Ssyal Korean Cuisine

To redeem ourselves from the “bad” bi bim bap experience and to clear Chicago’s name in that category, I researched and reserved a spot at a nearby authentic Korean restaurant. We knew if you drove north-ish from our neighborhood that there’s a small pocket of Korea town where a lot of things are written in Korean. We just had to figure out exactly where and what a good place to eat would be. We settled on Ssyal.

Ssyal was a great choice. Not fancy, but really good food. The full banchan was included. I loved the Pajeon and would have eaten it for my whole meal! Maybe next time!

One thing I never understood was why Dallas’s mom would always make us go to Joong Boo, the Korean supermarket, or other Korean places while she was in town, when she was visiting from Hawaii, which is filled with Asians and Asian stores and Asian restaurants. She told me on this trip that even though this is the case, there are no Korean stores or restaurants on Kauai. I think we’ll be researching and visiting our little Korea town more and more when they come to Chicago!

One other interesting thing – Right next to the restaurant the neighborhood of Mayfair has a little square with a veterans memorial. Dallas’s dad is a veteran, so we took a look.  

Boka Korean Fried Chicken


Watermelon soju and Korean fried chicken


Japchae


Bi bim bap


Ddeokbokki

On Friday night I arrived just before dinner-time so by the time I settled in we were hungry. I walked with Jess to St. Mark’s Place to meet Tien at Boka, a place known for their Korean fried chicken. I thought maybe this was an outpost of the place that I had met up with Jeannette and Tien a few years ago, but that was BonChon in Koreatown. Then again, this chicken was very much like that and from what I can tell, St. Mark’s Place has become some sort of little Asia with a ton of Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese restaurants, as well as a sprinkling of karaoke joints.

We all shared a watermelon filled with Soju. It was not very potent, but was very tasty. The chicken was so good. I am usually really picky about chicken on the bone, pulling off the meaty parts and not eating the skin. This chicken was so delicious that I was just picking it up and biting into it. The skin was super crispy and the meat was really moist. We got half drumsticks and half wings and got half of them spicy and half with a garlicky soy. The spicy was definitely really spicy, so we left those for Tien and Jess and I stuck to the soy, which had a great flavor.

We ordered a few Korean sides like japchae and bi bim bap and both of these were great too. Later on we tried a vegetable pajeon (pancake) and that was good. Tien had to leave to pick up his parents at the airport and Jeannette and Yvan joined us. They ordered the ddeokbokki. It’s a rice cake/ball (looks like noodles) in a spicy sauce. This I was not a fan of, but I don’t think it was because it wasn’t good. I just don’t care for it. I remember not being a fan of it before and so this was not a surprise.

The restaurant itself was decorated very warmly with lots of wood. (Don’t use the bathroom, though. It was horrible.) The turnover on the tables was pretty quick and there were a ton of people in and out. We were sort of getting pressured so hurry it up, but we kept ordering more things and ended up staying for like 3 hours! Overall, a really great meal and a great way to kick off my weekend in New York.

I Wish Korean Food & Culture Lesson

Last year Jen and I bought Groupons for a Food Tour from I Wish. I Wish is a company that tries to help you answer the question, “What do you wish you could learn?” In their food section they have many different kinds of cuisines that you could choose from for the Groupon.. and the Groupon got you in for $20 instead of the usual $40 – 45.

Jen and I choose the Korean culture and food class at Waba Korean Restaurant. We were to learn the the staples of traditional Korean cuisine while you are guided through a tasting tour of some favorite Korean dishes. Learn all about Korean culture, here and abroad, and how food has influenced the culture and history. And all the while, we of course got to eat.

Waba is a decent place. Nice, but not too fancy. Lots of TVs in the dining room. The food was great. It’s basically one room with a bar. In the photo below, the bar is kind of to the left and behind me:

The reason I mention the bar first, is because that’s where we started out. I had this Korean beer called Hite. They also had soju on special, but I’d had that before and I’d never had Hite, so I decided to try that.

Good beer. Light and refreshing. Cool and Fresh! Just like the label says!

Now, I just want to make a note before I talk about the food that we had. Jen and I attended the course in November. I took a couple notes, scribbled on a scrap of paper, but not a lot…. and I can’t remember every detail now that a few months have passed. With each dish we were told how it was prepared, when its served, some history and we were also told stories of historic as well as modern-day Korea. Well, I’m just going to try to at least remember the names of the dishes I took photos of and try to do a little bit of internet research on them!

Banchan are side dishes that are usually served in small portions and come out at the beginning of the meal. There’s always kimchi, maybe even multiple forms of it. My favorite banchan was a potato dish, shown on the bottom right.

Next up was japchae, a dish made from cellophane noodles, stir fried in sesame oil with various vegetables. It can be served hot or cold, in our case it was cold. I thought this noodle dish was ok, but it was not my favorite. I don’t think I was expecting it to be cold. This dish is always made with vegetables and sometimes with meat. Ours had some bulgogi (grilled marinated beef) in it.

This is kimchi bokkeumbap, which is kimchi fried rice. The photo doesn’t look very appetizing because we used the same plate that we used to eat our japchae. Don’t let that deceive you, though. The kimchee fried rice was one of my favorite dishes of the night. Ours was made with rice, kimchi, vegetables, and SPAM. Gasp! This might be the first time I ate SPAM. I’ve actually had it a few times since November, though.

This is miyeok guk, or seaweed soup, made from seaweed and soup stock. Ours also had a bit of meat in it. I think it was bulgogi again. Bulgogi seemed to be sprinkled in everything! Our instructor told us this is a very nutritious soup and is served to pregnant women and on special occasions like birthdays.

Next we tried a serving of bulgogi and somehow I did not take a photo of this. I think it’s because this was my other favorite dish of the night and I dove right in! Bulgogi is made from thin slices of sirloin or other prime cuts of beef. This meat is then marinated in a mixuture of shoyu, sugar, sesame, garlic and the like. Then the meat is grilled or pan fried.

Sitting next to us were some actual Koreans. Haha. They were really fun and filled us in on additional information about all of the food we were eating. I was wondering why they took this class, then I found a Yelp review from one of them. They thought they were signing up for a cooking course when they bought the Groupon. I must admit, I thought the same thing.

Bibimbap literally means “mixed meal,” which is appropriate because everything you see is stirred together just before it’s eaten. Bibimbap ingredients can vary. Ours had rice, vegetables, sprouts and bulgogi. What doesn’t vary is the egg on the top. We also stirred in gochujang (chili pepper paste), which is very common.

Next up was budae jjigae or “army base stew.” This soup is named this because after the Korean war, meat was scarce in Korea. People ate a lot of spam and hot dogs and other types of canned meats that were available as surplus foods from US Army bases. We’re told that budae jjigae is still very popular in South Korea and that SPAM is also surprisingly popular to this day. This reminded me of Hawaii a bit!

And one last photo of the outside of Waba Korean Restaurant as we were leaving. Jen and I had a fun time at the class. The food was good and you can see that we got to try a lot of different things. At the end they were even giving people seconds on things they had more of. We bought the Groupon for the lesson for $20, so we totally got our money’s worth. I don’t know if I’d think the same if I paid the full I Wish price of $40. Fun night, though.