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LTH,

I was going to post a few pictures from our GNR outing to an existing thread, but was surprised there wasn't one dedicated to San Soo Gap San, lots of detailed discussion, but not one that was SSGS specific.

As I said in the Trixie-Pea's nomination thread I used to be lukewarm on SSGS until I went with her and Pigmon one evening and they introduced me to SSGS's terrific soups, and stews, in particular kalbi tang (beef short rib soup), yuk gae jang (spicy shredded beef soup), and heuk yumso tang (goat soup/stew).

I've also grown to love SSGS's version of Yook Hwe (seasoned raw beef with shards of Asian pear topped with an egg yolk).

Trixie-Pea with Yook Hwe


And SSGS's terrific tongue and tendon.


Not to mention the fact their panchan is varied and delicious and they use live coals for their Korean BBQ.

SSGS



While SSGS gets a lot of play for being open (almost) 24-hours I enjoy it for lunch or dinner as well as the occasional 2am after drinking excursion.

An excellent, well deserving LTHForum Great Neighborhood Restaurant, thanks Trixie-Pea.

Trixie-Pea with Cindy Moon of SSGS


SSGS


Enjoy,
Gary

San Soo Gap San
5247 N. Western Ave
Chicago, IL
773-334-1589

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I confess to judging Korean restaurants mainly on the quality of their panchan, and SSGS is among the best in that department that I've sampled thus far. My favorites are the panchan at the place - does it even have an English name? - that's on Lawrence on the southeast corner of some intersection - very different and very delicious, but they didn't serve as many as they do at SSGS.

_________________
"Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the lap of our cooks." - Lin Yutang

I recently visited SSGS for the first time this past weekend when two college friends came in out of town; We were accompanied by a married couple recently transplanted from LA. To my Korean and Filipino friend the food was fairly authentic and decent. To the LA couple (Korean as well), of course no Asian food anywhere in the states can compare, although they acquiesed that it was OK. I thought the food was fairly decent and was very appreciative of the old SSGS posts profiling the good grinds. Everyone I think was impressed with the variety of the panchan. Tried soju for the first time too - then strangely enough was shopping at H-mart the next day and saw the highway robbery perpetrated on soju. I suppose a 4x markup is typical for alcohol though, but $16 for a $4 bottle you can buy at H-mart? Many brands are only $3 for a 325ml bottle. Who knew soju was so cheap?

Oops! I would just like to state that this restaurant DID NOT make me sick. I was sick before I went and thought I would be ok, but I wasn't. I didn't realize how I worded my previous post so if you read it, don't be afraid of yummy Korean BBQ, ok?

Looks like moderator secret police strongly convinced another LTH forum poster to modify their potentially libelous statement. I had a similar visit regarding a statement I had once made about Isaacson & Stern.

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Actually, in Korea, you can get a bottle for about $.80. I didn't check the prices on the liter bottles while I was there, though. Probably not more than a couple of bucks, I'm guessing!

eatchicago,

my comments re: the polizei were made tongue-in-cheek, but thanks for the useful links and clarifications

gtgirl,

goodnight - $.80 soju? that's cheaper than buying soda from a machine...

What's H-Mart?


Also, does this restaurant smell really good? Last night I met a friend at work and we went to a museum & dinner (Macy's panini & chocolates, in case anyone was curious ), so when I got off the bus at Western & Berwyn, it was much later than it usually is when I go home, and I smelled an incredible smell that I couldn't identify. It smelled like BBQ, but had a different component to it that I just couldn't, and still can't, pin down. Jimthebeerguy have been talking about checking this place out, and now I'm even more compelled to do so.....

Check here.

