Hal Mae Bo Ssam
9412 Waukegan Rd, Morton Grove, IL, 60053
Hal Mae Bo Ssam Menu
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Address :
9412 Waukegan Rd
Morton Grove, IL, 60053 - Phone (847) 470-1914
- Website https://chicagohalmae.com/
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Tue
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Parking : Private Lot
Bike Parking : No
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Full Bar
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : Yes
Dogs Allowed : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : Yes
WE SERVE THE FOLLOWING STATES
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Hyung S.
It's like being in Korea -- a big platter of bossam (boiled pork) with all the fixings (kimchi, hot peppers, lettuce wraps sauces, oysters), Korean beer, lots of Korean people.
(4)Letterman K.
Absolute WORST customer service. If I could give negative stars, I would. As a Korean, I'm used to bad service with Korean restaurants, but this is one for the books. I call to see if they're open on Sunday. She says yes, that they're open til 10pm and hangs up and doesn't mention on the phone that they're having issues. I mean, if we call to ask about the hours of operation, that means there's a chance we could stop in for dinner so, if she's aware there's an issue, she should've asked if we were planning on coming. So our party of 5 gets there and we stand for a few minutes before she acknowledges us. When she does, she says out loud from the back of the room to the front where we were, so all the other customers in there can hear, that there are "no seats". I was gonna ask if we should wait 15-20 min but she had this look of annoyance so we just walked out. A nice older gentleman chases out after us after he hears the "no seats" and tells us we can take their table because they're finished and can squeeze into their friends' table. We thank him and stupidly, go back in. That rude lady looks pissed when she sees us again. She approaches the nice man, and demands to know why he gave up his table. He tells her because his table is done eating. He motions for us to come over (so nice) and we sit down. That damn lady walks over to us and says she's actually out of food!! My parents are much older (in our culture seniority and respect are huge aspects) so she all of a sudden remembers her place, realizes how rude she's being, and tells them we can order, but the food could be missing an ingredient or two or three and that Bo-Ssam is out!! Un-freakin-believable!!! Why the hell would we eat dinner at a place called Bo-Ssam and not eat bo-ssam. I tell her we called earlier. She says very matter-of-fact, "yes you did, to see if we were open or not, so I told you we were". I wanted to slap her right then and there. I wanted to ask her what she thinks we would call and ask that for, or if she was out of bo-ssam, why didn't she tell us on the phone? But I looked at her face, and realized right then and there, it wasn't a matter of no food or no seats (since the nice man tried to resolve that)--she just didn't want to serve us from the beginning. I'm not sure what your party has to look like to be served, but she's selective of the guests, and I guess we didn't fit the order. I can't rate the food since she didn't give us any, but if you want great Bo-ssam, go to Jang Choong Dong on Golf Rd, not too far from there. Food is awesome!!! and the staff was so attentive to my parents. It's one of their specialties, so go there for yummy Bo-ssam.
(1)Daisy W.
I had the spicy shredded pork noodle soup and my wife had the hot stone bi bim bop. They're both very tasty. The spiciness of the noodles was perfect, overall the soup was flavorful. You can taste the sweet pork as well as the crunchy veggies. The texture of the noodles was right, it wasn't soggy. Finally, the soup was quite large so it was quite filling without feeling bloated. The hot stone bi bin bop was also awesome. The rice tasted sweet soaking up all the toppings of beef, mushrooms and various veggies. The texture was soft and crunchy for the ones that got crisp from the hot stone. Driving 1 hour from lake in the hills is totally worth it for this place. I would do it again.
(5)Laura C.
Went for lunch. The food was very good. Great prices and large portions! Will be back again!
(5)Mike B.
The menu is great and the pricing is consistent with the area. It is a hidden gem. The bossam is exactly what they are known for in the Chicagoland and suburban Korean community. The menu is brief as it should be and their specialties lie in the bossam. Drinks are typical Korean wines, beer and of course soju. The sides that come on the table are excellent, some of the best I have had in the north shore area. On the topic of the delicious bossam!! For some reason there are no more oysters being served with the bossam for a couple of months now. I am on a bossam protest on occasion and would like to see oysters back on the plate as this is what bossam has as a standard fare. Their stews and soups are great, I would suggest eating early evening for those items to make sure you get the richest flavor from them! Ah the topic of service, I had to read a few of the gripes on this site and I can agree that if one is not aware of the range of Korean service, it can range from downright cold, icy cold to warm and pleasant with time taken. I am not turned off by any of these or expect someone to behave a certain way, I am here for food and drink and if I wanted to make a friend then that should be separate on the agenda. I have been to this place for some time now and have spoken with, had drinks with and been served by some of these people that work there. Really, don't go into a Korean eating or drinking establishment without accepting the fact that you will get a blunt person or seemingly rude person.
