115968 Wed May 26 12:49:44 -0700 2004 4 7 Chicago Area 0 633242 Just reporting on my food shift last night and early this morning. Started at 7pm at LaTache-Great ambience, even the bathroom, dark wood, small tiled floors, white table clothes, etc. Good stirred dry Bombay Saphhire Martini with olive onion twist (i call it garbage martini). Crowded, only one server on our side. So slow. Snails presented on plate with sauce, lardons, (not in the boiling butter dish of many dimples), rate it good(B) but i like to dip bread in the usual butter parsley. then Croque Monsier done very well, small enough to share as app. Very crispy cheese at ends, loved that, ham good too. Salad Lyonaisse had excellent dressing, perfectly (lightly) dressed, and when mixed with the egg and lardons i rate it an A. Had skate wing, sauteed in brown butter caper vinegrette. Was very tasty. The richness of the skate wing and the sauteeing worked great with the acid of the capers. My companion had the chicken merengo, which i found only average. Brought a bottle of 1999 Cardiff Cabernet. They charged $15 corkage, which was fine with no hassle. Dessert-poached pears, drizzled chocolate sauce. Very good way to wrap up the dinner. I give the whole experience a B+. Enjoyed the dinner, noise level not too bad. Then dropped off my companion and wended my way to Hopleaf to avoid the bars with the big TVs showing the Lakers/Minnesota game. Got a seat next to a couple of tipsy guys with feet on bar, asked them how that felt for their feet. They removed their feet, and asked for the tab, as they left the two owners said they were overserved but left a $50 tip. I ordered a Delerium Tremens (great Belgium Beer) on tap the usual mussels with fried and their garlic aioli (by definition). they were fat and juicy and tastly along with the crunch of the fries, and the soft floral and strong beer. Tried to read the paper, but just watched and took in the scene. Worried me a little though when i saw in the mens room that on Tuesday June 8 they are having a 3 minute dating event. (don't move too quickly to be everything to everybody.) Then went home for a nap because meeting Cathy2 at Korean restaurant for breakfast at 5:15am. Got a few good winks and then moved past the virtual divide in meeting Cathy in real. Was nice, had seafood pancakes, a great noodle dish and studied the menu for our next forays. Went to work, made a pot of peets saluwesi coffee, downed a Nexium and settled in for a good day of listening. All in all a great shift Wed May 26 12:49:44 -0700 2004 0 psychchef 1 633264 Thanks for the report on the night shift. It sounds lovely. My only question is about the 24 hour Korean joint - did you enjoy your breakfast at the one on Lawrence several blocks west of Western? Or did you enjoy another 24 hour Korean joint? keep eating, J. Ro Thu May 27 10:42:08 -0700 2004 633242 0 J. Ro 2 633308 Hi, Somedays I reflect on what I do for chow and blush. I willing fight my nature to stay up late, to get up really early for breakfast with a genuine early bird: psychchef. However, good company and good food is always worth the sacrifice. Almost immediately after I announced the location of our pending breakfast, I received an e-mail from ReneG. He advised the 24-hour-athon encountered 'San Soo Gab San' 24-hour Korean on Western on Saturday morning at 3 AM, when it was really hopping. A few months later, he arrived at 4 AM to find them mopping and not very happy to accomodate them especially as communication was challenging. He recommended either I learn to pronounce a few Korean breakfast dishes or have a plan B to go somewhere else. I immediately telephoned to inquire if indeed they are open 24 hours. The woman confirmed it was open 24 hours. I then asked a more complex question: "I can come at 5 AM to have breakfast, right?" She responded, "No speak english." When I arrived at 5:15 to find Psychchef in the parking lot, it wasn't very surprising the staff had announced, "Closed for cleaning until 10 AM." Psychchef recommended going to the other 24 Korean on Lawrence Avenue. It's always great to follow someone who knows where Plan B happens to be located. We walked into the Korean Restaurant to find the waitress vacuuming while listening to the '12 Days of Christmas,' which is almost refreshing to hear in May. Once she saw us, she quickly packed up her cleaning materials, switched music and handed us menus. Gosh, I was hoping Barbra Streisand would sing 'Jingle Bells' next or maybe a bit of Perry Como. After briefly scanning the menu for any recommended breakfast items, I cautiously inquired what Koreans order for breakfast. Our waitress immediate response was just about anything on the menu. Bulkoki? Yes, then countered for breakfast better BiBim Bap (a bowl of rice with some Bulkoki, bean spouts, spinach, pickled vegetables and often a fried egg). She also suggested soups, which registered with some scant memory of