Chinatown's Polished Dim Sum
MingHin Cuisine on Archer Avenue is the Chicago outpost of the Hong Kong-influenced modern dim sum format. Polished service, carefully-rolled dumplings, and the kind of large dining room the format requires.
The cooking is Cantonese dim sum at restaurant-grade discipline: har gow with the proper translucent skin, properly-rolled siu mai, considered cheong fun, and the wider Cantonese seafood and roast meat programmes the format demands.
What to Order
Har gow and siu mai as benchmarks. Both are properly-executed. Cheong fun with the right delicate texture; roast pork buns; turnip cake. Order broadly across the dim sum cart; the dinner-service Cantonese menu rewards a confident order.
The Format
The dining room is large, comfortably-lit, and busy at peak hours. Service is brisk in the proper dim sum tradition.
Best Occasion: Team Dinner
MingHin handles a Chinatown team dinner reliably. The dim sum format turns the meal into a shared event; the price point is honest; the room handles a group of any reasonable size. Bringing colleagues to a polished Chinatown dim sum room is one of Chicago's classic moves.