(5)Richard C.
i don't know, maybe i am little biased when it comes down to pork belliy. yummy chewy fatty gooey dellicious pork meat with melt in your mouth fat still attached to it. so if you are not korean, or not used to bossam meal, its basically pork meat, picked kimchi/raddish and other vegetables and side dishes, and you basically wrap your meat inside lettuce or watever vege they give you with whatever you think will form a good combination. makgeoli fits perfectly with bossam meal. just saying.
(5)Carmen C.
Immediately was mistaken for Korean when I walked through the door and was handed a korean menu. But not to fear, there are also English menus. Not sure why it has four dollar sign but things here are quite decently priced! Soups are around $8-9 for dinner and even cheaper for lunch. Fair assortment of kimchi dishes but saltier than other places. I Got the pork bone soup with potatoes when I came and it was huge with 6 or 7 pork bones and a potato. It was a bit too salty for my taste. Ended up eating more bones than soup. The server didn't bring us napkins or water until we asked. I wouldn't say this place is terrible but definitely not among the best. Maybe I'll need to give it another try.
(3)Phillip Y.
hal mae has the best stir fried squid around! Spicy..check! veggies CRUNCHY...check! and alot of squid? check! The soups are ok.. the side dishes are ok.. but seriously the ojinguh bokkum... will leave you breathless! The food can take FOREVERRRRRRRRRR... which means a very very long time... but its all worth it after the wait... Of course this is a korean establishment so I wont mention the service.. ;) definitely try it out if you are in the area!
(5)Bryant K.
this place is the f*&#king bomb. if you say you like korean food and dont like this place, you are an imbecile or an idiot.
(5)SarA M.
It's my second time here. The second time was very disappointing. Tofu soup lacked flavor! Barely any seafood. It's a bowl of water and zucchini with tofu. Service is bad if you don't speak Korean. I didn't get any refills of tea.
(2)S I.
The bossam here was really good. The pork wasn't overly fatty and the radish wasn't overly sweet and had just the right amount of twang to it. We got the last few orders of bossam as they told the people who came after us they ran out! It was 730 pm on a Friday night! So make sure you call ahead to make sure they have it in stock!
(5)Anony B.
Im a korean korean (as opposed to korean american) and i love their food. Very traditional and authentic. Maybe the atmosphere isnt that great but i dont care. My favorite is oyster bossam (pork belly).
(5)Melissa A.
Let me quickly sum up my dinner here since it seems like a lot of other yelpers had the same experience. Decent food, mediocre to poor service. Pros *Our entrees and ban chan (side dishes) were quite tasty. I ordered the beef bulgogi since they were out of the pork and the meat was tender and sweet. My friend had the galbi and the flavor was great but was too chewy. Cons *We were seated in a sketchy side room (where it's a karaoke bar) since all of the regular tables were taken and it was so dark I could barely read my menu. The ambiance of the room was mob-esque like in the movies where the bosses are doing "business", putting hits on people, all the while money laundering is going on in the back back room or basement. *Two guys were seated at the table next to us but then a few minutes later were asked if they wanted to be seated in the main dining area since a table opened up. Um why were we were never asked that?? *Our waitress checked on us once or twice throughout dinner but had we needed to get her attention for whatever reason we probably wouldn't have been able to find her I wouldn't recommend coming here unless all other Korean options were exhausted...which was our case since the place we originally wanted to try was closed and Hal Mae was the next closest.
(2)Ben K.
BEST Gamja Tang in Chicagoland!! The restaurant should change their name to Hal Mae Gamja Tang! Gamja Tang Pros: 1) Meat falls off the bones! 2) Generous portion of meat! (see picture) 3) AND priced well I have not been to a restaurant that gives that much meat in a Gamja Tang before AND priced that well. Here are some comments that I received when I was served my Gamja Tang: "Woah, they give you a lot of meat!" "They filled the meat to the brim!" "Man, I should've got the Gamja Tang..." "Why didn't you tell me to get the Gamja Tang?"
