An essential Chinatown staple, Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings has been consistently featured by popular food review programs like CheckPlease and Chicago's Best. Q.X.Y. prides themselves on authenticity, freshness, and accessibility.

Interior lamps add to the comforting vibes of the restaurant.

The tables inside are gorgeous and serene. You can even find napkins in the drawers!

At the back of the restaurant, one can view the dumpling-making process through a window.

The restaurant's interior is almost surprisingly beautiful. It's small and cozy, and the amount of beautifully crafted wooden furniture is worth noting. The place settings are carefully-detailed, with customized wooden chopsticks, cloud-shaped chopstick-rests, embroidered napkins, and wonderfully painted plates. Diners can expect to be greeted by a friendly, knowledgeable staff and to be seated and served promptly–especially during less busy hours.

Q.X.Y.'s specialty is of course dumplings (steamed, fried, boiled, however you like them!), but they also serve other authentic Chinese dishes like fish tofu and lamb skewers.

This restaurant is perfect for a small group of friends. After a busy day on campus, I hit up Q.X.Y. to catch up with two classmates from the quarter before. We shared the shrimp, pork, and cabbage dumplings (boiled), beef and onion dumplings (pan-fried), and the lamb and cabbage dumplings (steamed). Although they were all delicious, the steamed lamb and cabbage dumplings were so good that we got two orders.

Doubling up on the lamb and cabbage was unnecessary (we left the restaurant quite stuffed) but well worth it for the price. We only spent ~$20/each and gained a new favorite place to gather with friends in Chinatown.

All images via Yelp.

Located in the bustling central street of Chicago’s Chinatown, Daebak has been quietly advertising its “soft opening” since February. The restaurant specializes in Korean barbeque, and the name translates to “awesome” in English, and it certainly lives up to it.

The restaurant gleams with shiny stainless steel tables equipped with barbeque areas. Located on the second floor of the building, Daebak offers a view of Chinatown. The real highlight of this layout is the giant TV screens. Projected on both the front, back, and many TVs around the restaurant are various K-Pop singers and their music videos. It offers a more authentic vibe, making you feel more surrounded by Korean art and culture while enjoying the food.

The restaurant offers separate platters of meat–mainly pork or beef–as well as combination platters that include sides. We opted for the beef combo, which came with a set of thinly sliced brisket, a slab of marinated boneless short ribs, and a bowl of seasoned prime boneless short ribs. The combo was served with an assortment of side dishes–which taste pretty good eaten alone too–such as bean sprouts, potato salad, fish cakes, kimchi, kimchi radish and turnip, squash, and soybeans. I would highly recommend one of the combos, as it is a better deal than individual orders.

The dress code at Daebak is casual, ranging from sweatpants and t shirts to slightly dressier attire. I wore leggings and boots with a casual sweater, and my friends dressed similarly. For guys, a shirt and jeans works just fine.

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