Tapsilog at Iba Pa A. Jackson

August 10, 2007

MOST FILIPINO RESTAURANTS serve food the way mom used to -- with a casual disregard for presentation, set on the table in still-steaming pots and platters. So what better place to begin exploring the cuisine than in a Filipino home?

LTHer Sharon Bautista recently hosted a group of folks from LTHForum up in Evanston for a spread of Filipino faves. One of the tastiest foods I've ever had -- that's right, ever -- is the lechon kawali she served, lush nuggets of pork belly first boiled and then fried and traditionally served with a liver sauce. If you're not lucky enough to know a Filipino family that will have you over for dinner, Cid's Ma Mon Luk (9182 Golf Road, Niles, 847-803-3652) also serves up a delicious version, the pork coppery, crunchy, and punched up with the vinegary dipping sauce. At Cid's you can also get siopao, a meat-filled steamed bun, which I liked but may be an acquired taste -- my companion found the shell mucilaginous and the meat stringy. A dish most people would probably find more accessible is beef caldereta, a pot roast sprinkled with sausage slices in a mildly piquant tomato sauce: comfort food epitomized.

Grace Delcano, the Filipina owner/pit mistress/dishwasher of Galewood Cookshack, serves Carolina-style pulled pork sandwiches and nachos from a tricked-out 1993 Ford Tioga motor home at the Logan Square Farmers' Market, carrying on what she describes as the Filipino tradition of "meat, meat, meat." She seems to exaggerate only slightly when she says there are "almost no vegetables in the food of the Philippines." But her favorite home-style Filipino dish is pancit (noodles studded with veggies, available at most Filipino restaurants).

There also doesn't seem to be a lot of fish in Filipino food, though at Fishpond (4416 N. Clark, 773-271-1119) you'll find a decent range of seafood preparations, including panfried butterfish and milkfish as well as very tasty coconut shrimp. Of course, there's also a lot of meat, with Pinoy pork classics well represented, among them dinuguan, a somewhat daunting dish of pork belly in chocolate-dark pork blood.

One major exception to Delcano's axiom is mungo, a stew of mung beans, shrimp, tomatoes, and watercress you can sample at Isla Pilipina (2501 W. Lawrence, 773-271-2988). Though the vegetables are stewed beyond recognition, there's an unmistakable earthy flavor to this dish.

A traditional meat preparation of memorable deliciousness is kare-kare: toothsome chunks of oxtail in peanut sauce perked up by crisp green beans and sweet eggplant. Bautista prepared this dish with shreds of tripe, though her mother was disappointed that she ground the peanuts for the sauce by hand -- nowadays apparently everyone in the Philippines uses something closer to Skippy peanut butter. At La Filipiniana (9060 Golf, Niles, 847-298-9332) we had a tripeless version. Also available were tokwat baboy, a blend of boiled tofu and gummy, gelatinous thin-sliced pig's ear in a soy sauce with vinegar; a sizzling platter of pork jowls; and pata, fried pig's hoof.

GIs stationed in the Philippines during WWII introduced Spam and the all-American hot dog to the country. Tapsilog at Iba Pa (2739 W. Touhy, 773-338-6961) specializes in Filipino foods with the suffix Ðsilog, which denotes a dish constructed on a basic platform of rice (si) and over-easy egg (log), similar to the Korean bi bim bop. Tapsilog is beef, but there are also versions with cured pork (tosilog), chicken (chiksilog), and hot dog (hotsilog). We opted for the pork, which was complemented by a side of sweet fried plantains and tomato and presented on a banana leaf.

For a crash course in Pinoy cuisine, you'd do well to try one of many Chicagoland buffets. Uni-Mart (5845 N. Clark, 773-271-8676) offers all things Filipino, including candy, soap, produce, and Southeast Asian hot dogs -- plus a generous hot table. Inside Uni-Mart is another store, Original Baker's Delight, specializing in baked goods that are frequently consumed at merienda, or "fourth meal," a between-meal snack relished throughout the Philippines.

