LTH North Lunch Group - Hwang Dae Gham - 6/3 - 12:00pm

It's time to get back in the lunch groove after back-to-back dinners. The minions are getting restless. Hwang Dae Gham gets the LTH Love here - viewtopic.php?f=14&t=42813

It's been three years since we've been there. It's time for a re-visit. Please join us on for some yummy Korean. As always, bring a friend.

Hwang Dae Gham
358 Townline Rd. (Route 60)
Mundelein, IL 60060
(847) 949-9900
http://www.hwangbbq.com/

Dave148 - Esteemed Coordinator LTH North Lunch Group
Merle
Cathy2
Katie
jnm123
lougord99
WillG
EddieK

I will be there!

Been wanting to try this place with a group. I'm in!

p.s., any chance/consensus on shifting this a bit earlier? It's okay if not but I will probably have to leave early.

I would love to try this place. I will come! Maybe I will bring by other half--we'll see.

Katie wrote:p.s., any chance/consensus on shifting this a bit earlier? It's okay if not but I will probably have to leave early.

I don't mind moving it earlier. I will go with the majority of other responses to your request.

Doesn't matter to me!

Katie wrote:Been wanting to try this place with a group. I'm in!

p.s., any chance/consensus on shifting this a bit earlier? It's okay if not but I will probably have to leave early.

What do you hope for timing?

Count me in for now, and I can do as early as 11:45-12:00 to start, but not before.

J

I won't be able to join you this time, but I've been here, and it's great fun. Especially good on stews. I was delighted to find budae jiggae on the menu. It means "Army Base Stew." I was still working on my pork book, and so had to try this. Classic Korean ingredients such as noodles, red pepper paste, and kimchi, but also includes items that people would have gotten from the military base -- most especially SPAM (which was why I wanted to try it). Surprisingly tasty.

Have fun and enjoy whatever you have.

Cynthia wrote:I won't be able to join you this time, but I've been here, and it's great fun. Especially good on stews. I was delighted to find budae jiggae on the menu. It means "Army Base Stew." I was still working on my pork book, and so had to try this. Classic Korean ingredients such as noodles, red pepper paste, and kimchi, but also includes items that people would have gotten from the military base -- most especially SPAM (which was why I wanted to try it). Surprisingly tasty.

Have fun and enjoy whatever you have.

Cynthia--

It was at Hwang Dae Gham that I had budae jjigae (Korean Army Base Stew) for the very first time, and what spurred me to write the LTH article!

jnm123 wrote:
Cynthia--

It was at Hwang Dae Gham that I had budae jjigae (Korean Army Base Stew) for the very first time, and what spurred me to write the LTH article!

Then I owe you thanks for making this available to me. I'd read about it and seen a couple of online cooking videos where it was prepared, but Iwas delighted when it was mentioned as a possibility at Hwang Dae Gham, and that's what drew me there. So thank you!

How about 12:00?

Katie wrote:How about 12:00?

Consider it done.

I would like to join you.

I will be there.

Thanks, Will

There’s a reservation for Dave. See ya Monday!

Dave148 wrote:There’s a reservation for Dave. See ya Monday!

Yo Grand Poobah--

I'm assuming the res is for one of those rooms, because most might want the BBQ? Frankly, I don't think the value of the BBQ at Hwang is anywhere near the bang for your buck at Kogii Kogii, but then again nothing is--that place is a carnivore's dream.

However, quality is very good on just about everything at Hwang Dae Gham, including the BBQ. I've known the Mom-and-Pop owners there for 5-6 years, and I can tell you by comparison that the authenticity is there. Little bowls (banchan) of fermented/pickled goodies are fewer than only San Soo Gab San, but better than almost anyplace else.

Homemade Kim chi taste varies here, or maybe I'm just more attuned to it because I'm there so often. If it's new, the cabbage has a crunch and the flavor profile is different, fresher--still good, however. If magical fermentation has taken place, though...oochie mama. I'm thinking most of that ends up in the steaming kimchi jjigae, the vegetarian sibling of budae jjigae (Korean Army Base Stew), but without the sausage, hotdog, spaghetti and Spam business. Very solid, always breathing-passages-clearing.

