Penny's Noodle Shop- Wrigleyville

What do you do when it's the coldest day of the month and you don't feel like cooking? The obvious answer is stay inside and doordash; but that is not what my roommate and I did. We ventured to Wrigleyville to find something to do after our day of zoom classes.

While sitting on the CTA, we found the cutest little noodle shop named Penny's Noodle Shop; a Thai restaurant in Chicago. It looked affordable, close enough to the train, and really frickin' good. So we trudge through the snow to this little corner restaurant (pictured below).

(photo from Eater Chicago)

Lo and behold, exhibit A. We immediately go in and are cheerfully greeted by the staff. Upon entering, we were asked to show vaccine cards and IDs, as well. The restaurant was clean, organized, and roomy - considering how small it looks to be. The menu was also hefty and had so many options! We ended up picking the Japanese gyoza (6 pieces), crab rangoon (6 pieces), and both respectively ordered their wonton soup.

Remember how I said this establishment was affordable? Well I'm about to blow your mind. We ate all this food for $28, without tip. For a Chicago restaurant where we could dine-in, this was a great price and definitely worth it.

(Image from Yelp)

Now onto the element of food. The gyoza were really good! Very crispy, but tender at the same time. The only thing I would change about it, was the dipping sauce that was given. The other times I've eaten gyoza, the sauce had a bit more flavor, and I'm inclined to believe that's the best way to eat it.

The wonton soups were very filling, and delicious. It had BBQ pork, chinese greens, green onions, shrimp and pork dumplings served in a seasoned broth. This was fantastic! The dumplings were cooked just enough to keep them soft and fluffy without just tasting like dough. My favorite part of the entire dish was most definitely the rich broth. Sometimes broths can either be too watery or honestly too flavorful and thick. Both of those take away from the main part of the dish - the vegetables or the protein. However, Penny's did a great job by keeping the broth delicious but not too prominent.

Lastly, my favorite dish, the crab rangoon. I'm naturally a big fan of this dish, but I really loved the way they prepared it. It was crunchy at the top, but soft from the bottom where the cream cheese was. It really was a very nice blend of cream cheese and seafood, while keeping the dumpling soft enough to eat in one bite. The sauce that came along with it, complimented it very well too. If I had more money and time, I absolutely would have ordered another one of this dish.

(Image from Penny's Noodle Shop)

Overall, I would absolutely come back here! I really appreciated the service and food at Penny's. Next time, I might even try one of their noodle dishes.

Rating: 9/10