You'd expect a place called Adobo Express (5343 N. Lincoln, 773-293-2363) to prepare its signature dish well, and this little strip-mall joint delivers. Filipino adobo -- typically a mixture of black pepper, soy, vinegar, and frequently Sprite -- is used to dress meat, its acids balancing and sugars enhancing fat. Other items here are decidedly odd -- Spam and Velveeta baked in a bun? -- but at this well-kept storefront you can score nibbles of multiple items, from rich stews to noodle casseroles and, yes, meat many ways. --David Hammond

For more on restaurants, see our blog the Food Chain.

Asian off the Beaten Path

Deep-fried pig's trotters and stinky tofu from Chinatown to Westmont

Adobo Express
5343 N. Lincoln | 773-293-2362

$
FILIPINO | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

In addition to a number of preparations involving its namesake, Adobo Express offers mungo, a thick paste of mung beans, a welcome vegetable counterpoint to all the animal flesh typical of Pinoy buffets. The caldereta here is almost indistinguishable from mom's pot roast, and the various preparations of pork are tasty though unassertive, showing a shy hand with the spice jar. A few selections push American palates to the limit, specifically the sinigang, a pucker-provoking tamarind soup, and the beef hearts, funky and organy, with little seasoning to cut the note of offal. David Hammond

Chun Ju Restaurant
5707 W. Dempster, Morton Grove | 847-470-0066

$
KOREAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Among foods in Korea said to improve virility (octopus, dog), goat seems to play a few more roles, at least according to posters on the walls at Morton Grove's Chun Ju, which touts it as a tonic for wrinkles, osteoporosis, circulation, liver, kidneys, and poor vision. (It's allegedly good for pregnant women and for stamina in the hot summer months too.) The specialty of the house is jeuk suk yum so bok um, or goat stew, an exceptionally earthy tabletop meal (for two) that combines a huge pile of fresh wild sesame leaves and toasted seeds (with their own medicinal properties) with green onions and shreds of rich gamy goat meat. The leaves cook down in a thickish, mildly spicy broth and mingle with the meat and vegetables. If enough of the cooking juices are conserved afterward, rice, kimchi, and bean sprouts are dumped in the pan until crisp on the bottom; called nurungji, this is scraped and amalgamated with the rest of the rice and vegetables for a satisfying final course. There's a good selection of typical Korean noodle and rice dishes, soups, and stir-fries here, but the real attractions are the stews, which aside from goat include beef, pork, tripe, octopus, and monkfish. Panchan are good quality and include a terrific, chewy raw pickled skate with shredded daikon (ask for hongeo hwe if it doesn't come immediately). Note: the menu is bilingual, but the only identifying English outside says "Korean Restaurant." Mike Sula

Dong Thanh
4925 N. Broadway | 773-275-4928

$
VIETNAMESE | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED | CASH ONLY | BYO

Bun bo hue won't cure cancer, but this extremely nourishing bowl of rice vermicelli and beef broth, similar to pho but not as complex, is a fine palliative for the common cold or crushing hangover. Named for the Vietnamese city of its origin, it's a fiery and slightly sweet brew bobbing with green onions, chives, cilantro, a chewy pig's knuckle, and silky cubes of congealed pig's blood. Unlike pho it's also served with raw shredded cabbage, which lends an extra element of texture, along with the more typical side garnishes of fresh chiles, mint leaves, bean sprouts, and limes. At Dong Thanh flexibility is the rule, as owners gamely offer to adjust spice levels or put any number of protein combinations into play, including seafood, chicken, pork skin, and barbecued duck. The array of liquid garnishes on each table -- black vinegar, chile, fish, soy, and "rooster" sauces, pickled chiles, and garlic oil -- ensures that no two bowls are completely alike. Mike Sula

Ed's Potsticker House
3139 S. Halsted | 312-326-6898

$
CHINESE | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | BYO

To gain access to Ed's amazing repertoire of delicious northern Chinese specialties start by asking for the leather-bound Chinese menu with English translations, then ask about the specials hanging on the wall, and if something appeals to you don't let anyone talk you out of it. You could spend weeks happily exploring: house pot stickers are long cigars of crispy, porky goodness, and the complex lamb, stir-fried with dried chiles, is carried from the kitchen with great regularity. Beef stew with noodle is a massive, very soupy bowl of tender beef chunks with a nice touch of spice. "Fish-fragrant" eggplant has nothing to do with fish -- it's really just a version of eggplant with garlic sauce that renders the fruit light and puffy, with a delicate, crispy outer crust. Don't overlook the cold appetizers: a bowl of tofu with bits of preserved egg is a nice lesson in subtle textural contrasts, and the sliced pork leg with soy sauce is cut thinly in cross section so you can see the varying textures of the different muscles, rimmed by a layer of caramelized fat. Even cosmetically challenged selections tend to be terrific: lily flowers and bean thread noodle is sort of a grayish lump of noodles studded with wilted yellow flowers, but the pale yellow buds have a satisfying snap, like lightly sauteed mushrooms. Mike Sula

