If you ever find yourself in Chicago’s Northwest Suburbs (or anywhere within a reasonable driving distance) and you’re hit with a sudden craving for Korean food, you might want to give Go Goo Ma a try.
Hidden in a strip mall off Algonquin Road, this little Hoffman Estates restaurant might not look like much, but believe me when I tell you, the food more than makes up for any lacking curb appeal. Walking in, the place feels very much like a typical suburban Chinese restaurant, with booths and tables filling the bulk of the room while photograph-filled wall of menu items surrounds a large marble counter at the back.
For those who aren’t as familiar with Korean dishes or their sometimes intimidating-looking names, (or for those who are like me and can read Korean but have a brain that shuts down every time they try to speak), each item on the menu is conveniently numbered, so once you finally figure out what you want (which, believe me, is no easy task as the temptation to order one of everything is real), ordering is a breeze. The owner/chef/order-taker/master-of-all-things, is a very nice older gentleman who has no problem helping you navigate the menu, should you find yourself struggling.
The restaurant is built around a self-serve model, so once you place your order, it’s up to you to grab your drinks and find a place to sit. (You also have to pick up your food from the counter, once it’s ready, and return your trays/dishes prior to leaving.) Visiting on a Friday night in the middle of June, there was no shortage of open tables, which was a nice switch from the hour-plus lines that one is typically forced to suffer through at some of the area’s more popular all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurants.
Visiting a Korean restaurant with a friend who shares your affinity for spicy food is always a good idea, as you never have to worry about skipping your favorite dishes in favor or something a bit more mild. However, letting your shared love of spicy food dictate your entire order does mean your need for drink refills increases exponentially. Luckily, Go Goo Ma offers unlimited refills on iced tea, which I’m not gonna lie, made our dining experience far more enjoyable than it might have otherwise been. But more on that in a minute.
Because I couldn’t justify ordering everything on the menu (despite how badly I wanted to), my friend and I settled on those few things that really caught our eye. Starting our meal with an order of tteokbokki (떡볶이) and a bowl of odeng-guk (오뎅국), I knew we’d discovered a real gem of a restaurant when that first sip of broth drew an utterly inappropriate noise from somewhere deep inside me and that first bite of tteokbokki brought a literal spice-induced tear to my eye.
Believe me when I tell you, this tteokbokki is not for the weak; but for those who can handle the heat, it is an absolute treat! The rice cakes were perfectly chewy, the fish cakes were absolutely delicious, the sauce was spicy but well-flavored, and despite the fact that it made my mouth burn, it wasn’t in any way unpleasant. In fact, the heat did absolutely nothing to keep me from coming back for more, and more, and more. As for the odeng-guk, the broth was incredibly flavorful, the fish cakes were delightfully chewy and as equally delicious as those used in the tteokbokki, and honestly, between the two dishes, I felt like the only thing missing was the hustle and bustle of a busy Korean street behind us as we snacked on these iconic street food staples.
Of course, to make this a true food adventure, one has to order more than two items, which is why my friend and I followed up these street treats with an order of yangpun bibimbap (양푼비빔밥) and chulpan ojingeo bokkeum (철판 오징어볶음), to share, of course. Both dishes came with a side of radish kimchi and a salad, and the stir-fried squid was accompanied by a bowl of rice as well. As delicious as both dishes were, I will admit that having that little bit of salad on the side was a nice way to cut through the richness of the squid.
For those who enjoy Korean food but don’t want to suffer through the heat of a spicy dish, several of the dishes at Go Goo Ma have either a sweet, mild, or spicy option, so you only have to suffer through a burning mouth if you want to. I personally went with the spicy option for my stir-fried squid but something tells me the sweet and mild options would have been equally delicious. Of course, there are non-spicy menu options like my friend’s bibimbap, but I will warn you now, the sauce that accompanied that bibimbap was anything but mild! I swear, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a bibimbap sauce that spicy in my life! It honestly made my squid seem mild!
I really wish I could have tried more dishes during this first visit to Go Goo Ma (the bibim naengmyeon (비빔냉면) was really calling my name). Alas, my stomach can only hold so much food at a time and my friend and I still had more adventures to embark upon that evening so we had to call it good (at least for the moment). That being said, I would very much like to go back and do a bit more menu exploration. I’m sure I’ll make it back eventually, but in the meantime, maybe you can do a little exploring for me and let me know what you think? I’d love to hear about any dishes I might need to try, the next time I visit!
I do have to warn you though, once you step foot through the front door, the urge to buy one of everything is VERY real! For those of you visiting from out-of-town, I recommend you either come with the entire contents of your savings account in your pocket or an iron will. Either one will help you, though I’ll tell you from experience, that iron will tends to corrode pretty quickly when you’re drooling over your biases.
While you’re browsing, be sure to take the time to talk to stop and talk to the shop’s owner, Ms. Ko. She’s a fount of K-Pop knowledge and is hands down, one of the sweetest people you will ever meet.