_________________
Chicago Craft Beer Week!

While (mostly second-gen) Korean friends and relatives of mine aren't too keen on the customer service at SSGS, I still enjoy their soups (jjee-kehs) whenever I happen to be there. (I don't recommend Korean or Asian restaurants very often -- hey, I'm a fast-food snob! -- but SSGS is usually right up there with Great Sea[s] in my mind.) My usual is a sort of fish stew (Tae-gu meh-oon-tahng), but I don't mind their too-boo (tofu), kimchi, or twen-jang (fermented-bean-paste) jjee-kehs, either. I'll have to branch out and try one of the ones you recommended the next time I'm there, Gary.

Thanks for the heads-up,
Dan

P.S. Oh, and for the sake of your olfactory alertness, St. Pizza, I'd advise researching the SSGS post recs posthaste and casually stopping by for a meal as soon as you can. Just make sure you go in with low expectations of service, and you might very well come out ahead in the end. Hope you have a good time!

I could be mistaken, but I believe you're referring to Chicago Korean Restaurant that existed on the SE corner of Lawrence and Washtenaw up until earlier this year, when condo-ization of that corner pushed them out of the space. The proprieters were supposed to open across the street on the south side of Lawrence, but there hasn't been much activity behind the door.

At any rate, you'll find no shortage of highly regarded Korean restaurants within a 3 mile radius of Lawrence and Kedzie; among them, Hae Woon Dae and Kang Nam, just to mention a few.

-sherman

FFS,

I've experienced both sides of the coin, but last night service, and overall customer interaction, was friendly, efficient, helpful, moreover SSGS's Korean BBQ was spot-on. Deep flavorful marinade, rich marbled meat, cauldron of glowing lump charcoal, very satisfying.

Typical SSGS impressive array of panchan, one of the better Yook Hwe (seasoned raw beef) in the city and terrific people watching to boot. SSGS is now running a close second to my current Korean BBQ favorite Hae Woon Dae

Minor SSGS quibble, the cooking grate was not switched out and, by the end of our meal, was starting to smoke due to charred bit build-up. Comparatively, Hae Woon Dae switched cooking grates 2-3 times during our last visit, which cuts down on smoke.

Enjoy,
Gary

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I'll agree that our dinner last night was quite enjoyable. SSGS was hopping last night and while the waitresses were scurrying around, they seemed to be in very good humor and treated us very well. Here's what Gary was talking about.

SSGS Yook Hwe


SSGS Meat - Ready for the Cauldron


SSGS Fixens

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

For years it was the goal of my self and a group of my friends
to discover the best kalbi in Chicago. We have visited around
12-15 different joints, about 10 of those were not worth a
second visit. For the others we made it a point to find the one
we would enjoy frequenting. After a minimum of 4 visits to each
we made some determinations, the most important of which is
that SSGS is the most consistent of all the kalbi slingers in the
city. We then, for the next few years would go with a group of
10-15 every Saturday night after work. This ritual continued until
the group slowly fizzled away, as groups tend to due to marirage
and re-location. You always know when you have eaten good
kalbi when you have to hide from others the day after. This is
due to the wood smoke staining your skin and sweating off
garlic, soju and bean paste. It's an unmistakable odor that
leaves you remembering the night you had before. And no other
does it better that SSGS.

_________________
Justin Hall
FIG Catering
FIGcatering.com
MMMMM, Moon Waffles.

Soju was in fact available via vending machines in Seoul a while ago -- I don't know if they got rid of that but they were similar to soda machines.

I always think of soju as a working class (and student) associated alcohol and my immigrant parents insist i'm lying when i told them about soju bars and hipsters drinking $10 soju-tinis in the U.S. They just laughed and laughed until my dad made his standard non sequitur transition lecture of "advantageous behavior in the workplace." This one was about not telling exaggerated stories for the benefit of a laugh.

Heh, heh... it's good to hear that the goin's good over at SSGS, Gary. I've actually been meaning to stop by Hae Woon Dae recently, so maybe I'll have an up-to-date basis for comparison in the near future. The pictorial close-ups are of course always appreciated, stevez.