La Filipiniana
9060 Golf, Niles | 847-298-9332

$
ASIAN, OTHER ASIAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Across a sprawling mall from fellow Filipino restaurant Cid's Ma Mon Luk is the much more comfortably appointed La Filipiniana, which also delivers friendlier service and a bigger menu of more exotic options. Pig parts come from head to tail, or rather snout to hoof: many tables enjoyed the pata, trotters fried golden and splashed with vinegar. If you prefer vegetables with your pork, some pancit noodle platters feature a decent mix of greenery. Things got weird with the binagoongang baboy, a dish of pork in what our waiter said was blood-based gravy (it definitely contained fish sauce). Bicol express was a coconut broth filled with tentacled creatures of the deep unseen before on any plate of mine; whatever they were, they were surprisingly tender and tasty. To drink there are many smoothies (try the avocado) and fruit drinks, some with tapioca pearls; for dessert, sample halo-halo, a Filipino favorite of shaved ice, ice cream, red beans, corn, and tapioca. David Hammond

Fishpond
4416 N. Clark | 773-271-1119

$
FILIPINO | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY

As the name suggests, Fishpond features more seafood than your average Chicagoland Filipino joint. There's also lots of meat, but we were knocked out by some of the simpler Filipino dishes. The sinigang, for instance, is a superb example of this native soup, fresh bok choy and daikon in a sour tamarind broth. We were also pleased with the kare-kare, oxtail stew with, as the owner told us, "just a little tripe because people expect it." The chicken adobo is quite tasty as well, with a nice vinegary tang. Come early and you can try a traditional breakfast of tapsilog, a mound of rice with fried egg and served with cured beef, bacon, or fish. On Wednesday, there's come-all-ye ballroom dancing instruction in the back room; a buffet is laid out on Wednesday and Friday. David Hammond

Hourglass
3658 W. Lawrence | 773-478-4050

$$
KOREAN | DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: SATURDAY TILL 3, OTHER NIGHTS TILL 2

Variously welcoming and uninviting, this weird little bar serves tasty Korean boozing food. Owned by master kumdo swordsman Suk Do Im, it's decorated with fake foliage, dark wood, and an empty fish pond schizophrenically accented with classical busts, a suit of armor, steer skulls, mounted swords, and reference books. There are two kinds of fried chicken here, one a simple marinated crispy-skinned bird, the other dangerously glazed in a dark, cinnamony sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Various noodle dishes and roiling spicy stews -- fish cake, mussel, or kimchi -- gird the brain, stomach, and tongue against the effects of strong spirits. Any and all can be consumed at a pace befitting a gentleman or lady of leisure: Master Im is a personable and attentive host not above supplementing your choices ("Eel make you strong"). In his absence, however, beware the sullen young slicksters he employs, who seem more concerned with pumping crappy dance music through the bar than tending to the clientele. Mike Sula

Isla Pilipina
2501 W. Lawrence | 773-271-2988

$
FILIPINO | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | CASH ONLY | BYO

A friend of mine says he "just doesn't get" Filipino food. Maybe Isla can help. Then again, maybe not: our meal was a string of big hits and misses. Unlikely as it may seem, the deep-fried pig's foot was scrumptious, and I've never enjoyed trotters much. A bowl of taro leaf cooked in coconut milk along with Asian spices and a few shrimp proved a delicate balance of bitter and sweet, rough and creamy. We probably should have stopped there. Sinigang, a traditional soup sour with tamarind, was brackish to the point of inedibility, and though my charming server heartily endorsed the chop suey guisado, it amounted to no more than thinly seasoned celery and other predictable veggies. The menu description of pancit palabok promised pan-fried noodles with shrimp or meat, but we got pretty much only scrambled egg -- not bad, but not as advertised. Mixed adobo is a good illustration of our dining experience at Isla: chunks of pork and chicken were well seasoned with the classic Filipino spice of soy, vinegar, and garlic but buried under massive hunks of fat -- maybe I just don't get it. David Hammond

