Really great dumplings...TTOWA Dumpling House/Morton Grove

I'm very new to giving reviews on restaurants so bear with me.

Jim and I had lunch yesterday at TTOWA Dumpling house in Morton Grove and absolutely loved the Wang Mandu dumplings. They were obviously made with homemade dough with a filling of, what looked to me, crumbled pork, green onions and vermicelli noodles. We also had a helping of Mandu Gook, a seafood broth with dumplings, which was also good but the Wang Mandu was the best.

I'm new to Korean food and was amazed when all sorts of bowls of food began coming to our table. I now know this is Panchan and I loved it....there was kim chee, some sort of greens in hot sauce, white radish in vinagar sauce, a yellow gourd of some sort that tasted pickled, and steamed broccoli with a mayo like sauce that my broccoli hating husband loved. I loved all of the panchan. We also were immediately served with hot tea and salad with a dressing that was sort of like thousand island with a ginger accent. We asked the bi-lingual (sort of) waitress was kind of tea it was and it souned like pellee or bili?

The service was terrific....the server happily brought a second bowl so that Jim and I could share the Mandu Gook and she served it up and made sure he got his share of the dumplings.

When we walked in, we saw an all Asian crowd and immediately got happy, knowing this would be a good experience, and it was.

We stuffed ourselves and brought home leftovers and our check was $15.35!!

So, anyway, if you're in the area and feel like dumplings, go to TTOWA and get the Wang Mandu....they're a block or so away from my house and I'd like to see them succeed!

TTOWA Dumpling House
5844 Dempster St.
Morton Grove, IL
847-967-0066

Sounds really interesting. I'm a big dumpling fan myself, so I'll be sure to stop by next time I'm out that way (you know,I was thinking about making a run to Kaufman's soon...).

Every time I go down that stretch of Dempster I notice a few new Asian places that look like they might have great potential. It's a fairly active food scene and new spots are sprouting up all the time (for example I recently noticed that BBQ King seems to have undergone a sex change and is now BBQ Queen ). Thanks for the heads up.

Could the tea possibly have been roasted barley? In Korean, it's referred to as bori cha. That's the only thing I can think of.

Now I want to try this place. I haven't been to many places that serve whang mandu.

-gtgirl

Judy wrote:I'm very new to giving reviews on restaurants so bear with me.

Judy,

Maybe new, but a terrific review, certainly enough to motivate me to check TTOWA out in the next week or two.

Enjoy,
Gary

Judy wrote:a yellow gourd of some sort that tasted pickled

I'm guessing you had takuan (沢庵) Japanese or danmuji (단무지) Korean which is actually pickled daikon.



p.s. - I think gtgirl's right that you probably had bori cha, (보리차) or barley tea [Mugicha (麦茶) in Japanese]

I'd eaten there a few weeks ago, and wasn't thrilled.

I found the menu a little quick-lunch unfriendly (I was hoping for something around $5, most dumplings are $7 and up), and ended up ordering a kimchi beef fried rice, which was interesting, but not delicious.

Judy wrote:So, anyway, if you're in the area and feel like dumplings, go to TTOWA and get the Wang Mandu....

Judy,

Thanks for the tip, I had a tasty inexpensive lunch today at TTOWA, though I went for Yetnal mandu instead of Wang. The Wang mandu, if I understood correctly, is larger and has a thick skin, whereas Yetnal is small with a thinner more delicate skin. I was feeling like a delicate dumpling so went with Yetnal* mandu.

Yetnal Mandu (steamed)


Salad, kimchee, radish, pickle


In addition to a mix of dumplings, soups and stews TTOWA offers Korean style fried chicken, though the price seems to indicate it's for more than one person or at least not meant as a quick casual lunch.

Room is comfortable, service friendly and efficient and cost seemed reasonable for quality and portion size.



There's a sushi place a door West, Dempster Fish, which I had not noticed. There does not seem to be Dempster Fish post on LTHForum, I'll have to give it a try.

Thanks again to Judy for posting about TTOWA.

