Ssaboo Hourglass

Saboo aka Moraeshigae is one of my favorite Korean bars. I've never gone during the day...strictly in that 9pm-1am time frame.

They have some really good bulgoki ddukbokki and I hear some other good foods. But honestly, when I go here it's not for the food. So let me focus on the Korean bar aspect. It's a great little place for soju, both flavored and regular. The music is a mix of Korean and English (albeit it's usually one cd of 20 songs that repeats through the night lol), the servers are all very nice & include some twinkie servers which is always helpful and some nice tables outside if you need to go for a smoke (I don't but go out with friends sometimes). Not to mention they have a bowl of tootsie pops by the door...love it~!

This bar is small though so it can fill completely to the brim quickly, but lately has not been as popular when I've gone. That may be thanks to all the other Korean bars in the area (Ju Rang, I'm looking at your newbie). The service is good thanks to the bells at your table to call them over (gotta love the korean bars that still have that). In my opinion, the newly invented Moraeshigae in the form of Saboo is better then the last (used to be further up Milwaukee in the city). Def give it a try until it closes at 1 then head over to DMZ up the street! :)

When I first heard the Hourglass on Lawrence had changed owners I was pretty upset. I didn't speak nor eat for a week. I shuffled around aimlessly and people whispered in hush tones when I passed by. It was an ugly scene.

I ultimately accepted the loss of my beloved ddukbokki jip and hardened my heart to steel. I would not love another, I declared. Let this be my fate.

It all changed last week when my designer friends casually mentioned to me that they had finished the work on the new Hourglass out in Glenview. They even showed me pictures to confirm they weren't kidding around.

Yep - the old Hourglass on Lawrence has moved here. Hallelujah!

You'll be happy to know that your favorites are still served. They even added a bulgogi ddukbokki which I didn't try but will do so the next time I'm there. The prices have gone up a tad but I feel it's a small price to pay to be able to have the awesome food once again after I thought it was gone forever.

The major downside to this version of Hourglass is how far it is from the city. I really enjoyed the fact that I could visit the old location via the El or a cab ride. The new location demands a tighter coordination on transportation and DD duties.

I'm also unsure about the look and feel of this place. My friends have done an awesome job of putting the place together but I'm so used to the dark, "Frontierland" aesthetic that the new, well-lit and coordinated interior was a bit jarring for me.

I'm sure all this will pass once I start visiting this place more often.

ps: They've recently re-opened so expect a bit of a wait around 7 or so. I think the word has gotten around and there was a steady stream of people coming in. We got there at 6 and the place was filling up fast.

Go early if possible and stay awhile.

"Did you come through the side door? You're not supposed to come through the side door!" That's the first words that were said to me here. My exchange student friends just barged in and wanted to sit down right away, not really how it works here so when we doubled back the owner thought we walked in through the side. Never mind, that we were already stuffed but in the interest of scientific comparison ordered the same dishes we had at the old Hourglass, ddokbokgi and yangyum tong dak. The dishes here were better-ddokbokgi was back to its original huge size and even had TWO eggs! I'm going to go ahead and say that I am NOT a fan of yanyum tong dak, but I could tell the difference, still didn't like it.

Our waitress was really nice, we wanted the strawberry soju but she actually told us that it wasn't good and a lot of people complained about it so we went with one of her suggestions, grape soju. Interesting, it tasted like grape Kool-aid but the guys with me said this was much more like the flavored soju in Korea where they mix it with juice and not powder. When we asked for the apple one she said she didn't have it and when we were caught up in deciding what to drink next she said.

"Why don't I make you guys my own mix. If you don't like it I won't charge you." Damn it all if it wasn't delicious! I really wanted a free bottle of soju but it wasn't to be. The worst part of it was that she wouldn't say what was in it. I'd like to come back but it's fairly out of the way but I'll make my way here again.

I came here on a week day evening..and it wasn't even that packed...was able to get seated immediately; however, it took 30-40 minutes for us (2 ppl) to get the food..when we only ordered 1 dish....

food: tasted ok, not bad..ordered spicy octopus noodles..nakjibokum..

service: bad...if you don't mind having a couple drinks and slow service on the food.. maybe it'll be an ideal place to come with friends...

atmosphere: looks just like any other Korean bar/restaurant..

if you want to eat food from here.. I would say.. either pre-order.. or just order carryout and hopefully you don't have to wait too long.. or just go when you're not too hungry and then you'll be hungry by the time that the food comes out..

Watermelon soju? Yes, please!

It's life-changing, I kid you not.

One of those special treats in life...usually associated with birthdays or other milestones in life. Soju is tricky, too. You hardly taste it, so you don't think it'll hit you as hard. Oh, but it does. The watermelon goodness just masks the fact that it's deadly.

Try it.

Fried chicken and katsu? Delicious! Like, the 10 of us crowded around that chicken and dug in, frealz.