(5)Dan C.
I came here with the girlfriend at 2:30 PM on a weekday. We were the only ones in the building and shared the bo ssam. There was a variety of banchan and the bo ssam itself was very tender and excellent. Price was about $26, so it is very reasonable for two people to be incredibly stuffed. My huge complaint was the service! I swear the waitress never said a word to us and looked like we were wasting her time. There is this sentiment about hardcore korean restaurants giving preferential treatment to koreans, but the girlfriend was speaking korean so this is NOT an excuse. Great food, miserable service!
(3)Michelin R.
I came here to eat Potato Stew with spicy pork. The overall taste was good but I have to say, there is a lot of MSG or Mono sodium glutamate. Tasted great. Was very dizzy and sleepy afterwards. It does not come without some downs. The service was not the best. We ordered the food. Then not a word from the server until we asked for water, in which we had to walk up to the server. Overall a good tasting restaurant with some not-so-good service. It is a nice lunch if you want good tasting Korean food.
(3)Khris L.
I came here with my girl on a Sunday afternoon to try out their bo ssam. I've had bo ssam at other places, but never at this place. Since bo ssam is in their name, I assumed it would be super delicious. The server lady brought out some menu's and barley tea. After a short while, she took our order and then brought out some banchan(Korean side dishes). We didn't have any silverware so I had to grab some off another table. The banchan was great! They were all well-seasoned and delicious! After about 30 minutes, the bo ssam came out. The dish looked great and I couldn't wait to try it out! After inspecting the dish a bit, I noticed that it didn't include oysters as it traditionally does, and as the menu also stated. I called the server lady over and asked her if there were oysters in the dish, and she bluntly said "No" and left it at that. Hmmmm.... Anyways, I wasn't in the mood to argue since I was hungry and just wanted to get to eating. The bo ssam was pretty good, but it would have been much better with the oysters included. Anyways, I would probably not come back here unless I wanted to try out some of their soups. The bo ssam wasn't really worth it without the raw oysters.
(3)Marcia A.
Food was just ok. Waitress didn't say one word to us nor even smile. I guess we should have been Korean.
(2)Amy L.
Literally translated to "Grandmas cooking." That homey feel is definitely translated into their food. Generous portions, bright veggies with well marinated meat, and the sides were so delicious. We ordered this conch shell dish- wow, I was pleasantly surprised! I loved how the flavors from the sauce and each vegetable all just sink into each other, and the chewy conch shell meat balanced out the crunchy veggies. I just ate but I get hungry thinking about this place. It's homey, and it has an all Korean staff. It was a bit awkward to not be able to speak Korean, so it was a good idea to go with a Korean speaking friend.
(4)Gin G.
Went on a Sunday afternoon around 4 with my family of 12. We took up the entire middle section of the place. It's not that big, but they do have a "next door" where people were also being seated. Craving some Bo ssam so came here cuz the name n read some good reviews. Food was just ok. Soon dae gook (blood sausage soup) soooo bland!!! And I normally eat my food bland but this was like water. My mother had the sul long tang (ox tail soup) and again no flavor what so ever!!! Normally you should be able to taste the bone in the broth but again it was like water. My mother asked for some salt 3 times n never got it. Bo ssam was ok. Nothing to write home about but the kimchi radish that comes with it was pretty tasty. I put a bunch of it in my soup for some flavor (since intend so bland) Service was awful! Just like most other Korean places. But if the food is great bad service doesn't bother me. But food was not good...at least what we ordered today. I will go back to try a few more things off the menu. Like the stews you cook at your table cuz that's what all the other tables had going on.
(3)SC S.
Me and my girlfriends went there for dinner but we were treated terrible. The waitresses have terrible attitude. We have to beg to just get some water refills and side dishes! The food is great but terrible service! If they have better service i wanna give this place 5stars
(1)Flo L.
