Yilin Japanese and Chinese

Unfortunately it is now closed.
Great customer service and love the country style shredded beef and crispy sesame beef. I have also had the salt and pepper tofu, which is great when dining in.

I particularly enjoy the Salt and Pepper Tofu. The people here are super nice and tend to give regulars free appetizers (my wife and I used to go here at least once a week). Definitely one of the best Chinese/​Japenese restaurants in Chicago — they really do cook everything fresh and you can tell they care about the quality of the food.
Pro tip:
They don’t list all buns that are available. Ask the server to see what’s fresh :)

This place is grreeatt! So glad I discovered it, because I’m sure we’ll be regulars. The harshest critic I know came into town to visit (my mom) who swept in and started demanding an off menu, made-​to-​order meal… you know the type:
Mom: Can I get a bibimbop?
Server: Bibimbop? We don’t have bibimbop here
Mom: Can you make it for us then? [begins listing the ingredients for Korean bibimbap]
Server: (still politely) We don’t have that, but we can recommend a dish that you might like…
They still managed to somehow satisfy my mom and aunt, so an extra two stars for Yiljin. I would consider their food to be more «gourmet» Chinese — definitely more finesse and care, and volume than your typical Chinese restaurant. I tried a Japanese roll which was ok, but I think their strength is really in their Chinese dishes.
Awesome service, they even gave us a few complimentary appetizers, and despite their wine list being comprised of simply «Merlot, Cabernet,» etc, the glass I had didn’t suck.
Yiljin is also very baby-​friendly, with a baby changing station in the bathroom, and a kindly ‘tude towards the kids.

I love this place. I think there are a lot of mediocre Chinese restaurants out there but there food is very good. I love the Seafood casserole. They also serve Japanese food and I love that they have some warm sushi rolls. I had the volcano roll another time and it was AMAZING– it has cooked salmon and is delicious. They also give you extras for free like 3 tiny egg rolls, edaname and an orange later.

There’s not really anything wrong with Yilin, but there isn’t anything great either. Now keep in mind I have only ever picked up food, and it’s basically just been beef fried rice, egg rolls, and soup, but the food itself doesn’t overly impress me. It’s not bad. I’ll eat it in a pinch because it’s a block from my house and is good enough to fulfill my craving. Perhaps I need to try the dine-​in experience and expand what order. Meh, we’ll see.

I’ve enjoyed all my visits to Yilin. The service is great and the food is even better.
I spent many years in San Francisco, some of them living in the city’s Chinatown. The food at Yilin is some of the best I’ve had since leaving there. The soup dumplings are excellent and so are the cumin scented short ribs. If you like Chinese food as much as I do, this is the place to visit.

My boyfriend and I came in here around 6:30pm on a Friday night, and must have been ahead of the «rush» because the place was mostly empty. We were seated and had our drink and appetizer order taken immediately, which were brought to us very quickly. The appetizer was brought with 2 spring rolls, which adorable and delicious, and a bowl of edamame free of charge. I thought that was great considering most other sushi restaurants charge you for edamame, let alone spring rolls. Our sushi order came out in just the right amount of time after we finished the appetizer, and was equally as good. I’m not a sushi fanatic or anything, but what I had was good for my taste. The waitress was very good about checking on us and making sure drinks and food were filled without being too overbearing. We opted out of dessert, but I’ll definitely try something next time we go.
The atmosphere was very calming and put you in the right mood for your meal. The price was decent, especially considering the freebies you get. I don’t know why this place got a few bad reviews, but it looks like those all involved the Chinese food which I didn’t try. If you’re going for sushi and drinks, I highly recommend Yilin.

Some of the cleanest Chinese food I’ve had in a long time. The hot and sour soup is decent, the crab rangoon generously filled and tasty, and the general tao’s chicken has a nice, unique crispiness to it. A great place for carry-​out. The dine-​in atmosphere is clean and conducive to a nice sit down meal. Try it out!

