Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Wednesday, 12 Aug 1992 09:21:01 CDT
From: <U30644@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: chi.eats
Subject: Re: best oriental restaurant
Distribution: usa
 <1992Aug10.151421.19030@ils.nwu.edu>

In article <1992Aug10.151421.19030@ils.nwu.edu>, tsui@ils.nwu.edu says:
>
>I'm Chinese and I prefer Korean over Chinese food (probably because there's no
>outstanding Chinese restaurants in Chicago, sorry, just my opinion. I also
>can't understand the appeal of Thai food, just a passing fad...but thats
>another story).
>
>As for Korean restaurants, I've found GIN GO GAE on Lincoln (5600 north area)
>to be the best I've had in the area.  The place is somewhat of a
>hole-in-the-wall type place, but the food is consistently good.  The
>accompiniments (vegies,kim chee, etc...) are well prepared and they don't
>skimp
>on the portions.  My favorite dish is the HOT KOREAN PANCAKES.  Its Korean
>pancakes stirfried with veggies and kim chee.
>
First of all, this is NOT meant to be a flame, so PLEASE don't take it that
way.  It's just meant to be an honest assessment of the restaurant mentioned
above.

My girlfriend and I went to Gin Go Gae last night based on the recommendation
I read.  Granted, whenever one goes out to try a new place, there is always an
element of risk, as their should be.  That's part of the excitement.  But to
be honest, Gin Go Gae was one of the WORST "oriental" restaurants I've ever
been to.  I will try to be as objective as I can in my "ratings:"

SERVICE - Pretty bad.  The waitress hung around our table as soon as we sat
down, trying (I assume) to get our order as soon as possible.  They weren't
very friendly, and there was an error in the food order when it came out.
We had to wait forever to get our check, I finally had to get up and ask
for it.  No one refilled our water glasses.

FOOD - I ordered the Korean pancakes, and my girlfriend had the Bi-Bim-Bob,
which is a combination of rice, noodles, meat, and fried egg.  I also thought an
order of BROILED MEAT soup would be good as an appetizer.  The soup came out,
and we were a bit surprised to find that the "broiled meat" soup was beef
tongue soup.  It was just beef tongue slices with broth and a ton of green
onions in it.  There were also these things that looked like white gristle
floating around in it.  Not that appetizing, to say the least.  The meat in
the other dish was pure gristle.  The Korean pancakes were ok, but not very
exciting.  They were good and spicy, but there was no flavor to them.  No
subtlety to the taste.  It was just an overpowering spiciness and they were
a bit greasy.  Total bill for the evening: $30.00.

Am I missing something?  I thought the whole experience was VERY disappointing.
And I disagree completely with the opinion that Thai food is just a "passing
fad."  I've had every kind of "oriental" food, and last night was only the
second time I've had Korean (the first time I wasn't thrilled either).  I
think Thai food is incredibly good, and the thing that makes it good is the
complexity and subtlety of the many different tastes found in it.  MY
personal recommendation for a favorite "oriental" restaurant is Rose Thai,
2644 W. Lawrence.  I've had most of the stuff on their menu and can safely
say that it's consistently good.  Prices are VERY reasonable too.

I don't know... maybe it's just a question of individual tastes... perhaps
people who have gone to both places could compare... or would this be like
comparing apples and oranges?


Joel
Newsgroups: chi.eats