LTH Home

Little Three Happiness: Salt and Pepper Shrimp

Little Three Happiness: Salt and Pepper Shrimp
  • Forum HomePost Reply BackTop
    Page 2 of 2 
  • Post #31 - December 29th, 2006, 7:21 pm
    Post #31 - December 29th, 2006, 7:21 pm Post #31 - December 29th, 2006, 7:21 pm
    At (Little) Three Happiness, shrimp toast can be found on the dim sum menu along with a very respectable rendition sweet and sour pork spareribs ($1.50 for the sweet and sour).

    The salt and pepper shrimp and Evil Ronnie style clams were very good today.

    :twisted:
  • Post #32 - February 12th, 2007, 11:17 am
    Post #32 - February 12th, 2007, 11:17 am Post #32 - February 12th, 2007, 11:17 am
    I got a nice little bonus from a customer late yesterday afternoon and the kids voted (vehemently I might add) for LTH.

    We went all out, shrimp toast, potstickers,stir fried lobster, extra crispy chow fun with shrimp and duck, and as an afterthought, salt and pepper scallops.

    I know the love the shrimp gets and I agree but let me tell ya folks, those might have been the best scallops I've ever had in my life. They blew away the lobster. Sweet and tender, almost creamy with a crispy exterior, oh man oh man oh man.

    Claire blames Gary for her crispy chow fun addiction, she ate the majority of them, leaving me to content myself with scallops and lobster. Andrew liked it all but got a mouthful of chili sauce (NOT Gary's) which he was pretty unhappy with.

    All in all, this will go down as one of the best meals of the year for us.
    I used to think the brain was the most important part of the body. Then I realized who was telling me that.
  • Post #33 - February 15th, 2007, 6:10 am
    Post #33 - February 15th, 2007, 6:10 am Post #33 - February 15th, 2007, 6:10 am
    Octarine wrote:Claire blames Gary for her crispy chow fun addiction

    Octarine,

    Certainly one of the more benign things I've been blamed for over the years. :)

    Sounds like a terrific meal, and the scallops heaven.

    Enjoy,
    Gary
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #34 - February 16th, 2007, 3:35 pm
    Post #34 - February 16th, 2007, 3:35 pm Post #34 - February 16th, 2007, 3:35 pm
    And now based upon my description of the meal, my mother has requested that for her birthday on the 24th. I am not sure I can wait 8 days for more salt and pepper scallops :)
    I used to think the brain was the most important part of the body. Then I realized who was telling me that.
  • Post #35 - February 22nd, 2007, 11:27 pm
    Post #35 - February 22nd, 2007, 11:27 pm Post #35 - February 22nd, 2007, 11:27 pm
    I'm a scallop lover -- I don't often get my first love, Lobster, so I often turn to the less expensive scallop to get my seafood jones off.

    I don't get down to Chinatown because it's just far away from where I live and I don't drive so hauling my tuchas down to Chinatown is a bit of hike for me. And I usually prefer spicy food so my first Chinatown choice in destination is Lao Sze Chuan. However, tonight was the evening before my birthday and a dear friend took me down to Chinatown for a feast to celebrate. He's not big on Szechuan so i suggested we try LTH since i've been writing and reading this forum for a good deal of time and I STILL had not had those crispy noodles -- also -- Octarine's posts on the scallops just pushed me over the edge and we made a plan to go.

    Well...dear readers -- I fell in love. Man was this one of the finest chinese meals I've ever had -- second only to a banquet I ate at in Shanghai in 1983. We started off with eggrolls -- not my favorite eggroll but acceptable. My companion got the spareribs which had him over the moon and prepared for several meals to come -- those suckers were HUGE. I had a very fine bowl of egg drop -- one of my comfort food faves and it had flecks of black pepper through it as well as a lovely broth. Then they started bringing the HUGE portions of food -- crispy pan fried noodles (xtra crispy, thanks GWIV!) and shrimp and veggies....so tasty and fresh. Then a really great, simple plate of beef with ginger and scallions -- really a nice simple but flavorful dish and the beef was really done very well. We also had to have the salt and pepper scallops because I had been dreaming of them--and they were everything Octarine has said and more. Just crispy and spice and melty...all at once. It was like the scallop was a completely different creature.

