Wooil - Korean/Japanese BBQ

Technically, Cathy2 made the inaugural visit to this spot. However, LTH North had a great meal here yesterday - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=31184

Wooil is a new spot on the hit-and-miss dining strip of Milwaukee Ave. Some tables are set up for bbq. Others are for regular dining.

The owner/manager stopped by our table to offer ordering suggestions. At the end, our group of eight decided to order eight different entrees off of the lunch menu. The entrees come with the usual eight sides.

Service was very attentive without being obtrusive. Our waiter also offered suggestions as we ordered. Our food arrived quickly. The restaurant was not crowded during lunch.

I inadvertently grabbed a copy of the regular menu as we left instead of the lunch menu. So I can't comment on what we ordered. As noted in the LTH North thread, everything we ordered was quite good. As I recall, most entrees at lunch were around $9-$10. Perhaps someone else from LTH North can chime in as to what we specifically ordered. The regular menu is quite extensive, including appetizers, side dishes, "authentic bbq dishes", broiled fish, hot pots, bibimbob entrees, stew entrees, noodle and soup entrees.

Overall, a shining spot on the Milwaukee Ave corridor. I'll definitely add it to my dining rotation. Now if only I can convince my wife to eat goat...

Wooil Korean Restaurant
185 Milwaukee Ave. - just north of Lake Cook Rd.
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
(847) 215-4949

Mon-Sat 11am-10pm
Sunday - closed

PS - for you city folk that come up here, the Speedway gas station next door has good gas prices.

The restaurant is appropriately named for the event -- the menu said Wooil means "a day with a friend," and the friends added much to the meal.

The dishes we had included 2x dolsot bibimbop (the kind cooked in the hot stone bowl), spicy squid, spicy pork with kimchee (a bit short on the kimchee, and not spicy by the standards of those who like spicy, but incredibly good), 2x short ribs (normally a dish they serve in the BBQ area, but which they cooked for us, since we were at a regular table), tonkatsu, and japchae.

Instead of trying to figure out who liked which level of spiciness, they just brought out bowls of red sauce, so we could adjust to our own tolerance levels. That worked well, and those who liked a bit of heat made the red sauce vanish pretty quickly.

I thought everything was quite good, but my favorites where the japchae (slightly different flavor from most I've had, but delicious), ribs, and spicy pork. However, I thought it was all very nice.

The side dishes/panchan were not numerous but were good and would be refilled when emptied. They were seaweed salad, pickled daikon, seasoned bean sprouts, and, of course, kimchee.

The soup served with the meal was not the usual miso soup, but rather a light broth heavily seasoned with black pepper. I liked it very much.

I'd say that everything was solidly prepared. If you live near Korean Town in the city, you wouldn't need to make a trip to try this place. But if you live in the northern suburbs and don't always want to have to make a major trek to get good Korean, this is your place. Yummy food, interesting menu, attractive place, and very eager staff.

Cynthia wrote:2x short rips

Are you sure you weren't at Paris Club?

cilantro wrote:

Cynthia wrote:2x short rips

Are you sure you weren't at Paris Club?

Oops. I fixed it. S/B ribs, of course.

My husband and I made our way up north earlier this week to visit my family. We had some family visiting from out of state and my parents decided to try Wooil, since it was close to their house. I'm not sure if this is how most Korean people eat, but for some reason, my Korean family eats the meats first, then orders stews and soups and noodles after we've had our fill of meat. For our group of nine, we ordered kalbi and spicy pork bbq (with my husband the vegetarian ordering mixed vegetables to grill--don't snicker--haha). The meats were marinated well and were tender off the grill on our tabletop. Then after we grilled and stuffed ourselves silly, I wanted to try naeng myun (Korean cold noodle soup) and my cousin wanted to try al-tang (fish roe spicy stew). While I didn't try the al-tang, I really enjoyed the naeng myun. I found the broth to be complex and full of umami, with an unexpected hint of ginger, which is something I've never really tasted in naeng myun before. Panchan was the low light of the meal--the kimchi wasn't quite funky enough, the fish cake panchan was dry and not too flavorful, and there just didn't seem to be enough variety. And maybe because we were Korean, but we got spicy raw crab panchan, which I know is well-loved here on LTH. Maybe other visitors can ask for it in the future. All in all, a solid Korean place up north that we can go to when we visit the parents from down here in Central Illinois.

