Seo Hae Restaurant

Came here with a couple friends after a day of volunteering near K-​town. We were really craving Korean food so we decided that we would drive towards K-​town and go into the first Korean restaurant with minimal English words by the door. Surely enough, Seo Hae was the first one we saw and decided to walk in.
We have to say that we were definitely a little scared as we walked into the restaurant because it was completely empty. Then we saw these two older gentlemen sitting there in the back with at least 15 bottles of beers between them (3 pm on a Saturday). While I was very impressed deep down, that was definitely not the most encouraging sign at a restaurant. Luckily for us, our experience went uphill from there.
Our server, who I will refer her as Grandma here because she’s definitely as friendly and helpful as all of our Grandmas, was very helpful in teaching us the menu (none of us reads or speaks Korean). She even put on a cowboy movie for us in the background (it was Dennis Quad fighting a dragon in medieval times but she said it was a cowboy movie). We were definitely surprised to see English words on the menu but there was one page that had only Korean words on it. Given our experience at Chinese restaurants, we all knew that was the page with all the goodies. Unfortunately, none of the stuff that she described sounded appetizing to us.
So we got two bowls of Sul Lang Tang (hangover soup), seafood pancake and beef kalbi. All of them were quite delicious. All in all, it was a decent experience. If you are in the mood for some afternoon drinking, good korean food. oh and you can smoke in there too… then this is definitely the place for you!

The food here is just as good as most Korean places in Chicago — and it’s ridiculously cheap. If you come at lunchtime and get the special, you get an entrée and more panchan than you can possibly eat in one sitting (I got a doggy bag) for…
$ 5.50 including tax. Seriously.

Seo Hae is one of the few remaining Korean restaurants on «Seoul Drive» a.k.a. Lawrence Ave. Sure, there are some businesses left (New York Bakery, Hourglass, Lawrence Fish Market, New Chicago Kimchee, San Chae Dolsot, Dokil Bakery), but there are fewer of them as the neighborhood changes year after year. Appreciate them now before all the Korean places end up in the suburbs (hello Super H Mart). RIP Kokeeri, Arrirang, and that kimbap place on Pulaski.
Even before I walked in, I noticed that they covered up all their windows. This wasn’t the case years ago. Now they’re the typical super secret Korean establishment that’s intimidating to some. But don’t let that deter you from going in. The restaurant is small, with a few tables and bar seating available. There are a couple tables for Korean BBQ, as well. We both ordered bulgogi, which comes with rice and panchan. The panchan included kimchi, soybean sprouts, sesame spinach, fish cake, a type of beef stew, soy sauce soybeans, broccoli, julienned potatoes, and kimchi radish. The bulgogi was just ok. Thinly sliced beef with onions, julienned carrots, and scallions. I would have preferred to cook it on my own –Korean BBQ-​style-​, but I think you need at least 4 people for that here. The panchan was good, except for the dry fish cake. Next time I definitely want to bring more people for Korean BBQ.
While we ate, the older Korean customers decided to do karaōke. They drank, danced, and had a blast. We giggled at their drunken singing. Good times. The food here is 2 stars in my book, but I’m giving them 3 starts just for the hell of it. I’m biased since this was my first Korean restaurant as a kid. And it was my mom’s first Korean restaurant when she first immigrated to Chicago. Yep, an extra star for nostalgia.