Patty Chen knew she had a good idea in opening Serious Sanji Asian Cuisine and Bubble Tea in Northbrook, but did not anticipate the demand for its soup dumplings.
“We started with a rush, learning on the fly,” said Chen, manager and owner of Serious Sanji, 794 Skokie Blvd. “I was shocked by how many people were coming in. I knew it would be busy, but I did not expect this.”
Chen obtained the franchise from a Florida company that specialized in carryout, she said. Adapting the preparation and service to in-person dining turned out to be challenging.
“They had their own way to do it,” she said of the Florida franchises. “We were not trained (to serve for in-person dining). We started slowly, but we had time to fix the process and learn how to do it well. Now we’re on track.”
To keep up with demand, Serious Sanji uses 13 of its 20 employees for each shift, Chen said. Even at 2 p.m. on a Wednesday, the restaurant, which sits in a strip mall at Skokie Boulevard and Dundee Road, was serving four tables in its small dining area.
“Drivers passing by stop in,” Chen said. “They do not see good Asian food in the area. We decided it would be a great location. The only comparable Asian places are in Niles, so they do not have to drive far to come here.”
All of the Serious Sanji staff is experienced in preparing and serving Asian food, she said. The restaurant specializes in unusual dishes, including dim sum-style soup dumplings, Chen said.
“Dim sum is a small plate, so you have to order a lot of items and share,” she said. “It’s really different from the American style of dining. People have said the portions are small. We explain that you have to order several items.”
Because the restaurant is limited in size, Serious Sanji is not able to take as many orders as other establishments, Chen said. She prefers asking customers to return on another day than to tell them the restaurant is out of certain dishes.
“At noon or 5-6 p.m., we try our best,” she said. “Sometimes we have to turn people away. I don’t want them to sit down and (then) say, ‘We’re sorry. We’re out of soup dumplings.’ We want to make sure everything is served hot and fresh.”
Chen calls the food “Asian cuisine with a mix of Cantonese and Shanghai soup style.” For example, the dumplings and sanji are Shanghai style, but the dim sum style is Cantonese, she said.
“We also have American-style Chinese dishes,” Chen said. “We have a broad community. You don’t have to eat Chinese food you do not know. We have a second option for you as well.”
The Shanghai style is a different way of making soup dumplings, she said. Chicken broth is infused inside the dumpling with a customer’s choice of meat, Chen said.
“So when you bite it, the soup actually comes out,” she said. “It’s not what you expect with a dumpling.”
Sanji is “Shanghai-style street food,” Chen said. Dumplings are steamed and then pan-fried for three minutes to make the bottom side crispy, she said.
Sarah Fish of Glencoe said during her visit last month that the pork soup dumpling was “delicious.”
“It was fabulous, very flavorful and a very good size,” Fish said. “It’s very hard to find soup dumplings and dim sum style restaurants around here.”
Fish, who operates an Instagram account reviewing North Shore dining, predicted the restaurant will “do great.”
“There is really nothing like this place,” she said. “I’m going to come regularly. I tried to come on a Sunday, but it was so crowded. We really needed a dim sum and dumpling place around here. It’s a good family restaurant.”