Joy Ribs
6320 N. Lincoln | 773-509-0211

$$$
KOREAN | DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: EVERY NIGHT TILL 1

Joy Ribs (formerly Jang Mo Nim) is a family-friendly far-north-side Korean restaurant that offers a number of pleasant surprises, barbecued duck among them. Panchan came in a selection of about eight to ten items, including a couple of outstanding kimchis. Marinated kalbi (beef short ribs grilled at the table) were delicious, especially when doused with a chile-laden hot sauce. And dol sot bi bim bop was a rib-sticking mix of meat, vegetables, rice, and egg, though the rice hadn't cooked into the crisp shell prized in this dish. Hangjung sal, grilled cubes of fatty pork neck, were more of a standout, as tasty as you'd expect of this decadent cut of meat. The dish that really warrants a trip, however, is the house specialty of pheasant served with a rich red broth and tender slices of stewed daikon, carrots, and greens. At $21.95 per person (minimum order of two) it's not cheap, but it's absolutely delectable and plentiful enough for four. The pheasant isn't listed on the menu and appears only on the handwritten Korean signs above the booths -- be sure to ask about it. Jim Mitchell

Katy's Dumpling House
665 N. Cass, Westmont | 630-323-9393

$$
CHINESE, NOODLES | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY-TUESDAY, THURSDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED WEDNESDAY | CASH ONLY | BYO

The name would suggest that dumplings are the draw here, but it's the fresh homemade noodles that instantly turn unsuspecting diners into fervent members of the cult of Katy's. There are two untranslated menus plastered on the wall of this suburban strip-mall storefront. The first lists daily specials like spicy beef tendon and cold pork stomach, which can be found in the refrigerator case (or as I like to call it, the chilled organ grab bag); the second lists frozen dumplings -- pork and fennel, beef and scallion, fish stuffed -- available to go. Personally I can't be bothered with such exotica when I have noodles on the brain, and fortunately the dine-in menu is translated. Stir-fried noodles with dry chile offers the perfect introduction: meat, seafood, and vegetables are stir-fried with a healthy dose of dried red chiles and served atop of a big nest of the fresh noodles. Because the wok is heated properly, the whole dish takes on the smoky flavor missing from so much Panda-Wok-Suey fare. Szechuan cold noodles are just as good, the slow burn of the Szechuan-peppercorn-spiked shredded pork prevailing over the shredded cucumber that attempts to cool the palate. If you must have something other than noodles, the chewy pancake with shredded pork may be the only worthy substitute -- and even it's cut to look like a noodle. Kristina Meyer

Kokeeri Restaurant
4346 W. Lawrence | 773-205-5680

$
KOREAN | LUNCH, DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY | BYO

The menu at Kokeeri is a carb counter's nightmare: homemade dumplings, noodles, wonton skins. Round, fluffy dumplings look and taste like the more familiar Chinese bao -- the jjin bbang is even stuffed with sweet red-bean paste. Other dumplings offer different textures: the gun mandoo (fried dumplings) come crispy, while the beef- and pork-stuffed tong mandoo are steamed. The wonton skins in the soo jae bi are thick and chewy like a southern dumpling, but the soup broth they come in tastes deeply fishy -- not offensively so, yet it's possible that someone not accustomed to anchovy broth might be startled. Since there's no cook-it-yourself BBQ here and the bi bim bop is just OK, why not take the opportunity to try something you've never heard of before, like gaeran dup bop (fried rice omelet) or dak do ri, a homey hot chicken-and-potato stew? There can be something of a language barrier, but the menu's fully translated, and you can order by number. Kristina Meyer

KS Seafood
2163 S. China Pl. | 312-842-1238

$$
CHINESE, TAIWANESE | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | BYO

