Chopstix Chinese Cuisine

By Carrie Seidman
Tribune Columnist
April 14, 2006

Normally I am averse to frequenting establishments that take liberties with the English language merely to be clever or alliterative.

For example, I would not take my dog to KD's Kanine Kuts - that is, if I had a dog. And when the new Marco Pollo's chicken franchise opens soon in the Northeast Heights, the chances of my stopping in - even if it wasn't a chain and was correctly pronounced "poyo's" - are slim.

However, taunted by friends' claims of the authenticity of its offerings, I swallowed my English major's pride and ventured in to Chopstix. This is the tastefully kitschy (if there is such a thing) Northern Chinese restaurant that took over the space of the late Taeja, a tiny Korean jewel that was, alas, never discovered.

Let us hope Chopstix does not meet a similar fate.

The two little chopsticks printed on the menu - crossed to make the final letter of the name - made the spelling bastardization more palatable. And while we're talking palatable, let's proceed to the food, which is very much so.

Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., if you are short on time, cash and much sense of adventure, you will be well-fed by choosing any of the 17 lunch specials, all under $5. (Yes! $5!)

These are not the usual Americanized, sodden masses of cheap, filler ingredients cooked on a steam table. In fact, some of the choices - like the fiery Mongolian beef or Kung Pao chicken - could have come straight from a Beijing street stand.

Not only are the dishes good, they're bountiful. Along with my $4.95 spicy shrimp with garlic sauce came a cup of hot and sour soup, a slender egg roll about the size of a middle finger and at least two cups of fried rice, made with fresh saute?d vegetables (rather than frozen), strips of egg and, mercifully, barely any soy sauce.

If you are made of stronger fiber, however, you can spend a bit more and ask for any of the dishes posted on small signs lettered in both English and Chinese along one wall. Things like house-made Schezwan sausage, stewed pork feet or chicken feet and pickled kohlrabi with pork and chives. A big bowl of salted pork noodles with tripe and fat-striped pork belly chunks is also quite bona fide.

Anything this authentic - and this tasty - makes language liberties irrelevant.

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