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Read the press release here.

Dim Sum Coming To Little Italy With New Menu From Jade Court

By Ariel Cheung | October 6, 2017 6:09am
 Jade Court, a Cantonese restaurant in Little Italy, will have dim sum starting Sunday.
Jade Court Adds Dim Sum Menu To Little Italy Restaurant
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LITTLE ITALY — When it comes to dim sum, Jade Court's new menu is the real deal.

Starting Sunday, fans of Phoenix Restaurant in Chinatown will be able to get the small plate dishes at Jade Court, which opened a year ago at 626 S. Racine Ave. in Little Italy.

The Cantonese restaurant will bring the tapas-esque cuisine to a storefront that housed Italian eateries for decades in a neighborhood with a couple of Chinese food options but, so far, no dim sum.

"It's exciting to tell people who've asked for it that now, we're doing it," said Carol Cheung, who opened Jade Court with her father, Eddie Cheung, who founded Chinatown's Phoenix Restaurant and managed it for many years with his daughter.

Dim sum, usually eaten as breakfast or brunch, will be offered daily at Jade Court, except for when it is closed on Tuesdays. It will also be available in the evening on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Items range from smaller dishes like sesame balls or coconut pudding for $3.75 to $5.75 special dishes like stir-fried sticky rice.

Sui mai dumplings are filled with pork and mushrooms and come steamed for $3.95 for four. [Provided/Jade Court]

Staples of dim sum menus are present, from the steamed shrimp dumplings to fried chicken feet. There are pot stickers and barbecue pork baos, plus dishes less familiar to those not in the dim sum know, like a crispy taro dumpling, chrysanthemum jello and fried radish cake.

The one major difference from what the Cheungs offered at Phoenix Restaurant is that Jade Court will not have the steam-heated carts often used in dim sum service. The smaller restaurant just doesn't have enough room, so customers will instead order from a menu with photos accompanying each item.

The golden-hued chrysanthemum and goji berry jelly ($3.95) has a mild flavor reminiscent of chamomile tea, and some say it offers health benefits. [Provided/Jade Court]

Crispy chicken dumplings ($3.95) at Jade Court. [Provided/Jade Court]

In fact, Cheung worried at first that the Jade Court kitchen would be too small for dim sum at all, but eventually decided to give it a try after repeated requests from customers.

RELATED: Jade Court, New Hong Kong-Style Chinese Restaurant, Opens In Little Italy

Since opening in September 2016, Jade Court has found its regulars to be a combination of Little Italy neighbors and Chinatown patrons who make the trek for what Cheung describes as uniquely high-quality Hong Kong-style fare.

"There's not a lot of foot traffic, so it's different from being in Chinatown, but it has kind of become a destination place," Cheung said. "You have to know we're here and make plans to actually come."

The restaurant is situated on a mostly residential block — and with sidewalks currently under construction — so it takes a reputation as one of the pioneers in Chicago's Cantonese scene to succeed.

Jade Court, 626 S. Racine Ave. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]

Phoenix Restaurant opened 20 years ago after the Cheungs moved to Chicago from Toronto. Trained by chefs who learned the art of Chinese cuisine in Hong Kong, the kitchen served up fresh-to-order dishes made with especially thin wrappers and high-quality proteins.

"Sometimes customers are surprised when they order something they would consider an Americanized Chinese dish, but it's not quite what they're used to," Cheung said. "We have Mongolian beef and egg fu young, but people can taste the difference."

Eddie Cheung and his partners sold Phoenix Restaurant in 2015, but he soon returned to the restaurant business with Jade Court, which was named after his first restaurant in Toronto.

Jade Court is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily, except Tuesdays. There is parking in the UIC lot across the street and it's BYOB.