    Anyhow...it may have been the first time I've been but it will most definitely not be the last. I can't believe how many other dishes I have to try. What a great present for my 42nd year....
  • Post #36 - February 23rd, 2007, 1:33 am
    Post #36 - February 23rd, 2007, 1:33 am Post #36 - February 23rd, 2007, 1:33 am
    Glad you liked it! My mom can't wait, if any of you happen to be there Saturday night around 6, say hi:) We'll be the table where the kids are eating whole smelts. I'm thinking a salt and pepper trifecta, tempered with some crispy chow fun noodles with a meat. Still pondering.

    And none of you think it at all strange that I'm spending 96 hours contemplating what I'm going to order:)
    I used to think the brain was the most important part of the body. Then I realized who was telling me that.
  • Post #37 - February 24th, 2007, 10:05 pm
    Post #37 - February 24th, 2007, 10:05 pm Post #37 - February 24th, 2007, 10:05 pm
    Do all of these recommendations/comments hold for the (Big) Three Happiness restaurant as well?
  • Post #38 - February 24th, 2007, 10:24 pm
    Post #38 - February 24th, 2007, 10:24 pm Post #38 - February 24th, 2007, 10:24 pm
    No, the recommendation for Big Three Happiness is Avoid.

    One assumes they were related once, they haven't been for a couple of decades.
    Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
    New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
    Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.
  • Post #39 - March 13th, 2007, 6:52 am
    Post #39 - March 13th, 2007, 6:52 am Post #39 - March 13th, 2007, 6:52 am
    LTH,

    Hit "Little" Three Happiness with a small group last week, including Stagger and Ronnie Suburban who had not been to LTH. As Stagger states in this post, our overall meal was terrific, with a small fumble. We ordered beef short ribs w/XO sauce and got stir fry beef with an overabundance of salty corn starch gravy. I guess it goes to show if I, who has been going to LTH for 20 plus years, can have an ordering miscue it can happen to anyone.

    Salt and Pepper Shrimp, the subject line of Hammond's original post in this thread, were spot on, crisp, juicy, delicious.

    Yet another picture of "Little" Three Happiness S & P Shrimp
    Image

    With both Bruce Cook and Peter Daane, two known chicken lovers, at the table Defensive Ordering was in play. The whole chicken set between those two never knew what hit it, gone in 45-seconds.

    Crispy Skin Chicken
    Image

    Another slightly miscue was Clams w/ Black Bean Sauce Evil Ronnie style came with crisp rice noodles, as opposed to thin wheat flour noodles, but damn if they weren't terrific.

    Clams w/Black Bean sauce on crisp rice noodle
    Image

    We also had duck w/pork on crisp rice noodle, shrimp toast, dry stir fry crab w/ginger and scallion and egg foo yung. Egg Foo Yung? Yep, Stagger had never had egg foo yung. Stagger seemed to like it, though as his picture here indicates, LTH was a bit heavy handed with the cornstarch in the gravy that day, which is atypical.

    Egg Foo Yung
    Image

    Jazzfood performing Egg Foo Yung Viscosity Test. :)
    Image

    Overall lunch at LTH was, as always, a real treat, speaking of which, I have restocked the Gary's Chili Oil. Feel free to use the chili oil for as long as it lasts, I brought two quarts so it should last a week or three.

    Enjoy,
    Gary
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #40 - March 13th, 2007, 8:23 am
    Post #40 - March 13th, 2007, 8:23 am Post #40 - March 13th, 2007, 8:23 am
    With both Bruce Cook and Peter Daane, two known chicken lovers, at the table Defensive Ordering was in play. The whole chicken set between those two never knew what hit it, gone in 45-seconds.


    Your watch was slow. :P

    Food, as well as company was great. LTH is still my favorite, and most frequented place in Chicago, although Al's is ahead if its a fast and quick meal.
    Bruce
    Plenipotentiary
    bruce@bdbbq.com

    Raw meat should NOT have an ingredients list!!
  • Post #41 - March 13th, 2007, 8:25 am
    Post #41 - March 13th, 2007, 8:25 am Post #41 - March 13th, 2007, 8:25 am
    I love LTH, but that last picture is really gross.
    -Josh

    I've started blogging about the Stuff I Eat
  • Post #42 - March 13th, 2007, 8:49 am
    Post #42 - March 13th, 2007, 8:49 am Post #42 - March 13th, 2007, 8:49 am
    Just thought I'd ad a bit to the photos. I think everything has been covered before but who doesn't love a good food porn shot? :twisted:

    Shrimp toast: by far the best I've had.... in fact the only one I have had that I would order over and over again. That it has a golf ball sized lump of chopped and not pureed shrimp makes all the difference.