Enjoy,
Gary

*I keep typing yental instead of yetnal

How is parking near TTOWA? Do they have a lot in the back? I often pass this place during rush hour but get lazy about stopping, thinking that parking will be a pain.

happy_stomach wrote:How is parking near TTOWA? Do they have a lot in the back? I often pass this place during rush hour but get lazy about stopping, thinking that parking will be a pain.

HS,

TTOWA sign says Parking in Rear, though street parking was plentiful Wednesday noon.

TTOWA


Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:I was feeling like a delicate dumpling

Gary,

You are many things. The above is not one of them.

I wasn't aware of the parking in the rear -- street parking is rarely a problem in that neighborhood. Warning: Do NOT park in Marilyn's restaurant lot, they will tow cars (actually, they have less of a rep of doing that than they used to a year or two ago, but don't take the risk)

Gary...I'm glad you enjoyed your lunch yesterday, those dumplings look good.

We've found that parking is not a problem, though we usually walk over there. There is a parking lot in the back of that lineup of stores - I believe the lot is for all of the stores. I've never seen it full.

The Dempster Fish Market is our go-to place for quick take-out sushi. Their sushi is always fresh and delicious and they're able to whip up large trays at the last minute. DFM has been there for about 13-14 years....or, about when my husband and I started dating (my memory is failing me here). We'd get sushi and drinks and have a picnic in the park.

Hi,

Thanks again Judy for a relatively close to home dumpling treat. This was on my to-go to soon list, but it got bumped up with Gary's visuals talking to me this morning.

We arrived just before 11 AM for an early lunch. We ordered Gaesung Mandu, which is described as, "Steamed Korean traditional dumpling in large size." They were not kidding on the large size.



Especially when compared to the Yetnal mandu:



I guess I should have read the description of these dumplings a little more carefully. The Yetnal mandu was described as, "Steamed Korean traditional dumpling in small size." The waitress did try to redirect my order to something else, but I didn't listen. Our dumplings seemed to be largely the same filling with different dumpling presentations, though all were good:



While Gary seemed to get kimchee, we received a vegetable the waitress compared to dandelion greens:



For dessert, we walked over to Dempster Fish Market hoping for some uni. Unfortunately they were out. We will catch them next week, because the nail shop next to TTOWA offers a $30 nails and pedicure Mon-Wed. We're going to snag some sushi and eat while getting the nails done.

Thanks again everybody for your influencing our lunch decision today.

Regards,

Judy wrote: The Dempster Fish Market is our go-to place for quick take-out sushi. Their sushi is always fresh and delicious and they're able to whip up large trays at the last minute. DFM has been there for about 13-14 years....or, about when my husband and I started dating (my memory is failing me here). We'd get sushi and drinks and have a picnic in the park.

The last time I went to Dempster Fish, several months ago, I ordered just a couple of hand rolls. The manager gave some instructions to the person preparing my order as he was working. I realized later that he must have told the guy to use fish that was a couple of days old. I guess my order was not large enough to warrant prime ingredients.

I had had some good sushi there previously, but I will not be back.

Cathy,

Just a warning....Dempster Fish Market is closed on Tuesdays so Monday or Wednesday is your best bet.

Your dumplings looked really good as well! The Wang Mandu is prepared with an entirely different dough. It's similar to Chinese steamed BBQ pork bun dough but on a smaller and thinner scale. The size of the Wang Mandu is bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a baseball, with the dough kind of twirled on top, where they sealed the filling inside.

My husband and I were served both the kim chee and the dandelion dish that you pictured in your post. I loved the dandelions, my husband didn't, so I got them all.

I can see TTOWA's front door from my LR window and I feel as if I'm stalking LTHers!

Judy,

Thanks for the tip. I guess I will get take-out from next door instead next week.

Regards,

Met up last Friday with stevez at Ttowa and we had a tasty dinner. In addition to the yetnal mandu pictured above, we also tried several other items . . .



Salads were served with along with a few panchan. This was a pretty straightforward iceberg lettuce salad with a citrusy, gingery dressing. It was a nice palate opener. We also had the kimchee and dandelion salads described and pictured above.