I've grown up around the area. My family and I go here as a go-to place. It's pretty mediocre, in regards of the banchan sizes and services. Luckily, if you speak Korean you usually are able to get the servers' attention rather quickly. The foods pretty good in comparison to a lot of a lot of Korean restaurants in the area. If you don't speak Korean, it not at problem at all, just be patient and the servers may come to you after a couple of minutes! The server understands and will get on it. Not a whole lot of seating. I would go back here whenever I'm in town!
(3)Oreo T.
We ate there a few days ago. It was not a good experience. The waitress wasn't nice and it seems she only gives smile to Korean people. Once she brought the food to you our table, she never came back. When we finished, we've waited for note than 15 minutes for the check, but she never looked at us. No way to make an eye contact. We called and asked for our check, then ... The whole period made us very uncomfortable. I don't care whether the food is good or not, I won't come back if the service is poor.
(1)Jennie T.
I haven't tried their bossam yet, but their gamja tang (pork bone and potato soup) is the best I've had in Chicago. Kenny O. had bought us take-out from Hal Mae Bo Ssam; that was the first time we tasted their gamja tang. The meat fell off the bones. The potatoes were not so soft that they disintegrate into the soup; it was softly held together. The soup was tender, savory, and spicy all in the right places. I loved it. It was so good that we subsequently went back to try other items on their menu. We ordered their soondubu and dolsot bibimbap. The soondubu was flavorful as it came with pieces of seafood in it. Unfortunately, I've had better at other places. Still, their version is lots better than So Gong Dong Tofu House in North Park, Chicago. The dolsot bibimbap is one of the best I've had in Chicago. They add seaweed to theirs, which is something I've never had before, but it tastes great and adds a certain umami flavor to the dish. I loved it. Now, who wants to go with me to try their bossam? It's one of my favorite Korean dishes, but I don't want it to be my whole meal. I need people to go with so that we can order lots more stuff. :)
(4)dale c.
The excellent gamjatang (pork neck stew) more than makes up for the tired, unfriendly service others have complained about. Our server even lied to us when we asked for more perilla leaves, saying they'd run out, but we enjoyed the food so much (even more so reheated the next day), that we think it deserves four stars.
(4)Mikey J.
Really? No one has reviewed this place yet.. I guess it's a hidden gem then! Hal Mae is the bees knees! This place offers delivious authentic Korean food at a great price and quick service. I ordered the dolsat bibimbop and it came out sizzling and with fresh ingredients as well as a nice thick bowl of stew, along with the varied assortment of Korean sidedishes. Great place!
(5)Oreo T.
We ate there a few days ago. It was not a good experience. The waitress wasn't nice and it seems she only gives smile to Korean people. Once she brought the food to you our table, she never came back. When we finished, we've waited for note than 15 minutes for the check, but she never looked at us. No way to make an eye contact. We called and asked for our check, then ... The whole period made us very uncomfortable. I don't care whether the food is good or not, I won't come back if the service is poor.
(1)Jennie T.
I haven't tried their bossam yet, but their gamja tang (pork bone and potato soup) is the best I've had in Chicago. Kenny O. had bought us take-out from Hal Mae Bo Ssam; that was the first time we tasted their gamja tang. The meat fell off the bones. The potatoes were not so soft that they disintegrate into the soup; it was softly held together. The soup was tender, savory, and spicy all in the right places. I loved it. It was so good that we subsequently went back to try other items on their menu. We ordered their soondubu and dolsot bibimbap. The soondubu was flavorful as it came with pieces of seafood in it. Unfortunately, I've had better at other places. Still, their version is lots better than So Gong Dong Tofu House in North Park, Chicago. The dolsot bibimbap is one of the best I've had in Chicago. They add seaweed to theirs, which is something I've never had before, but it tastes great and adds a certain umami flavor to the dish. I loved it. Now, who wants to go with me to try their bossam? It's one of my favorite Korean dishes, but I don't want it to be my whole meal. I need people to go with so that we can order lots more stuff. :)
(4)dale c.
The excellent gamjatang (pork neck stew) more than makes up for the tired, unfriendly service others have complained about. Our server even lied to us when we asked for more perilla leaves, saying they'd run out, but we enjoyed the food so much (even more so reheated the next day), that we think it deserves four stars.
(4)SarA M.
It's my second time here. The second time was very disappointing. Tofu soup lacked flavor! Barely any seafood. It's a bowl of water and zucchini with tofu. Service is bad if you don't speak Korean. I didn't get any refills of tea.