    Image

    Gary's Chile Oil: The best part of the meal? Ask for it by name and decide for yourself! :wink:

    Image
  • Post #43 - March 13th, 2007, 10:58 am
    Post #43 - March 13th, 2007, 10:58 am Post #43 - March 13th, 2007, 10:58 am
    I made it there Saturday with my mom and my kids for a belated Birthday meal. In a fit of hunger I ordered a few items from the dim sum menu; ha gow, pork and shrimp dumplings, and chiu chow dumplings.

    In addition, we had shrimp toast, salt and pepper shrimp, salt and pepper scallops, extra crispy rice noodles with BBQ pork, and a Coke.

    The scallops were not quite as sublime as the last time I was there, they weren't quite as crispy on the exterior but the scallop itself was just as good. I was impressed by the amount and quality of the BBQ pork. Shrimp toast; as Stagger says, the only version I will order over and over and over and drive from Northfield to Chinatown for:)

    The dim sum fell a little short, not that they weren't good, they just paled next to the other entrees. I'll stick to Shui Wah or Phoenix from now on.
    I used to think the brain was the most important part of the body. Then I realized who was telling me that.
  • Post #44 - March 18th, 2007, 11:42 am
    Post #44 - March 18th, 2007, 11:42 am Post #44 - March 18th, 2007, 11:42 am
    So its one thing (and an honor) to have a fabulous meal at LTH with Gary and friends but could I pull it off on my own? Yesterday Mrs Ramon and I returned. There was so much beautiful food on our table people were staring! Some even went so far as to ask exactly what we ordered and then ordered much of the same. I ran out of GNR cards and have to make more now.

    -ramon
  • Post #45 - March 24th, 2007, 4:36 pm
    Post #45 - March 24th, 2007, 4:36 pm Post #45 - March 24th, 2007, 4:36 pm
    We ordered beef short ribs w/XO sauce and got stir fry beef with an overabundance of salty corn starch gravy.


    Perhaps this is their default when they don't quite understand what's being ordered. I got stuck with a similar dish once when the lamb-something-or-other I ordered was greeted with a disconcertingly inquisitive expression on the part of the waitress followed by a short nod and a retreat. Fortunately, the starter of S&P shrimp more than compensated. By the way, has anyone yet commented on the almost instantaneously positive effect S&P shrimp has for anyone experiencing bouts of "irregularity"? (Shell-on, of course)
    "The fork with two prongs is in use in northern Europe. In England, they’re armed with a steel trident, a fork with three prongs. In France we have a fork with four prongs; it’s the height of civilization." Eugene Briffault (1846)
  • Post #46 - June 18th, 2007, 9:20 pm
    Post #46 - June 18th, 2007, 9:20 pm Post #46 - June 18th, 2007, 9:20 pm
    I trekked down to Chinatown yesterday evening to try the highly lauded (though some claim overrated) Little Three Happiness. I would say my impressions of the restaurant are generally favorable, but my meal certainly didn't live up to the hype.

    I can forgive a dive like this for marginal rice and tea, but I found the quality of these two staples to be severely lacking. The tea was not even hot and managed to be both flavorless yet bitter at the same time. The rice was dry and of truly disappointing quality. I get better rice from my neighborhood takeout at home.

    I ordered what even I consider an obscene amount of food. When I saw the portions this obscene amount became downright scary. I soldiered on as best I could but I have easily five-plus pounds of leftovers in my fridge right now. To make matters worse I couldn't even expense this meal so not only did I feel overly gluttonous afterwards but somewhat wasteful. Oh well.

    I saddled up with the salt and pepper shrimp, half crispy skin chicken, and roast duck/roast pork combo noodles (extra crispy, of course). Although I'm but a newbie to LTH, I asked for "some, umm, chili oil" and felt something like a poseur. The waitress then asked me if I was a friend of Gary's to which I was unable to come up with a coherent response.

