Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.
We are proud to say we have survived another round of holidays and things are returning to normal. Our stomachs are also returning to normal size after being stretched out to the point of no return due to all the holiday goodies. We have successfully rung in the New Year, and we hate to brag, but we actually stayed awake until 9:30 on New Year’s Eve. Truth be told, Rosie, aka the party animal, only made it up till 8:20 before falling in a heap in the middle of the living room floor. But wait, there’s more. Chinese New Year is right around the corner. What better way to celebrate the “Year of the Snake” than to slither over to Woodstock to feast on Chinese cuisine at the Chop Suey Hut.
Chop Suey Hut
218 N. Throop Street
Woodstock 60098
(815) 338-2112
chopsueyhut.com
Directions: Take Rte. 47 North to Lake Avenue, left to East South Street, right on Throop Street to restaurant.
Estimated Travel Time: 26 minutes
This establishment is easily accessible and handicap friendly with either street parking and a parking lot next to the restaurant. Stepping through the door you are greeted by coy fish in a large aquarium. The inside is warm and inviting. This is a small venue with eight booths and four tables. There’s a relaxing water feature separating the dining area from the gaming room.
As with most Chinese restaurants, they have a lot of appetizers to choose from. We decided on the (2) Egg Rolls ($6.75) which were a little different. They were made with pork, veggies, and peanut butter. Nancy wanted no part of an egg roll with peanut butter, so she chose the (10) Fried Wontons ($6). These were wontons filled with pork, shrimp, onion, and water chestnut and fried golden brown.
Jim said the egg rolls were large, but in his opinion, the peanut butter was not a good addition. My wontons could have used more flavor. Thank goodness for Jim’s hot mustard sauce that came with his egg rolls, since I used it to jazz up my wontons.
Nancy chose for her New Year’s celebration the Kung Pao Shrimp ($16.25) which was shrimp, peppers, carrots, onions, Chinese veggies with peanuts, cooked in a spicy sauce. This was served with white rice. Nancy was not adventuresome and asked for them to leave out the “Chinese veggies.” What arrived was a huge plate filled to the rim and the amount of shrimp she received was unbelievable. She will probably get two more meals from her doggie bag alone. It was very tasty.
Jim went with the Mongolian Beef ($15.75) which was tender beef with onions and carrots in a Mongolian sauce and served with crunchy rice noodles. Again, what appeared was a plate piled high with beef. Believe it or not, he said it could have used more veggies. The sauce was a little too heavy on the molasses for his taste. He took half his food home in a doggie bag for dinner the next day.
If all this food wasn’t enough, we ordered a large side of Pan-Fried Noodles ($5). Two-thirds of it came home with us in a doggie bag.
Chop Suey Hut is a very nice choice for dine-in Chinese cuisine with “Jabba the Hut” sized portions. We may have had better tasting food elsewhere, but never bigger portions.
The cost for our pre-Chinese New Year celebration was $60.35. Getting a good fortune in our cookies, priceless…
Jim’s take: I like egg rolls and I like peanut butter, just not together.
Nancy’s take: I love Chinese appetizers, but unfortunately my wontons were on the bland side.
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com
