Chicago Eats - Korean Food! May 2012 Update

Lots of random shots at a variety of Korean restaurants in Chicago.

Great Sea (Albany Park)

Great Sea is another Korean-Chinese restaurant serving up similar dishes to what you'll get at Peking Mandarin (below). I actually never went here as a kid, but I went for the Ggampongi (sweet and spicy wings) and it didn't disappoint! The ggakdoogi (spicy pickled radish), however, did disappoint a bit. 

Han Bat (Lincoln Square)

The best sullangtang and ggakdoogi in the city. Hands down. Great for a hangover or just good, cheap eats ($10 total after tip). And I always seem to get more than my money's worth considering how many bowls of ggakdoogi I put down. Make sure to get the clear noodles, and the flank steak is generally the most popular option.

Chosun Ok (North Center)

Chosun Ok ("oak", not "okay") is a popular Korean place mostly known for its Korean BBQ using table-top gas grills. They're also know for their chadolbaegi (beef brisket) bbq where they end up making you bokkumbap (fried rice) at your table once you grill up all of the meat. But we opted to try out some of the other stuff here this time. Good food all around! 

Hae Nangmyun - cold noodles with a sweet and spicy sauce and raw skate fish

Japchae - noodles with various vegetables and beef

Various banchan

Dancen (Lincoln Square)

A Korean bar that serves amazing Korean comfort food. Also conveniently located next to Jimmy's Pizza Cafe!

Dduckbokki - rice cakes in a spicy and sweet sauce.

Fire Chicken - AMAZING. Best thing here. 

Seafood Stew. Delicious.

Sweet and spicy chicken with cheese.

Da Rae Jung (Lincoln Square)

Known for their mool (water) nangmyun, and I would recommend that for a hot summer day as it (and bibim nangmyun) is served cold. Just up the road from Dancen.

Bibim Nangmyun - spicy cold noodles

Maeaentang - spicy seafood stew

Pekin Mandarin (Albany Park)

I used to come here a lot with my family, and everything is familiar. One of the best places for jajangmyun in the city, and great chicken wings too!

Jajangmyun - noodles in a black bean sauce.

Ggamppongi - spicy and sweet chicken wings. Amazingly good.

Jang Choong Dong (Niles)

Jang Choong Dong is another good Korean restaurant in the 'burbs, and they have a $23 all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. This time around, we opted to get some more "bar" food since we were here late. Jang Choong Dong is open til 4am, and they serve both food and alcohol til then, so it's a good option for those late night cravings for Korean comfort food. And even though it's in the 'burbs, it's only a 25 minute drive. It takes me 25 minutes to get to Lakeview from River North somedays, just to put it in perspective.

Bossom - sliced pork

Jjokbal - sliced pig's feet

Sundae - stuffed blood sausage

Budaejigae - Cozy's is better (below)

Cozy (Morton Grove)

This is more of a Korean bar, but it still serves good food. Really close to the "new" Korea Town that's been relocated to the burbs. 

Fried Chicken, Korean style

Budaejigae - spam, tofu, ramen noodles, cheese and plenty of other deliciousness in a giant pot. 

Kimchi bokkumbap - Kimchi Fried Rice!

H-Mart (Niles)

This is a Korean grocery store, but it has a pretty good food court. Also has a nice little bakery for Korean pastries. It's definitely worth a drive up!

Bibim Nangmyun

Mandu - Korean dumplings the size of your head.