Best Taiwanese/Korean/"Chinese" in Chicago

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

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1. charcoal fired grills? if yes, better, if not, at least grate over gas. Cooking on an iron plate (or worse yet, not cooking it yourself) is least desirable, needless to say.
2. what cuts of meat are you choosing? For beef, choose something unmarinated, like boneless short rib (galbi sal), something like that, don't cook it death like Koreans do, and see if you like it. Forget the marinated meat and enjoy the flavor of the meat itself with basic seasoning, and as a ssam. Pork belly (samgyubsal) is also an obvious choice. Beef diaphragm and tongue are pretty good.

I fully agree with you on the unmarinated meats part. Since my wife (Korean) wife and I moved to Boston, we've stopped doing samgyubsal in restaurants because we can do it just as well, if not better at home, at a fraction of the price.

Originally Posted by gladhands

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I fully agree with you on the unmarinated meats part. Since my wife (Korean) wife and I moved to Boston, we've stopped doing samgyubsal in restaurants because we can do it just as well, if not better at home, at a fraction of the price.
I agree with that as well, samgyubsal can be done anywhere you can do bacon, basically. Beef, with less fat to render off, I feel deserves charcoal grilling. Also, this is complete sacrilege to my mother race and not related to food in Chicago so much as Korean food in general, but I think Japanese-style yakiniku in more Korean interpretations is better than real Korean food, and obviously better than Korean-American food. If it is available, I seek that style out. You're gonna get better ingredients, particularly the meat, you can get some of the higher grades of wagyu in there. Prices are a bargain in Japan, less good in Korea: This place is a chain in Tokyo, the galbi full-size (about one serving, so 200-250g) is 3500Y, sides are additional (even kimchi) but not too expensive. I've eaten there once and it is really good. Tokyo food will jade you, but for something as commercialized and adapted as this, it's still really good because of the beef. It's a cheap, good steak, really. http://www.ebisu-toraji.com/shop/honten_diner.html I ate this here in Seoul last week, and one piece is about $70 (you have to order two or more to get them to even bring you the coals without bitching) - lots of free sides that are admittedly very good (even the lettuce has no rusted stems, common with sangchu), but the meat is sparse. It's also a small chain store, and the meat is top-notch for over here, but not as good as Japanese beef. This is definitely not typical Korean BBQ, this is $150-200 K-BBQ, these are either setup for tourists or as side places for the best butchers: This is a cheap samgyubsal spread, which you can get for about $20 for 2 out the door here in Korea: Lots of price differential for what looks and tastes the same, basically. =\\ Korean food doesn't have versatility.

I've only had Japanese style Korean BBQ once, coincidentally, in Chicago. The name of the place escapes me, but it certainly had more variety than traditional Korean places. The only thing that I recall eating was beef heart, which my wife confessed to never seeing on a Korean menu in the states.

I didn't know a Japanese-style yakiniku (divergent from robatayaki) existed in Chicago, that is interesting to know. I tend to classify it as 'Korean-Japanese' food, by Korean-Japanese people (of which there are many, and of which many end up in the US as well) - Korean palates are muddled and so Korean flavors are muddled, yakiniku IMO simplifies and amplifies ingredients in a Japanese style - and they tend to use the whole animal in a different way than Koreans too, Koreans tend to use offal for stock, the Japanese like to grill it and eat it in K-BBQ style as well.

Originally Posted by globetrotter

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they just opened a taiwanese place in evanston, it got some good reviews, but I have no idea how good it is. the times I've eaten in taiwan I ate mainland chinese food.

Had pork over rice there with tea cooked egg. Quite good you should try it.

Couple Chicago places on the list this year: http://top100.chinesemenu.com/en/us/...s&id=514825050 and the top asian list as well: http://top100.chinesemenu.com/en/us/...n&id=514878040

The best Chinese food I've had in the midwest was at Chinn Chinn's in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The place was awesome. Hey, it's only a two hour drive? People drive from all over for this food.

Originally Posted by SField

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Everything I've had in Chinatown has been horrific except for one mochi peanut ball at this bakery. I had dimsum there a few times but was so drunk I didn't notice how bad it probably was. I much prefer Argyle as a neighborhood but it's also Vietnamese.
Have you tried Sun Wah BBQ (on Bway, just north of Argyle)? Their Peking duck is good. I recall some of the other dishes being too, though I usually just get the duck. As long as you're in that area, Chiu Quon bakery is worth checking out as well. The moon cakes are great, and I'm a fan of their steamed buns, too.

Originally Posted by SField

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Had pork over rice there with tea cooked egg. Quite good you should try it.
On the topic of tea eggs, Dream About Tea on Davis in Evanston has particularly good ones. They also import some excellent teas (I'd recommend any of their pu-erhs, as well as Dragon Well spring pick, Dragon Top, and Golden Silk) and china teapots.

Lao Shanghai

Originally Posted by SField

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Had pork over rice there with tea cooked egg. Quite good you should try it.

cool I will.