Solliphana

Extremely clean, very good Korean BBQ restaurant!
Now that I’ve summarized I have to say, «WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU COMPLAINERS?»
The bulgogi and the kalbi and both were very good. The seafood pancake was probably the best I’ve ever had (very crispy and flavorful throughout). The banchan (side dishes) were excellent and included a nice acorn jelly in addition to the classics. The restaurant is also extremely clean – not a bit of grease on the tables or chairs that often characterizes KBBQ places.
Some reviewers complained that the side dishes were small; Solliphana features 8 kinds and like all Korean restaurants, offers unlimited refills on the side dishes, so just ask for more. Others complained about the service; we found the service to be just fine. I think they largely leave you alone but there was nothing rude about the service. One reviewer complained that it was not as good as as a hugely popular restaurant in the middle of Chicago. Well that’s because Solliphana is in Schaumburg. He might as well have complained that it’s not as good as his favorite restaurant in Seoul.
I would have liked somewhat larger quantities of bulgogi and kalbi; I also wish they didn’t require you to order at least 2 orders of each KBBQ meat, but at least they explained that they do this because they use a different grill for each meat.
This restaurant is worth eating at; don’t pay attention to the complainers.

I recently visited for the first time and I will return.
We were in the mood for lots of meat, and lots of meat we received. 24.99 for all you can eat. And it’s pretty interesting, they have a set list of the 5 meats. And they will ask you after your first plate of galbi, if you want more, or want to continue. The only thing if you continue with bulgogi, you get no more galbi.
First up is the galbi. Good portion, 4 rolled up pieces, but each piece was twice as big as any other galbi I have ever ordered. it was boneless, so it was easier to eat.
2: bulgogi– big portion, meat was sweet and savory.
3: sam gyup sal. Delicious, we like it crispy, and with the sesame oil it was a real treat.
since we didn’t make it past 3, I only remember pork bulgogi coming in as 4 or 5.
We were served some soup and rice to go with our meats, and we had about 7 or 8 side dishes.
I didn’t find any of the food to be not fresh or lacking in portion or flavor. I was expecting less and received much more which is always a nice surprise.
The service was very good, attentive, and nice. They changed out the grill plates between dishes which was nice and unexpected from other grilling experiences.
They have changed management sometime earlier this year, perhaps now they have just gotten their act together. This was the best dining experience in the suburbs I have had in a long time.

Went there for dinner with the Groupon. Fan of Korean, with San Soo Gab San among my favorites places. But after coming here, very disappointed considering I drove up from the SW suburbs. Starters were so small and only 6. I think you get double that at San soo Gab San. Got the Galbi and the shredded Beef. Galbi was lacking flavor. marinated beef was good but we paid outside of the Groupon just to get it. The cole slaw like salad was not bad, you don’t get that at most restaurants. Service was fine. Wasn’t very busy for a Saturday night. But we went a little early. Overall, I will not be back. Much better places in this area, having lived there for several years. Agree with most of the readers, and hear ownership changed, well explains it really.

Frozen meat? No, thanks. Went here for my mom’s birthday and thought it would be good since it’s a buffet – $ 25 for all you can eat meat. We ordered 3 different kinds of meat: marinated galbi (beef), samgyupsahl (pork meat), and thinly sliced non-​marinated beef in which the Korean name is escaping my mind at the moment.
The samgyupsahl was FROZEN. It wouldn’t melt even after 5 minutes on the grill. The galbi and thinly sliced beef were very chewy. Frozen and chewy do not come to mind when I’m trying to imagine what good Korean BBQ places should be.
Also, Korean BBQ places always bring out complimentary dwenjangjjigae (Korean tofu bean curd soup) and rice whenever you order galbi. Most places do it right, with pieces of tofu, some onions and jalapenos thrown in, and Korean red pepper flakes to spice it up. The dwejangjjigae brought out at Solliphana was tasteless, full of cooked down lettuce, and absolutely no tofu at all.
They also crapped out on how much banchan (mini Korean side dishes) were given. Also, aside from giving the meat and «helping» cook the meat, they don’t come around to check on the customers.
One of the worst Korean BBQ places I’ve been to in a long time and definitely not planning on going back.

