SY Chef in Lisle

I stopped by this strip mall Szechuan/Chinese casual spot in Lisle when I was hitting Ikea in Bollingbrook. Fantastic dry spicy chicken and dumplings. Worth another try. Would love to see some reviews.

1209 Maple Ave (Maple Court Shopping Center)
Lisle, IL 60532
(331) 777-5096

I live in Lisle. It's been a million different Chinese restaurants in the past. I haven't tried SY Chef, but am curious now. I just tried the MingHin restaurant in Naperville last night and thought it was really good. Hard to find a Chinese in the Western Suburbs.

HPGlutster2 wrote:I stopped by this strip mall Szechuan/Chinese casual spot in Lisle when I was hitting Ikea in Bollingbrook. Fantastic dry spicy chicken and dumplings. Worth another try. Would love to see some reviews.

1209 Maple Ave (Maple Court Shopping Center)
Lisle, IL 60532
(331) 777-5096

“Some” review: DaBeef mentioned the place on an IG post today (Wednesday); he also noted a possible connection to Homestyle Taste (RIP)

Synchronicity! DaBeef loved the noodles there. That settles it, everyone in area needs to pipe up now.

HonestMan wrote:Hard to find a Chinese in the Western Suburbs.

This is surprising to hear. I thought Naperville and its surroundings had built up the options, setting aside Katy's as an early marker.

Okay, I'm highly stoked to try this place, it's about 15 minutes from me and I've mourned the loss of Homestyle Taste. I'm checking the menu online and it looks like they offer 3/5 of my faves from HS: Colorful Wide Cold Noodle, Sliced Potato Salad, and Cumin Flavor Lamb w. Bone (no Smoked Pork Roll or Spinach with Peanut and Vinegar, unfortunately) Hoping to get there and report back ASAP.

bweiny wrote:

HonestMan wrote:Hard to find a Chinese in the Western Suburbs.

This is surprising to hear. I thought Naperville and its surroundings had built up the options, setting aside Katy's as an early marker.

You know, it's not quite as robust of a scene west of 355 as you might think. The Park to Shop food court was a major development (where I've only eaten twice and have yet to find stand outs.) There's a handful of outposts of Chicago Chinatown mainstays that opened in the vicinity as well – LSC, Xi'an Cuisine (had a horrible experience there), and Strings. Up Ogden, on the east side of Naperville, there's the popular, but middling Mapo and Happy Lamb hotpot (my kids aren't old enough to be trusted with this yet.) So Minghin kind of becomes our default go-to. There was chatter about J's Kitchen on another thread, which is on my list to try.

Picked up a gigantic take out lunch for 1 yesterday. I ordered three things from the appetizer menu, thinking they'd be smaller plates, though each turned out to be entree sized. And with prices ranging $8.75 - $11.95 not a bad deal, at all, in this economy!

The largest (and priciest) plate was an old favorite, Colorful wide cold noodles. These were packaged very thoughtfully (I seem to remember this from Homestyle Taste) with noodles in one box, veg and meat in another, with sauce on the side. I attempted to dine al trunko and had to call an audible and wait until I had proper equipment to assemble it. Once I managed to toss the dish, it was really tasty and close to what I remember from HT – slippery & chewy noods & the sauce had that mustard punch I remember but also a sesame-fortified creaminess and plenty of black vinegar. Great stuff. Minor quibbles with the veg & protein – very cuke-heavy. And the meat was mysterious ribbons with prominent garlic and subtler cumin flavor, which led me to believe it was possibly repurposed from another dish.

The other two dishes seemed vaguely familiar from HS and were less memorable – Homemade cabbage tofu salad was very fresh and light, though under seasoned despite dripping with dressing. I do love tofu skin though. And Homemade hand pancake was pretty delightful – loose, laminated flatbread, as flaky as my favorite local parotta, though maybe a little chewier. It was oddly served without accompaniment though and longed for a punchy dip. I did use the wide noodle sauce for a few dunks, which was tasty, though I was hesitant to deplete the stash.

All in all, I'm super happy to have a new spot in the rotation out here. And to be sure, I need to work through more of the menu (looking at you cumin lamb.) Before declaring it destination worthy, I'd be interested in recent intel on Ed's, which to me was hitting Homestyle Taste caliber in the late 10's when I was still spending more time in the city.

Hello
Thanks for the reminder about this place.

FYI: relatively new to the west burbs that is our family's go to for DIM SUM and excellent salt and pepper fish (expertly fried). Everything made fresh to order. Price competitive to Ming Hin (which we used to go to).

http://www.dcuisinechicago.com/
665 A. PASQUINELLI DR., WESTMONT, IL 60559
630.819.3492

Enjoyed everything we have had here, but I would say one thing to avoid is Beancurd (Tofu skin) Roll.

Just ate here last (Sunday) night with my unadventurous parents. Delicious meal and generous portions. Will be returning here when I am back in the area.

lodasi wrote:Just ate here last (Sunday) night with my unadventurous parents. Delicious meal and generous portions. Will be returning here when I am back in the area.

What did you have?

The GP wrote:

lodasi wrote:Just ate here last (Sunday) night with my unadventurous parents. Delicious meal and generous portions. Will be returning here when I am back in the area.

What did you have?

Scallion Pancake
Dry Chili Chicken
Stir Fried (baby) Bok Choy in Garlic Sauce
Chicken and Broccoli
Beef Fried Rice