LF_082219

22 | August 22, 2019 | The lake forest leader DINING OUT
LakeForestLeader.com
HARD TO DESCRIBE.
EASY TO LOVE.
Gangnam Ramen takes diners
on tour of Korean cuisine
Jason Addy
Contributing Editor
NEW MUSIC
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After decades of wowing
her family and friends
at get-togethers and church
events, Keum Ahn — with
support from her husband
and children — decided
it was time to show off
her culinary skills to the
world.
The Ahn family opened
the doors to Gangnam Ramen
in February at 952
Harlem Ave. in Glenview,
and local residents and
Korean cuisine lovers
quickly took notice, said
Keum’s son Daniel, who
left his job in corporate
marketing to help ensure
the success of his family’s
first restaurant.
The reception has been
“surprisingly very positive,”
he said. “The feedback
so far is great. We
love the local community
here in Glenview. We have
a lot of regulars who are
very supportive, so we’re
grateful for that.”
“In the beginning, it
was actually really hard,”
Keum said through Daniel,
who translated on her
behalf. But once Daniel
and his sister stepped in to
help out with operations,
Keum found her rhythm
and started winning over
customers.
In the first six months,
Gangnam Ramen has converted
many who stopped
in to try the “half-traditional,
half-modern” fusion
of Korean flavors into
regular diners, he said.
Most of the dishes on
the menu started from traditional
Korean recipes
that Keum learned while
growing up in the southernmost
reaches of South
Korea with 10 siblings.
Gangnam Ramen’s Korean fried chicken ($10 for a large
order) features deep-fried chicken nuggets glazed in a
Korean chilli sauce. Eric DeGrechie/22nd Century Media
Keum said she has taken
those recipes and “Americanized”
them slightly as a
way to introduce customers
to Korean cuisine.
The menu also features
a few options for those
looking to sample some of
the more exotic dishes of
Korea, such as the seafood
udon and spicy rice cakes.
While many of the dishes
have rustic roots, some
have much more regal
backgrounds, like the Korean
BBQ bulgogi, a dish
once reserved for Korean
royalty and special events.
“I see ourselves as a tour
guide for Korean culture,”
Daniel said, alluding to the
wide range of dishes featured
on the menu.
Gangnam Ramen also
offers diners a dichotomy
between traditional and
modern, with one side of
the restaurant featuring
muted tones and marble
tables and the other side
bursting with colors and
more modern wooden
tabletops.
Keum and Daniel recently
took a group of
22nd Century Media editors
on their tour of Korean
cuisine via some of
Gangnam Ramen’s most
popular dishes.
Gangnam Ramen
952 Harlem Ave.,
Glenview
(847) 724-1111
gangnamramen.co
11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5-9
p.m. Monday-Saturday
Closed Sundays
The experience started
with an order of Gangnam
Ramen’s Korean fried
chicken ($10 for a large order),
which features deepfried
chicken nuggets
glazed in a Korean chilli
sauce, and an order of the
Korean BBQ fries ($8.50),
a serving of French fries
topped with marinated ribeye
beef, sour cream sauce,
scallions and housemade
Korean barbecue sauce.
We also sampled the
fried dumplings ($8 for
eight dumplings), a staple
of many Asian restaurants.
Next, the Ahn family
served us dumpling ramen
($10.50), a large bowl of
broth filled with dumplings,
egg, mushrooms,
peppers, onions and other
vegetables. Keum simmers
chicken bones for 48 hours
to give the broth its depth
of flavor.
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