PERILLA steakhouse — Restaurant in Chicago

I am so happy I got to try this place! It's Korean food on a while other level! I made the reservation for the wrong time but called them on my way and they quickly accommodated the time change! They are located in the L7 Chicago Hotel so we had a very big waiting area that was really beautiful. The hostess came and got us when our table was ready. We we seated in the upper area in one of the booths and were served water right away.

Our waiter gave us the menus and he sort of disappeared fpr about 15 minutes.. actually through out the night, he was mostly talking to the female workers when we found ourselves needing him. At one point we have him down and he continued his conversation which I thought was pretty rude..

We ordered 3 A5 Wagyu's, the Kimchi Pork Dumplings, the Tteokbokki, the Japchae, Beef Fat Fries, the Egg Souffle, the Kimchi Fried Rice, Ssam and the Banchan.

The A5 Wagyu was on a Rice roll with seaweed paper that was a little too tough to bite through and had caviar on top. It was layered with many different flavors as you ate it but honestly it was missing a wow factor and for $18 a piece, it wasnt worth it..

The Kimchi Pork Dumplings were good but we honestly could have done without them because they were also not impressive..

The Tteokbokki was actually delicious! The best i ever had and it was topped with Chihuahua Cheese that made it so creamy to eat. The Tteokbokki was perfectly chewy and the sauce was so balanced, not too spicy not too saucy just perfectly balanced! It was heavenly!

The Japchae was also really good and well made, very simple yet done well.

The Beef Fat Fries were a really good side to have at the table as well and they were covered in their house made Beef Talo which was so good! The aoli was also a nice pairing with them.

The Egg Souffle was also very nice, simple with spice and seasonings on top. It was light and simple in the best way.

The Kimchi Fried Rice was so butter and nutty from their home made Beef Talo! It had a fried egg on top ans came in a stone pot to maintain the temperature. This had to be one of the best Kimchi Fried Rices I have ever had!

The Ssam and Bonchon were good but honestly it could have skipped the Ssam. The bonchon was free refills which I always appreciate! But they were also just okay, could have did without them..

For meats we ordered the Picanha, the Prime Short Rib and the Marinated Short Rib. A different server than out original waiter came to out table and asked if we wanted to cook our own meat or if we wanted them to cook it. Which kind of gave me the impression that the didn't want to cook for us. At this point it had been an hour since we had seen our waiter. The dishes were coming out one at a time which was kind of frustrating because I would have liked to enjoy the sides we ordered with the fresh cooked meats.

The meats were all really good. I enjoyed the Picanha the most but the server that cooked our meats cooked them medium and left them as pretty big pieces which was kind of hard to eat in one bite. It kind of felt like they were rushing cooking at our table.

We had also ordered drinks, the Plank Walker drink and Viva La Vida drink. They were very strong and I would only recommend one per visit.. we ordered 5 drinks total.

Overall, some of the best Korean food I have ever had! The bill was $540 with tip and honestly the service should have been better for that price. While I recognize there high quality ingredients are the reason for the cost. I feel there should have been better service and All the dishes should have been impressive, and omly most of them were. I think thwy should have more meat options as well. While I enjoyed the experience, I would only come back to place an order for take out, I wouldn't dine again..

Update Oct 27, 2025 I came back to Perilla with some friends that wanted to try because I was raving about it! The food was just as good with new dishes we tried being even better! Our server Danny was so sweet, showed us such a great time he checked on us all night and made the...

Overall, Perilla is an enjoyable experience with a nice variety of dishes. The main dish was a little disappointing but otherwise, we were happy with our meal and experience.

We went to celebrate NYE and were treated to a complimentary splash, one alcoholic based and another NA. Both offerings were wonderful.

We also got one cocktail and one NA cocktail. I quite enjoyed the sticky rice martini and found it to be rather smooth. My partner tried the NA forest drink, which I personally loved but isn't going to be for everyone. It was smokey and sweet, think BBQ sauce.

Instead of trying the set meal, which they did have a vegetarian off menu version of, we decided to order a la carte. We mainly ordered sides, the cabbage man, and one of the stews.

All of the sides were absolutely delicious, but the standouts were the monkey bread and mushrooms.

The stew was quite hardy and delicious as well, but it seems that the broth was not vegetarian-based, something that the server did let us know. This is an overall theme to watch out for if you're a pretty strict vegetarian, so please make sure you ask the server about any meat or fish concerns ahead of time when looking at the menu.

While the cabbage main was cooked beautifully and was delicious, it seemed like that dish was more of a side rather than a main course. We were quite disappointed with the portion and overall presentation.

We also tried the sundae for dessert which was a bit hit or miss. The chocolate ice cream seemed out of place, but the mugwort and other flavor were quite lovely. The mugwort ice cream isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea though, so take that into consideration if you're not at adventurous eater.

Our only major complaint about the service is that while our initial dish, the monkey bread, came out first and we had plenty of time to eat it, all of the other food seemed rushed and was given to us all at once. We felt like we had to eat quickly so it didn't get cold and the courses could have been staggered a bit more. We do understand that we came on New Year's Eve so they had limited space and were probably trying to get folks in and out of the seats. This is definitely something that can be worked on though in the future.

As for the space itself, it is beautiful and if you're lucky enough to get a spot that overlooks Wacker, the view...

Perilla Steakhouse has a ton of potential to bring the fusion of authentic Korean roots, flavor and tradition with the classic American steakhouse experience..however it falls short in this regard.

The vision that Executive Andrew Lim and Partner Thomas Oh set is clear and as a fellow Korean American from NYC, I can appreciate this given Michelin Star staples like Cote - however the food, service and experience was underwhelming.

The food: Portions were small, the Prime set where cuts like A5, Rib Eye, Short Rib were extremely disappointing given the price and the amount given. The additional add-ons that any Korean establishment would offer like egg soufle, jjigae, ssam were extra add-ons and underwhelming dishes in itself.

On a positive note on the food, their Monkey Bread and unique Korean American fusion takes were good where I ordered multiple orders.

However when I enter a Korean American STEAKhouse, I expect the meat to wow and sweep me off the floor.

The experience: As a new restaurant, I understand the staff are looking to find a rhythm and flow however I found that service was still very slow and the "experience" of grilling meats in the center of tables was non-existant. Korean bbq, although not a staple of Korean, is what Korean cuisine is known for in America not only due to the delicious food but due to the shock and awe of grilling indoors, with flames popping up and smells/sizzle pervasive throughout the restaurant yet there was no show, no experience and furthermore meats were grilled all at once to be eaten off of a cold plate - there was no journey of going through the different cuts of meat.

The Perilla team is driven by a great chef and group of partners that want to showcase their Korean American heritage and they have a great opportunity here with the Lotte group to bring that to life to a Chicago customer base that is starving for an experience like this.

I hope they continue to iterate and improve to capture the spirit in which they intended for...