Yume means “to dream” in Japanese.
“This is our concept, a taste of dreams,” said Ken Hsu, owner of Yume Japanese and Chinese Cuisine in Schaumburg. “We try to focus on taste and flavor. Our menu is based on Japanese food and Chinese food, and we try to bring more traditional dishes together to mix and match the concept.”
Hsu, who hails from Hong Kong, brings dishes like Cajun shrimp noodles to the table, along with surf and turf.
“My kitchen teacher, he taught me how to make Cajun, to bring it all together. It’s not just, ‘You are Asian, you focus on Chinese food or Japanese food.'”
Cajun is unusual for a Chinese restaurant, our server tells us. “I can’t say we are the best,” Hsu said, “but I can’t try the same in this area.”
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“Our concept is Japanese and Chinese and American style. Not like American chop suey or egg foo yung. We serve traditional things like Chinese and Japanese dishes, and Cajun and French. You can try it all.”
On the menu: Japanese and Chinese Szechuan-style dishes. Appetizers like crab Rangoon, pot stickers and Szechuan dumplings. Soup like egg drop, hot sour, miso and wonton soup with pork. Classic lunch items like General Tso’s, orange and sweet and sour. Dishes like baby bok choy, lo mein, pad Thai, dry chili chicken, Hong Kong roast duck and spicy Korean Jjpampong. Sushi bar lunch in bento box. Cajun-style mussels, shrimp and scallops.
About the owner: Ken Hsu opened Yume Japanese and Chinese Cuisine last year in a space that previously housed two Chinese restaurants. “Sometimes people come in looking for the buffet,” said Hsu, who picked a location close to home for his first restaurant.
Philosophy: “New management, new ownership, new concept of mixology and Asian fusion.”
Décor: Upscale with traditional Chinese and Japanese décor.
Price range: Appetizers from $3.50. Soup from $2. Vegetable dishes from $9.95. Sushi and Maki from $4.25. Lunch starts at $7.75, sushi bar lunch from $8.50. Entrees from $13.50.
Logistics: Yume Japanese and Chinese Cuisine, 754 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg. Hours are 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Contact 847-882-4482 or go to www.yumecuisine.com
Shonda Talerico Dudlicek is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.