LTH North Lunch Group - Silk Mandarin - Fri. 4/15 - 11:30am

Continuing our streak of hitting spots that don't have a dedicated thread on LTH but will soon be rectified - the April Meeting of the LTH North Lunch Group will convene at Silk Mandarin in Vernon Hills. Silk Mandarin along with the Secret Menu is mentioned within other LTH threads. Please join us.

Silk Mandarin Restaurant
4 E. Phillip Rd.
Vernon Hills, IL 60061-1824
(847) 680-1760
http://www.silkmandarinvernonhills.com/ ... ml?src=%2F

Dave148 - Official Meeting Coordinator of the LTH North Lunch Group
WillG+1
Cathy2
Cynthia
jygach
milz50
boudreaulicious

Excellent way to celebrate tax day. I will be there. Looks like we may still need a translation of the last 2 pages of the menu. Thanks for organizing.

-Will

The last two pages of the menu are in Korean--I grew up nearby in Buffalo Grove and had no idea that Silk Mandarin had Korean-Chinese food!

Hi,

I plan to attend. If anyone can get a copy of the last two pages, maybe it can be translated?

Regards,

Sharona wrote:The last two pages of the menu are in Korean--I grew up nearby in Buffalo Grove and had no idea that Silk Mandarin had Korean-Chinese food!

Silk Mandarin is a fairly big advertiser on KBC-TV (analog channel 41/Comcast channel 338), which features mostly Korean programming, so I had checked out their menu quite a while ago and added it to the list of places I wanted to get around to trying. Their ad makes both the place and the food look pretty attractive (what else are ads for!).

Unfortunately, I don't think 4/15 is going to work for me, but if that changes, I'll let you know.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I plan to attend. If anyone can get a copy of the last two pages, maybe it can be translated?

Regards,

Cathy2,
The pages are available as a pdf on their website and I took a look at it and probably can do a rough translation of the items (ala my crude translation of the Chef Ping menu). I will see if I can get to it today.

Sharona

Sharona,

That would be wonderful.

Thank you!

Regards,

Ah, dang, I can't make it on a Friday. But I can vouch for Silk Mandarin. It is by far the best Chinese restaurant around here.

So this is the best I could do tonight. I called my parents, but my dad is a bit hard of hearing and a little goofy so he can't really understand/doesn't want to understand what I'm reading to him over the phone. But here's the best I can do--there are a couple of mysteries, feel free to fill them in. Also, if anyone has better descriptions, they are gladly welcome!


K1 Goon mandoo: Fried dumplings
K2 Mool mandoo : Boiled dumplings
K3 Maeun mool mandoo: Spicy boiled dumplings
K4 Maeun sa chun shik mool mandoo: Spicy boiled dumplings (filling is different from K3(
K5 Boochoo goon mandoo: Chive dumplings
K6 Sa chun shik pa jeon: Scallion pancakes
K7 Yang jan pee : Cold salad with seafood, beef, and vegetables in a spicy mustard sauce
K8 Hae pahl lee naeng chae: Cold jellyfish salad in spicy mustard sauce
K9 Maeun dahk go gee moo chim: Marinated spicy chicken meat
K10 So lah moo chim: Marinated clam
K11 Do ga nee moo chim: Marinated cow knee bone
K12 Maeun toh ki moo chim: Marinated spicy rabbit
K13 Ma nul sam gyup sal: Garlic pork belly
K14 Oh hyang jang yook: Five seasonings pigs feet, sliced, served with spiced salt
K15 Oh hyang hoon jae uh: Five seasonings smoked fish
K16 Sa chun shik mook moo chim: Spicy marinated acorn jelly
K17 Yoo san seu : Pork and seafood in a mild sauce
K18 Sam sun jjampong: Seafood spicy noodle soup
K19 La jo myun: Spicy noodle stirfry
K20 Sam sun jja jang myun: Seafood black bean noodles
K21 Pal bo chae: Mixed seafood dish with oyster sauce
K22 Tang soo yook: Sweet and sour pork
K23 Tang soo so go gee: Sweet and sour beef
K24 Tang soo uh: Sweet and sour fish
K25 Sam sun bokkeun: Three seafood stir fry
K26 Hae sam tang: Sea cucumber stew
K27 Sa chun la cho gee: Spicy stir fried chicken in hot sauce
K28 Ggan pong sae woo: Spicy fried shrimp
K29 Bokkeun so geum sae woo: Salt and pepper shrimp
K30 Bokkeun so geum oh jing uh: Salt and pepper squid
K31 Gui bi sae woo : ? shrimp
K32 Saeng sun boo choo bokkeun: Fish and chive stirfry
K33 Po jo uh: ? fish
K34 Dwae ji go gee boo choo bokkeun: Pork and chive stirfry
K35 Sa chun samgyup sal bokken: Spicy pork belly stirfry
K36 Ga li bi bokkeun: ? stir fry
K37 Ggan pong gee: Spicy fried chicken wings

Please add me to the list of those attending.

And thanks for the translation, Sharona. I can imagine that being useful in more places than just this.