(2)S I.
The bossam here was really good. The pork wasn't overly fatty and the radish wasn't overly sweet and had just the right amount of twang to it. We got the last few orders of bossam as they told the people who came after us they ran out! It was 730 pm on a Friday night! So make sure you call ahead to make sure they have it in stock!
(5)Mikey J.
Really? No one has reviewed this place yet.. I guess it's a hidden gem then! Hal Mae is the bees knees! This place offers delivious authentic Korean food at a great price and quick service. I ordered the dolsat bibimbop and it came out sizzling and with fresh ingredients as well as a nice thick bowl of stew, along with the varied assortment of Korean sidedishes. Great place!
(5)Bryant K.
this place is the f*&#king bomb. if you say you like korean food and dont like this place, you are an imbecile or an idiot.
(5)Richard C.
i don't know, maybe i am little biased when it comes down to pork belliy. yummy chewy fatty gooey dellicious pork meat with melt in your mouth fat still attached to it. so if you are not korean, or not used to bossam meal, its basically pork meat, picked kimchi/raddish and other vegetables and side dishes, and you basically wrap your meat inside lettuce or watever vege they give you with whatever you think will form a good combination. makgeoli fits perfectly with bossam meal. just saying.
(5)Laura C.
Went for lunch. The food was very good. Great prices and large portions! Will be back again!
(5)Letterman K.
Absolute WORST customer service. If I could give negative stars, I would. As a Korean, I'm used to bad service with Korean restaurants, but this is one for the books. I call to see if they're open on Sunday. She says yes, that they're open til 10pm and hangs up and doesn't mention on the phone that they're having issues. I mean, if we call to ask about the hours of operation, that means there's a chance we could stop in for dinner so, if she's aware there's an issue, she should've asked if we were planning on coming. So our party of 5 gets there and we stand for a few minutes before she acknowledges us. When she does, she says out loud from the back of the room to the front where we were, so all the other customers in there can hear, that there are "no seats". I was gonna ask if we should wait 15-20 min but she had this look of annoyance so we just walked out. A nice older gentleman chases out after us after he hears the "no seats" and tells us we can take their table because they're finished and can squeeze into their friends' table. We thank him and stupidly, go back in. That rude lady looks pissed when she sees us again. She approaches the nice man, and demands to know why he gave up his table. He tells her because his table is done eating. He motions for us to come over (so nice) and we sit down. That damn lady walks over to us and says she's actually out of food!! My parents are much older (in our culture seniority and respect are huge aspects) so she all of a sudden remembers her place, realizes how rude she's being, and tells them we can order, but the food could be missing an ingredient or two or three and that Bo-Ssam is out!! Un-freakin-believable!!! Why the hell would we eat dinner at a place called Bo-Ssam and not eat bo-ssam. I tell her we called earlier. She says very matter-of-fact, "yes you did, to see if we were open or not, so I told you we were". I wanted to slap her right then and there. I wanted to ask her what she thinks we would call and ask that for, or if she was out of bo-ssam, why didn't she tell us on the phone? But I looked at her face, and realized right then and there, it wasn't a matter of no food or no seats (since the nice man tried to resolve that)--she just didn't want to serve us from the beginning. I'm not sure what your party has to look like to be served, but she's selective of the guests, and I guess we didn't fit the order. I can't rate the food since she didn't give us any, but if you want great Bo-ssam, go to Jang Choong Dong on Golf Rd, not too far from there. Food is awesome!!! and the staff was so attentive to my parents. It's one of their specialties, so go there for yummy Bo-ssam.
(1)Anony B.
Im a korean korean (as opposed to korean american) and i love their food. Very traditional and authentic. Maybe the atmosphere isnt that great but i dont care. My favorite is oyster bossam (pork belly).
(5)Gin G.
