Chicago: Gourmet Food Inc.

I debated over whether I should include this post.  I'd forgotten my camera at home so I had to make do with my cell phone.  And of course, thanks to my infamously shaky hands, all the photos came out crappy.  Then I thought, whatever.  No shame, right?  That philosophy extends to bad photography.  

Now that the whiny excuses are done with, on to the food!

One night, CK and I were feeling particularly hungry for Asian food.  CK's boyfriend happened to be visiting, so the three of use set off for Chinatown and the one no-nonsense Chinese restaurant (if it can ever be called that) that I know of, Gourmet Food:

Don't be fooled by its name.  There's nothing gourmet about Gourmet Food.  It's actually designed more like a take-out place.  There's a counter.  You place your order there.  Then you sit and wait for the food.  Don't expect anyone to bring it to you either, you gotta fetch it yourself.  And don't expect actual plates and utensils.  It's plastic and styrofoam all the way.  Everything is dirt cheap though, so what more do you want?

I went a little crazy with the ordering because the minute I read something on the menu, I had a craving for it.  That's how desperate for Chinese food I was.

CK and her boyfriend were responsible for the three chicken wings.  I had nothing to do with those:

The chive boxes, however, were entirely my doing.  Both of them.

So were the steamed pork and cabbage buns.  One for each of us:

And the two scallion pancakes and the 27 dumplings (9 pork and 18 seafood):

My dad makes better chive boxes and scallion pancakes, but the dumplings were surprisingly not bad.  Buns were pretty good too.

On top of all that food, CK's boyfriend also wanted a noodle soup and a side of rice.  To be honest, I was pretty much full after eating a steamed bun.  Everything else was utterly unnecessary.  We barely made a dent in it.

Ugh.  This is what happens when you make friends with people who have as little self control as you do.


Gourmet Food
210 W 23rd St
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 842-3366
http://www.maymaygourmet.com/