Unimart One Stop Shopping, Chicago

Unimart One Stop Shopping, Chicago

Had some biz downtown today, so I beat it up north to get some late-in-the-day takeout at the Clark St. Unimart. Just driving by, I’m not sure you’d figure there’s prepared food in here (it does say “carryout” in the lower right corner of the sign, but it’s easy to miss with all the other stuff that’s allegedly going on in this plaza).



Eating out as much as we do, it’s easy to get jaded; I enjoy seeing a menu full of stuff I don’t recognize – and there was a lot of stuff like that here.



Unfortunately, coming late in the day, there was not a lot left.



Still, I managed to snag a few tasty items to bring home:



Starting at 12:00 and going clockwise, there’s pork adobo, menudo, BBQ chicken, pancit palabok (containing “bright garlic,” another new one on me) and little wieners that I didn’t get the name of. The flavors were pretty good, though mild, and I must say, it’s a good thing I have a fierce sweet-tooth because this is some sugary stuff, particularly the BBQ, pancit and wieners. The two predominating flavors were fat and sweet, and I liked it all (that is, I cleaned my plate and it felt good), though it seemed, if I may say so, a little one-dimensional. All this sweetness was a good lead-in to dessert:



Unimarts seem to be house Original Baker’s Delight sections, so I got a spongy cake (kind of like a very high-end Twinkie, only in brick-form) and a sweet banana, which is a whole banana in a light pastry, encased in hardened sugar.

I’m inspired to keep exploring Filipino food, because there’s a whole lot there that is still very unknown to me.

Unimart One Stop Shopping
5845 N. Clark
773.271.8676

"This organ, only three inches in length, has brought the majority of the living beings in the worlds under its rule."
Gujarati Book

Mr. Hammond,

this refers, I presume, to the tongue.

Sonja

I live very close by this place and when I first moved here I used to think the place was on fire first time I passed it. Yeap that's real wood they cook with in there.

I also believe you can send money, ship stuff and even book vacations to the Philippines inside there. Not to mention obtain many food stuffs and produce unique to the Philippines.

SGFoxe wrote:"This organ, only three inches in length, has brought the majority of the living beings in the worlds under its rule."
Gujarati Book

Mr. Hammond,

this refers, I presume, to the tongue.

Sonja

Of course; what else? . Here's the context from a Jain text that I found profound:

Out of our five sense organs, only the tongue is entrusted with two functions: speech and tasting of different flavors (Rasas). Just as there is a peculiarity of the dual sphere of potentially dangerous activities of this organ of sense, so also is there a unique peculiarity in achieving control over it. It is said that if only the tongue is brought under control, then the control over all other sense organs becomes easy.

The voluptuousness of the worldly person with regard to this organ of taste appears to be almost universal. This organ, only three inches in length, has brought the majority of the living beings in the worlds under its rule. Human beings, animals, even insects, are all under its spell.

Uni-Mart has several other, larger locations: Niles, Hoffman Estates and their flagship in Woodridge. Original Baker’s Delight is part of the same company and does great breads.

http://www.unimartonestop.com

My mom shops at the Unimart in Niles, which is also where she sends money "home" to the Philippines.

David, as for the food you had:

and little wieners that I didn’t get the name of

These are likely longoniza, spicy-sweet sausages that were my favorite weekend breakfast (with fried day-old rice) growing up.

Unimarts seem to be house Original Baker’s Delight sections, so I got a spongy cake (kind of like a very high-end Twinkie, only in brick-form) and a sweet banana, which is a whole banana in a light pastry, encased in hardened sugar.

The high-end Twinkie is known as Brazo de Mercedes, literally "arm of Mercedes." Growing up, I always interpreted the name pretty literally and thought of the filling as marrow. It's not my favorite dessert. The banana fritters, however... I think you can just call them lumpia sanging or "banana eggrolls." I can't remember if there's another name. I devoured these things as a kid. My godmother would make huge batches just for me. It's another one of those recipes adjusted for convenience sake. My godmother just made them from regular bananas. She used white sugar and wrapped them in eggroll wrappers. The ones I'm going to make on Sunday are more "authentic," i.e. fancier, made from ripe plantains, with pieces of jackfruit and a little brown sugar. The rest of the prep is the same--wrap in eggroll wrappers and deep fry.

The banana fritters, however... I think you can just call them lumpia sanging or "banana eggrolls." I can't remember if there's another name.

Duh. Reviewing David's picture of the Unimart menu, the banana fritters are called "turron."

happy_stomach wrote:David, as for the food you had:

and little wieners that I didn’t get the name of

These are likely longoniza, spicy-sweet sausages that were my favorite weekend breakfast (with fried day-old rice) growing up.

