Bamboo Butterfly

Though there are some decent Chinese food places around Chicago’s suburbs, most of the time, one’s best bet for finding authentic Chinese and Taiwanese fare is going to be downtown Chicago.  However, I recently had a vague memory of a place I’d visited when I was younger — a strip mall filled with Chinese restaurants and a stinky smelling traditional medicine shop filled with extreme prices.

My memory led me to do a google search and lo’ and behold I came across the International Mall, located in Westmont, Illinois.  This was indeed the place I remembered.

However, the years have not exactly been kind to the strip mall.  Only a handful of restaurants still remain and most of them have received awful reviews.  Luckily, I followed the advice I saw on Yelp and decided to check out Chinese Cafe. It is apparently the most popular and visited place in this ghost-like building.

I embarked on the hour and a half drive in hot pursuit of some tasty Taiwan delicacies I’ve been missing.

When I pulled up, the mall looked a lot more run down than I’d remembered.  The strange herbal shop still remained but I didn’t go inside.  My eyes were set instead on Chinese Cafe and the wonderful variety of menu items that almost brought me to tears.

A couple other restaurants are still in business inside the building but on the day I went,  all patrons were flocking to Chinese Cafe.  I had a pleasant conversation with the cashier (I’d prepared myself beforehand to make use of my toddler Mandarin, because a few people on Yelp said the employees did not speak English) in both English and scattered Chinese.  When I told the cashier about my Taiwan days, she happily informed me 90% of the staff were from Taiwan.  I  gazed  indecisively at the selection of menu items until I settled on steamed tofu with vegetables, an avocado smoothie (Oh, how I’ve missed them!) and some fried breakfasty thing I  recall eating in Puli.

As I settled down at a table with my plastic tray and heaping pile of food, I could almost pretend I was back in Taiwan.  Once again, I stood out as the token blonde in the crowd and ironically, I felt at ease.

The food was delicious.

It was a nice day.

If you’re ever in the area, check out Chinese Cafe at the International Mall in Westmont and get your Taiwanese food fix.