Yu's Mandarin

Taste for food is natural part of you. Since you were a baby, you have been introduced to many different kinds of food which you grow accustomed to. Taste of the food, which you have developed over time, stays with you for a long time. Wherever you may be, you will find yourself looking for the food that will satisfy your need for that taste.

I grew up in South Korea, a country which already had wide range of food. It was easy to find restaurants that offered exotic cuisine like Italian, French, American, etc. As a kid, I enjoyed eating exotic food and I can say with certainty that I preferred exotic food over Korean food. However, for the most part, I grew up eating Korea food. I’ve never thought I would miss eating the same kind of food that I ate over and over again for twelve-years of my life, but as I left for Canada I’ve come to appreciate the food of my culture and found myself looking for that food.

As the fall break was closing in, I thought about what would be a good place to write a review about. Perhaps a fancy Italian restaurant where I could enjoy the rich flavors of the Italian cuisine, or maybe a high-class restaurant where I could be flattered with flawless service from well-dressed waiters; maybe I could make it a simple task by going to a fast food restaurant. But then, as I thought about the restaurants, my mom called to ask about when I was coming home. As we got talking, my mom told me that she has found a Chinese restaurant that makes a great spicy noodle called Jjam-Bbong. After I got off the phone, I hesitated a little bit. Since I left Korea, I never had a single good Jjam-Bbong. I highly doubted that the restaurant my mom talked about was any good. Also, I have noticed over the past six-years that the Asian restaurants usually have bad services and low to medium quality of food. However, my mom and little sister insisted that we. So I decided to give it a try.

Jjam-Bbong is one of the most popular food in Korea that was developed by Chinese who lived in Korea at around 20^th century. It was first introduced by the Chinese. They changed it to fit the Koreans’ taste. Since it has been introduced, it spread around the country in a short amount of time and gained much popularity among Koreans. Jjam-Bbong is a mix of meat and seafood. Its soup is usually a pork broth, but sometimes chicken broth is used too. Solid ingredients in the soup consist of many different kinds of vegetable, seafood and meat fried together in a pan. Meat used in this is usually pork but sometimes chicken is used also. Seafood mainly consists of clam, shellfish and scallop, but more can be added upon a choice. To the broth, peppers are added to create a spicy flavor to it. The noodle is made out of hand-made dough that is stretch repeatedly to make the noodle durable.

After I arrived to Chicago and had three good days of resting and adjusting to the colder, my family headed out to the Chinese cuisine. On Monday noon, we hopped on to our car. One thing about going to good restaurants is that they are usually far away from your house unless you live in downtown or metro-area. Even if you do live in downtown, some restaurants may be located in suburbs. This long drive, which took almost half an hour, made me a lot hungrier than I was before I left.

When we arrived and got out of the car, I immediately came across the big sign that said “Yu’s Mandarin.” As I stepped into the restaurant, I was “welcomed” by a Chinese lady host who greeted us with aloof tone, “Welcome. How many people?” From the get go, I thought to myself, ‘Here we go again.’ Judging by how the host greeted us, I already told myself that I was going to get a bad service. As we were walking toward the table, I noticed that the kitchen was visible. They placed a glass window between the dining hall and the kitchen which added a sense of trust and professionalism as people were able to the chef and the staff making the food.

As we were seated to our table and the waitress brought us a hot tea, she greeted us with a big smile and a lively tone. There was a stark contrast between the host and the waitress who made everyone feel better. Already feeling better from the service I was getting, the hot tea brought warmth to my body. The weather in Chicago was pretty chilly, which was an added benefit to my meal plan because a hot noodle always tasted better during cold weather. When the waitress came to take the order, without any hesitation, I ordered Jjam-Bbong. For the rest of the meal, she came over regularly to check how we were doing which we appreciated. Not once did she lose her smile when she came over.

As I was waiting for my order, I noticed that the restaurant was half-filled with workers out for lunch. Little small talks here and there and laughter made the place lively, and the simple decoration around the dining hall made the place more comforting. Coming to have a simple meal, the overall outlook of the restaurant helps to feel like being in a right place.

Sitting on the table with my family, it was less boring to wait for the food rather than sitting by myself staring at the people talking and waiters and waitresses moving around. The food came out, as it seemed, faster than I thought. The how sweet-spicy smell of Jjam-Bbong reached its way into my nostril and made my mouth water. The abundance of pan fried vegetables, meat and fresh seafood that shined off the light made the Jjam-Bbong look more appetizing. The first sip of the spicy soup ran down my throat, bringing warmth to my body. The soup tasted spicy with a hint of sweetness. Judging by how the ingredients pan fried and the soup is made out of meat broth, it’s easy to think that the soup would be greasy. However, the soup was very light and it had more of a seafood flavor. I then grabbed the vegetables, which surprisingly tasted fresh, but I had hard time detecting any grease off of the vegetables. The squid was very chewy, but the meat of it was very tender. It was hard to swallow them at once, and I had to give them a little more time until I was able to swallow. The clamps tasted pretty good but in some of them, I chewed on the sand, which was a bit unpleasant. The meat in the soup was very thin and long, which made it easy to chew on. The meat was very tender but it tasted greasy as I started bite into them. The noodle was very had to get a good grip on and every time I tried to grab them, they just slipped out of my chopsticks. When I did manage to put them in my mouth, they were al dente, not so hard, but still firm.

At the end of the meal, I was both satisfied with the service and the taste of the food. Dining at Yu’s Mandarin was more than about having a great food as the taste of Jjam-Bbong made me feel reminiscent of the past. Talking with my family and enjoying the same food that we used to back in Korea, the reminiscent feeling had an added benefit to my dining experience. Yu’s Mandarin did a good job of not only offering a great food, but also a great place to enjoy while eating the food. It offered to be a place where one can enjoy eating and feel reminiscent of the past. This restaurant would be perfect place to be if you are looking for exotic food and good service.

Overall Rating:

★★★★☆