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.
“Yu” know what they say about Chinese food? They say, “after you’ve had it, a few hours later, you’re hungry, and want it again.” This saying proved to be true with us. We just reviewed a Chinese restaurant, and we found ourselves having an overwhelming desire for Chinese food again. We intended to review a different restaurant in the Schaumburg area, when suddenly the Mini-Mobile was mysteriously drawn to the Yu’s Mandarin Restaurant parking lot in Schaumburg. So what could we do? In the last few years, we have heard mixed comments about this restaurant, but we had a craving for Chinese food, and we have no will power whatsoever, so we had to review this restaurant.
Yu’s Mandarin
200 E. Golf Road
Schaumburg 60173
(847) 882-5340
yusrestaurant.com
Directions: Take Route 47 South to I-90 East to Roselle Road South to Golf Road East to restaurant.
Estimated Travel Time: 26 minutes
It was a Saturday night and the parking lot was jam-packed and we were wondering if we would get our Chinese food fix or not. Luckily, the restaurant is so large we were immediately seated at our table. The restaurant is nicely decorated, but the main attraction is watching the chefs manning their flaming woks behind the glass partition. This only intensified our craving for Chinese food even more.
We ordered a pot of hot tea to share while we looked and drooled over the menu. Hot tea is included with the meal, just so you know. We saw the Mandarin Dinner for Two ($18.95 each) and decided this would be the best deal. With this dinner for two you get to pick from your choice of four soups and eight entrees. You also get an Appetizer Sampler, aka, the ever-popular Poo-Poo Platter!
Our appetizer sampler consisted of two crab rangoons, two egg rolls, two shrimp toast, two chicken sticks, and two beef sticks. Our favorite on this platter was the shrimp toast. Our least favorite was the chicken sticks. After munching on all of this, our craving was starting to subside. On to the soup. Nancy had the Wonton Soup, and I had the Hot and Sour Soup. Her soup had pork and shrimp floating in the broth (she could have sworn she saw the shrimp doing the back stroke), and my soup had pork, chicken, and shrimp in it. Both of our soups were very tasty.
For our entrees, Jim had the Mongolian Beef, which was slices of marinated beef and green onions bedded on crispy white bean noodles (you know the ones, they look like styrofoam). I had the Sweet and Sour Shrimp which was breaded shrimp, green onions, green peppers, and pineapple chunks in a sweet and sour sauce. Our entrees came with steamed white rice. Jim’s dish was the hit of the evening. His beef was thinly sliced, tender, and delicious. The sauce was absolutely incredible. My dish was tasty and there was a lot of shrimp in it.
FYI: This is a handicap accessible restaurant.
The price to satisfy our craving was $42.45, fortune cookie included. You know what the world’s worst fortune to get in a cookie? Answer: That wasn’t chicken!!!
We think this “Dinner for Two” finally satisfied our Chinese food craving and was a very good deal. We saved $8.80 if you add up the items individually. So I would say, Yu’s for Two is the way to go. And remember, Confucius say…he who eat cookies in bed will wake up feeling crumby.
Jim’s take: My meal was awesome. Oh no, I’m getting a taste for Chinese food again!!!
Nancy’s take: Jim won!!! I’m fussy on my beef and I have to say, I should have ordered his entree. It was that good.
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com.
