Ssyal Ginseng House

This place is great. It’s small yet very cozy. Very relaxed mood. But you want to know how the food is… DELICIOUS! I went with my family so we ordered a bunch of food (so I don’t really remember what exactly was ordered) but I promise you that EVERYTHING I we ordered was DELICIOUS! Everything tasted fresh and definitely made with TONS of love. And a plus was that our waitress was very nice ^^. With the little Korean I know she encouraged my attempts to speak in Korean and added to the fun. All in all, great time with the family and great time over all!

This is a local fave for me, just a few blocks down from my house I’ve never actually had the ginseng soup but every thing I’ve tried there is amazing! Love thr dbbokki (spicy rice cakes), their bibimbap and kimchi stew are also a must try!

Usually I go to Joong Boo Market to get my Korean fix but the menu is quite small and I was feeling something different. It was a cold day out, snow still on the ground. We were craving something soupy to warm us up. I had this place bookmarked for quite a while but never found myself in the neighborhood. Luckily that day, we were!
I think this place is a hidden gym! We were the only two people in the restaurant when we arrived at around 4:30, go figure. Immediately we were waited on with two cups of nice hot barley tea and menus. If you know Korean food, you know that Sam Gye Tang is a classic dish. It is basically a whole chicken that is stuffed with sweet rice and boiled with ginseng into a delicious and flavorful broth that will cure any winter chill.
In addition to the soup, we ordered the spicy pork, and the stone beef bibimbap. All equally delicious and authentic tasting. They also provide you with an array of banchan aka Korean side dishes.
Anyone who goes to Joong boo for Korean food should come here for a nice change for some new but familiar Korean dishes!

Loved the Bi-​bim Bap. Based on other reviews, I better try the soups also.

Had a big dinner for 16 people last night, and everything was just great! The service was absolutely courteous and very accommodating. The food was delicious and the chicken ginseng soup was perfect for a rainy cold night. Thank you!

This place makes THE BEST Dolsot Bibimbap ever! No joke, everything’s fresh to order, super delicious and piping hot. This is my go-​to Korean restaurant and I recommend you burning the crap out of your mouth eating from a nuclear hot stone bowl sooner than later!

First time here… been wait for 20mins still didn’t get my food :(and is not like they busy

Absolutely Love.
Ssyal is one of the rare restaurants that just gets better and better. I have been going to Ssyal for about 8 years now, fairly regularly — few times a year, and lately once a week as i have been trying all their different dishes.
(by the way, i know i had reviewed Ssyal before but can not find my old review — same with a few of my other reviews… i wonder if that happens to other Unilocalies too).
Chicken Ginseng — as good or better than what you get in Seoul. And i have had my share of great food in Seoul.
Lately I’m trying a new dish each week — and each time i’m like WOW…
Great service. Family oriented.
New updated interior and clean, spacious toilets.
Delicious food. High value.
Thanks Y’all.

PLUS: Sam Kye Tang (Korean chicken soup)
MINUS: The parking lot at the back is small and sometimes full.
THE place to go to in Chicagoland for sam kye tang. Really hits the spot on a cold Chicago winter day, though ironically Koreans traditionally eat this in the summer (to replenish vital energy lost from the heat and sweating.)
The recipes come directly from a genuine Korean granny laboring in the kitchen (the mother of the owner). She sometimes comes out and greets the customers and asks how the food is. The side dishes are fresh and flavorful and the service is above average for a Korean restaurant. If you run out of side dishes or rice, just ask for more.
I usually only order the sam kye tang here, but the bulgogi is also good. The recipe for the sam kye tang was changed a year or two ago and now there’s less ginseng and it’s floating free in the soup, whereas before it was stuffed in the chicken, with chestnuts and jujubes, but its still excellent, with rich thick broth and fall off the bone tender chicken.

We went around 12:30 and parking was a little difficult to find since theres alot of other cars in the area.
We did not have to wait to be seated. We got the squid and the kong gooksu. They were both pretty good. The squid was very spicy so if you like spicy food you should get that. The gooksu was very refreshing and cold with ice.
We also had mandoo as our appetizer and they were fully stuffed and hot as we were served.