I also have tried the blue mackerel here, which is slightly strong but very flavorful. It comes out fairly dry & almost flattened, and the diner easily picks around the bones with chopsticks. For those who simply like fish & rice, this is your ticket. We may consider ordering one for the table, pretty interesting.

Will be good to see Merle again, although Dave is under some recurring delusion that I snubbed her many moons ago at Wells Bros. in Racine. Sadly, it shows how far--like Ed Burke--those in the bourgeoisie have fallen.

Yo Yourself!
I ordered a regular table so we could order from the menu.
So There.
EC

Last time, did we order ttukbokki? Pictured, it's a sweet/spicy combo of rice noodle cylinders, fried tofu slice, white onion, scallions & hard-boiled egg on top of those glass-like chop chae noodles. Not incendiary, they do this dish quite well.

Alas, my work deadline got bumped, and we won't be able to make it tomorrow! Have a wonderful lunch--look forward to meeting some of you at some point!

Of course I'll be there! Last time I enjoyed the Budae Jjigae very much. It is normally a spicy hot stew but the owner was very accommodating in making mine mild since I can't handle spicy-hot foods very well.

For those not familiar with it here's a link to a YouTube video of the late Anthony Bourdain cooking the dish for Anderson Cooper: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/v ... tion=click

Also, a link to Jay Martini's excellent article entitled "A Big Bowl of Wrong or . . . Right" on the LTH Forum:
http://www.lthforum.com/2015/09/a-big-b ... -or-right/

I'll try to get there by 11:45 so the Minions can catch up and maybe talk a little treason.

Talk a little treason ... ha ha ha!

Another great lunch and conversation with the Usual Suspects. The conversation ran the gamut from travel and marijuana to traffic history along Route 41. Who knew that dining with the LTHNLG would also be educational?

Lo and behold, Jay is back in good graces with my wife.

Until next month......

EC

Dave148 wrote:Another great lunch and conversation with the Usual Suspects. The conversation ran the gamut from travel and marijuana to traffic history along Route 41. Who knew that dining with the LTHNLG would also be educational?

I am in complete agreement. I was a little disappointed that this restaurant did not lend itself to ordering dishes for the table and sharing everything.

Hi,

I think next time let's try to avoid that space they placed us. I'd like to be where there is natural light and not have glaring lights aimed at me.

Otherwise lunch was fine.

Regards,
Cathy2

I didn’t see any tables in natural light that were large enough for us and their setup doesn’t seem to allow bringing tables together as each table was separated from other tables with low walls

lougord99 wrote:I didn’t see any tables in natural light that were large enough for us and their setup doesn’t seem to allow bringing tables together as each table was separated from other tables with low walls

I will look inside before the next visit in a few years. Or bring lamps from home, because their lighting is just awful.

Regards,
Cathy2

Overall, I thought the food was just okay, but as always, the company and conversation were great!

But you had only one dish plus your appetizer plus the pancake we shared. I thought one of the great things about our lunch groups was trying many things and seeing what was good and what so not.

The way it turned out ordering-wise Monday was the way it turned out. There were those in the group that wanted to order a specific dish for themselves (as they know what they like from past experience at this establishment or for Korean food in general), as there were others that apparently wanted to do the sharing thing.

This is routinely an issue at the LTH lunches. Not good or bad, it just is. From my recollection, we rarely have everyone in the group that wants to exclusively share, but that's a topic usually debated online in advance of the luncheon. And what usually ends up happening is exactly what took place Monday, with most ordering individual lunch specials--they are a good value--some ordering appetizers, and then the shared Korean pancake, which was large, tasty and served its purpose well. And of course there was the wonderful banchan, which was plentiful.

Other than heeding Cath's recommendation that in the future we move it to one of the outside tables--it can be done, although it would have to be set up with the owner in advance because they send large parties to the back BBQ rooms by default--I enjoyed being with Monday's group quite a bit.