Hands down our favorite place for Chinese cuisine in Forest Park. I am extremely picky when it comes to my crispy sesame chicken, and they actually make it CRISPY! Everything always tastes fresh and delicious, not greasy at all, and the food is ready for pick up 15 minutes after you order. Also, the menu is so vast, and we have not even come close to trying everything. That being said, everything we have tried has been wonderful. The Japanese soda is soooo good, plum flavor. The only concern I have is that there never seems to be anyone inside the actual restaurant… hoping enough people are ordering to go so they stay open! The sushi is also quite good and high quality, more of a summer thing for me :) Try it! And please keep it in business, because no other Chinese restaurant comes close to the quality these guys are dishing!

Yilin continues to get better and better (even though it’s always been fabulous in my book)! Absolutely wonderful service and food. This is our favorite restaurant in the area and we have liked everything we have ever eaten here. It’s also one of the healthiest choices around.
They’ve redone the menu and added some great dishes. As a member of Weight Watchers the diversity of the menu is great and I can eat the most delicious vegetarian dishes without having to worry about added butter and fat. Their sauteed shrimp and sauteed scallops are also a staple for me when I go there. LOVE LOVE LOVE Yilin, and the décor of the restaurant is truly beautiful and very peaceful.
Staff treat you like family and make you want to keep coming back. They will do everything they can to accommodate you, changing dishes slightly to your liking and differing orders for your kids, etc. They are great with my niece and nephew who are incredibly happy with just a big plate of pan fried noodles. You never have to wait and service is ON IT no matter what, if it’s green tea… you’ll get plenty of refills or a small pot.
I could go on and on but you need to try it to appreciate it!

Really Bad Chinese Food !!!

I’ve lived in Forest Park for over 11 years. This is at least the 4^th different establishment to open up shop at the corner of doom (Madison and Des Plaines) since I lived here. With the way my visits have gone here, I’d easily expect a fifth one to start up within the next 18 months, probably sooner.
Let’s start with the opening. The restaurant sent out a promotional mailer: buy $ 20 of food, either dine-​in or takeout, and get a $ 20 gift certificate good for a future visit. Good deal, eh? Well, once we tried to redeem this offer, we were told that it was really two $ 10 coupons, and that each coupon was only valid if you placed a $ 20 order. Naturally, we could only redeem one coupon per visit.
Can you say «bait-​and-​switch,» boys and girls? I knew you could.
But, we played along anyways. New local place. Want to give them a chance to iron out the kinks and get things working more smoothly.
As others have mentioned, there was free edamame before the meal and a free orange after. They are decent touches.
The food was decent. The entrees I had in my two visits were the cumin short ribs and the beef egg foo young. I remember that my wife and I ordered fried tofu on our second visit. The tofu was only lightly fried, soggy and in rather large cubes. Also, it was served to us with our entrees. In just about every other restaurant I’ve been to, appetizers have been served before the entrees, not with them.
On one visit, on a not-​so-​busy Thursday night, it took me 10 minutes of trying to get a waiter’s attention to take up our check. It took another 20 minutes, plus 2 more reminders to the same waiter, to bring back the tab along with my credit card. Not cool. Not cool at all.
I wanted to like this place. I really did. I’m a big fan of supporting local businesses. But between the coupon bait-​and-​switch, the questionable service and the unremarkable food, I can’t think of a single reason to recommend the place.
Being the only option, even if it’s a bad one, still isn’t a good business plan.

Yilin is probably one of the most surprising restaurants I’ve been to in a while. From the outside, I had no idea that this would be one of the best Szechuan restaurants in the area. Inside, the décor is comfortable and the seating is spacious.
Once one looks at the menu, it becomes apparent that the chef cooks authentic cuisine. There is a large variety of dishes to choose from and I’m looking forward to coming back soon.
To start with, the edamame is alright but at least unsalted. The spring rolls were crispy but nothing unusual.
The first dish I ate was the Shanghai Style fish fillet. This came with a good amount of wood ear for texture and in a simple sauce (I believe of Chinese rice wine and vinegar). At first, the look of the dish may not impress the diner, but a bit of the perfectly cooked tender fish will quickly change your mind.
The second dish I had was the xiao long bao. I really enjoyed how they managed to pack a good amount of tasty broth inside a thin skin. This broth perfectly complimented the pork inside and in my opinion is better than the versions offered in Chinatown (even better than Moon Palace).
The third dish I had was the stir fried shrimp with gingko, celery, and lily. Finding dishes that use both gingko and lily is not easy in the Chicagoland area, especially ones that masterfully prepare it. Oddly, the last place I remember trying something similar was in Golden Harbor in Champaign.
The tea smoked duck was the final dish I ate in the restaurant. This was very flavorful and very crispy. If you have never tried this dish, this is a must order on your next visit, you will not be disappointed.
When I visited, they also prepared fresh soy milk and tofu pudding. Since the eat-​in portion was so good, I got a carryout of szechuan string beans and 3 types of buns not on their menu (BBQ pork, pork, and vegetable). The fresh made buns are definitely something I’d like to see permanently on their menu, still moist and flavorful after 5 days.
I’m definitely coming back to this place soon and am looking forward to more of their excellent cooking.