information I had once read. Meanwhile, Psychchef was flipping through the pages of my trusty guide to Korean food: Home Style Korean Cooking in Pictures by Cho Joong Ok. Our waitress brightened when she saw Jap Chae, which is a noodle dish with mixed vegetables such as string beans, carrots, onion, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, ect. From her expression, this seemed to be an ideal breakfast dish to order. To round things up, I took my cue from our friend Steve Drucker from Atlanta and ordered Hemool Pajun or seafood pancake. We were considering ordering a soup, then decided to order later if necessary. While waiting for our food, I provided a running commentary of the various personalities and their food interests on the board. The waitress brought the panchan: various kimchi, dried fish, cooked and pickled vegetables. The only thing missing was the marinated raw crab or the little dead fish. I always ask for them in case they are withheld thinking I may be squeamish. No charm on my side extracted these tasty tidbits this morning, oh well. Still it is pleasant to pick at these morsels while waiting for the main course. The first dish to arrive was the seafood pancake, which on this occasion was really squid concentrated. The round pancake was cut into 8 wedges which we dipped in a soy based sauce. This is maybe my 5th different seafood pancake, which all share the same characteristic: a somewhat soft center, which reminds me of an undercooked somewhat raw American pancake. This pancake also had a quantity of red and green peppers present for color, maybe too much color as I would have preferred more seafood. Nonetheless, a reasonable breakfast selection. The Jap Chae arrived which looked very similar to what my book suggested except there were also pieces of marinated beef which I identified as Bulkoki. Again, they also had more red and green peppers which I was not too excited about. The heavy sweet pepper presence sort of dampened other flavors. If I ordered this again from this place, I would request they hold back on the sweet peppers. In this reduced pepper version, I would expect to like this dish more in the future. No matter what, it was thrilling to try the 24-hour Korean experience in a truly odd hour. I look forward to my next very early morning breakfast experience in the very near future. Regards, Cathy2 San Soo Gab San 5297 N. Western Chicago, IL (773) 334-1589 Korean Restaurant (according to reverse look up on anywho.com) a.k.a. "The Other 24-Hour Korean on Lawrence Ave" 2659 West Lawrence Avenue Chicago, IL 60625 773/878-2095 Fri May 28 01:43:38 -0700 2004 633264 0 Cathy2 3 633316 Cathy2, Thanks for the report. I hadn't heard of San Soo Gab San in the 5200 block of Western, so I may check it out. I made a mental note of the Korean Restaurant on Lawrence when I saw it for the first time back in March. Fortunately, I had some adventurous and hungry friends in town a few weeks later, so we went there for dinner at about 2:00 a.m. (following a concert by The Reputation at Schuba's). The panchan was lovely (is it ever truly bad?) and my dol sot bi bim bop with raw beef was wonderful. My companions were startled by my choice to order raw beef, but I knew (or at least I strongly suspected and deeply hoped) that it would be cut into thin and small chunks so that the heat of the pot and the surrounding ingredients would cook it just enough to lay bacteria to rest. One of my companions made the bizarre choice of ordering on the basis of a picture on the menu (the menu lists all items in both English and Korean). When his dish arrived, it did not look much like what he thought he was ordering, but when the manager-type woman insisted it was his, he accepted it (he didn't have much grounds for rejecting it, ordering off a picture). The same manager-type woman walked by our table about two bites into the meal, and when she saw his dish (a very fishy fish soup), she did a double take. It was the wrong dish. So she swiped it out from under his expectant spoon and within five minutes, he had the dish that he thought he was getting based on the picture. On the whole, it was a wonderful experience. And despite the late hour, the restaurant was not empty. There were two groups eating there when we arrived (one speaking English, one speaking Korean), and there were two other groups eating there when we left. The Korean Restaurant on Lawrence is a fun and inexpensive place for an odd hour meal. Keep eating, J. Ro Fri May 28 09:40:25 -0700 2004 633308 0 J. Ro 3 633323 Wonderful post, Cathy! No need to blush, though ... the things we all do for chow are what make us chowhounds. (Who else but us, for example, would walk into a Pakistani cab drivers' hangout to try the goat curry?) What's more, I can't tell you how hungry your description of the seafood pancake has made me. Or how homesick for Chicago! Thanks again. Fri May 28 10:53:44 -0700 2004 633308 0 Kirk