I had been looking forward to Chinese, but it looks as though there is a lot of interest on the Korean menu, as well. Decisions, decisions.

Please add me to the list. Thanks for organizing.

I'm unlikely to be there but if I can attend, I will. I'll probably update my status the day before or the day of.

Thanks,

=R=

I'll be there.

-Matt

Hey folks - we've got the "Secret Menu" translated thanks to Sharona. How about a little more ordering power for Friday's lunch?

Dave-

You mean you want to order more than just duck tongues and pork tripe?

Looking forward to it.

Thanks, Will

Will,
I normally put those in my morning cereal. I'm abstaining this week in anticipation of Friday's lunch. Thanks for your concern.
Dave

I am going to bring a friend so we will have more ordering power.

-Will

Sadly, I'm out. WhiskeyFest is on Friday and I already have to leave the office early for that. Have a great lunch!

=R=

WillG wrote:I am going to bring a friend so we will have more ordering power.

-Will

That's the LTH North spirit!

I am now able to join you if there's room--I'll be in Lincolnshire at an appt. until 11:00 so it should work perfectly.

We have a reservation under "Dave" - see ya tomorrow!

HI,

I'm very sorry, I will not attend tomorrow. There are great expectations I will have a project finished tomorrow morning. These are not mine, because I believe it will be an all day project. Stepping out for a two-hour lunch when I am already missing an (arbitrary) deadline will cause disharmony.

I'm really sorry for any inconvenience.

Regards,

You'll be missed, C2, but I certainly understand the priority of deadlines and harmony.

Do you want me to bring you a doggie bag? Oh wait - LTH North is a proud supporter of the Clean Plate Club. Never mind.

And we did a fine job of cleaning our plates. Thanks to Dave for organizing. Based on everyone's positive reaction to what I thought was a great meal, I suspect that Silk Mandarin will soon have a dedicated thread.....even though they were out of duck tongues and pea greens. Good food and good company on a Friday afternoon.

Thanks, Will

I am looking forward to seeing your reviews of this place. I have been to this place a couple of times and am wondering what you ordered.

This was far better than just being a good meal -- it was an outstanding meal.

Best dan-dan noodles ever.

Mao's pork belly was rich and savory, with a good bit of star anise.

The ham with garlic (recommended by Lydia -- who says she's there 365 days a year -- once she realized we wanted to eat more unusual dishes) was completely over the top. Spicy, masses of garlic, swimming in chili oil, unbelievable. This would be worth the trip, even if they had nothing else.

Lamb with cumin was intense and brilliant.

Bok choy with garlic was very garlicky and a good foil for all the rich food.

The "Pot of Fish" was a brothy flounder soup with sour cabbage -- very nice.

Good jellyfish salad (with green onions), but not the most flavorful dish we ordered (though still delicious). For next trip, I'd try one of the other jellyfish dishes.

Crispy noodles with shrimp, chicken, and beef was very nice, but was off the "regular" menu, and though the quality was high, the flavor was perhaps a little too gentle to compare well with the many "wow" dishes.

I think that's it. We ate family style, so we all got to sample everything.

For those who wish to try this place, if you want advice, ask for Lydia -- I'm guessing the owner -- a delightfully enthusiastic guide through many options on the menu.

A few tips on the menu. The Korean menu translated above is simply items from the Chinese menu translated into Korean, for those clients who don't read English or Chinese. So you don't really need to worry about taking the translation with you. Asking for advice helps, because there were descriptions we would just not have warmed up to, but Lydia assured us which choices might be improvements on things we wanted.

Also, while everything on the menu is Chinese, as Lydia pointed out, there is Chinese with which Americans are more comfortable, and then there is the Chinese that mostly Chinese eat. The front five or so pages of the menu are the "comfortable" Chinese dishes -- the chicken almond ding and Mongolian beef and those sorts of things. Then there are a few green pages, for the Korean translations, and then a second group of white pages, where the item numbers all have "C" in front of them. These are the pages where you'll find the stuff Americans aren't always so comfortable with -- but that we loved.

We dined a la carte, but there is a wonderful lunch buffet that actually included a few of the "C" items -- smoked chicken, for example. It's $9.95 on weekdays. Lydia told us that there are a lot more of the challenging things on the weekend buffet, as that's when the Chinese community comes out in force to dine. On weekends, the lunch buffet is $14.95. If you go with a smaller group but still want to try multiple dishes, or aren't sure what to order, the buffet would be a great option.

Or just order the ham with garlic and the dan-dan noodles. You wont' be disappointed.

Oh -- and Lydia also mentioned that they are adding something of a dumpling bar after Easter. So another good reason for a return visit.

And don't forget the candied sweet potato fritter--oh dear goodness
Silk Mandarin was an absolutely delightful surprise. Can't wait to go back!!

Cathy2, it sucks not being able to go doesn't it? But then, you may have already tried it out!

Should probably also mention -- they didn't have the duck tongues, but Lydia said to just call the day before and she'll order them. They just don't sell enough duck tongues, even with a large Asian clientele, to keep them on hand at all times.

Also, for Peking duck, it's a special order item, but Lydia said they just need a few hours notice.