Sodam Chicken Shoreline — Restaurant in Shoreline

There is a group on Facebook for people who live in Shoreline. They ask about traffic, loud noises and recommendations. Whenever anyone wants a good place to get chicken, Sodam comes up. So, when I was in that area the other day at lunch time, I decided to drop in. That section of 15th is busy and it is a bit tricky to get to the parking lot behind Sodam. There is no left turn lane and when I stopped to make the turn, I got honked at by several impatient people. The lot is large if you are willing to use the unpaved area. I easily found a spot. I got a strange vibe from the neighborhood, so I made sure that I locked my door. I had no evidence that there might be trouble, just a feeling. I walked back to the road and spent a moment figuring out how to get into Sodam. The first door I saw was for a fenced patio. The actual door is on the other side of the patio. I went in and was pleased to see that it was bright and clean inside. I stared at the menu for quite some time. There are a number of items on the menu for large groups. It was not clear what I should look at for a single meal. I thought I had it figured out when someone asked if my order was for here or to go. When I said, “For here,” I found out I was in the wrong place. A kid led me to a table and handed me a menu. I decided that the meal with 5 pieces of chicken (Sounds like a lot, right?) with coleslaw and fries was the right choice. When the kid came by, I found out that I also needed to pick what kind of chicken. I went for soy garlic boneless. While I waited for my food, a loud blender overwhelmed all other sounds. It lasted until well after my food arrived. When it stopped, there was pleasant Korean music. I listened to a few bars until the blender started up again. I’m not sure what it was for. It was a lot of noise for a very few drinks being served. The kid showed me the drawer under the table with utensils. I grabbed some napkins and chopsticks and dug in. The coleslaw was basic, but very well made. The fries were basic - not bad, not good. The prize was the chicken. It was cooked just right and smothered in flavorful sauce. The pieces were small to make them easy to eat with chopsticks. Five is about the right number given their size. I finished the whole meal and called for the check. I needed to use hand signals, because no one could hear anything over the blender. The bill was very reasonable compared to other...

Tried 4 types of chicken at their soft open: yang nyeom, soy garlic, gang jung, and bbq hot. Wasn't able to try the baked varieties because of oven issues. Tried a mix of boneless, wing, and drumettes for each flavor. All were crisp, bursting with flavor, and distinct. Completely forgot about sauces for half of it as they were wonderful as served.

Also grabbed ToPoKi, garlic chicken fried rice, and some appetizers. The ToPoKi was delicious but I've grown so used to it being spicy that I didn't think to check if this one was or not, lol; it was not. The garlic chicken fried rice was rich, wonderful, creamy almost... there was no strong garlic flavor, which was a pro to some and a con to others.

The staff was very warm and kind, especially on top of the stress of a soft open. The atmosphere is clean, professional, yet inviting, not sterile or forced.

The texture on everything, from the mandu and egg roll appetizers to the wings was absolutely perfect. crunchy on the outside, warm on the inside, not oily at all. Everything was bold, complex, nuanced, and enjoyed by everyone.

We were given several cute, little banchan. It was a nice touch, made the meal feel more complete.

I'll be heading back many times I'm sure. Having a place this good within walking distance is scary for my wallet. I look forward to trying the rest of the menu, especially the rice cracker gang nung and some...

We’ve been meaning to try Sodam for soooooodam long, haha couldn’t help myself. The interior is nice, large and clean and a big screen with all the K-POP that you can dream of so let’s talk food

Half and Half of Gang-Jung Chicken & Gold Fried Chicken: here are the stars of the night! We wanted to try at least two items of the chicken wings so we grabbed the half and half which seemed to be the best value. The chicken was so tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, beautifully juicy and seasoned well. I would recommend getting the golden with whichever other flavor you’d like to try since you can control how much sauce goes on that. The gang jung is a little on the sweet side for me but I still gobbled it down

Shrimp Fried Rice: a very generous portion enough for 2 who are super hungry or 3 not so much, love the flavor would absolutely order again

I love the service of this place, ppl were super polite and helpful and there’s a little drawer on each table that has utensils and wet wipes etc, love it!!

Oh and we took some boba for the kids and they said it’s one of the best they’ve had (I ordered...