I've had longoniza elsewhere, and I seem to recall them as being different, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly. Is "longoniza" in any sense a generic name for a somewhat wide range of sausages?

I will have those wieners with day old rice for lunch!

David

I've had longoniza elsewhere, and I seem to recall them as being different, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly. Is "longoniza" in any sense a generic name for a somewhat wide range of sausages?

I was trying to rack my brain for other sausages in Filipino cuisine. The only other ones I could think of were the Chinese sausages sometimes used in pancit. In my experience, "longoniza" refers specifically to the spicy-sweet, short, kind of chubby sausages.

Yeah, Longoniza has always been those little sweet red guys in my experience. However, is it possible you are thinking of longaniza, of which there are several varieties from all over Latin America and Spain?

I enjoy the Unimart on Clark and often run over to snag some of the lumpiang and bbq pork. They have a great assortment of snacks, sweets and beverages as well, including calamasi drinks and occasionally dalandan juice boxes.

Kitchen Monkey wrote:is it possible you are thinking of longaniza, of which there are several varieties from all over Latin America and Spain?.

I'm pretty sure this is what I was remembering. Actually, the one I remembered having was, I think, a dry sausage and so, as I suspected, the term refers to a range of wieners with clearly different characteristics.

Thanks.

David,
Have you been to Pinoy Market in Niles? It is an interesting store worth checking out. They also sell prepared food.

Pinoy Oriental Food Mart Incorporated
8824 N Milwaukee Ave
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 391-1525

d4v3 wrote:David,
Have you been to Pinoy Market in Niles? It is an interesting store worth checking out. They also sell prepared food.

Haven't been there yet, but given my current Filipo-centric trajectory, it's only a matter of time.

On the subject of Filipino markets, I was speaking with happy-stomach today, discussing balut, and although this egg snack is popular in the Phillipines, we couldn't actually remember seeing it in any Filipino markets around here (Vietnamese, yes, but not Filipino).

Hammond

HI,

There used to be a store devoted to balut at Whipple and Irving Park called the Red Egg. It's long gone, though I did visit a few times. They wouldn't let me buy their product. I guess I was profiled.

Regards,

Hi,

This evening I stopped in at Unimart in Niles with my friend Helen to see what was interesting. Looking over the steam table of various Filippino stews, we decided to dine there.


Unimart steam table by cal222, on Flickr

Helen is from Pampanga, reputed to be the locus of the best of Filippino cuisine. We decided to eat the food she does not make for herself. This began with crispy lechon with a nice ribbon of fat between the meat and skin. The lechon sauce is made of pork liver with garlic, onion, brown sugar and vinegar for a sweet-sour sauce rather than savory.


Crispy lechon (pork) by cal222, on Flickr

We shared a combo of two selections and rice. In the rear is a stew of bitter melon, squash, green beans, seafood and pork. In the front was fried beef with vinegar, onions and peppers served cold.


Two selection combo with rice by cal222, on Flickr

While we were eating in their dining area, I saw an advertisement for whole lechon (pig) with various sides for a party:


Party menu by cal222, on Flickr

We didn't dig for details on the size of pig. It wasn't a bad deal, though Helen thought swapping out the Chop Suey for another side might be a good idea.

Unimart
7315 West Dempster St
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 663-8388

As I was driving home this evening, I passed Unimart, 5845 N. Clark St., as per usual -- only to see that the building is in the midst of demolition! While the parking lot has certainly seemed quieter than normal, I had no idea it had closed permanently. I suppose between the opening of Seafood City and the pandemic, its days were numbered. Still, sad to lose such a humble treasure.

me3dia wrote:As I was driving home this evening, I passed Unimart, 5845 N. Clark St., as per usual -- only to see that the building is in the midst of demolition!

Wasn't the place on Dempster west of Harlem up to a few years ago also Uni-Mart? (It was also the second location of Abt) [corrected east to west]

JoelF wrote:

me3dia wrote:As I was driving home this evening, I passed Unimart, 5845 N. Clark St., as per usual -- only to see that the building is in the midst of demolition!

Wasn't the place on Dempster east of Harlem up to a few years ago also Uni-Mart? (It was also the second location of Abt)

That Unimart was located on Dempster west of Harlem and across from Culver's.

It closed around the new year of 2021.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:

JoelF wrote:Wasn't the place on Dempster east of Harlem up to a few years ago also Uni-Mart? (It was also the second location of Abt)

That Unimart was located on Dempster west of Harlem and across from Culver's.

It closed around the new year of 2021.

Regards,
Cathy2

I have really missed the Dempster Unimart. They had a great meal deal -- $6 for noodles or rice plus two hot dishes and a drink. It was a favorite stop for a quick, cheap lunch.