I have heard that Korean soup is really good for you when you’re sick and that samgyetang is best. So I dragged my sniffling carcass by bus to Albany Park.
I received a cup of hot tea once I was seated and did not bother looking at the menu. My chicken ginseng elixir was wheeled out on a cart and accompanied by six banchan and purple rice! As others have stated, you are given green onions and sea salt on the side to season the soup to taste.
I felt a lot better afterwards and even received a slice of watermelon at the end of my meal! The young girl who waited on me and the ajumma who owns the restaurant were very nice. Both asked how I liked the food. The owner seemed to know the regulars and engaged in friendly chit chat. Very different than San Soo Gab San!
I would definitely go back to try other items or maybe just get the samgyetang again. Looking forward to trying to make rice porridge with the leftovers as another Unilocaler helpfully suggested. Limp in, leap out!

The samgaetang really, really hit the spot after a ridiculous night out. The broth is extremely savory but clean. The part where it tastes so clean is the real shocker for me, because once chilled the soup turns into a big gelatinous blob which speaks to how long the bones must have sat in the broth to give up all their flavor. Also love how soft the chicken bones are, this means they have fulfilled their marrow-​giving destinies to the fullest.
Just a heads up, if you’ve never had samgaetang before I would imagine the first time is going to be just slightly disappointing. It’s my hunch that samgaetang is an acquired taste that you grow up with, although I would love to be proven wrong. The chicken soup is meant to be seasoned to taste, which is why they give you that tiny little dish full of salt. Another preferred method for Koreans is to shred your chicken and dip pieces into the salt before they head towards your mouth. Then scoop up a spoonful of brothy rice, place a big blob of kimchi (my fave is the radish kimchi) on top and voila — a perfectly seasoned bite. The more green onions the better. I also like a healthy dash of pepper.
Honorable mention dishes: Dakbokkumtang (or is it Dak-​doritang here? They’re the same thing). Spicy, sweet, and extremely generous portions. I packed it to go and seriously fed myself for a week.
Also have to mention the adorable little old lady who served us. She is extremely hospitable, which is sort of an atypical thing for authentic Korean restaurants.
P. S. Take the broth home for some excellent congee (or what the Koreans call juk) the next morning. Remove all chicken bones, and add rice at home and boil till rice is done. I could eat 10 bowls in one sitting. Whatever you do, don’t waste that broth.

I had the ginseng chicken soup to follow all the Unilocal reviews, but it was so bland! I had to even ask for extra salt, and I’m someone that likes things slightly under seasoned!
My fellow patron had the dolsot bibimbap, and that was also EXTREMELY bland. We had to put spicy sauce on every bite (after dousing the whole dish with it), and it still wasn’t very flavorful.
On the other hand, the service was great, which is why I am giving two stars. There was one little old lady there that was absolutely adorable and sweet.

A lady seated us and didn’t like how she welcomed us. She didn’t really greet me nor was she very nice. However, There was an old lady (possibly the cook) who was extremely sweet and greeted even my daughter!
I ordered the Infamous ginseng chicken soup which was oh-​kay. It was comforting in my tummy. I loved the part as the waitress was serving it to us the soup was still boiling/​sizzling. Chicken was very tender and as soon as you dig in with your fork meat falls off the bone. The rice and date inside was a nice surprise! It gave the broth more of a rich flavor. I just didn’t like as I was disassembling the chicken It was still pink and the seen the insides such as little bones other stuff I don’t even know how to explain it. I lost my interest eating it.
I also got the combo bul-​go-​ghi and b-​bim-​bap. It was eh. I’ve tasted better. I think it was lacking flavor. Even when I added the red sauce it didn’t do any good to it.
I’m effy about coming back. If I do I think I’m
gonna try the cod fish soup.

If you come here, you have to get the samgaetang. That is their speciality. The broth has a nice clean taste and the chicken is so tender that you can easily pull pieces off with your chopsticks.
My friend eats a lot of rice, and they gave us extra rice for free :)
A lot of times at korean restaurants you expect to receive bad service. But the service here was really good, the waitress was really nice and attentive, and she spoke both english and korean.
I will be back
*You get a free drink for checking in on Unilocal

The other times I been here it was just to carry out today was my first time sitting down to eat.
Welcomed with hot tea upon arrival.

