LTHForum.com

this thread last visited on LTH during last summer:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... great+seas

I must say Great Seas is definitely not a stodgy Chinese restaurant. It's a stodgy Korean-Chinese restaurant as mentioned here on CH:
http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards ... /7186.html

They serve a very authentically Korean Cha jiang mien:

(before}


(the aftermath)

I have yet to taste cha jiang mien in other Chicago Korean resturants, but the Korean dinner-companion's cha jiang mien CRAVING? was promptly satisfied. We ended doing the stereotypical Great Seas meal: 1 bowl of cha jiang mien and 1 plate of the gan pon chicken wings:


Gwiv touted these wings before... and I have to say they were definitely 'ON' last nite. Sweeet! tangy, crunchy, yet moist inside w/ just the right touch of spiciness (we ordered extra spicy). Alas, being a Korean-Chinese restaurant, there's no panchan to speak of tho the obligatorily authentic onion w/ bean paste was served w/ the cha jiang mien.

==================
Later on in the nite, 2am, a few of us had a dog craving, and found Underdog @ the Southwest corner of Milwaukee/North/Damen. The greasy slop of the Maxwell polish (original or not) beckons my gag reflex everytime, so this stand was calling me. yah... i dunno about these dogs... they had all the 'right' ingredients of a Chi-dog but.. the wiener was floppy, casing didn't pop, and the bun just wasn't steamed enough for me. The drunken gentrified phisolophizing kid hounding us was quite annoying. but a GREAT time nonetheless:





Great Seas
3254 W Lawrence
(773) 478-9129

Underdogg Restaurant (can you actually CALL it a restaurant???)
1570 N. Damen Avenue
(773) 384-4030

Tony,

Ellen and I are in San Francisco and just got back to the hotel from an excellent meal at Town Hall, including a wee bit too much wine. I'm blaming it on the wine, but I am having tremendous difficulty resisting the double entendre, especially in light of your very attractive dining companions.

Speaking of hot dogs, we had the SF Hot Doug's equivalent today for lunch, Rosamunde on Haight St. Grilled duck/fig sausage with caramelized onions and house made honey/wasabi/dijon and mergjuez with chutney. Excellent, especially washed down with a Thomas Kemper root beer.

Great Sea was on last time I was there as well, got two orders of wings to go. Great Sea would be an excellent super bowl wing choice for those so inclined.

Enjoy,
Gary

This midwestern-boy who is a few years new to Korean food would appreciate a translation of "cha jiang mien" please. I'd like to know what I'm salivating over. Thanks...

I've never seen or eaten the 'real' thing, only the prepackaged dried version which is labeled "Chajang Myun" in Korean groceries (in Mitsuwa, it isn't in the ramen aisle, it's in the Korean/Thai/everybody else aisle at the other end of the store). My Korean boss tells me you rarely find it in Korean restaurants, but often in Korean-owned Chinese places.

Unlike many prepackaged ramen, it isn't served as a soup, but sauced, with bits of soybean, onion and cabbage. The sauce is a dark brown (roasted?) bean paste that has scents of coffee and chocolate, and there's a packet of roasted onion oil that kicks up the flavors.

The pictures above made me drool copiously. It's unlikely I'll get MrsF down to Lawrence for a Chinese restaurant, we'll end up at someplace Thai or Vietnamese or something if we're going into the city, but I've got to try that.

If you ever find yourself on that corner during the late-nite hours (or anytime for that matter) again, I would recommend Swank Frank instead. It's the anti-Underdog dog. Crispy casing, chargrilled to order if that's your thing. Love it. I have to admit that I avoided it for a long time because if it's name, but I'm happy that I got over it.

Swank Frank
1589 N Milwaukee Ave

Great Sea chicken wings remain one of the best bites in the city of Chicago.

Pump, crispy drumettes, oily chili sauce, subtle note of sweet. Delicious.