This is one of the few places that’s walkable from my work in Forest Park, so I eat here kind of a lot.
The good:
potstickers
spring rolls
the lunch special
smoothies!
The middling:
scallion noodles
The not good:
sushi lunch special (tasted kind of like nothing topped with rice vinegar)
miso soup
Lesson: The chinese menu is delicious, the Japanese menu is… less.

Having combed through several restaurants in the Oak Park neighbourhood, I had found myself wandering down Madison Avenue in Forest Park one Saturday afternoon. Plenty of pubs in the area to leave the Irish with options for quenching their thirsts. At the far west end of the Madison Avenue stretch of eateries, there is Yilin Japanese and Chinese restaurant.
Oh how I love Pan-​Asian.
The inside of the restaurant is reminiscent of a ski cottage with the wood and dark facing to everything. The customer service is top, and you can tell when smiles and statements of welcome are painful to hosts and hostesses, not the case here. I was off to a good start.
First to the table was complimentary edamame. As much as people enjoy a bowl of those beans, it may have been shelling peas with my grandmother as a child that makes me grimace whenever a cup of edamame is placed before me. Thankful that these were not powdered with salt, I partook of the edamame to completion. Then there was a warm cup of hot and sour soup. Loved it. It has been years since I had hot and sour soup, having sworn off any restaurant Chinese food after having had some of the best authentic Chinese food prepared at the hands of my first post-​college roommate.
Where it all got to be pedestrian was with the sweet and spicy shrimp. This was certainly a dish that I would have enjoyed more had I not been served «real» Chinese food. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Cheung, for preparing so much delicious Chinese food with real flavour that blew my mind, because the food that I have at any Chinese restaurant has as much zest as a boiled egg without salt. I gobbled down the plump sweet and spicy shrimp with a bowl of rice. I will not let food go to waste. And the complementary slice of water melon at the end was too cute for its own good.
The customer service is really fantastic, an indication being the manager asking me if everything was okay. May have been because I had my high-​end camera out photographing the meal. High-​end camera at any restaurant no doubt could mean the photographer is a visual agent for a magazine or editorial. I appreciate the customer service because that is one magnet that draws a person back to an establishment. However, food is the other draw and I fear that I may have been belly-​washed from having had Chinese food prepared the way that it is served in China, not for the soft American palate. Perhaps next time I shall have to round up some of my Chinese friends and have them join me. Yes, I shall do that, and then see how different the flavours are in the dishes.

A friend had suggested we try out Yilin as she mentioned it was a fairly new establishment. I always check out trusty Unilocal but was surprised by the one star reviews. Thank goodness for Janie H.‘s review that said to give the Chinese portion of the menu a try and I couldn’t agree more!
Yilin is actually REALLY good. My friend had started off with the chicken on a stick which basically was a yakatori. The chicken was very tender and the sauce was delicious.
The portions at Yilin are HUGE. You could eat the entrees as family style and have enough for three people. My friend had ordered the shrimp fried rice and the honey garlic chicken. Her honey garlic chicken was really yummy. It reminded me of the candied honey walnut chicken you’d fine at PF Changs. However, Yilin’s honey garlic chicken was nice and juicy. Very tender. My friend thought it could have been a little crispier which our server overheard.
The service was great. Our server even offered to refry the honey garlic chicken so it would be the right amount of crisp for my friend. We were also surprised to receive 4 free egg rolls which were yummy. The egg rolls were filled with veggies, pork (?), mushroom and bean thread noodle which I love!
I ordered the Country style Shredded Beef which was delicious. It had just the right amount of spice and the right amount of crisp. My friend agreed and said she would order my dish next time she visited Yilin. It was a hit at home as my husband had devoured all of my leftovers. I really enjoyed the juilienned veggies, particularly the celery because it was just al dente and paired well with the spicy beef.
Overall, we had great time. The décor was great. Loved the wood colored furniture and ceiling dressings. The service was impeccable and the food was very tasty. We both agreed that we’d come back to Yilin.
Yum!

