Korean Food in Hyde Park

Has anyone tried the Korean restaurant(s) in Hyde Park near the U of C - 55th or 53rd Street? I've driven by a few times but never ventured in. I imagine the restaurant(s) probably aren't on the top ten list but I need a recommendation for a Korean restaurant on the south side.

I've been to Kikuya, which is on 55th just east of the Metra tracks. The food is strikingly average and I could not recommend it. They do a lot of catering business for the coffee shops on the UofC campus, too, and I've never had anything that was worth noting.

You may be out of luck in your search for Korean food in Hyde Park. For six years of living in the neighboorhood, I always made the trek to Lawrence for Korean.

One door east of Kikuya (Japanese) is Café Corea, the only Korean restaurant on the south side as far as I know.

Café Corea
1603 E 55th St
Chicago
773-288-1795

Cafe Corea is not bad for a quick lunch. The food is reasonably authentic and pretty tasty. I wouldn't say that it's a standout in any way: I'd rather eat at the lunch counter at Chicago Food Corp. But Hyde Park is not a neighborhood of stand out restaurants, and I prefer the food at Cafe Corea to the disappointing pan asian fare they serve at Noodles Etc. over on 57th St.

Yeah, Cafe Corea is better than Noodles, but that's not saying much.

^ +1

Chicago Food Corp is ~15 miles away from Hyde Park and can be quite inaccessible to a student. The concept of the Chicago Food Corp lunch counter is actually quite close to Cafe Corea. CC isn't bad given the options. Their yuk ge jang is totally edible!

barret wrote: But Hyde Park is not a neighborhood of stand out restaurants...

True enough, but when in the neighborhood, I've always enjoyed The Nile, Ragin' Cajun, and Dixie Kitchen. As for South Side Korean, honestly, I can't think of a single place to recommend.

I find myself wandering back to Hyde Park for Calypso's plantain nachos, but other than that, yeah, it is a fairly desolate area.

reciprocity wrote:I find myself wandering back to Hyde Park for Calypso's plantain nachos.

Is this place still open? I called the other day and got a "being checked for trouble" recording.

I was just there two weeks ago, and they just answered the phone for me, so signs point to yes!

That's good. I love their jerk chicken.