Great Sea
3254 W. Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL
773-478-9129

Here, here... I had (more than) a few a couple ah' weeks ago and their power has not diminished with time -- or nuking. Might be back again this weekend, actually. Just roll them wings in the "Hot & Saucy" and you're good tuh' go!

Awesome pic (and an early Merry Christmas),
Dan

LTH,

Last few times Great Sea wings have been mild, even though I've asked for hot, so this time I went up to the owner and asked, implored, for the wings to be sweat and tear inducing hot. As a long time customer she took me seriously and Lit Me UP. Truthfully, I can eat hot, love the occasional endorphin rush of a habanero, and, aside from Zim and my cousin The Goat King, can happily consume hotter/spicier food than anyone I know, Great Seas wings reduced me to a quivering bowl of melting lime green jello.

The heat from powdered Korean dried red pepper was one dimensional with an effect like sandpaper impregnated with battery acid, two drumettes literally rubbed my throat raw, I could still feel the effects 18-hours later. My two lunch companions, Jazzfood and Ronnie_Suburban, neither a stranger to heat, were as incredulous as myself at the heat level. I liken it to the time I consumed a half teaspoon of Endorphin Rush straight.

I should note the Korean style chicken wings at Great Sea, normally a delicious combination of crisp, meaty, sweet and spicy, are one of my favorite foods in Chicago, I specifically requested the over the top hot and, I'm guessing, after our reaction the owner is not likely to accommodate other similar requests.

Enjoy,
Gary

Gary,

I am so glad there was a 25 mile distance between me and your wings.

I'm not shuddering from the cold, I am shuddering at the thought of your capsaicin rush.

Regards,

As Gary posted, the supreme heat of those wings was like nothing I'd ever experienced before -- and not very pleasant. I think Gary's description is right on the mark. I too, love it hot, but this was several realms beyond anything I could tolerate. FWIW, here's a picture of the culprits, which doesn't look very different from the pic of the benign wings posted upthread . . .


Ultra-spicy wings from Great Sea

=R=

This reminds me of the summer I worked in a Chinese restaurant's kitchen - One of the uppity waiters decided to order kung pao chicken and pointedly stated, "And make it hot!" Now the kitchen staff never really liked the wait staff, so when this annoying pip asked for it hot... the young chefs in back made it hot.

Typically the "kung pao" sauce was made via a dropper of industrial pepper extract, which came in a plastic jug, was a clear liquid and had huge warning labels on the side saying to avoid eyes and other mucous membrane, into a vat of sweet-ish soy sauce.

So, the chef went into the freezer, poured out half a bowl of the clear extract and stir-fried it into his dish. In retrospect, the aerosolization of this clear extract probably would have been very dangerous to us in the kitchen, but we were all young and didn't know any better.

Well, we all had a good laugh when the waiter stumbled back into the kitchen with his almost untouched plate of food, tears in his eyes and grunts of pain when asked, "So, was it hot enough for you?"

Not a nice thing to do, but back then the kitchen was treated like "steerage," so we didn't take kindly to a$$hats...

Not that I'm calling you guys as such, but I suspect it wasn't just chili powder that made it into the dish; I'm guessing some industrial grade sabotage.

Jay,

I highly doubt the owner of Great Sea would wish to sabotage a two decade long customer with a history of polite interaction and over tipping. She simply, nice woman that she is, accomadated my lunchtime request to the best of her ability which, apparently, exceed my ability to consume hot and spicy food. No booze, funny hats or expletives were involved in my request.

Enjoy,
Gary

WOW - those look good! And very pretty too, I might add.

They certainly don't look hot as you describe but I'll take your word on it!

GWIV, you mention Endorphin Rush - I own that and although an extract product, I can tolerate it pretty well now - I think the scoville units on that are around 35,000 - which is a lot - but I've consumed much hotter - if you can believe!

BTW - why did you eat it straight? That is crazy!

Why did I eat Endorphin Rush straight? Hummmmm, good question. Best of my recollection there was booze and a dare involved.