Enjoying a great meal vicariously just never gets old, even after gorging on four bratwursts, a burger, and a random sausage today. After a few consecutive days of feasts this past week, I feel that my capacity for consuming food is returning to someplace near its former glory. Let the grilling season commence!

Meat tastes good,
Dan

Hey Gary, your picture of the front door says "San Soo Gab San". Gab not Gap.

Hey Doc, check out these posts It should be, if not enlightening, then at least interesting.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

The aromas even better when you mix in a few OB beers. I've come home late after some kalbi with the boys. My wife told my I stunk like a garbage can and banished me to the guest bedroom.

Are the menus in English?

_________________
"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you want and let the food fight it out inside."
-Mark Twain

SP,

Menus are in English and, after a recent redecoration, San Soo Gab San's physical space has a more open, welcoming feel.

Enjoy,
Gary

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Thank you, Gary. We had a pleasant family Valentine's Dinner there tonight. We researched the forums here first, so we didn't order anything that hasn't already been covered (dolsot bibimbop, goat stew, noodles, BBQ), but I just want to say, THANKS LTHforum, for providing so many thorough pictorials on so many restaurants!!

_________________
"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you want and let the food fight it out inside."
-Mark Twain

We went tonight (Friday 15th) for Valentine's Dinner, being too tired last night. We actually braved the horrendous Friday rush hour traffic (man, the north side! ) to go to the Garden, the cradle of our love for Korean food. But, it was closed. (Vacation? Permanent?) So, we took the training wheels off and veered across Western Ave traffic to SSGS. Overall it was quite excellent! The jap chae was tasty. The panchan were overwhelming in number, variety and flavor. We had marinated kalbi, chicken "kalbi," and some mackerel. The beef and chicken were among the most flavorful I've had. The teriyaki bento box was nice option for the 5-year old, although now I think he's sold on the grill-your-own chicken. Everything was fresh and tasty. Of special note was the soup served with the dinners -- I really don't know what the stock was based on, but it was among the most flavorful, complex, yummy broths I've ever had, with the wonderful addition of fresh-sliced chiles. I begin to think that, as yummy as the BBQ is, the real heart and distinctiveness of Korean cuisine is the soup.

The place was really hopping when we left, with a few large groups, some Korean, some multi-ethnic college kids. How funny, then, to arrive home at the exact moment Check, Please! was re-running their segment on SSGS. We will probably return when next we feel like a Korean BBQ bingefest.

On another thread, someone mentioned this is permanent.

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No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

I'm not a fan of the remodel...it used to feel so cozy, and now everything just feels open and exposed. While it's really no more exposed than any other restaurant, I'm used to a certain amount of privacy as I gorge myself on kalbi and kim chee.

I went with 2 other diners Saturday night, not realizing that it had just been featured on Check Please. It's usually busy, but the waitstaff seemed particularly overwhelmed and curt. Twice they came to our table to give us entrees that we didn't order. Then when we received 2 orders of Bim Bim Bop, and only one of us got meat with it! (on a happier note the pork belly with kimchee got a big thumbs up)
Then, immediately after paying the check we were asked to leave and make room for other diners. Usually I'm considerate of people waiting, but this was seconds after our last swallow, and there were many tables open. I don't expect a tender touch at San Soo Gab San, but I was a little put off. Though I shouldn't have been surprised since a party of two was moved out to a smaller table mid-meal to make room for our party of 3.
I'm hoping this is just a post-Check Please phenomenon since this is one of my favorite restaurants. But next time a korean craving comes on, I might give another place a go. Kang Nam perhaps...

I think I may bring my Korean friends here when they come from out of town. Since I live very close to here, it should be a nice place to walk to when the weather is nice. They're from L.A though, so I hope this place is up to their standards.

If they are Korean and from LA, I'd question their decision on "agreeing" to go Korean BBQing anywhere else besides in LA.

Especially if SSGS is having another Check Please effect, I'd rather go to Hae Woon Dae (the other Korean BBQ GNR).

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Chicago Craft Beer Week!