I hadn't been to Chinatown since the early 2000's, and wouldn't have recognized it had I been dropped in. The pedestrian avenue shoulder to shoulder crammed with tourists, the lines out the door for boba tea served in bottles shaped like donuts, the dumpling and barbecue houses set right in a row with hardly any room for differentiation. I was not prepared for this overstimulation (or to wait an hour to eat hand pulled noodles), and retreated to a more familiar, comforting overstimulation: the basement karaoke mall food court. In much of Asia (if not usually the states) mall food courts can hide some tremendous food under an unpretentious curtain. This was the case here. J's Snack House served me a bowl of fiery House Special Snail Noodle Soup (ordered medium-spicy, so beware) that tasted as though I was still back in China in 2013 at some unassuming train-station adjacent stall that served better food than I'd find in my home city in weeks. The soup comes with a good scoop of black, curled snails, only one of which had any sand to it (a pretty good percentage), thinly sliced crispy bean curd, bok choy, a sprinkling of peanuts, some pickled vegetables, bamboo, and a ton of rice noodles. And like I mentioned, it was HOT, cry-into-your-soup-bowl hot. It contained just a prickling of numbing spice, not enough to take out your whole throat. Most of it was regular chili hot. But it's not only hot, it's also sour and floral and a tiny bit earthy from the snails and just fantastic. I told this to the woman who ran the stall; she seemed relieved and her face broke out in a smile. She asked me if I didn't think it was too sour or 'smelly'... it made me sad that she ever worried for one second about her PERFECT soup. Great Chinese food, the kind of Chinese food that would not be out of place in China, is hard to come by in Chicago; this is a special place.
Samantha V.
House special potato noodle soup was interesting. I has the mild tomato broth. There's something slightly off putting about the jiggliness of the noodles. Imagine the jiggle of a tapioca boba stretched into a noodle shape and then a bowl full of it. I like the texture but there's something inside me that screams "something's not right with this." The flavor of the broth is nice. I liked the flavor and texture of the seaweed and tofu and some other thing I'm not sure what it was (honestly it looked a little like a shoelace). I'm not sure I'd order it again, but I'd definitely come back to try something else. The environment is not the best. A somewhat dingy underground food court. I've been here before and each time it's rather hectic and kids running around randomly, don't come here to relax. Come to eat and gtfo. But don't expect them or anyone else in this food court to validate parking!
Chanelle N.
oh man this place is amazing!! I got the spicy braised beef potato noodles (level 4 spicy) It came out boiling. It had bean curd strips, quail eggs, scallions, tofu, seaweed, sausage, and bok choy. This dish amazed me. Possible unpopular opinion.. I think Chicago lacks in the Asian food area BUT this place gives ME HOPE!!! It had the numbing taste, but so tasteful :) will be coming back. The worker was also so kind and gave me an extra set of bowls and utensils
Sophie Sun
Rice noodles is okay, I like the clay pot it served in :) but flavor is just so so even with the extra spices - recommend the stew chicken (黄焖鸡)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Celine Xinyu Zhang
This place is awesome! I don’t know why this place has not gotten famous yet since the potato noodles are so delicious and authentic. 土豆粉 and 黄焖鸡 are so good - I have ordered delivery and had dine in experience, and the food just hit the right spot!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sarah P.
Came out so fast and extremely hot. Very flavorful and spicy. Good quality ingredients. Super bouncy noodles. A very abundant hot pot.
ann
$15+ for a bowl of noodles with 50% bean sprouts and 2 small fish balls cut in half is such a scam lol. the soup usually has no flavor at all, even if you order extra spicy. why has this place not closed down yet?
Food: 1
Q L
I took a Uber for a long trip just for this noodles, but it was a bit disappointed. The noodles was over cooked and the soup was flavorless. The customer service was not bad tho, owner re-cooked another bowl of noodles for me once I complained. But it just not meet my expectations at all. I was a bit disappointed other than the friendly customer service. Not returning tho.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
L L.
