Seoul ave — Restaurant in Oak Park

I’m Korean and was really excited to see that Oak Park was getting a Korean restaurant. Unfortunately this place isn’t it. We ordered the mala tteokbokgi (rice cakes), donkatsu (breaded pork), and sundubu (soft tofu soup). The mala tteokbokgi was basically a soup with all the liquid and as for the actual rice cakes there was barely any in it. The donkatsu was fine but nothing spectacular - honestly you really can’t mess up donkatsu in general. The sundubu was a total miss… I mean the fact that they put hot dogs in it? It didn’t even taste like sundubu and truly disappointing that it didn’t come with rice until we asked for it. Any Korean soup is eaten with rice — guaranteed. The craziest in our opinion was the banchan (side dishes). Sounds like they don’t even give out banchan anymore but regardless, when we went, it tasted store bought and there were literally only 3 of them - kimchi, stir fry fish cakes, and some pickled veggies. None of it tasted good and they gave the smallest amounts. It’s disappointing because the point and beauty of Korean cuisine is the BANCHAN! Lastly, the prices here are insane. Truly as a Korean, I want Korean food to shine and I would love to see Korean restaurants be able to charge similar prices as for example, Italian restaurants. But food needs to taste good and show authenticity in order to justify being able to set a high price - which this place did not do. I hope Seoul Ave can make better changes from these reviews because it really is unfortunate.

By the way I’m shocked with the five star reviews left by other Koreans here. I could guess they are either friends/relatives of the owners or maybe they’re being overly nice? This is however my...

We came in when there were no tables and it was full so we were given a choice to eat outside or inside; after seeing a dog pee next to one of the tables we chose inside and that took 20 mins. The menu option was limited since it seemed there was more variety in the lunch menu between certain hours and not the entire menu. I chose the beef bulgogi ($37.00). It was supposed to have glass noodles, I counted that I only got 5 of these and 2 pieces of tofu squares, 2 potatoes and what seemed to be 1 yuca (I guess they ran out of potatoes) this stew tasted more like pot roast from a diner. The cup of side rice was delicious but the beef were parts that are left over for your pet. I was very disappointed. The waiter checked on everyone around us various times and only checked on us once after the food came and I was cooling it down since it was so hot. The waiter treated us condescendingly when I told him that we couldn’t eat outside because there were no more chairs and he said again in a demeaning tone if I wanted to sit outside I came back with the same tone and repeated myself and my friend ended up saying that we were going to eat inside (this should have been my indication to leave). I ate all the veggies because I was hungry but the meat was just left over meat like nerves and greasy parts and bulgogi is supposed to be thinly sliced beef not tough parts or grease bits. My pics are all the tough nerves I got and of a peel of an onion that landed in my food. Save your money and go somewhere else, people, this is not a place I recommend and I was highly disappointed by the food and...

I have always been disappointed in the lack of Korean food around the suburbs, so I was looking forward to stopping in as soon as this spot opened. However, after my first visit, I don’t know if it’s worth it to go back.

Want to preface that they did just open, and I’m sure the owner will continue tweaking things as time goes on, but the cons outweigh the pros at this time.

Biggest thing is the food quality + portion size when compared to the price. Oak Park restaurants tend to be pretty pricey, but for the most part the food/drinks are so good that it evens out. Not the case here.

For two people, we ordered the Original Tteokbokki and the Beef Bulgogi. The Tteokbokki was soupy and mostly liquid, and the Bulgogi portion was very small. Both had a ton of cabbage, something I never really see used as much in Korean cuisine – might be used as filler? Both dishes were tasty, but lackluster. If they wouldn’t have cost so much ($21 each…), we would’ve tried an appetizer, but those cost almost as much as the entrees. Also, the banchan might have been the most disappointing. Seems like they may be premade, and they give you a very small amount.

I will say though that the staff are all super friendly and personable, and I like the interior (seems bare but nice and put together.) They really lucked out with the location as well, it’s a great spot.

Hope things turn around because I’d love to come back and not have to drive 30+ minutes for good...