Lulu's — Restaurant in Evanston Township

There was a dark time in my life when Lulu's shutdown for good. Me being from Hawaii, we used to eat Saimin. Which was our version of the popular Ramen. Lulu's Chinese Ramen Bowl is as close to home as I could get. The roast pork in the recipe is made to perfection, well marinated Char Siu pork. Happy that these guys are back in business.

Update...The Chinese Ramen Bowl is gone. However they still have many other options on the list. This is different from the Lulu's I remembered from years ago. This is fancy and upscale. If you are trying to go on a nice date, this is the place for you. The bar area looks really upscale. Less of a place you would get drunk at, and more of a place you could have a lot of interesting conversations with friends at.

Now on to the food, which ended up being a mixed bag. The spicy wings were flavorful and juicy. The egg rolls had excellent flavor and the spiciest mustard I've ever had. The butter cake was sweet and gooey, much like the regional dish from St Louis.

However, the Spicy Korean Udon noodles were a crime against humanity. It's a Korean dish with Japanese noodles? They added in Cha Shu pork, which tasted good. But a whole mess of other non sensical flavors. Including carrots sliced thin, which seemed better in a salad than in soup. Shitake mushrooms, which had a vastly different flavor profile than all others in the dish. Tofu they seemed to just throw in there. And lastly, bamboo shoots? Why?

These flavors may have been good on their own. But they have no business being mashed together. Uncle Roger would have a heart attack...

Our meal had ups and downs, and I rarely leave negative reviews, but I felt it was warranted.

My wife and I have really enjoyed our meals at 5 & Dime and Tacos Diablos, so we figured we'd give Lulus a shot. The menu looked good enough, but lacked description of the food. We started with the green beans & tofu and the hot and sour soup. The green beans were very good, but the hot and sour soup was unlike any hot and sour soup I have ever seen. It was loaded with noodles, canned corn and peas, and celery. In the end l, it tasted like they took a mediocre tortilla soup and added some sour flavoring. When I asked the waitress about it, she brushed us off and just said, "yes that is hot and sour soup", as if this is the expected soup you get when ordering a hot and sour soup. We took two bites of the soup, asked if it was the right soup, and then didn't touch it again. The waitress never asked if everything was ok, never asked why we didn't eat it, just ignored it.

For entrees we got the bee bim bop and the udon noodles. The bee bim bop was good and had very nice presentation. The udon on the other hand was incredibly bland. My wife took a bite and scooped up a giant glob of miso. She ended up putting a splash of soy sauce in ever bite just to eat it. Again the waitress didn't ask if there was a problem just ignored my wife's dissatisfaction with her food.

In the end, the combo of bad food and service warranted leaving a review. We will not...

This place lived up to the hype I read online from other reviewers! Service was prompt, the environment was fun and funky, and food and drinks were delicious!

As new resident of Evanston, I’ve been eating my way through the city! Lulu’s was a choice spot for a casual Sunday dinner for visiting friends. The four of us walked in around 5:30 and were immediately seated.

3 of us were interested in, and ordered, the same dish. Panang Curry Noodles for $14.95. Panang yellow coconut curry with shrimp, basil & green beans came in large bowls with enough sauce to coat the luscious noodles, veggies and super tender shrimp. It wasn’t a soupy dish like most curries are. Everything about the bowl was tasty and fresh.

A noteworthy appetizer we shared was the Peanut - Sesame Noodles. Ground peanuts, sesame paste, scallions and radish sprouts with super thin noodles that didn’t clump together vanished quickly!

Lulu’s is now on my radar for...