Hibachi Korean BBQ@ San Soo Gap San(chi)

Hibachi dining is a popular way for friends and family to get together and interact with one another.  Even if your not hungry it's fun just to go out on a night of town and play with your food.  What is hibachi dining you ask?  The way the food is cooked and what it's cooked on is what makes it an enjoyment.  Hibachi is traditionally a style of cooking where you use either a gas or coal powered grill. The food that is ordered usually comes raw so the diners can get the experience of cooking it themselves.  The grill is set in the center of the table and in time will get replaced due to grease residue.  People will get confused with hibachi and tepanyaki style cooking.  Tepanyaki involves the chef showcasing his culinary skill in front of diners while cooking on a flat griddle. 

San Soon Gap San is one of many restaurants that offer this fun and unique style of dining.  It's located near Western and Foster.  You can get off the brownline and take the bus north about half a mile.  If you don't want to wait in line you better call for reservations because every time I've dined here I've waited for a table.  They open very late too(5am daily) so don't worry about managing your're everday schedule. 

The restaurant contain many section of tables and cubicles.  The cubicles is equipped with a very low table about a foot above the ground.  Before you can began you must take off your shoes as what most Asians do when they dine on the ground.  You can also have a regular table for two.  Of course the whole place has many ventilation system installed to absorb all of that mouth watering smokey aroma.

I would had loved to dined in one of the cubicles but it was all spoken for.  Instead, our party of eight had to combine tables equipped with two hibachi grills.  We ordered pre-marinated pork, seafood, beef and chicken as our main course.  The appetizers here is a scene unlike any other.  Basically it's about ten two inch wide bowls packed full of Korean samplers that can range from tofu, kimchi, salad and other types of food I've never seen or heard of before.  I wish I can list them all but I guess you'll just have to go and try it out.

Once the main courses came we then placed it on the grill and while we wait for it to cook we would sample the array of appetizers displayed upon us.   The main courses can be consumed with a side of sauce or rice, you'll also be served a small bowl of soup.  A quarter way into our meal another wave of appetizers swooshes around and smacks you in the mouth.  In total, there's three waves of appetizers that comes around or in other words, the culinary sneak attack.

Hibachi is a great way to celebrate any occasion and an excellent way to interact with people you've just met.  Even if you don't like the food you'd enjoy the experience.  The bill per person will come at about $20 per person if you have a group larger than two. It's also a very popular place among the caucasion population.  You might not like some of the appetizers but trust me, you'll love the meat product that is pre-marinated already for you to bbq.

http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurants/san-soo-gap-san/