Dragonlady Lounge

Was attending a meeting last week and overheard some colleagues discussing a Korean/dive/bar/ around Belmont and California that does a vegetarian buffet on Thurs PM's. It was news to me so I planned my Thurs accordingly.

It was respectable, with about a dozen large 1/2 pans of banchan like selections. Carrots and green beans with chile paste, hijiki salad, bean sprouts dressed with soy and vinegar, very similar to what you'd get on a monkey dish @ San Soo Gap San or the like.

The owner (dragonlady) takes you into the kitchen where you help yourself to some miso soup. She gives you a plate with white rice and then you make your selections. I enjoyed the simmered dense bean curd and pan fried man doo most. The rest was decent, but nothing stellar. Dinner for two w/a couple drinks each came to $45. More than I thought it would be- not that it was that expensive but I was told the drinks were cheap. Maybe that's a special.

It was good but I wanted it to be wonderful. Pleasant night, not a must have but it was interesting.

Dragonlady Lounge
3188 N. Elston Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 866-2450

I plan to visit Dragonlady Lounge, as a lover of Korean food and a lover of a vegetarian. The situation is more urgent, as Tasting Table gossips that the dragonlady is planning to close up shop at some point (soon?). The article is here: http://tastingtable.com/entry_detail/chicago/1274/Taste_Sue_Chongs_Korean_charms_while_you_can.htm

I don't believe she's closing. In my experience, she says she's thinking about moving to Austin a lot, and she may someday, but I don't think it's imminent. The building has been listed for two years, and didn't sell in a better market than it is right now.

As one might have guessed from the above, I've been working on something about Dragonlady Lounge for a while. It's here.

She told me the Tasting Table report of her imminent departure was bogus and expressed some irritation about it: "I don't know why that rumor is going around, but it's not true."

DragonLady Lounge is still around. Just had their $3 vegan burger. The burger is made in house, has a nice crunchy exterior and is pretty substantial. The star in my opinion was the homemade radish kimchee on top of the burger. It was served on a standard white bun, with ketchup and mustard. I spoke with the chef and recommended that he leave off the ketchup and mustard which he thought was a good idea. The radish is definitely tasty and I would love to eat that all on its own. I also tried their vegan Korean pancake which was simple, but tasty. Next Thursday they will be offering vegan tapas for the first time from about 6-8 according to the Chef. I am curious to see what that will be like. They are still offering their vegan buffet as well on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month for 14.99. I haven't tried that yet, but hope to in the near future. The menu also had a funnel cake on it which I thought was really weird, so of course I ordered it. It took a really long time to come out and, when it did, was way too greasy. The chef told me that he doesn't make it often and they are actually taking it off the menu soon. They were nice enough to take it off the bill when I mentioned how greasy it was. Overall, food is good, drinks cheap, prices super reasonable, and staff are really nice. The chef and owner are really open to your thoughts and ideas about the menu which I can really appreciate. It's an interesting combination of dive bar and vegan food (they do offer some non-vegan options as well).

This place has been papered over since at least January. There's a hand-written note on the paper saying "Closed For Spring Cleaning, Re-Opening in May." Well we're closing in on July and it's still papered over...

Eater Chicago:https://chicago.eater.com/2017/6/15/15807424/bel-new-avondale-restaurant-midwest-foods-juicy-lucy-reeds-local-dragon-lady-lounge

(sorry not to embed better, on tablet)

Basically, Dragon Lady not coming back.

Giovanna

Never tried it myself, but sorry to hear that on behalf of vegans who swore by this place.