I adore + love this place. I'm so sad that it's in the 'burbs now. (Used to be in AP!) On the plus side, parking is plentiful and it's alot bigger than its old space. And we loved the music - hello, Usher + Will.I.Am's 'OMG'. Official anthem for Spring 2010. Love.

PREFACE: I'm only giving this 2-stars because I've experienced better, not because it was BAD. This review is also based on the TAKE-OUT and not dine-in.

We picked up some dduk-boki (spicy rice cakes) and yang yum ttong dak (seasoned chicken) the other day.

Dduk-boki. Based on other yelp reviews, it appears that they are known for their dduk-boki. Yes, I agree, that their portion size was HUGE. As someone mentioned, it is probably enough for 4 people to split (in combination with other dishes). They did give 2 eggs, which is fantastic. It was extremely spicy, so if you're into spicy, it should be good. =) All in all, I enjoyed the dduk-boki. They had some of the most random veggies in it, like broccoli, ... can't remember what else. I just remember thinking, "What a random veggie to put in dduk-boki!" Hey, but whatever works!!!

Yang-Yum Ttong-Dak. I definitely liked the sauce for this. One thing I was not a fan of was the random chicken pieces. Call me spoiled because I come from Atlanta, where the Korean food is all pretty awesome, but I am used to getting chicken drumsticks or wings (LARGE) in Atlanta. Here, you might find a wing and thigh, one drumstick, and whatever other part of the body. My friend told me that they probably (literally) take one chicken and chop it up and give it to you like that. If that is so, I can understand why we got such random pieces of chicken. I just wish that we had more chicken drumsticks, legs, or wings so that there's more meat than bones.

All in all enjoyable and I would go back, especially since there aren't too many of these type joints in the burbs.

Good late night place to go. I probably wouldn't go any other time.

Dduk-bogi is awesome here. Fruit sojus are better here than other places. My fave was the apple soju -- I love the balled chunks of apple in it. Other sojus tried -- grape, strawberry, and yogurt. Grape tastes like grape soda slushy, strawberry tastes like really sweet strawberry candy with chunks (a little too sweet). Yogurt is just like typical korean yogurt sojus (the little asian yogurt drinks).

I've decided that go-chu-jang (that red pepper paste) is to koreans like ranch is to white people. They put it on everything. Like raw cucumbers.

Oh and if you come on a Saturday night like we did, you'll probably hear a lot of Far East Movement.

Food: 5 stars - The spicy rice cake was for sure the best that I've ever tasted. It was a pretty giant portion and had a lot of other veggies inside which complimented the rice cakes. It was made at the perfect spice level for me and you could really taste the sweetness of the sauce as well. The sauce also had a great texture and consistency. We also ordered the fried chicken wings and (when it finally came out) it was smoking hot temperature wise but oh so delicious. The waiter said something about how they double fry it so that even when the chicken gets cold, it'll still be crispy. Still, eating it hot is the best way to go! It was also a plus that they gave us those plastic gloves to use so that your hands don't get all sticky from trying to eat the chicken.

Now, with all the talk about the excellent food, why the 3 stars? Well, the spicy rice cake took over 40 minutes to come out and the fried chicken took even longer. I can wait 20 minutes or so but over half an hour?.....that's a problem.

It's also really quite dark in here. I get that it's a bar, but it's too dark even for a bar. It'd be nice if they could put some dangly small light over each table just to brighten it up a little. Also....the music is way too loud. I was sitting probably 2 feet away from the person across me but felt like I was shouting over the entire dinner....and the music wasn't even good!

So overall, Ssaboo is a great place to get good food but I would probably do take-out instead of eating inside.

I walked through the door with my family and almost requested that us "kids" be seated separate from the 'rents. Awkward! Ssaboo isn't exactly your most family-friendly restaurant (think bar/lounge), but then again my family's not the type to follow the family friendly rule (yes, we've dined together at Hooters before.) So, what makes this place not your typical Brady/Partridge restaurant?

Maybe it's the...
-too-hip-for-my-parents décor (lotsa black and brown and cool lighting fixtures)
-dim lighting that becomes dimmer at 8pm
-korean beer served on draft
-great mix of American and Korean hiphop/pop music
-two big screen TVs
-service bells! Yes, push the service button and the waiter will grant you three wishes.
-tong doc (fried chicken)... get it!
-young and trendy waitstaff
-Shrek size pajun (Korean style pancakes)

Don't come here with your parents. DO come here with friends.

Word of caution: service can be sloooow

Probably one of the better places for a drink in the place they call the "new Koreatown" in the intersection of Milwaukee and Golf. Their new place took awhile for me to get used to since I've been a fan of their Lawrence Ave location.
But yea the waitstaff are friendly, the food is good, and the soju keeps flowing. If I were to be picky I sometimes wish their mixed drinks were better.