Y V.'s Profile

I agree with most of the reviews here.  H-Mart is great!  But as someone who has shopped here on a semi-regular basis, there are a few things that need to be said.  Yes, the first visit here is overwhelming and the excitement of being in such a massive Korean store takes over.  Then you spend 2 hours perusing the aisles and grabbing things you don't really need (4 packs of seaweed...really?).  I totally understand.  I get it.  But the more I've shopped here, I've noticed that, like any other store, H-Mart has some issues.

Unfortunately, I'm disappointed in the seafood department.  I've seen fish with cloudy, dull, red eyes, smoked salmon with mold on it, and a strong, fishy smell throughout the seafood department.  Not a good sign, people.  The other issue is with the produce being inconsistent.  It's great to see a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs.  But there are times when the produce is less than fresh due to low turnover during the weekdays.

Other than that, everything else is awesome.  Love the variety of kimchi, noodles, banchan, snacks, sauces, etc. etc. etc. available.  Love the food court and bakeries.  I've purchased quite a few things in the housewares department, too.  Don't let the 3 star review deter you from checking this place out.  There are a ton of great finds here, and the sheer size of it is worth the trip alone.  If you grew up going to Chicago Food (now Joong Boo Market), H-Mart is basically an expanded version.  Eat, shop, enjoy.  Just be aware of it's shortcomings and shop wisely.

Garlic sauce!  Dawali, please consider bottling the stuff.  I found myself pouring it over everything (except for the baklava, of course, but hmmm...*lightbulb moment*).  I had a fantastic meal last night and decided to come out of the shadows and Yelp about it.  I gotta say, Dawali gets major points for being open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.  And they deliver!  There aren't too many options in the neighborhood for late night delivery, so thank you Dawali.

For appetizers, we ordered the cucumber yogurt salad, falafel, and baba ghannouj.  The cucumber yogurt salad had large diced cucumber, thick creamy yogurt (none of that thin stuff!), and mint.  Excellent with pita bread as well as a sauce for any of the entrees.  The falafel were great, but my favorite version is down the street from them.  Still good, though.  And the baba ghannouj was delicious.  I generally prefer a chunkier baba ghannouj over the pureed, creamy versions, but the flavor was excellent.  Rich, creamy, and smokey.  I should have gotten the large  =P

Entrees were beef shish kababs, with basmati rice, salad, pita bread, and garlic sauce.  Kudos to the kitchen.  The beef tenderloin was cooked perfectly at medium/medium rare.  And that garlic sauce... man, I almost drank it out of the cups.  Sooo good.  And we also ordered a chicken shawerma sandwich, which was great for lunch the next day.  For dessert, we had the baklava.  You can't go wrong with baklava.  If you're craving baklava, this is the neighborhood to get it from.

I noticed the influx of reviews of restaurants here in AP, and I'm really happy for the owners.  I've seen a lot of local businesses come and go, so to see them doing well is good news for me!  I'll make sure to stop by more often.

This small Korean shop specializes in tteok, which are glutinous rice flour cakes.  They make the sweets in this location and then sell them to Korean grocery stores, but you can also walk in and buy the tteok directly from them (just like New Chicago Kimchee nearby).  Until recently, the store itself was bare and none of the products were on display.  But a couple weeks ago, they decided to set up a table with several varieties of tteok to choose from.

I walked in and checked out the goods.  They had songpyeon (small colorful round rice cakes filled with sweet sesame paste), garaetteok (rice cake formed into long white cylinders, used for tteokbokki), chapsal (round rice cakes filled with sweet red bean paste), jeolpyeon (white and green flat patterned rice cake), injeolmi (glutinous pounded rice cake covered with soybean powder), and more.

I decided to purchase a small package of injeolmi, which were cut into cubes (they resembled homemade square marshmallows).  These were far from the chewy rice cakes I've had in the past.  They were incredibly soft, with just a hint of sweetness.  The soybean powder melts in your mouth.  I consider this to be more of a snack than a dessert, but there are other sweeter options in the store.  Yes, you can purchase tteok in any Korean grocery store, but there's a certain charm in buying it directly from the source.

This place is definitely the shining star of Libertyville's "main street".  More than anything, go here for the beer.  They have an impressive list of beers from all over the world, as well as locally brewed beer.  They even have gluten-free beer.  I've had dinner here, which was great, but I prefer ordering a couple appetizers with beer or cocktails.  Not surprisingly, this place is popular with the locals on weekends, but I'll take this crowd over typical Chicago bar hoppers any day.  And for those of you taking the Metra, the restaurant is only a short walk from the Libertyville train station.

I love a good, simple breakfast place, and this one does not disappoint.  And from the crowds I've seen on weekends, I'm not the only one who enjoys the food here.  I generally stick to breakfast items like omelettes (I'm boring and order the ham & cheese) and pancakes, but you can also order lunch here.  Not much else to say... but if you're in Northbrook for whatever reason, check this place out.

I've been to quite a few Caribou Coffee locations throughout the suburbs, and this location is definitely more of a "to go" type of place.  They get a lot of foot traffic here, which is great for them, but it's not a quiet as other Caribou Coffee locations.  Despite that, I still prefer their coffee over the competition.

It's a shame that John's Garage is gone... because it was the mall's only redeeming factor.  Now that they're gone, there really isn't any reason to go back here.  I'm not too impressed with the shops because they primarily cater to suburban teenagers (Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, etc.).  There's nothing here for me, but I'll give 'em one star for Cinnabon.  Mmm... Cinnabon.

It's all about the caramel apples here!  They have several varieties of dipped apples - rocky road, english toffee, cheesecake, pecan, apple pie, and more.  I recommend slicing the apple into pieces instead of eating the whole thing on a stick (too messy).  They have all kinds of chocolate-y goodies here, but definitely try their fudge.  I personally love their rocky road fudge, with bits of nuts and marshmallows.  Yeeeah... this place is a chain (it's in the suburbs, what did you expect?), but who cares.  When you need your chocolate fix in Libertyville, this is your spot.

This small pet store carries natural dog and cat food, treats, and non-food items like toys, collars, etc.  I stumbled upon this place after a trip to Petco.  Petco didn't have any fish oil tablets, but luckily Kriser's was nearby.  Instead of tablets, they had salmon oil pump bottles, which was fine with me.  Not surprisingly, the prices are a bit more expensive here.  Kind of like a Whole Foods for dogs, heh.

I've been going here for years for Chinese takeout. They serve Americanized Chinese food, so don't expect anything more than that. But if you're craving Chinese fast food, this place is consistently good. I've pretty much tried everything on their menu, but my favorite is Mongolian Beef. I generally order beef dishes, so their beef & broccoli, beef & green beans, etc. are all good choices as well. This place is across the street from Horner Park and McFetridge Sports Center, which is convenient if you spent the day playing or skating and need a quick bite to go.