When Chiang Kai-shek hauled butt off the mainland in '49, he brought along fellow Kuomintang from all over an increasingly red China; on Taiwan (aka Formosa), there was rapid cross-fertilization of many regional culinary traditions. At KS Seafood Restaurant they plate the cuisines from Canton, Sichuan, and Fujian provinces, but Taiwanese chow is the draw: ask the welcoming host Tom for the Chinese menu and he'll march you through fading color pix of island dishes. "Stinky tofu" heads up the parade of exotica; fermented with leeks and loads of funk, like durian or Roquefort, it's intimidating, flavorful, and well deserving of mention in your food diary. The Taiwanese adore variations on soy curd, and even cautious eaters should enjoy the crunchy crust and creamy core of crispy tofu, which is instantly satisfying in a light, sweet sauce. We grooved on eel rice and roast pork bun, a smashing do-it-yourself sandwich with silky-fat slices of pork, crushed peanuts, cilantro, and diced bitter melon. Preserved egg -- purple and fried -- was simply dressed in chile pickle, a well-balanced composition of lushness and heat. KS Seafood is BYO; service is extraordinarily gracious. David Hammond

Little Quiapo
6259 McCormick, Lincolnwood | 773-279-8861

$
FILIPINO | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | BYO

Reynaldo and Nell Garcia named their restaurant after a historic district in their hometown of Manila. Unlike the flavors popular in neighboring Asian countries, Filipino food isn't heavy on the hot and spicy. Foundations lie instead on sour and salt; peanut and coconut sauces are popular too. The Garcias' buffet brims with steaming noodles and colorful stir-fries, but you can also order a la carte: entrees include pancit (noodle-based dishes), rice dishes, and some seafood. Desserts are few and cheap, topping out at $3.50 for the halo-halo, a cloying mix of preserved tropical fruits, crushed ice, milk, and ice cream. Off-the-menu takeout can be found in a display case next to the front door: containers of various adobos share space with baggies of fried chicken skin, piles of fried bananas, and stacked trays of balut, a popular island snack that consists of a boiled duck egg with a surprise inside -- a half-incubated bird. The restaurant will also roast a whole pig with three days' notice. Jenny B. Davis

Mariegold Bake Shoppe
5752 N. California | 773-561-1978

$
FILIPINO | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Tucked into a strip mall just north of Lincoln and California is this tiny Filipino buffet and bakery. Display cases are filled with gooey treats like turon, plantains wrapped in pastry and dipped in caramel; espasol, sweets made of rice flour and coconut milk; and karioka, dense, chewy rice flour balls, deep-fried and dipped in caramel. Pan de sal is a mild soft roll, and hopiang are savory round pastries filled with either mung beans or pork. Desserts include kutchinta, a kind of vanilla pudding, and bibingka, a small round cake cooked in a banana leaf and swirled with cream cheese. A turo-turo, or steam table, offers Filipino meat, chicken, and fish dishes. Laura Levy Shatkin

Mi Na Ri
3311 W. Bryn Mawr | 773-267-3590

$$
KOREAN | LUNCH, DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY

Minari is the Korean name for an herb related to parsley and dropwort that typically makes an appearance in seafood hot pots and stews, the house specialty at this spare little spot on Bryn Mawr. Hot pots of cod, assorted shellfish, and "honkfish" (a species identical to monkfish whose habitat seems strictly limited to the English portion of the menu) come steaming to the table with radish, tofu, mushroom, and minari in a spicy red broth. For whole grilled fish one can choose among saury, hairtail, and yellow corvina in additional to the mackerel that seems to be available in every Korean restaurant on the planet. Besides seafood there are a few other atypical dishes, including four varieties of jook, or rice porridge, popular nourishment during periods of unruly digestion; an enormous bowl of house-made noodles in thick chicken broth; and a selection of refreshing "summer special" noodle dishes. The side dishes vary according to availability, but if you're lucky you'll get gejang, sweet raw crabs marinated in soy and spiced with red pepper paste. Mike Sula

