Argyle Street and BeyondTwenty Asian restaurants in Uptown
Cafe Hoang1010 W. Argyle | 773-878-9943
Drab, utilitarian storefront brightened by the toasty golden glow of its bakery cases, lined with Asian buns, rolls, and flaky cakes filled with sweet bean pastes, vividly yellow egg custard, sugary ground peanuts, or even a mix of candied melon and onion. They’re not quite panaderia cheap, but they’re close: a sesame ball, filled with adzuki-bean paste and deep-fried, will set you back 70 cents, and a barbecue pork bun costs 90. Chiu Quon is open from 8 AM to 7 PM seven days a week. —Philip Montoro
$Asian, Vietnamese | Breakfast, lunch, dinner: seven days | Reservations not accepted | BYO
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Bun bo hue won’t cure cancer, but this extremely nourishing bowl of rice vermicelli and beef broth, similar to pho but not as complex, is a fine palliative for the common cold or crushing hangover. Named for the Vietnamese city of its origin, it’s a fiery and slightly sweet brew bobbing with green onions, chives, cilantro, a chewy pig’s knuckle, and silky cubes of congealed pig’s blood. Unlike pho it’s also served with raw shredded cabbage, which lends an extra element of texture, along with the more typical side garnishes of fresh chiles, mint leaves, bean sprouts, and limes. At Dong Thanh flexibility is the rule, as owners gamely offer to adjust spice levels or put any number of protein combinations into play, including seafood, chicken, pork skin, and barbecued duck. The array of liquid garnishes on each table—black vinegar, chile, fish, soy, and “rooster” sauces, pickled chiles, and garlic oil—ensures that no two bowls are completely alike. —Mike Sula
La Banh Mi Hung Phat4942 N. Sheridan | 773-878-6688
There’s more to Pho 888 than just pho, the Southeast Asian noodle soup that marries funky meat and vibrantly fresh vegetables within a complex broth. Our spring rolls were constructed of delicate rice tissues and layers of sparkling mint leaves enfolding marinated beef and onion and thick as a Maxwell Street Polish. Cha is a house-made sausage of minced ham, potato, and fish sauce—our server told us they serve up to 1,000 orders of this Vietnamese bologna a week. Throwbacks to French colonial days, banh mi are minibaguettes stuffed with meat and vegetables: we were tickled by one of sweet grilled pork, cucumbers, onions, and green shoots, a savory fistful of bright tastes and contrasting textures. Bowls of orange fish sauce are spiked with, for instance, garlic or ginger to make each more suitable to a specific dish. With around 200 reasonably priced menu items, there’s much more to explore, including congees (rice porridges) and fish in clay pots. No alcohol is served, so we sipped a smoothie of durian, the sulphurously stinky “King of Fruit” rendered edible with cream, sugar, and ice—and an odor-containing plastic lid. —David Hammond
