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.