I love this place which is located in the food court basement of the "Heungseng Square," building next to Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings. The food court has dining tables so you can eat inside. We ordered their House Special Potato Noodle Soup $14.99 and it was mind-flowingly delicious. I ordered mine with Spicy & Numbing soup base and #2 medium spicy. My mouth had a slight Ma La tingle as I enjoyed it and drank the entire soup base. If you love spicy and Ma La, then you must try this soup! The potato noodles were delicious and they put the right amount of noodles. The soup included tofu skin, fried fish balls, and shredded seaweed which were a perfect addition for nutrition and protein. The portion size for just right for adults to finish. We would definitely order this soup again! Service was excellent and the female owner is very nice. In addition, Elitea which is my favorite boba tea spot in Chinatown (less expensive than competitors) - is located in the same food court.
Danni Lu
Ordered delivery, so good! Will come back and try dine in.
I never write Yelp reviews, but this one is absolutely necessary. The potato noodles were absolutely delicious, came out sizzling and steaming in an authentic pot. The owners (I believe a couple) were so incredibly sweet--it was 10 minutes after closing and they still allowed me to order. The extra meat and veggies costed extra, and after some visible deliberation I (a broke college student) decided to not get them. But the owners were so kind and could tell that I was probably really hungry so they added meat and extras in for me :) which really touched my heart. They also made sure I was safe, told me to take my time eating, and showed me to the exit since the place was closing and the front gates were locked.TLDR: Incredibly kind owners, delicious food, absolutely deserve business! Highly, highly recommend supporting their business.
XIAOHUI ZHANG
My second visit to this store. The food is not as good as the previous one. It’s a bit too oily for me and the soup is not as savory as before.
Gabriella Deslauriers (Gabby Goah)
I have been ordering from this place almost a dozen times. Noodle soup is very flavorful and rich. Tons of options and price is reasonable. Highly recommended for any noodle lovers!
Gabriella Gao (Gabriella Gao)
I have been ordering from this place almost a dozen times. Noodle soup is very flavorful and rich. Tons of options and price is reasonable. Highly recommended for any noodle lovers!
I hadn't been to Chinatown since the early 2000's, and wouldn't have recognized it had I been dropped in. The pedestrian avenue shoulder to shoulder crammed with tourists, the lines out the door for boba tea served in bottles shaped like donuts, the dumpling and barbecue houses set right in a row with hardly any room for differentiation. I was not prepared for this overstimulation (or to wait an hour to eat hand pulled noodles), and retreated to a more familiar, comforting overstimulation: the basement karaoke mall food court. In much of Asia (if not usually the states) mall food courts can hide some tremendous food under an unpretentious curtain. This was the case here. J's Snack House served me a bowl of fiery House Special Snail Noodle Soup (ordered medium-spicy, so beware) that tasted as though I was still back in China in 2013 at some unassuming train-station adjacent stall that served better food than I'd find in my home city in weeks. The soup comes with a good scoop of black, curled snails, only one of which had any sand to it (a pretty good percentage), thinly sliced crispy bean curd, bok choy, a sprinkling of peanuts, some pickled vegetables, bamboo, and a ton of rice noodles. And like I mentioned, it was HOT, cry-into-your-soup-bowl hot. It contained just a prickling of numbing spice, not enough to take out your whole throat. Most of it was regular chili hot. But it's not only hot, it's also sour and floral and a tiny bit earthy from the snails and just fantastic. I told this to the woman who ran the stall; she seemed relieved and her face broke out in a smile. She asked me if I didn't think it was too sour or 'smelly'... it made me sad that she ever worried for one second about her PERFECT soup. Great Chinese food, the kind of Chinese food that would not be out of place in China, is hard to come by in Chicago; this is a special place.
