Ttowa Korean Bistro — Restaurant in Wheeling Township

It's time for an updated review of Ttowa because it's been a year and we've enjoyed meals from here many times during the year.

Terry, the owner, is always gracious and friendly. His mom, Mrs. Park, can often be seen checking in on guests or serving a dish with a proud, humble Korean Mom smile. This is a warm and welcoming restaurant with comfortable seating and plenty of spaces between tables. It's very clean and the table setting is pretty.

The food is delicious! We can't get enough of the Dak Buns, which are BBQ grilled chicken pieces on a fluffy bun. The menu will list 4 per order and it's 4 very generous buns filled with an ample amount of chicken. It's one of our favorite items to order. We love the seafood pancake, Haemul Pajeon. It's packed full of seafood like calamari, shrimp, scallops, and fragrant green onions. Cooked crispy and comes with a complimenting dipping sauce. The japchae with added beef is a perfect dish with yummy chewy sweet potato noodles, veggies, and generous amount of beef. Each item can be a meal on its own, but they all go so well together. We've also had the Dduk Bokki (tteobokki) and it's not super spicy (which is perfect for me) with the right amount of chewy goodness to the rice cakes! When my husband is feeling hungry for something more, he gets the Sam Gyup Sal Entree which is pork belly and the Kalbi, short ribs. I like the bibimbob because it's got everything in a bowl - veggies, rice, beef, an ooey egg and a little bit of spice.

Now let's talk about the banchan, which are the sides that come with our meal. The kimchi is the perfect level of spice, sweet, and vinegar for me. It's soooo good and addictive! We've also had the mashed potatoes, picked cucumbers, kimchi cucumber, fish cakes, and so much more than I can even name! It's all so good!

We have never left Ttowa without leftovers to enjoy the next day and Mama Park has been generous enough to pack us some kimchi to enjoy with our leftovers.

If you haven't had Korean food and want to try, this is the perfect place to go. They're proud of their food and always happy to explain what they're serving. Now I want more...

Hidden gem of a Korean spot in downtown Arlington Heights. The banchan is delicious and plentiful. Everything tastes delicious, but it's on the pricier side for a Korean restaurant. NOT a KBBQ, but rather a sit-down place that serves you fairly traditional Korean fare. Good amount of combination specials that can be shared.

25Jan2021 UPDATE: I am downgrading my original 4-star review to 1 star. I've been trying to support the local restaurant businesses by ordering take out. So, based on my 4-star dine-in experience, I decided to order a few items for me and my parents. And, it was a total disappointment. The kalbi was lifeless and chewy; I could barely taste the marinade. And, the meat was extremely difficult to chew. The bulgogi at least tasted a little better, but, wasn't all that great. Also, there were Brussel sprouts in in the bulgogi -- is that a Korean thing, adding Brussel sprouts to the bulgogi? The Dak Kal Kuk Soo (Chicken Noodle Soup) didn't taste like chicken soup at all -- the broth was more pork or beef, but other than the chicken pieces in the order, I couldn't tell it was supposed to be chicken soup. Lastly, the Jja Jang Myun (Black Bean Noodles) was probably the best tasting of the 4 entrees ordered. The sauce tasted pretty good, but, the noodles were weird. Frankly, we couldn't tell which noodles went with the soup or the jajang -- of course, they were the SAME noodles, who wouldn't be confused. I only live a few minutes form downtown Arlington Heights, but, by the time I got home with the food, it was cold and coagulated; the noodles were cold lumps of noodle cake. And, to add insult to injury, it was $100 for all 4 dishes; not a cheap date by any means. This is probably the only time I will order take out from them; I'll wait until people stop dying from COVID to dine in the next time. Now, onto the search for a better take-out...

I have been coming here a while the service has never really been great the food has. However, i have not had such a bad experience as this past week. Called on a Wednesday at 4asking for a simple order for pick up to please be ready by 6:30. They had plenty of time to have it ready and i was confident it would be.i had to be somewhere at 7. I go in and there was only a couple outside that was the only customer so they were not even busy. When i went to pick up my order (6:35) they had no order for me at all.. the asian lady did not speak much english but it just sounded like the was yelling at everyone who was working while i waited there. My order was not even put in and it was 6:35. I even paid the full price and had to go out bc my car was not in a spot to park long i thought it would take me 1 minute to get it. I did not get my food until almost 7. I was very disappointed and irritated if i did not pay i would have just left. Also, they skimped out alot on the food i have ordered and been there enough to know when they give the right size entree. They put way less then they usually do. I was late to where i wanted to be and overpaid for not great food this time and a long wait when i called 2.5 hours ahead for a reason! I am not sure i will be coming back as manager lady did not even apologize to me or in anyway make it up as i was very patient and did not make it a big deal even thought it was. This time put a very bad taste in my mouth...