Korean food is sometimes overlooked in the pantheon of Asian restaurants in Chicago. Japanese, Chinese and Thai restaurants abound, but if you overlook Korean restaurants, you’d be doing yourself a major disservice. There are many fantastic restaurants in Chicago serving Korean fare and they should not be missed, in addition to some well stocked Korean groceries.
Galbi with banchan
The original Chicago Koreatown is located in Albany Park, on the Northwest side, with a plethora of Korean restaurants and shops strung along Lawrence Avenue between Kedzie and Pulaski. Many of the original residents have since moved out to the northern and western suburbs, but one can still find a wide variety of Korean restaurants and groceries centered near Koreatown as well.
Located to the southeast of Koreatown on Lincoln Avenue and Berteau in Lincoln Square, Cho Sun Ok is one of the oldest and well known Korean restaurants in Chicago. As with most Korean restaurants, their galbi, a type of marinated beef ribs, is excellent. In addition, they have an outstanding seolleungtang, an oxtail soup in a milky white broth with glass-like sweet potato noodles.
Another Korean standard, located slightly north of Cho Sun Ok, is San Soo Gab San, one of a very few Korean barbecue places in Chicago that uses charcoal. They serve a boneless rib eye that is marinated to perfection, and they don’t skimp on the side dishes. In one sitting they bring out as many as twenty different banchan, a name that covers an assortment of different Korean side dishes from sesame-marinated soybean sprouts to squid sautéed in sweet Korean hot sauce.
There are two major Korean supermarkets in the Chicago area. The first is Jung Bu market, sometimes known as Chicago Food, located on Kimball just north of Belmont. Conveniently located right next to the Kimball exit on the Kennedy expressway, Jung Bu offers a variety of Korean goods at reasonable prices. Authentic Korean gim, or sesame toasted seaweed, is a steal at 99 cents for a three pack. Farther north in suburban Niles is the larger Super H-Mart, which has a bakery, bank and food court. Super H-Mart has a great selection of Korean food and is located at the corner of Waukegan and Oakton in Niles, Illinois.
Korean food, whether cooked at home or on a table-side charcoal grill, is a delicious, fresh, and healthy alternative to some of the heavier fare served up in Chicago, Illinois.
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