Went on a Sunday afternoon around 4 with my family of 12. We took up the entire middle section of the place. It's not that big, but they do have a "next door" where people were also being seated. Craving some Bo ssam so came here cuz the name n read some good reviews. Food was just ok. Soon dae gook (blood sausage soup) soooo bland!!! And I normally eat my food bland but this was like water. My mother had the sul long tang (ox tail soup) and again no flavor what so ever!!! Normally you should be able to taste the bone in the broth but again it was like water. My mother asked for some salt 3 times n never got it. Bo ssam was ok. Nothing to write home about but the kimchi radish that comes with it was pretty tasty. I put a bunch of it in my soup for some flavor (since intend so bland) Service was awful! Just like most other Korean places. But if the food is great bad service doesn't bother me. But food was not good...at least what we ordered today. I will go back to try a few more things off the menu. Like the stews you cook at your table cuz that's what all the other tables had going on.
(3)Melissa A.
Let me quickly sum up my dinner here since it seems like a lot of other yelpers had the same experience. Decent food, mediocre to poor service. Pros *Our entrees and ban chan (side dishes) were quite tasty. I ordered the beef bulgogi since they were out of the pork and the meat was tender and sweet. My friend had the galbi and the flavor was great but was too chewy. Cons *We were seated in a sketchy side room (where it's a karaoke bar) since all of the regular tables were taken and it was so dark I could barely read my menu. The ambiance of the room was mob-esque like in the movies where the bosses are doing "business", putting hits on people, all the while money laundering is going on in the back back room or basement. *Two guys were seated at the table next to us but then a few minutes later were asked if they wanted to be seated in the main dining area since a table opened up. Um why were we were never asked that?? *Our waitress checked on us once or twice throughout dinner but had we needed to get her attention for whatever reason we probably wouldn't have been able to find her I wouldn't recommend coming here unless all other Korean options were exhausted...which was our case since the place we originally wanted to try was closed and Hal Mae was the next closest.
(2)Ben K.
BEST Gamja Tang in Chicagoland!! The restaurant should change their name to Hal Mae Gamja Tang! Gamja Tang Pros: 1) Meat falls off the bones! 2) Generous portion of meat! (see picture) 3) AND priced well I have not been to a restaurant that gives that much meat in a Gamja Tang before AND priced that well. Here are some comments that I received when I was served my Gamja Tang: "Woah, they give you a lot of meat!" "They filled the meat to the brim!" "Man, I should've got the Gamja Tang..." "Why didn't you tell me to get the Gamja Tang?"
(5)Dan C.
I came here with the girlfriend at 2:30 PM on a weekday. We were the only ones in the building and shared the bo ssam. There was a variety of banchan and the bo ssam itself was very tender and excellent. Price was about $26, so it is very reasonable for two people to be incredibly stuffed. My huge complaint was the service! I swear the waitress never said a word to us and looked like we were wasting her time. There is this sentiment about hardcore korean restaurants giving preferential treatment to koreans, but the girlfriend was speaking korean so this is NOT an excuse. Great food, miserable service!
(3)Michelin R.
I came here to eat Potato Stew with spicy pork. The overall taste was good but I have to say, there is a lot of MSG or Mono sodium glutamate. Tasted great. Was very dizzy and sleepy afterwards. It does not come without some downs. The service was not the best. We ordered the food. Then not a word from the server until we asked for water, in which we had to walk up to the server. Overall a good tasting restaurant with some not-so-good service. It is a nice lunch if you want good tasting Korean food.
(3)Amy L.
Literally translated to "Grandmas cooking." That homey feel is definitely translated into their food. Generous portions, bright veggies with well marinated meat, and the sides were so delicious. We ordered this conch shell dish- wow, I was pleasantly surprised! I loved how the flavors from the sauce and each vegetable all just sink into each other, and the chewy conch shell meat balanced out the crunchy veggies. I just ate but I get hungry thinking about this place. It's homey, and it has an all Korean staff. It was a bit awkward to not be able to speak Korean, so it was a good idea to go with a Korean speaking friend.
(4)Carmen C.
Immediately was mistaken for Korean when I walked through the door and was handed a korean menu. But not to fear, there are also English menus. Not sure why it has four dollar sign but things here are quite decently priced! Soups are around $8-9 for dinner and even cheaper for lunch. Fair assortment of kimchi dishes but saltier than other places. I Got the pork bone soup with potatoes when I came and it was huge with 6 or 7 pork bones and a potato. It was a bit too salty for my taste. Ended up eating more bones than soup. The server didn't bring us napkins or water until we asked. I wouldn't say this place is terrible but definitely not among the best. Maybe I'll need to give it another try.
(3)Mike B.
