Yook Hwe-$14.95 (serves four unless you know you love it, then this may be good for two)

Yook (meat) Hwe (raw and edible) [pronounced: yuqwe] is an authentic Korean appetizer. The sesame marinated beef tartar is served with thin slices of garlic, Asian pear and cucumber, and with the raw egg yolk on top, nothing is cooked in this dish.  The way to tackle this ball of thinly shredded meat is to break the yolk and mix all the ingredients really well so that each bite contains some spicy raw garlic, sweet juicy pear, crispy cucumber and of course some beef. I threw in some Kimchi and the flavors blend well. It is very raw, but with the strong flavors of the condiments and the heavy sesame oil base marinade, you cannot really taste the rawness of the beef. Though the sliminess, especially with the egg yolk mixed in, is inevitable.  Give it a try, you will be excited by the adventurous textures and flavors if the idea itself isn’t enough. Even my sashimi-intolerant  friend enjoyed multiple servings of it and said he will definitely return for more. Koreans know their meat and sauces but make sure you trust the quality and freshness, extra important when things are RAW, but from my experience, this is not something you have to worry about at Woo Lae Oak.

3201 Algonquin Road,
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008-3830
(847) 870-9910

Hyugui (beef tongue)

We all know all-you-can-eat buffets don’t provide the highest quality food. It is the nature of a buffet and its business model. BBQ Hut offers the regular Korean menu, but also offer a $22.95 barbecue buffet if you decide to go with it. If you decided to go with the buffet, it is mandatory that all members of your table also choose the barbecue buffet. The buffet offers a somewhat wide range of meats from beef tongue to chicken gizzards. The one great buffet item from BBQ Hut that stands out is their Hyugui or beef tongue. The restaurant gives you thin, palm-sized cuts of the beef tongue that still maintains its large cut after shrinkage from the grill. What is great about the cut is that you can have a mouthful of chewy beef tongue where as at other Korean restaurants they give you small slices. Beef tongue by itself may not be the most appealing so there is a dipping sauce made out of sesame oil, diced black sesame, and salt. The shining aspect of this particular meal at this particular restaurant is the price. An order of beef tongue at other restaurants is comparable to a single dinner order and they give you minimal slices. At BBQ Hut, you can sit there for hours delighting in several and maybe exotic meats.

1147 N Roselle Road, Hoffman Estates, IL
Phone: (847) 882-9292

Haemul Soon Doobu @ Korean Garden 11.99

This is a Korean seafood, tofu, and vegetable stew in a stone pot that includes a vareity of seafood such as shrimp and mussels. The stew also comes with raw egg for you to crack and pour into the stew where the heat will cook it. The stew is quite dense with a milky texture to it from the tofu. The dish may be a little bit spicy for the average audience, but is perfect to go with your bowl of white rice and small appetizers.

122 Harvard Avenue, Boston, MA