So Gong Dong (Korean tofu stew place)

So Gong Dong has been mentioned here and there on LTH, but the only thread dedicated to it involves parking on Bryn Mawr.

This place deserves better. On a cold morning and a bit hungover, their soon dubu, spicy tofu stew with seafood, really hit the spot and was probably the best version of the classic Korean dish I have had anywhere, with the exception of one spot in NYC that I don't care to google right now (Tofu Village???).

For those of you who don't know, soon dubu is a stew of soft tofu in a brick red chile paste-based broth that is fortified with a protein of your choice (pork, seafood, beef, beef and seafood or just veggies). It comes out bubbling in a little iron pot, and an egg is cracked in it. My girlfriend prefers stirring the egg while the soon dubu is still bubbling, to give texture and richness to the broth. I prefer to let my egg slowly poach while I eat around it, and then finish my meal with a beautiful soft poached egg in spicy seafood broth. Either way, you can't go wrong. Rice is served alongside in another iron pot, where the rice on the bottom and sides get crispy. Put it all together and you have an amazing, healthy and reviving winter meal.

Another important note. The panchan really stood out. The usual suspects all made appearances, but were distinguished by being extra fresh, crunchy and brightly flavored. One oddity that was ridiculously delicious was a small warm panchan of blisteringly spicy cod and radish stew. Awesome. I want that stew as an entree next time.


So Gong Dong, can't wait to go back.

So Gong Dong
3307 W. Bryn Mawr
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 539-8377

Cho-dang-gol in NYC, perhaps?

Hey LTH, I stopped by So Gong Dong for lunch the other day, the only "tofu house" that I know of in the city. It was one stop on my continuing search for standout soondubu within city limits (i'm just sure it has to be out there!).

So Gong Dong was a really cute shop with a lot of charm and damn good food! The dark wood throughout, warm roasted corn tea (really corny), and steamy bowls of soup were just perfect on the first snowy day of the year.

The soondubu was definitely worthy if you're in the mood but don't want to make the trip to the burbs, though definitely a step down from the cho jung or cho dang. One of the best parts of the meal was when the charming proprietor asked us "do you like fishy?". Not knowing what to expect we both said yes, and she brought us out a complimentary roasted salted fish which was surprisingly not too salty, and tasted excelent. Sure, this place may not be the best of the best, but it is definitely worth being on your radar this winter. The soondubu can be ordered mild or spicy, and in Korean it appears there are 3 spicy levels, though I don't read Korean so i'm not sure. We asked for spicy and it wasn't really that spicy to me. Next time I'll really make it clear that I want extra extra spicy and see what happens.

My apologizes for the cell phone pictures, I really need to start bringing my camera out with me more.

We also tried the bibimbap which was good, if a bit light on meat. Nice rice crunch, needed the chopped kimchi to give it some oomph. I'm guessing Laikom meant to include a picture of it instead of the 2nd panchan photo

actually I didn't get a pic of the bibimbap for some reason. I meant to post the pic of the fishey.

It was a very delicious fishy--certainly worthy of a photo! I'd also add that the broth for the soondubu, while not spicy, was quite flavorful--though not as full of seafood as Cho Jung. For $10/appx, I thought it was good value, especially with the fish. And perfect comfort food for the first snowy day!

I've been to So Gong Dong several times, mostly because it is close to my office. I've always found the food to be workmanlike. Nothing is outstanding, but nothing is bad either. It's never a first choice for me, but on a day with particularly bad weather or one where my time is particularly short, I've been known to visit. The fish looks good, though. I'll have to remember that for next time I'm there.

laikom wrote:I meant to post the pic of the fishey.

boudreaulicious wrote:It was a very delicious fishy--certainly worthy of a photo!

Most importantly, is the correct spelling fishey or fishy?

Thank you.

I believe

Fishie - a Fish you are acquainted with
Fishey - a suspect business partner
Fishy - what that business partner smells like

So there's another So Gong Dong now, in Glenview, sandwiched between a Korean noodle place and a teppanyaki place I haven't tried yet, all where there used to be El Tipico years ago on Milwaukee just south of Lake.

I try to keep my lunches under $10, but the house was empty of interesting grub, and I needed to run some nearby errands, so I decided to try it. The lunch menu has a couple of $9.99 specials ($2 more with hot stone bowls of rice), either bibim bop or soondubu. Not wanting to wait 15 minutes for soup to cool off, I went with the bibim bop, choosing the beef option (you can get tofu, kimchi, pork, seafood, veg). Was it awesome? Dunno. Was it satisfying? Absolutely. You get a bowl of soup, tea, a generous set of banchan... and then a bowl of rice came out just before the main attraction.

Why is there rice? Isn't that usually the bottom 2/3 of a bibim bop? Nope. That big bowl is all veg and meat. I was pretty stuffed here, and took home enough for another very filling lunch. The only real complain is that the egg was hard cooked -- perhaps next time I'll ask for over easy.

So, while $10 isn't a bargain lunch, two lunches for $10 certainly is. I'll probably hop in again some time soon.



So Gong Dong
1615 Milwaukee Ave, Glenview, IL 60025
sgddubu.com
(847) 257-7394

The So Gong Dong on Bryn Mawr presumably wasn't related to the chain-esque SGD, which has locations in Glenview, the West Loop, Schaumburg and a bunch in NY/NJ.

Or maybe it was.

Regardless, the former SGD on Bryn Mawr has been renovated and a new sign says the space will be "Big Hill Bar & Grill." The only info I got from using the google machine is that that a liquor license was issued to "So Gong Dong Inc" dba "Big Hill Cantina" at that address. The look of the space is similar to, say, Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club's new space, across the street.

I don't really have a question or comment other than the above info, because there isn't enough info for me to form them. Though, I'm interested to see if Big Hill reflects any influence of So Gong Dong's menu, or if they are going in an entirely new direction.