The menu is great and the pricing is consistent with the area. It is a hidden gem. The bossam is exactly what they are known for in the Chicagoland and suburban Korean community. The menu is brief as it should be and their specialties lie in the bossam. Drinks are typical Korean wines, beer and of course soju. The sides that come on the table are excellent, some of the best I have had in the north shore area. On the topic of the delicious bossam!! For some reason there are no more oysters being served with the bossam for a couple of months now. I am on a bossam protest on occasion and would like to see oysters back on the plate as this is what bossam has as a standard fare. Their stews and soups are great, I would suggest eating early evening for those items to make sure you get the richest flavor from them! Ah the topic of service, I had to read a few of the gripes on this site and I can agree that if one is not aware of the range of Korean service, it can range from downright cold, icy cold to warm and pleasant with time taken. I am not turned off by any of these or expect someone to behave a certain way, I am here for food and drink and if I wanted to make a friend then that should be separate on the agenda. I have been to this place for some time now and have spoken with, had drinks with and been served by some of these people that work there. Really, don't go into a Korean eating or drinking establishment without accepting the fact that you will get a blunt person or seemingly rude person.
(5)Khris L.
I came here with my girl on a Sunday afternoon to try out their bo ssam. I've had bo ssam at other places, but never at this place. Since bo ssam is in their name, I assumed it would be super delicious. The server lady brought out some menu's and barley tea. After a short while, she took our order and then brought out some banchan(Korean side dishes). We didn't have any silverware so I had to grab some off another table. The banchan was great! They were all well-seasoned and delicious! After about 30 minutes, the bo ssam came out. The dish looked great and I couldn't wait to try it out! After inspecting the dish a bit, I noticed that it didn't include oysters as it traditionally does, and as the menu also stated. I called the server lady over and asked her if there were oysters in the dish, and she bluntly said "No" and left it at that. Hmmmm.... Anyways, I wasn't in the mood to argue since I was hungry and just wanted to get to eating. The bo ssam was pretty good, but it would have been much better with the oysters included. Anyways, I would probably not come back here unless I wanted to try out some of their soups. The bo ssam wasn't really worth it without the raw oysters.
(3)Marcia A.
Food was just ok. Waitress didn't say one word to us nor even smile. I guess we should have been Korean.
(2)SC S.
Me and my girlfriends went there for dinner but we were treated terrible. The waitresses have terrible attitude. We have to beg to just get some water refills and side dishes! The food is great but terrible service! If they have better service i wanna give this place 5stars
(1)Flo L.
I've grown up around the area. My family and I go here as a go-to place. It's pretty mediocre, in regards of the banchan sizes and services. Luckily, if you speak Korean you usually are able to get the servers' attention rather quickly. The foods pretty good in comparison to a lot of a lot of Korean restaurants in the area. If you don't speak Korean, it not at problem at all, just be patient and the servers may come to you after a couple of minutes! The server understands and will get on it. Not a whole lot of seating. I would go back here whenever I'm in town!
(3)Daisy W.
I had the spicy shredded pork noodle soup and my wife had the hot stone bi bim bop. They're both very tasty. The spiciness of the noodles was perfect, overall the soup was flavorful. You can taste the sweet pork as well as the crunchy veggies. The texture of the noodles was right, it wasn't soggy. Finally, the soup was quite large so it was quite filling without feeling bloated. The hot stone bi bin bop was also awesome. The rice tasted sweet soaking up all the toppings of beef, mushrooms and various veggies. The texture was soft and crunchy for the ones that got crisp from the hot stone. Driving 1 hour from lake in the hills is totally worth it for this place. I would do it again.
(5)Phillip Y.
hal mae has the best stir fried squid around! Spicy..check! veggies CRUNCHY...check! and alot of squid? check! The soups are ok.. the side dishes are ok.. but seriously the ojinguh bokkum... will leave you breathless! The food can take FOREVERRRRRRRRRR... which means a very very long time... but its all worth it after the wait... Of course this is a korean establishment so I wont mention the service.. ;) definitely try it out if you are in the area!
(5)Hyung S.
It's like being in Korea -- a big platter of bossam (boiled pork) with all the fixings (kimchi, hot peppers, lettuce wraps sauces, oysters), Korean beer, lots of Korean people.
(4)