    The S&P shrimp were good, almost very good, but not mind-blowing. Like another poster, I found them to be underseasoned. I could've used a burst of salt and black pepper, in addition to the dish's uncommon vegetal accompaniments. I spiked them with a bit of chili oil and they were duly improved. The chicken was quite good too, but not better than a well-executed crispy chicken. I'd be happy to get this dish in a French bistro with some pommes frites and dijon mustard, but it's not something I would go to Chinatown for. It was a good chicken though, I'll concede that fully. Finally, the noodles were a bit of a disappointment. The sauce was underseasoned and much too cornstarchy. The meat was rather undistinctive and the dish disconnected on the whole. Probably good drunk food, but not all that special.

    All in all I like Lao Sze Chuan a lot more. This is a more than acceptable Chinese restaurant but I'm not sure I'd rush back to return. It's perhaps telling that as I was eating my meal I was thinking about what I could be eating at LSC instead.
  • Post #47 - February 9th, 2008, 10:30 am
    Post #47 - February 9th, 2008, 10:30 am Post #47 - February 9th, 2008, 10:30 am
    I went to LTH for lunch yesterday, and I must confess I was a bit underwhelmed. Egg rolls were terrible, but I wouldn't judge a place on that. The shrimp toast was tasty, but came to the table cold, which took a lot out of them. The salt and pepper shrimp (shell and head on) were good, but not better than I've had elsewhere (my faves are probably Sun Wah). The shrimp were not very fresh. Tea was good. I'll give it another shot, but my first impression was not enough to make me forget about Phoenix or Lao Sze Schuan. Anybody know if Hong Min is ever going to reopen?
    trpt2345
  • Post #48 - February 9th, 2008, 10:59 am
    Post #48 - February 9th, 2008, 10:59 am Post #48 - February 9th, 2008, 10:59 am
    Yesterday must have been an off day. I had an underewhleming dinner there last pm as well. Very oily and tepid shrimp toast, no gary's chili oil when requested (twice), obviously deep fried pot stickers swimming in sauce, virtually black with the skin, a hard crust. The chicken in cassarole w/taro was good enough, but lacked any real power or intense flavor. We left disappointed.

    When they're on, they're on. Last pm wasn't to be though.
    "In pursuit of joys untasted"
    from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata
  • Post #49 - May 8th, 2008, 8:29 pm
    Post #49 - May 8th, 2008, 8:29 pm Post #49 - May 8th, 2008, 8:29 pm
    I post here a little humbled and know that by opening my mouth I am confirming my ignorance, but here goes: I ordered Spicy Salt Shrimp from the China Hut on Lawrence (a slightly above average, kind-of-good place) and the shrimp came with shells on and the breading over it. We didn't like eating the shells so we pulled them off and with it, all the favoring.

    Is this how it is suppose to be? Are you suppose to eat the shells? Are you suppose to strain the favoring off with your teeth and then pull the shell off? Was it just a mistake?

    I know some people eat the heads, that was not the case here. So, should I just learn to love the shell?
  • Post #50 - May 8th, 2008, 9:59 pm
    Post #50 - May 8th, 2008, 9:59 pm Post #50 - May 8th, 2008, 9:59 pm
    cleanplateclub wrote: So, should I just learn to love the shell?


    Yes.

    As an aside, there shouldn't be a substantial amount of "breading" - a "dusting" is OK (should not even closely resemble "western" style fried shrimp).
  • Post #51 - May 8th, 2008, 10:02 pm
    Post #51 - May 8th, 2008, 10:02 pm Post #51 - May 8th, 2008, 10:02 pm
    You can leave that last little bit of tail that has no meat, but if the shrimp is prepared properly, the shell is just a nice crunchy touch that doesn't really detract from, and can actually add to, enjoying the dish -- especially if you actually want any flavor, as even with bread-free salt and pepper shrimp, the flavor is all stuck to the shell. (I don't recommend eating the shell for every shrimp dish, but it just works with salt and pepper shrimp, at least if it's good.)
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #52 - May 11th, 2008, 12:28 am
    Post #52 - May 11th, 2008, 12:28 am Post #52 - May 11th, 2008, 12:28 am
    And the shell is a good source of calcium. I eat the shell too when I order the barbecue shrimp at Mr. B's in New Orleans.
    trpt2345

Contact

About

Team

Advertize

Close

Chat

Articles

Guide

Events

more