded interesting; I chose the eggplant with garlic sauce. It was very nice, but I wondered if it would be ok at this kind of place to request they add something else in (like broccoli ) so it's not just a giganto plate of one thing? Often there is a "mixed veggie delite" but this is the Chinese version of pasta marinara (which I would often request with some mushrooms or olives to make it more interesting). I certainly don't want to be a total rube (just a semi one), so please let me know your thoughts. (I did add some of that spicy cabbage to the eggplant when no one was looking and it added a perfect crunch and zip.)

Last, but not least, the next time I'd like to try the forum's namesake, Little Three Happiness, but am not clear where it is. On the south side of Cermak near the big gateway?

veghead wrote:Just found this wonderful forum recently--thanks for all the great advice.

I got to try out it out when I was in Chinatown this weekend--I've always had mediocre meals there but decided to try one of your suggestions, Lao Sze Chuan. It was easy to get a seat there Sunday evening and I had a very nice bowl of the house special sweet & sour soup. It arrived with a small plate of spicy cabbage--I wasn't sure how to eat it--fingers, fork/chopsticks...is it ok to add it to the soup?

Unfortunately I was eating alone, so I could only order one of the many vegetarian options that sounded interesting; I chose the eggplant with garlic sauce. It was very nice, but I wondered if it would be ok at this kind of place to request they add something else in (like broccoli ) so it's not just a giganto plate of one thing? Often there is a "mixed veggie delite" but this is the Chinese version of pasta marinara (which I would often request with some mushrooms or olives to make it more interesting). I certainly don't want to be a total rube (just a semi one), so please let me know your thoughts. (I did add some of that spicy cabbage to the eggplant when no one was looking and it added a perfect crunch and zip.)


Last, but not least, the next time I'd like to try the forum's namesake, Little Three Happiness, but am not clear where it is. On the south side of Cermak near the big gateway?

I like to (and indeed today with lunch did) eat the cabbage straight. I'd imagine you can do whatever you want with it.

Regarding special requests -- they're open to it. Some of the dishes on the menu are the result of special requests from customers. You'd do well, though, to try to track down tony or one of the managers. They're very helpful, and their command of english is generally better than the normal waitstaff.

Also, if you can swing it, the veg. dishes are $4.95 during lunch hours for smaller portions. You can try more dishes much more easily this way. The "smaller" portions are still absurdly generous.

Also note that they'll make some dishes vegetarian on request. Ma Po Tofu and hot and sour soup are both not traditionally vegetarian, but are at LSC always vegetarian.

LTH is, as you thought, on the south side of cermak, near the gate.

Mmmmm...that cabbage is soooo good. I never thought to add it to something. The last time I ordered the house special hot and sour soup someone in the kitchen got a li'l too happy with the chili oil; yowza! And I love me some chiles, but this was truly incendiary. The adequately spicy ma po tofu was actually a palliative when consumed with the soup.

Christopher Gordon wrote:Mmmmm...that cabbage is soooo good. I never thought to add it to something. The last time I ordered the house special hot and sour soup someone in the kitchen got a li'l too happy with the chili oil; yowza! And I love me some chiles, but this was truly incendiary. The adequately spicy ma po tofu was actually a palliative when consumed with the soup.

The house special h&s is always like that, I think

I actually kind of enjoyed the feeling in my mouth after I finished the soup. As, I think it was, Flip mentioned, it's rather numbing. In a good way.

-ed

always thought the cabbage app was the least 'appetizing' thing at LSZ. Not nearly as good as a decent shanghai 'pao tsai / 'pao cai'.'. As far as etiquette: you use (and typically always, when in doubt) chopsticks to eat it.

LSC is our (wife +I ) most frequented restaurant. There is a fair amount of information here on LSC and LTH - here's a recent thread that's a good starting point.

We munch on the spicy cabbage plain/undoctored both before and after our order arrives. I don't know (or really care) if we are eating it the right way - it tastes great, so there. We also usually ask for some to be packed with the leftovers (there's always leftovers). There's some inconsistency to the spiciness and prep of this gratis dish - but less than at other places [in my limited experience (of other places that serve the same)].

The Yu Xiang Eggplant (Eggplant in Garlic Sauce) dish was one of our early favourites there. I've tried unsuccessfully (but not yet given up) to get a variant with ground pork between two slices of eggplant and then fried and sauced.
A smaller vegetable dish that we really like is the Spicy String Beans with Black Bean ($4.95) - listed a hot (as opposed to cold) appetizer. I think it is #208 on the menu with a slightly altered name (it is dry; no 'sauce')

LTH is on Cermak. There is a LTHforum GNR sign displayed

(Little) Three Happiness
209 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL 60616
312-842-1964

There are plenty of details on the thread linked to above (see G Wiv's post)

Well, it was a bit amusing 'cuz my dining companion, who generally eschews the higher chile levels, gobbled his down. Whereas I'm the one who relishes the burn and the LSZ h.s. hot and sour nearly took my head off(in a good way). ...must...order...again...urgh...

This is interesting. My wife and I have differing reactions (and tolerance) to chile heat depending on the source - fresh green chiles vs. (fried) dried red chiles - and prep process that I am in the still documenting.

The Hot and Sour Rice Noodle Soup Szechuan Style (A32 'very chinese special' on the menu) was a 'new' heat - numbing cool at the same time (probably sichuan peppercorns). It left us nearly in tears, with our tongues hanging out almost panting (just to let it cool in the air) but we couldn't stop reaching for more...