I absolutely love this restaurant!
Came here on a Tuesday night with a group of 4 and everything we ordered was on point.
Pancake, ddeokboki, syal gae tang, soondubu, yu-​kae tang are were all very hearty and not over powering or artificially marinated with msg like other places.
Although it’s located in a sketchy neighborhood, the restaurant is very clean, simply decorated.
Service met expectations, but I don’t expect much since the food completed it all.

This review is for their Sam gye tang (ginseng chicken soup), which they are known for.
I dragged my flu stricken body, in attempt to get the taste of that chicken soup my mom used to make when I was sick. Granted, I never liked this thing that much – c’mon it’s like a clear chicken broth soup with lots of garlic, dates, ginseng… And something that I always ate when I had no appetite. I honestly can’t imagine someone who isn’t Korean that never had it being blown away the first time he/​she tries it, since it’s pretty mild in flavor, but it’ll grow on you. Anyhow, this soup pops in my head when I’m sick. And I’m pretty sure this is the only Korean restaurant that serves this.
It came out boiling hot in the ddook bae gi (the stone pot), with the small whole chicken. The broth was rich, and the meat fell off the bone effortlessly. I think it was possibly better than my mothers (sorry mom). Also this is how our family ate the soup; eat the ²⁄₃ of the chicken meat as you dip it lightly on salt and pepper mix, take the rest of the meat apart from the bones, mix well with the sweet rice, and eat it like jook (porridge). But my mom put more sweet rice than they did here, but no worries, she didn’t prepare a separate bowl of rice. In other words, it’s plenty of food. And yes, be careful of the little bones. It’s annoying but I take my time to take off all the bones so the rest of my eating experience is uninterrupted.
The banchans included leek cucumber kimchi (o-​ee so-​bak-​ee), regular kimchi, radish kimchi (kkak doo gi), picked garlic, anchovies with pepper, and tossed bellflower (do-​rah-​ji moo-​cheem). They all tasted flavorful, clean, and fresh. Some were a little sweet for me but still, everything tasted so fresh, and usually banchans are a good preview of how the food will be. I’m excited to try more things from this restaurant!
P. S. The grandma serving here is so cute and sweet – I kinda love and hate elderly serving me food because I think it’s ridiculous and I should be serving them food (yes I’m strange) but she’s awesome.

I’m in pain dealing with a flu, and that hit me the night before and I still dragged myself to work this morning. However, I left work early because my whole body ached, and unexpectedly, there was an image coming across my brain: ginseng chicken soup.
I don’t live far at all from this place, and I passed here a million times via CTA 81 Lawrence bus. I always wanted to try their ginseng chicken soup because my mom would fix this for me when I was sick back home.
I no longer have Mom with me, but I have a husband! He volunteered to travel there to do a take-​out order. How sweet!
The ginseng chicken soup was great. The broth was mild, flavorful, and excellent for a sick patient like myself. The chicken was tender and came straight of the bones. I had to be careful with those little bones because I accidentally swallowed a couple of pieces. They include the sea salt with pepper if you want to adjust the salinity of the broth. That was a nice touch.
My hubby ordered the stir-​fry squids. This also came with the bean sprout soup and white rice. The entire ordered came with five (5) different banchans (kimchi, horseradish, pickled cucumbers, tofu skins, and black beans). The squids were good but not anything out of the world. We couldn’t finish all the banchans. Thus off the refrigerator they went.
The total came to about $ 34. Yeah, this is an once-​in-​awhile splurge. I don’t do that often to ensure my wallet is «healthy» as well.

I went here for dinner last night — by first time to have traditional Korean Food. IT WAS AWESOME!
We started off the dinner with dumplings. . wow — they were a little different than I am used to — not greasy — but just lovely pillows. It’s almost as if they were air baked at the end. So good!
I am not a big red meat eater, but I loved theirs! We ordered 2 combo’s with — I am going to mess up big time on the spelling. . bibimbob and bulgogi (I think). My dinner date is a regular here and I let him take the reigns with ordering. May it as good. And it reminds me of traditional farmhouse eating … like tapas or dim sum.. all the little plates of bites around the table.
I will NOT be hesitant to go there again!