Mitsuwa Marketplace
100 E. Algonquin, Arlington Heights | 847-956-6699

$
ASIAN, JAPANESE, NOODLES | OPEN 9 AM TO 8 PM DAILY

A visit to Mitsuwa Marketplace provides the sort of sensory overload and culture shock untraveled Occidentals have been trained to expect from the frenzy of modern Japan. The local branch of this Nippon superstore houses a cosmetic counter, bookstore, china shop, travel agent, bakery, and a liquor store with an addling array of sakes. You can spend hours wandering the wide aisles of the spotless supermarket, eyes glazing over at the rows of mysterious products in brightly colored packages. The fish department is an excellent source for unusual species and sashimi-grade seafood, and the produce section yields consistently fresh (and often pricey) fruits and vegetables with some really uncommon finds -- it's the only place I know where you'll (occasionally) see fresh wasabi root. The food court presents a singular opportunity to experience the varieties of Japanese fast food locally. The sushi counter, with its plethora of prepackaged rolls, reflects the populist origins of raw fish and rice as fast food for travelers rather than the rarefied restaurant meal we've come to pay dearly for. At the curry stall, Otafuku-tei, thick gravy chunky with carrots and potatoes is ladled over rice and accompanied by fried eggs, panko-breaded pork chops, or ground meat patties -- a dish that results in such an intense MSG high I'd recommend assigning a designated driver. Next door, Kayaba specializes in bowls of udon and soba noodles; another stand, Santoka Ramen, serves the long tentacular noodles in salt-, soy-, or miso-flavored broths. The choices can be baffling, so each stall helpfully displays shiny plastic but not unappetizing models of each dish. Mike Sula

Penang
2201 S. Wentworth | 312-326-6888

F 7.3 | S 6.3 | A 6.3 | $$ (7 reports)
MALAYSIAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: TILL 1 EVERY NIGHT | RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED FOR LARGE GROUPS ONLY

Given the number of Filipino restaurants around town, it's discouraging that there isn't an Indonesian one, and only a single Malaysian one. Penang -- part of national chain -- doesn't need to be mind-blowing to survive. It isn't, but it's the only place around where you get a representative taste of the Spice Islands, the botanical homeland of cloves, galangal, and nutmeg. Despite a sluggish waitstaff and the bamboo-armored airs of a South Pacific Applebee's, it does a decent job of presenting a lengthy selection of Malaysian specialties, and then some. There are roti canai, a thin pancake meant to be dipped in an oily brothy curry; a handful of preparations with sambal, the ever present condiment made with chiles and shrimp paste; 19 noodle dishes; and a huge seafood section with a number of whole fried fish. In the unlikely event anyone's bored with the huge menu, there's a sushi bar and big window on the kitchen where you can watch the cooks do their thing. Mike Sula

Saint's Alp Teahouse
2131 S. Archer | 312-842-1886

$
TAIWANESE | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: EVERY NIGHT TILL MIDNIGHT

Saint's Alp Teahouse, a chain based in Hong Kong, has taken the Taiwanese teahouse and packaged it into a West-friendly franchise. Parked underneath the Phoenix, the Chicago location is cartoonishly bright and cheerful, with service to match. The draw, of course, is the tea -- more than 70 crazy-flavored bubble teas with jelly goos and gummy tapioca balls to be sucked up through oversize straws. Ruby grapefruit with CitronAgarª was bracingly tart like a grapefruit should be; almond milk tea was great over ice and would have been just as good hot. Saint's Alp is named after a famous stone said to contain the footprint of Lu Dong-bin, a Taoist immortal known for being accessible (for a demigod) and very quick -- a description that also fits the food here. My favorite so far among the 20 items tagged as signature dishes, a Taiwanese appetizer platter offered tea eggs (hard-boiled eggs stewed in seasoned tea), chicken wings, and spongy orange shrimp balls. Others were less successful: pork-and-vegetable-dumpling soup was innocuous at best, and the Taiwanese Succulent Chicken Chop was a five-spice bore. Deep-fried tako (octopus) balls looked promising but turned out to be one small sliver of tako surrounded by a giant ball of white paste. The standout was a nonsignature item: crispy radish fritters, a deep-fried version of the dim sum dish loh bok goh. Other nonsignature dishes looked equally promising -- next time I'll try the smoked pork neck or spiced beef shin. Kristina Meyer