House special potato noodle soup was interesting. I has the mild tomato broth. There's something slightly off putting about the jiggliness of the noodles. Imagine the jiggle of a tapioca boba stretched into a noodle shape and then a bowl full of it. I like the texture but there's something inside me that screams "something's not right with this." The flavor of the broth is nice. I liked the flavor and texture of the seaweed and tofu and some other thing I'm not sure what it was (honestly it looked a little like a shoelace). I'm not sure I'd order it again, but I'd definitely come back to try something else. The environment is not the best. A somewhat dingy underground food court. I've been here before and each time it's rather hectic and kids running around randomly, don't come here to relax. Come to eat and gtfo. But don't expect them or anyone else in this food court to validate parking!
oh man this place is amazing!! I got the spicy braised beef potato noodles (level 4 spicy) It came out boiling. It had bean curd strips, quail eggs, scallions, tofu, seaweed, sausage, and bok choy. This dish amazed me. Possible unpopular opinion.. I think Chicago lacks in the Asian food area BUT this place gives ME HOPE!!! It had the numbing taste, but so tasteful :) will be coming back. The worker was also so kind and gave me an extra set of bowls and utensils
Rice noodles is okay, I like the clay pot it served in :) but flavor is just so so even with the extra spices - recommend the stew chicken (黄焖鸡)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
This place is awesome! I don’t know why this place has not gotten famous yet since the potato noodles are so delicious and authentic. 土豆粉 and 黄焖鸡 are so good - I have ordered delivery and had dine in experience, and the food just hit the right spot!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Came out so fast and extremely hot. Very flavorful and spicy. Good quality ingredients. Super bouncy noodles. A very abundant hot pot.
$15+ for a bowl of noodles with 50% bean sprouts and 2 small fish balls cut in half is such a scam lol. the soup usually has no flavor at all, even if you order extra spicy. why has this place not closed down yet?
Food: 1
I took a Uber for a long trip just for this noodles, but it was a bit disappointed. The noodles was over cooked and the soup was flavorless. The customer service was not bad tho, owner re-cooked another bowl of noodles for me once I complained. But it just not meet my expectations at all. I was a bit disappointed other than the friendly customer service. Not returning tho.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
I love this place which is located in the food court basement of the "Heungseng Square," building next to Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings. The food court has dining tables so you can eat inside. We ordered their House Special Potato Noodle Soup $14.99 and it was mind-flowingly delicious. I ordered mine with Spicy & Numbing soup base and #2 medium spicy. My mouth had a slight Ma La tingle as I enjoyed it and drank the entire soup base. If you love spicy and Ma La, then you must try this soup! The potato noodles were delicious and they put the right amount of noodles. The soup included tofu skin, fried fish balls, and shredded seaweed which were a perfect addition for nutrition and protein. The portion size for just right for adults to finish. We would definitely order this soup again! Service was excellent and the female owner is very nice. In addition, Elitea which is my favorite boba tea spot in Chinatown (less expensive than competitors) - is located in the same food court.
Ordered delivery, so good! Will come back and try dine in.
Restaurantji Recommends
I never write Yelp reviews, but this one is absolutely necessary. The potato noodles were absolutely delicious, came out sizzling and steaming in an authentic pot. The owners (I believe a couple) were so incredibly sweet--it was 10 minutes after closing and they still allowed me to order. The extra meat and veggies costed extra, and after some visible deliberation I (a broke college student) decided to not get them. But the owners were so kind and could tell that I was probably really hungry so they added meat and extras in for me :) which really touched my heart. They also made sure I was safe, told me to take my time eating, and showed me to the exit since the place was closing and the front gates were locked.TLDR: Incredibly kind owners, delicious food, absolutely deserve business! Highly, highly recommend supporting their business.
My second visit to this store. The food is not as good as the previous one. It’s a bit too oily for me and the soup is not as savory as before.
I have been ordering from this place almost a dozen times. Noodle soup is very flavorful and rich. Tons of options and price is reasonable. Highly recommended for any noodle lovers!
I have been ordering from this place almost a dozen times. Noodle soup is very flavorful and rich. Tons of options and price is reasonable. Highly recommended for any noodle lovers!
Taste so good .?