Everyone – you should get the Chinese food instead of the Japanese food here! The family who owns it is from the Szechuan region of Chinese known for spicy, and good, food. Get the dry chile chicken; Xinjiang cumin lamb; shrimp with gingko, celery, and lily; braised chicken with dried chesnut; and spinach sauteed with garlic. These dishes are similar to those at the famed Lao Szechuan in Chicago’s Chinatown.

I wasn’t a big fan of Coral and was really looking forward to try out this new place since I received a coupon in the mail to receive $ 20 gift certificate on the NEXT visit. Nice trick!
Anyway, my fiancé and I came here on a Wednesday evening. It was pretty dead… but we wanted to try it anyway. I ordered the seafood pan fried noodle. My fiancé ordered the yan chow fried rice. We also ordered some nigiri pieces and spicy salmon. The total of our order came out to be over $ 20, so the waitress came back and told us we get a complimentary appetizer for spending over $ 20! Nice! The choices were gyozas or spring rolls so we ordered spring rolls.
My seafood pan fried noodles was pretty good! I lived in Chicago all my life and ate a lot in Chinatown and home cooked meals. I really enjoy this fried noodle. My fiancé did too. His Yan Chow fried rice was okay to me, but he enjoyed it. The prices are relatively similar to how Chinatown prices it. it is similar but slightly more. Our spicy salmon was really good. BIG chunk of fish and it was tasty! The nigiris were good too. Our appetizer spring roll was pretty tasty too!
My fiancé and I will definitely be coming back. I do hope they do get more business on the weekends or at other times because I would be sad to see them go out of business. With the $ 20 gift certificate on my next visit (they actually broke the $ 20 into 2 $ 10 on your next visit which also expires 2 months from the day you go) I will make my trip back here. It is closeby and I don’t have to drive to Chinatown to get my Chinese and Japanese combo cravings.
The staff was REALLY nice, too! They don’t speak good English but what do you expect? Most legit places dont have fluent English speakers anyway. Go to Chinatown and you’ll see.

My goodness. It’s hard to believe I was in the same restaurant as the other reviewers. And in a way, I wasn’t. We were there for the Szechuan specialties and they were great. Loved the potstickers, which were small but very tasty. Hot and sour soup was so-​so. Excellent salt and pepper fish and dry chili chicken. Terrific Szchuan string beans – as good as I’ve had anywhere. Service eating in on a Saturday evening was fine. Fuller review with pictures here.

tried their «15% off 1^st online order» promotion 2 days ago w/​some friends. no problems there and ready in about 30 minutes, but what i was handed was definitely not what i ordered. the owner seemed very surprised and had no idea what or where my original order was, but was nevertheless extremely apologetic and gave me a large bowl of miso while i waited another 15 minutes for the correct order. the miso was a bit too salty but i appreciated the gesture. back at friend’s home, busted out the toro, negi hamachi, and mixed vegetable rolls. they were so-​so. smaller than i was expecting (especially for the price) and a little heavy on the mayo, which was a plus for me, minus for the friends. she had included a spicier soy sauce in addition to the standard packets, which we liked.
ate in yesterday for lunch to check out their American-​style Chinese specials, which were much more competitively priced. we tried the sesame and general tso’s chicken for ~$ 5 each. service was attentive without overdoing it, and our waitress gave us complimentary edamame. i thought their Chinese was much better prepared than their sushi – portions were accompanied by a scoop of white rice and still on the small side, but i wouldn’t have changed anything about the food itself. restaurant and bathrooms were modestly decorated and spotless, the layout was exactly the same as i remembered Coral having.
they just opened this past Saturday (⁰⁵⁄₁₂) so i would consider coming back for lunch or maybe even dinner, but only for their Chinese.