This place has steadily decreased in quality and service over the years. It used to be my Schaumburg area favorite Korean restaurant but I suspect owners changed somewhere down the line and the place has gone to hell. I tried my best to not give them a negative review by not coming back for at least a year after my last bad experience only to find that the situation is the same or worse. It’s the same tired woman who waits all the tables (maybe 3 at the busiest, which speaks volumes) in her same tired attitude. I sometimes almost tell these type of people that work at restaurants that nobody is forcing them to work here so quit with the sulking or go elsewhere.
The food has sunken to substandard levels. By this I mean that almost half of the side dishes that were brought out to us were not fresh or borderline rotten. Even the kimchee, which is supposed to be fermented, had a strange chemical taste. Reminds me of that Chinese kimchee scare in Korea where people got sick from who knows what the Chinese put in a traditionally Korean dish then imported to Korea which the Koreans, in turn, foolishly purchased.
If you opt for the all-​you-​can-​eat BBQ then you can somewhat expect the quality to be of bulk quality but we purposely chose the regular serving size kalbi option and was sorely disappointed. It had a vague freezer burn taste to it which they attempted to cover up with strong marinade.
There aren’t many good Korean options in the neighborhood and I am sorry to say that this place joins the ranks with the worst of them. Avoid at all costs until management changes.

I have to admit, I have to crave something before I actually step out of my comfort zone. I do love trying new things but it takes a while.
I had a groupon for a meal for two. We both had our options of entrees (meats) and other sides. Worked out great because my husband likes to eat everything I consider «gross».
I honestly cannot tell you the names of our dishes but mine was a steak-​type and his was beef-​tips/​ribs. We had 10 side dishes! Amazing.
The restaurant itself was not busy at all. We went on a Wednesday night at 7 p.m. but it’s ok… I liked the ambiance. We figured this would be a great place to bring our out-​of-​town guests since it does cater to larger groups.
Back to the food: so good! I am not a big fan of seafood but I try things as my husband orders it often. One of the side dishes was this noodle type. It tasted so darn good! I mean, I considered eating the entire dish. My husband insisted it was a fish dish. Our server started describing the dishes and I stopped dead in my tracks. I was eating fish roe that was turned into a noodle-​looking type of thing. I’m sorry, as good as it tasted, I was not able to continue eating it. My point is: it was freakin’ good. That’s me thinking way outside of the box.
To summarize our experience it was really good. Service, food, ambiance, cost. I am looking forward to coming here again.

food tasted good but i feel like I got scammed. Seafood hot pot with tons of fishes in there but only two pieces of squid tails and crab meat? when it says «seafood» i expected to see some shrimp and other type of seafood! staff was like «oh we usually have a lot of other stuff. i don’t know about today.» trying to get away with it but NO! i had to ask her where is the shrimp and everything and then she added 5 pieces of shrimps for me. ridiculous.
Came with groupon. On the coupon it says $ 30 for $ 73 worth of food. But staff told me what I wanted to get was counted as two entrees instead of one because of the size? and I can only get one appetizer, two entrees and one sake. all those add up is less than $ 73. I understand that I still pay for less than what I would have paid without the coupon but please, when it says it worth $ 73, I expect to get food that worth that much of money.

Went to Solliphana with a group of friends with a groupon. The dinning room here is quite plan and nothing special. The service however is pretty good. My only complaint here was when I asked for more soup I was told no refill on the soup just the other appitizers. It was a bummer because the soup here was amazing. I really enjoyed the spicy flavor. For dinner we had Bulgogi and Galbi. Both were very good. I actually wish we didn’t come with a groupon because the all you can eat was excluded. I look forward to eating here again and getting the all you can eat. I hightly recomend Solliphana when eating out with a group of friends as it is nice to talk while grilling your food.

