HI,

Interesting to learn Mr. Wu is indeed a Taiwanese speaker. He probably spoke Mandarin for geli, though I can't imagine why he'd tell her he spoke only a few words Taiwanese. Was this a face saving gesture?

Thanks Tony, will you be taking a stab at the menu? (Or did I read the restaurant already plans a translation?)

Regards,

With the guidance provided by TonyC in his post upthread, we were able to find some really good dishes at KS not tried before. As noted, the squid and pork stir fry (E8) was very good (went particularly well over rice),and we found the basil clams excellent as well. We also tried the oysters which are done here with an unusual crispy crumbly topping which was really good, and quite a different approach from the treatment these bivalves usually get. But the big find for us was the Taiwan style fried chicken (D18). This was truly outstanding. Addictively tasty. Spicy,garlicky and just downright good. One of the better Asian fried chicken dishes I've ever encountered. Get this if you go.

What is fascinating about this thread (and this points to a real value of a public discussion like this) is how our understanding of this place evolves over time. From kudho's original post, through EvilDoc's and TonyC's and then to kudho's most recent post, the really cool dishes become revealed and provide a guide to further exploration. I envy those who haven't gone yet -- when you do, you will have a lot more direction in your dining (but please order a few unknowns!)

I walked by KS twice last night -- at around 8:00 and around 10:00 -- and it seemed both times to have only two tables occupied -- I believe this will change over time. Of course, Joy Yee was stacked up out the door, and even Happy Chef was very full.

I agree completely with Hammond's sentiments. The input from this forum seems particularly useful for a restaurant like KS where the menu is so inaccessible, and the cuisine unfamiliar to most.

Likewise, we had an early dinner at Lee Wing Wah last night, and as always Joy Yee's was indeed "out the door," while there were only the 1-2 tables occupied at KS. Is there a large Taiwanese population in Chicago - I wonder if that will have any influence in their success given the plethora of traditional HK-style Cantonese restaurants and said population.

This is a reasonable concern as long term survival of non-cantonese restaurants in Chicago has always been difficult. On my last visit Mr. Wu told me they planned to start advertising, though he wasn't sure of the details.

David Hammond wrote:Stinky Tofu is quite a dish. It’s not for everyone. (My daughter took one whiff of a container we brought home and pretty much ran out of the room).

Hammond,

I think my Stink-O-Meter may be off as I did not find the stinky tofu all that stinky. Happened last time I had fried stinky tofu at Spring World as well.

Stinky Tofu at KS Seafood (C2)


I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of kudos for KS Seafood and, also, thanks to those who have provided insight into the Taiwanese menu. Last evening our group included Geli, who is working on a translation, who kindly did the ordering.

We started with cold 5-spice tofu and Lamp Shadow beef. I'd had the very tasty 5-spice tofu before, but not Lamp Shadow beef, which was surprisingly evocative of Bresaola

5-Spice Tofu (A3) Lamp Shadow Beef (A1)


I'm a sucker for fried chicken and KS's slightly salty bone-in skin-on crispy was as good as it gets. Of the array of dishes we had last evening this is the one I'm thinking about this morning.

Fried Chicken


Fragrant Shrimp were quite good and a nice buffer for those in the crowd who might not be enthused with fried baby eel, aka "Taiwanese French Fries"(tm by Stagger), no matter how crisp and delicious.

Fragrant Shrimp (E2)


Fried Baby Eels (A4)


We also had broiled eel on sticky rice. The eel was fine, but I loved the full flavored sticky rice.

Broiled Eel on Sticky Rice (E13)


I quite enjoyed bone-in 3-cup chicken and pea shoots w/garlic.

3-Cup Chicken (D19)


Pea Shoots w/Garlic (F10)


Penang Shrimp Curry, which Mr. Wu substituted for us as they were out of crispy tofu was fine.

Penang Shrimp Curry


As were the Drunken Clams (E9)


But the killer dish, aside from the fried chicken, was the ultra luxurious beautifully presented pork belly with buns, peanut, pickle and cilantro. Hot damn this is a good dish.





KS Seafood is a place I intend to explore in depth, thanks to Kuhdo for bringing it up to LTH and to those who have contributed knowledge to the thread. This type of generous knowledgeable interaction is what makes LTHForum so very interesting.

Enjoy,
Gary

KS Seafood Restaurant
2163 China Place
Chicago, IL 60616
31-842-1238

G Wiv wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Stinky Tofu is quite a dish. It’s not for everyone. (My daughter took one whiff of a container we brought home and pretty much ran out of the room).

Hammond,

I think my Stink-O-Meter may be off as I did not find the stinky tofu all that stinky. Happened last time I had fried stinky tofu at Spring World as well.

Gwiv,

Obviously, your Stink-O-Meter is off...or I'm just a really sensitive guy.

Excellent pix, as always.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:Obviously, your Stink-O-Meter is off...or I'm just a really sensitive guy.

Hammond,

Quite possibly both. My Stink-O-Meter may very well be off and you are a most sensitive and, if I may add, intelligent, handsome and interesting fellow.

Enjoy,
Gary

Well, it didn't smell that stinky to me, but when I actually ate some...Juana put it best: "It stinks in your mouth!"

Apparently as a child I loved stinky tofu, but now? Holy cats, that stuff tastes awful. It was a humbling experience.

geli wrote:[...] Juana put it best: "It stinks in your mouth!"

Hell, it sat stinking in the cauldron, two feet from my nose.

I refused to even touch it.

E.M.

