11/10/18
This is one of my favorite dishes at what may be my favorite restaurant in Chicago. It is Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard's newest spot that she advertises as "reasonably authentic Chinese food." I've had a decent amount of Chinese food in my day, and while it may not be totally authentic, it is among the tastiest I've had. The first time I went to DDG was pretty late at night and I got the Chongqing chicken (basically the same Sichuan chicken/chili dish that Rich recently posted from Lam's) and fell in love with that dish and the restaurant. This past weekend I met up with a buddy there for their dim sum brunch. Every dish we shared was really good - other standouts were short rib pot stickers and scallion pancakes with braised pork. These little buns, though, stood out from the other exceptional dishes. The dough is straightforward - flaky and a perfect golden brown. Inside this shell is the shredded pork from the face of the pig. It is some of the best pork meat I've had in recent memory - perfectly porky and salty. The pork also had a really nice texture - almost a crispiness, not bogged down or overwhelmed by a sauce. An awesome little pocket of yumminess. Comes with a little spicy aioli type of sauce that's good for dipping. DDG is open for dinner through 11pm and brunch starting at 11am on weekends. Can't recommend highly enough.