San Chae Dol Sot Restaurant
3737B W. Lawrence | 773-588-5223

$$
KOREAN | LUNCH, DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY | BYO

Located in a Lawrence Avenue strip mall, San Chae Dol Sot is easy to drive past, its vague signage of little help. Once inside and seated, guests are greeted briskly but benevolently (the controlling-mother-type service will continue for the rest of your visit, so it's best to just accept it). Dolsot bi bim bop is the house specialty, and few places offer more variations. The dish consists of a hot stone pot, or dolsot, filled with steamed rice and a combination of meats, vegetables, seafood, and kimchi. Assuming you mix your bi bim bop correctly, you'll be rewarded with the prized crispy golden rice clinging to the bottom of your bowl -- the best part of the meal. An egg topper, to my mind a critical component of bi bim bop, is not normally served here -- if you want one you'll have to ask for it by its Korean name (dal-gyal) while miming the act of cracking an egg. San Chae Dol Sot has one of the better panchan selections in town, and while you don't get a lot, it's always fresh. Typical soups and stews are also on the menu, and you can get barbecue cooked for you in the kitchen. Unlike most Korean restaurants, San Chae Dol Sot isn't open late at night, and be forewarned: anyone still on the premises at closing time is asked to put down the chopsticks and leave. Kristina Meyer

Silver Seafood
4829 N. Broadway | 773-784-0668

F 7.6 | S 6.0 | A 5.0 | $$ (6 reports)

The focus at this Mandarin restaurant is fresh seafood; they'll steam a red snapper or sea bass (or whatever else is swimming in the tank) to order, then top it with aromatic herbs and a drizzle of soy sauce. Skip the pot stickers and egg rolls on the English-language menu and ask for the Chinese menu instead, which has English translations and offerings like fried crab claws, braised cuttlefish, and boneless duck web. Main courses come in a few familiar categories -- seafood, chicken, beef -- and then venture into the unusual: abalone, roast pigeon. Servers are welcoming, professional, and willing to make suggestions. Laura Levy Shatkin

So Gong Dong Tofu House
3307 W. Bryn Mawr | 773-539-8377

$
KOREAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY-TUESDAY, THURSDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED WEDNESDAY | RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED FOR LARGE GROUPS ONLY | BYO

In Korea, soup (guk) or stew (chigae), along with rice, is considered essential for a complete meal. Everything else is an accessory. At So Gong Dong Tofu House, each order of sundubu chi gae (tofu stew) -- be it ginseng, miso, vegetables, seafood and/or beef, or kimchi and/or pork -- comes to the table red and roiling angrily. Before it subsides crack a raw egg into the deeply rich beef brew and stir. Whatever meat and vegetables swim in the broth provide just enough textural contrast to the pillowy tofu curds and egg to make it a soup that eats like a meal. The house conjures a handful of other classic Korean soups and stews, including kimchee chi gae, yuk gae jang (shredded beef soup), the medicinal saam gae tang (chicken-ginseng soup), and dan jang chi gae, an aggressive bean paste stew -- Guinness to Japanese miso's chardonnay. But the real magic here is a side of the impossibly tender marinated ribs with a bowl of sundubu chi gae. Guests who linger may be treated to a refreshing cup of sikhye, a lightly sweet postprandial rice punch. Mike Sula

Ssyal Ginseng House
4201 W. Lawrence | 773-427-5296

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KOREAN | LUNCH, DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY | BYO

When I find myself weakening in the early stages of the grippe and the usual fortifying regimen of zinc, vitamin C, raw garlic, and Wild Turkey won't vanquish it, saam gae tang, chicken ginseng soup from this Koreatown dispensary, is my tonic of last resort. A stewed Cornish hen stuffed with rice and small dates sits meekly in a small bubbling cauldron of murky yellow broth. Whole, softened, and slightly sweet ginseng root swims under the surface, and small side dishes of green onions and sea salt are meant to enliven what is otherwise an appropriately bland remedy. I've heard others say they find an off-putting, slightly bitter understory to the broth, but I've never detected it. As a further reminder that you're not so much meant to enjoy yourself as heal yourself, the pot comes with a side of sticky brown rice and red beans. For the healthy there are four other perfectly respectable hot soups (codfish, bean with seafood, beef with cabbage, and bean and vegetable) accompanied by the usual assortment of panchan. And you don't have to take your medicine in a bowl: there's a $3.95 sweet ginseng shake or hot ginseng tea floating with pine nuts; for the home cure you can buy ginseng fresh, dried, powdered, and infused in a molasseslike solution, all displayed under tall clear containers of whole roots, with an extraterrestrial appearance resembling something I once saw in the woods devouring a squirrel. Mike Sula

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