This tasty version of a creamy potato salad was also served as part of the meal.



Seeing this 'hot pot' -- Mandu Jungol -- on another table, compelled us to order it.



The Mandu Jungol cooks at the table.



Mandu Jungol portioned off. You can see the larger mandu in the top, left section of the bowl.



After we were each served our initial portion of mandu jungol, home-made green noodles were added to the pot and simmered. Eventually, they were portioned off to us. I'm not sure what exactly made them green. The broth was so herbacious, it was hard to tell.



Goon Mandu . . . these dumplings were described as pan-fried but they seemed more deep-fried to me.



Tangu Mandu . . . these dumplings, also apparently deep-fried, were covered in a sweet and sour sauce.



We were definitely curious about the fried chicken. We ordered version #3, which is half sauced and half unsauced. It was tasty in a way that freshly-made fried chicken always is, but really I didn't think it was anything transcendant.



A closer look at the unsauced fried chicken.



Sauced portion of fried chicken. This sauce was similar too but not an exact match for the sauce on the Tangu Mandu pictured above. This was a bit hotter and less sweet. Again, tasty but not revelatory in any way.

On Friday night, we arrived around 7 and it was still only about half-full. By 8 pm, however the dining room was full and we got the sense that the house was ready for us to leave. As we were still obviously eating, someone came by and asked us if we were done. We replied that we were not but moments later, the check was dropped on our table. This was all handled very politely and without any weirdness or hostility. In fact, it didn't bother me at all but I felt it was worth mentioning here if only to point out that this may not be a place to linger after your meal.

I was glad to try Ttowa and glad to know it's there because the food's authentic, better than decent and it's in a very convenient location for me. I can definitely see hitting it for lunch or a quick bite on the way into the city.

=R=

My sister and I had dinner at TTOWA on Tuesday night after discovering that Dempster Fish Market is closed on Tuesdays (I should have checked or at least followed this thread!). We had a very pleasant experience. I think we got the dumpling order all wrong--we went with the large size steamed pork dumplings. I liked the filling, which seemed delicate and nuanced in flavor, but the casing was a bit tough (or more chewy than it should have been), like the dumplings had been re-heated. For entrees, my sister ordered the bulgogi, and I got the spicy squid. (Though when we arrived at 6pm, almost half the tables were occupied, and everyone had a hot pot.) I've had better bulgogi. The texture of the meat made me think that it had also been reheated, though it didn't help that I didn't try the bulgogi until it had been on our table a while and was cold. I loved the spicy squid. It had a rich, full-bodied spiciness to it, a six or seven on a 1-10 scale I would say.

By the time we were done eating, about 7pm, the tables were filling quickly though we didn't feel rushed at all. (There were still one or two tables open.) While we were waiting for our leftovers to be wrapped up, two friends we hadn't seen in a long time walked in, also trying TTOWA for the first time. We stayed and chatted with them for a while--again we didn't feel any pressure from the TTOWA staff to get going.

I would definitely go back to TTOWA, especially for a relaxed weeknight or Sunday dinner. The food isn't spectacular, but it's very solid, and the value is good.

happy_stomach wrote:I liked the filling, which seemed delicate and nuanced in flavor, but the casing was a bit tough (or more chewy than it should have been), like the dumplings had been re-heated.

HS,

I believe the chewy dumpling skin may be a style decision, the waitress made a point of comparing and contrasting the thinner lighter skin and the thick chewy. She was actually trying to steer me to the thicker skin, but I stuck with my original choice of thin and was pleased with the results.

Enjoy
Gary

G Wiv wrote:HS,

I believe the chewy dumpling skin may be a style decision, the waitress made a point of comparing and contrasting the thinner lighter skin and the thick chewy. She was actually trying to steer me to the thicker skin, but I stuck with my original choice of thin and was pleased with the results.

Enjoy
Gary

Our waitress did steer us to the dumplings we ordered. (We had been leaning toward the small, fried dumplings when we arrived.) I usually enjoy thick-skinned dumplings, but I guess I was expecting the texture of the TTOWA casing to be more like bao, with a little bit of resistance and chewiness but not so much elasticity. Next time we will order the small dumplings.

happy_stomach wrote:HS,Next time we will order the small dumplings.