Nice to hear that last night's meal was an enjoyable one. One point that may deserve comment is that the dish pictured in GWIV's post as "fragrant shrimp" is not the same dish I've had (twice) under that name. That dish consisted of large shell on shrimp steamed with garlic and served in a light sauce. Nothing like the stir fry pictured above.

Will the real fragrant shrimp please stand up?

Tony C,
According to the Reader article on KS, the stink from the tofu is nowhere near the traditional level-I'm assuming that this is because they're not frying it? Also, more importantly-do chicks dig taro cakes because they have a smiley face? (see picture above)

Good news for all. The Chinese menu has been fully translated. There are still 2 separate menus, one "North American Style" and one "authentic" both written in both English and Chinese. The Chinese menu still has a page of pictures at the beginning, and then written descriptions of the dishes. I had a very good meal on thursday night and I will be back soon to try the broiled eel over sticky rice, as our table thought 2 eel dishes for dinner would be overkill. The baby eels, roast pork steamed buns, 3 cup chicken, drunken clams, beef with bamboo shoots, pea shoots with garlic and Dakka? tofu were all very good. The steamed fish was good, but had many many tiny bones, so was a lot of work to eat. Next time I would order tilapia for the sweet delicate meat versus the larger perhaps cod? that was ordered on thursday. I was slightly disappointed by the stewed chili tendon, as I thought it would be large nuggets of toothsome tendon, but instead it was sliced tendon, which was okay, just not what I was expecting. I also spotted dan dan noodle soup on the menu and am looking towards to trying it out, to satisfy the craving when I can't make it out to Katy's! The restaurant was not too busy, with only 3 or 4 other tables filled when I was there, but hopefully business for them will pick up once word gets around about their translated menu!

JermAngela wrote:The steamed fish was good, but had many many tiny bones, so was a lot of work to eat. Next time I would order tilapia for the sweet delicate meat versus the larger perhaps cod?

Was probably pike... damned bony fish... cod actually has relatively large and few bones... (unless you're eating the head...)

G Wiv wrote:
Fragrant Shrimp were quite good and a nice buffer for those in the crowd who might not be enthused with fried baby eel, aka "Taiwanese French Fries"(tm by Stagger), no matter how crisp and delicious.

Fried Baby Eels (A4)

Man how I love those things... I have a feeling that if I could figgure out how to keep the texture on these mounds of crispity, crunchy eely goodness proper and pickup a vending licence at Wrigley, I could quit my day job (which is prety much quitting me in a month anyway.... I'll bet I could get the north siders to buy into "Taiwanese French Fries" as the new balpark snack... U.S. Cellular, on the other hand...

JermAngela wrote:Good news for all. The Chinese menu has been fully translated.

Good news indeed...and maybe part of a spreading trend in the mall? Last visit to Happy Chef I found all the wall banners translated into English ( a la Ken Kee)!

This is an interesting find and, thanks to what I presume is prodding by previous posters, is quite accessible: there's two fully translated menus, plus pictures on the wall of menu items. Our waitress was helpful and explained the trouble they're having with their wholesaler (or something) when I expressed my disappointment that the Fried Eels were temporarily unavailable. I really like how nice and quiet this place was, with just my table and a couple of families; the staff had dinner together after cooking our dishes (and this oyster dish they had looked unbelievable). Joy Yee, meanwhile: overflowing.

Re: the food, I'm withholding my evaluation until I have another visit and try the fried eels, three cup chicken, et al. DIY Pork buns: unreal; easily a Top 5 candidate for dishes I've had this year. Everything else: good, but not exceptional. Drunken clams--or clams in wine sauce--were pretty good, though I'd take LSC's clams in black bean sauce in a head-to-head; the calamari/pork stir fry in brown sauce was entirely serviceable and unmemorable. I don't think anyone on the board has suggested KS as superior to any place in the mall, and I would concur with that sentiment--at this point, I'd still take Shui Wah or LSC or Happy Chef or Mountain View over it. But I'll be back to see where it fits in the canon.

That said, and maybe it was the pork talking, but while eating the buns my friend and I had brilliant idea: you know how taco bell or white castle have that bulk-order packaging when you get like 10 or 30 of their items? KS should do like a DIY Pork Bun 10-Pack...Tom, if you're reading, call me: let's talk marketing strategies!

The user friendliness of KS seafood for non Chinese keeps improving. We had an outstanding meal there on Sunday and were pleased to find a "tastes of Taiwan" menu card on each table listing many Taiwanese specials in English! New to me were the beef buns (similar to the pork buns but stuffed with non fatty "beef stew") along with oyster pancake (a Taiwan streetfood stalwart, only recently added to trhe menu), also very good. Dungeness crab topped "with egg yolk" featured a really delectable fried garlicky streusel like topping which complimented the incredibly sweet crabmeat perfectly. "Crispy chicken nuggets, Taiwanese rice noodles , beef with bamboo, and basil draped clams with wine sauce were good as always. Braised yellow fish not so great. Several other specials including steamed beef tenderoin and house smoked fish with giant clams looked very interesting as well but will need to wait for another visit.

Service was also outstanding with several courteous plate changes along the way. Also new...a little dorbell like button on each table to bring your waitperson in an instant! I was happy to find the restaurant at near capacity. Not hard to understand why with a great dinner for six at about $100.

I wanted to introduce some friends to the pork belly buns at KS but unfortunately when we walked by on thursday, there was newspaper covering all the windows. Has anyone seen anything like this dish elsewhere in Chicago?

TonyC wrote:Tho extremely glad KSS is open, just hope it doesn't need saving like Mandarin Kitchen cuz I'm going to need a second job.

See this is what happens when I'm between jobs! All my favorite spots close! (Seriously, this stinks....)