okay really??? i’m really confused as to why I really don’t understand why anyone would rate this place below a 3… The food is ediable and my god the specials are incrediable! they offer an ALL YOU CAN EAT for 20 bucks per person. from galbi to bulgogi etc. the food is decently seasoned and the food is fairly cheap for the amount you get. korean bbq is not cheap, yeah the service here sucks like you’d expect at San Soo Gab San. lol smh much?
Atmosphere: We came in and i’ve never felt so awkward in my life. the colors of the walls looked like my friends bedroom and living room wall. dull, boring, and quiet. for some reason we were all whispering to eachother until i caught myself doing it for a half and hour and had to ask myself wait… why? maybe a little to vibrant for a restaurant. they were also playing korean church music which i didnt get.
we came in here with a groupon for 2 which included, (1 appetizer up to $ 12.99, 2 entrees, 1 sake) $ 26 for «$ 75» value. SOLD.
Appetizer: Seafood pancake, decent but it was still good. it could’ve been crispier on top with a little crunch, and they should’ve added more seafood because i swear there were only green onions in there. the dipping sauce that comes with it was good, but you can’t mess that up.
Entrees: 1 galbi $ 15.99 and the chadolbaegees (thinly sliced beef) at $ 14.99. the galbi was cut into thick pieces and marinated just okay. the chadolbaegees weren’t anything special but okay as well.
Large Sake: came with the groupon woohoo
Service: the asian lady seemed like she had a chip on her shoulder with that sassy shotty attitude which was annnnoying. she gave us everything we needed, didnt mess up our orders so whatever.

We went there with a Groupon. It was the 2 person Groupon: 1 appertizer, 2 entrée, and one large sake. We were a party of 6 with 2 person using Groupon. The other 4 persons would pay per the usual menu’s price. (I thought that would be the restaurant’s Groupon goal: have customers spend more than Groupon’s minimum rule).
We checked with our waiter when we get in. He doesn’t speak much English and told us we can’t do this. Groupon is for 2 persons only. This sounds very strange to us. He checked with another staff (looks more senior than him) who confirmed that we can use it.
Groupon’s offer is for 2 entrees: max value of $ 25 each. So, we picked 2 entrees $ 25 value with our Groupon and picked some more entrees out of the menu. The lady came back and told us we can’t do this. The $ 25 entrée is for 2 persons combined not per person. She said it was a mistake/​typo in Groupon’s offer. So, the restaurant will not honor this mistake. If we have issues, we have to call Groupon. I was pissed and started arguing with her about it. At one point, she asked me ‘are you Chinese? Chinese people always argue for this’. I’m not Chinese but feel being insulted big time. We went back and forth. At the end, she agreed to give us 2 entrees with our Groupon: one $ 25 value but the other entrée needs to be a cheaper item. We asked her for Bim Bim Bab. She said she can do Bim Bim Bab without meat in it. At that point, i was whatever. Once she finished taking orders, she shook her head, said ‘this is not nice!’, and walked away.
The ordering experience made me feel like i’m begging for food. 15 min into the meal, we got all our dishes except the Bim Bim Bab. When we checked with her about it, her gesture is more of you guys should already be full or forgot about this order. The lady came back with Bim Bim Bab but there was no rice. All we had in a bowl was veggies, egg, and sauce!
i won’t go back there and i’m sure the lady there won’t welcome me too. The food was not bad. Korean pancake was tasty, puffy and crunchy on the outside. However, the restaurant’s attitude toward Groupon’s customers over its own unclear deal was crazy!

Generally, I am not a fan of Korean or spicy food, but this place seems to do it right every time. I like my meat cooked well done, where as most people do not, so the fact that a whole table of people get to share the meat they order AND cook it how they like it, is perfect. This place is perfect for small or large groups. I have been here three times and have never had to wait to be seated. The short ribs are moist and tender, the chicken has the perfect amount of spice, and the regular beef is thin and melts in your mouth. All in all, my family and I are happy we found this place!

I’ve only been here once, and it was my first experience with Korean BBQ. I enjoyed the food, there were 4 of us and we all did the all you can eat for $ 20. We each ordered a different type of meat and mixed-​and-​matched so that everyone was able to try everything. The flavors were nice. The side dishes were good, not great, and I didn’t really care for the soup. We had to ask for rice. We did appreciate the fact that the wait staff changed out our burner more than once, to keep it fresh.
What I could have done without was absolutely the terrible service. I agree with other reviewers that if you don’t speak Korean, you will have trouble. The server was rude and like a previous reviewer mentioned, didn’t acknowledge any of our requests, but what we asked for would eventually show up at the table. We also felt rushed, even though we had ordered «all you can eat.»
I enjoyed the experience of the meal and the flavors, but would like to find a place with better ambiance and friendlier service, especially for a tab that comes to over $ 100 for 4 people with drinks.