HS,

I believe the small dumplings come thick or thin as well.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:HS,Next time we will order the small dumplings.

HS,

I believe the small dumplings come thick or thin as well.

Enjoy,
Gary

We'll order the small, thin-skinned dumplings.

I was googling Ttowa to post about them on another board and found this. It makes me want to run up there and start gorging on mandu, just in case they close. Although, as far as I can tell, there's no indication of how old this ad is.

-gtgirl

I stopped in about a month and a half ago and chatted with the woman working the cash register and helping with the tables. I asked how business was and got the impression from her reply that it was pretty good, though not stellar (which seems like every business at this point, my not-a-restaurant included, so it didn't strike me as odd). I hope they stick around, since she was very friendly and the food very tasty.

Since UrbanBelly's been getting so much love, we decided to make an inaugural visit to an old standby of dumpling goodness and stopped in for lunch at TTOWA. It might be comparing apples to oranges, but 10 plump, delicate-skinned hand-made steamed dumplings for $5.99 makes TTOWA a deal of a lifetime in comparison. The haemul kalgooksu (mixed seafood noodle) was pretty good and the broth surprisingly spicy despite the absence of red chili (Jalapenos might be the culprit).


Gratis Pan-chan


Yetnal Mandu


Wellbeing Mandu (tofu & vege)


Haemul Kalgooksu

An adjoining table was enjoying twin plates of kimchi bokeumbop (kimchi fried rice) which will definitely make our next visit's order. The Wang Mandu (steamed buns with dumpling filling) at another table looked stuffed to the gills, and would have been simply irresistible if the Missus didn't make such an excellent steamed bun herself.

Just another data point. A quest for Armagnac found us at Binny's on Dempster (respectable selection). I remembered TTOWA as we passed, this saved us from mediocrity of Village Crossing dining.

We had the dumpling combination at the recommendation of our server and the Jap-Chae (noodles for the kids).

The dumplings were good and fresh. I didn't love the kim-chee ones. they were not hot and were bland. The chicken and pork ones were much better. As others have said, the panchan here is generous and delicious. I particularly liked the dandelion greens and the mayo potato salad.

We also got two bowls of homemade chicken broth. My now picky 5yo declared it her best lunch ever. (Note: This is an often bestowed title - but it still means she liked it and had many helpiungs of noodles).

We also got, gratis, a gorgeous bowl of purple rice.

Lunch for 4 with tax and a generous (kid mess) tip - $25.

We'll be back.

Quick note - finally made it to TTOWA last week, and I'm very glad I did. Although it's technically not BYOB, when our waitress saw that we'd brought in a bottle of red wine, she offered to open it, but added "next time Korean, okay?" Next time it will be soju.

We started with the Mandu combination - kimchee, chicken and pork. They were very fresh, with crispy basil leaves inside the delicate dumpling skins. The Mandu alone could make this a destination.


We also got the squid with the green (spinach) house-made noodles. Our waitress offered to mix them for us. We were asked about our preferred spice level; we said we liked spicy - it arrived with a healthy dose of heat, but not overwhelming. Exactly as we'd hoped. Squid was perfectly cooked - tender, not rubbery. [Shaky pic as she was mixing.]


There was a nice variety of panchan - not as much as Hae Woon Dae, all very tasty. (Not shown - a variety of Miso soup with tofu.)


We were the only non-Asians there, but the staff made us feel very welcome, and the language barrier wasn't as high as at some other Korean places in the neighborhood. Including leftovers, we got out for about $20 before tip. TTOWA still seems to be relatively undiscovered, but it's definitely worth a trip to Morton Grove, if you're not in the mood for Burt's pizza.

Anybody know what time they open for dinner on a Saturday?

Dave148 wrote:Anybody know what time they open for dinner on a Saturday?

According to a menu I have, they are open from 11am to 10 pm Mon-Sat and they are closed on Sundays.

=R=

Thank you Ronnie.