in my experience (been here twice) it's been a shade above ok but not spectacular, and they are still working out consistency. the panchan doesn't do much for me and their kimchi (both napa and daikon) is a bit more on the fermented side than most places.

but i'd go here in a pinch if it means i don't have to drive further south to the niles/glenview korean area.

Cathy, Helen, and I went for lunch last month, about a month after they opened. Word on the street from the Korean church/salon ladies was that they're good - and we agreed. Here was our lunch spread:



I've ordered their dolsot bibimbap twice now - pretty sure I'll have a tough time not ordering it every time:



Especially with this crunchy crusty bottom:



At our last lunch we were offered 6 bottomless banchan - and thanks to Sharona now we'll know to ask if banchan du jour includes spicy raw crab:



And here was our spread at the LTH North Lunch Bunch:

Just went there for dinner with my sister and mom. As mentioned, the pan chan wasn't spectactular, but still enjoyable. (Kinda sums up the whole meal.) As mentioned, the pickled daikon and pickled cabbage were good. I also really liked the spicy raw crab (so that's what it was!), but I wasn't really impressed by the rest of the options.

Dolsot Bibimbop was also good, not great. The whole thing was well put together, fresh ingredients and all, but I just didn't like the red sauce on the side. Is it gojuchang or is that something else? Anyway, it didn't have the heat I was expecting, was somewhat bland, and there just wasn't enough of it (though I probably could have asked for more). So for me, the dish was just missing something.

My sister enjoyed the spicy tofu soup that she ordered. Like someone else mentioned, they gave her a bowl of spice powder on the side, so she could decide how spicy she wanted it to be. We definitely appreciated this because my 16 year old sister often has to fight the waiters at Korean restaurants when she tries to order something spicy. No fight this time, just gave her the spicy stuff on the side.

Not entirely sure if the beef marrow soup that my mom ordered was good or not. But she did mention that there was quite a lot of beef and marrow, and the look on her face makes me think she found a winner. All in all, the best Korean restaurant close by (as far as I know). Not blown away, but I'll definitely be back. Solid stuff.

Also, the place was eerily empty at 6 pm. There were way too many waiters/workers for the small amount of customers. And although the service was friendly, I did feel odd when about 6 different sets of eyes watched me as I ate.

Is this the same place that used to be located directly north of Periyali on Milwaukee?

stevez wrote:Is this the same place that used to be located directly north of Periyali on Milwaukee?

Steve,

This place is located just north of intersection of Milwaukee and Lake-Cook Road. If you passed the Speedway gas station going north, you just missed it.

Regards,

Steve, that's Woori Village which has relocated to the mall at thd ne corner of Golf and Milwaukee. My favorite korean bbq in the area.

Octarine wrote:Steve, that's Woori Village which has relocated to the mall at thd ne corner of Golf and Milwaukee. My favorite korean bbq in the area.

Thanks. I knew the name was at least similar.

I really enjoyed the LTH North lunch group pictured above. These pictures illustrate the fresh and solid Korean food sometimes hard to find in the northern 'burbs. I recently had Korean food at Woo Lae Oak and lunch was just okay. We had kalbi BBQ at our table along with bi bim bop (the regular kind, not the dol sot version). Though the food was fair, it was not seasoned similar to what I'm accustomed to at restaurants along Lincoln Ave in Chicago. The kalbi was very lightly marinaded. The bi bim bop had some interesting microgreens along with the usual suspects. But the pan chan was rather light - kim chee, an odd looking cole slaw and some greens (not the usual seasoned cooked spinach).