I heard about this restaurant from a friend and tried it out yesterday when I was in Schaumburg for a work lunch. It was actually pretty solid! Great food and awesome service at such a busy time for them.

I suggest eating some place else. The food is improperly kept, seasoned and cooked. and dining area was constructed poorly, which gives that grimy look. The kimchi is mushy and mildly spicy. The beef has lot of sugar and bad after taste. Some of the side dishes taste like its been sitting in room temperature for hours. Even during lunch time there is not more than one other paying customer.
Please don’t waste your money here. You’ll get more bang for the buck at McDonald’s.

The waitress is not friendly, always look pissed off and is overworked. When I ask for something, like a spoon, there’s really no acknowledgment of my request, but the spoon will eventually turn up. For some reason, the Korean side dishes (banchan) came out after the appetizer we ordered. I was hoping they would come out right away because I was hungry. What took so long? It’s not like they had to be cooked. The three stars goes mainly towards the food and location. I don’t really know of another Korean restaurant in the area.
SEAFOOD PANCAKES — This is a delicious and filling appetizer. The large order can be a meal like a small pan pizza size.
SPICY FISH EGG SOUP — Quite tasty and not too spicy but a bit pricey at $ 11. Lots of fish egg clumps, if you’re into that sort of thing. I have never seen this anywhere else.
GRILLED FISH MACKEREL — Mmm… I love me some mackerel. It’s nicely grilled here without seasoning since this fish doesn’t need it.

Finding a decent Korean Restaurant in the suburbs is pretty difficult so when I found this place I did not expect much. Overall the food is pretty decent.
For all the people complaining about the service, FYI — Korean Restaurants in general are always pretty poor. DONT COMPLAIN. BTW I am Korean and I never expect much.
Also for the people complaining about smelling like BBQ after you leave. NEWSFLASH any Korean BBQ you go to that is the end result.

I’ve been to my fair share of Korean restaurants, but this place was definitely below average. It was so cold in there, I had to keep my jacket on. This isn’t preferable since it’s going to smell more afterwards being closer to the food. The side dishes were a joke. It was too bright in the restaurant. But the food, temperature, and ambiance are not the reason why it only gets 1 star.
Solliphana gets 1 star because our waitress was half Korean, half bitch. Sorry, we’re not Korean nor do we know how to speak it. Does that mean you have to treat us like I’m not good enough to eat your food? I’m sorry, I thought this was all-​you-​can eat for $ 20? Does it offend you that we want more meat? That’s the impression we got every time we asked her for anything. My conclusion: I wouldn’t eat here again if you paid me $ 20. Maybe $ 100. Maybe…

So I was planning on going to the Thai garden place next door, when I just walked in here just to check out the place. I don’t know what it is about Korean places but most of them have horrible customer service. Regardless of if they speak English or not, they plainly shy away from customers !!
That being said, they have a special of unlimited meat selections for $ 20.99. The beef bu go gi was excellent. Did not get an an opportunity to try the spare ribs, but I heard they are great too. The side dishes were not too shabby.
I would definitely go back here. Looking at the reviews before I entered the place, I did hesitate to go, but as long as you get their meat special which allows you to choose from 3 different types of beef, 1 chicken, 3 different types of pork and 2 types of octopus entrees which you personally BBQ right in front of you on the table; you should be fine.
I would have given it 4 stars and the only reason, I went with 3 is because of the customer service.

Loved it!
I need to get back there and see if its really as good as I remember it to be. I was there with some Korean friends and they selected some very nice food for us. I especially loved cooking the spicy pork on the grill right in front of us.
Ambiance — Non existent. Its a small restaurant in a strip mall.
Service: Not really the best but you can survive it.
Take away: Well, what you really takeaway is the smell ;) So don’t get there dressed in your finest.

Have been there a couple of times. Food is authentic but not good. You’ll see Korean customers who speak Korean to the owner and waiters /​waitresses. And They get treated better.
But if you don’t speak Korean, you’ll have hard time communicating. The service is bad, The owner seems really cold, never smiles.
I was also disappointed with their small appetizer dishes, like Kimchi, bean sprout, tiny fish, seaweed, etc. They have very limited selections and the owner gets upset when you ask for more. They are usually free of charge, maybe that’s why.
I am still looking for a good Korean restaurant near Palatine /​Schaumburg. Someone out there has recommendations?