I agree with the posters above, Wooil is a good spot if you do not want to drive into the city. However, my recent trip to Woo Lae Oak, emphasized the fact that I've been lucky to frequent good Korean restaurants.

Woo Lae Oak (Korean BBQ)
3201 Algonquin Rd
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
847-870-9910

A group of 7 had lunch Friday but we did not order prepared foods from the lunch menu but specifically asked for a BBQ table. We ordered 3 marinated beef rib, 1 marinated pork, 1 marinated chicken and one regular chicken for the one person who didn't think that they liked spicy food.
The good items are that the restaurant is very clean and prep for everything was excellent from the romaine lettuce leaves to the the nicely sliced garlic. Quality of the meats was very good. the service exemplary and as our hostess tried to help us until she understood that we knew how to proceed and then she helped BBQ the food.
The panchan was sparse, only four items but I guess for us it didn't really matter as most didn't eat the panchan, so maybe the have learned who to serve and who not to waste food on? No raw crab for us!
I had called ahead and asked if the tables had charcoal BBQ's in them and was told yes, well the communication wasn't too good obviously as they have a nice gas system. As an Engineer with Fire Protection credentials, it was a well designed system with two nozzles above the tables leading to a large fire suppression system with a large carrier of what I suppose was CO2. There are two type of burner arrangements depending on what you are cooking and we had both types firing away. After we were done and I looked at the residual mess, I can only tell you that when we arrived the grills were spotless as was everything else. nice job!
If looking for traditional Korean as i have found in other Korean BBQ's closer to the City, then it's a bit of a disappointment as everything was pretty bland. The non-spicy chicken option was just chicken with no marinade at all. I had to ask for the traditional Korean blend of pepper paste and I didn't taste any fresh ginger or garlic in the blend, not up to what I have had in the past nor what i make from a traditional Korean cookbook.
Kimchee was of two types, radish and cabbage, excellent quality and fresh but again not spicy.
24 ozs of Hite did help the meal though!
For the others in our party, it was their first Korean BBQ and they all said they enjoyed it very much.
After we were done and I suppose I should have made it clear when we arrived, I asked if this was the way non-Koreans were served and the hostess told me that they could spice up the menu if we asked.
I am used to Korean cuisine that is heavily spiced with heat and garlic stemming from our first foray 20+ years ago to a now defunct spot on Lincoln Ave where we went through a six pack in less than 20 minutes from the skate soup and other courses that were so heavily spiced and the panchan literally overflowed our table.
Cost was $190 for 7 including the one person that ordered a hamburger, sobasically about $30 person with tip for BBQ, not an inexpensive lunch but we were not looking for a lunch experience but good Korean BBQ of which this was, but certainly not as authentic as i am used to but maybe this is what the newer Korean BBQ restaurants are becoming.-Dick

budrichard wrote:I am used to Korean cuisine that is heavily spiced with heat and garlic stemming from our first foray 20+ years ago to a now defunct spot on Lincoln Ave where we went through a six pack in less than 20 minutes from the skate soup and other courses that were so heavily spiced and the panchan literally overflowed our table.

This takes me back over 30 years ago when I took my wife on our first date to a restaurant on Lincoln called Gin Go Gae. Naturally, I was trying to impress her as a man of the world so I took her to a Korean restaurant. Neither of us had ever been to one, had no idea of potential heat levels, and at the time had not really been exposed to spicy foods in general. By the end of the night, our lips were so burnt out that romance was definitely put on hold. Good times...

Gin Go Gae was in fact the restaurant but the last time I rolled past there it was gone.-Dick

I've had two excellent lunches at Wooil in the past year and like it very much. I've only ordered off the lunch menu and haven't tried any of the BBQ dishes. Most recently my wife and I had the OjingEo DeobBob (rice topped with spicy squid and vegetables) and the KimChi JjiGae (hot and spicy kimchi stew with pork).