Sam Mee Korean BBQ
*private tea rooms available*
Menu
APPETIZERS
Bin-Dae-Duck.............$3.50
fried Korean-style bean pancake
Mandoo.............$3.50
fried Korean dumplings
Steam Mandoo.............$3.50
steamed Korean dumplings
Tempura.............$5.50
deep-fried shrimp and vegetables
Yang-Num Tofu.............$4.50
steamed tofu served with sauce
Kim Bop.............$5.50
seaweed roll with rice and vegetables
Rice cake.............$5.95
SOUP
Miso soup.............$1.50
Soybean paste soup
Spicy beef soup.............$2.50
beef meatball soup
Wonton Soup.............$2.50
Beef dumpling soup
TEMPURA
Shrimp tempura.............$9.50
Deep fried shrimp and vegetables
Beef tempura.............$8.50
Deep fried beef and vegetables
Squid tempura.............$8.95
Deep fried squid and vegetables
Vegetable tempura.............$7.50
Deep fried vegetables
TERIYAKI
Steak Teriyaki.............$10.95
Steak with teriyaki sauce
Chicken Teriyaki.............$8.95
Chicken with teriyaki sauce
Shrimp Teriyaki.............$11.50
Shrimp with teriyaki sauce
Salmon Teriyaki.............$10.95
Broiled salmon with teriyaki sauce
NOODLE
Shrimp Udon.............$6.50
Shrimp with Japanese noodles and soup
Vegetable Udon.............$6.50
Vegetables with Japanese noodles and soup
Tempura Udon.............$6.50
Deep-fried Shrimp with Japanese noodles and soup
FRIED RICE
Shrimp.............$7.25
Pork.............$6.50
Beef.............$6.50
Chicken.............$6.50
KOREAN DISHES
Kimchee Jigae
Sam Mee Jung Sik.............$12.50
Korean homestyle complete dinner served with Garbi or
Bulgogi and assorted vegetables, fish, soup, rice and kimchi
Kimchee Jigae.............$7.50
Spicy kimchee boiled with beef and vegetables
Tofu Jigae.............$7.50
Spicy Tofu boiled with beef and vegetables
Dan Jang Jigae.............$7.50
Dan jang boiled with beef and vegetables
Mandoo Gook.............$7.50
Korean Dumplings in mild delicate soup
Duk Gook.............$7.50
Soup with ricecake and seasoned meat and vegetables
Duk Mandoo Gook.............$7.95
Korean Dumplings & ricecake in mild delicate soup
Yuk Gae Jang.............$7.95
Hot & spicy boiled beef soup with vegetables
Garbi Tang.............$8.50
Beef-rib soup
Bibim Bop.............$7.95
Rice mixed with beef, vegetables and fried egg
Stone Bowl Bibim Bop.............$8.50
Rice cooked in a stone bowl with beef, vegetables and fried egg
Tang Su Yuk.............$8.95
Sweet and Sour pork
Chop Chae.............$7.95
Thin vermicelli noodle mixed with beef and vegetables
Bindaeduck Bockum.............$8.95
Fried Korean pancake made with meat, vegetables and ground bean
COLD NOODLE
Bibim Nyeng Myun.............$7.95
Spicy cold noodle
Mul Nyeng Myun.............$6.95
cold soup noodle
JUN KOREAN PANCAKE
Gochu Pajun.............$7.50
Korean pancake made with pepper, green onion and meat
Allmur Pajun.............$12.95
Korean seafood pancake
FISH STEW
Joe Gae Tang.............$8.50
Clam stew
Daegu Maiuntang.............$8.95
Spicy boiled fish in hot soup
Haemool Jeongol.............$19.50 (TWO ORDERS)
Mild spicy soup with seafood and vegetables
MEAT DISHES
Bulgogi
Bulgogi.............$9.95
Thin slices of beef marinated in special sauce
Garbi.............$10.50
Beef ribs marinated in special sauce
Je Yuk Kui.............$8.50
Broiled pork in special sauce
Chicken Bulgogi.............$8.50
Broiled chicken with hotsauce
Mongolian Beef.............$8.95
FISH DISHES
Nak Ji Bok Kum.............$9.95
Spicy octopus & vegetables with hot sauce
O-ging-o Bok Kum.............$8.50
Spicy squid & vegetables with hot sauce
Shrimp Bok Kum.............$8.95
Shrimp & vegetables with hot sauce
Domee Tee Kim.............$16.50
Deep fried red snapper with sweet sauce
Domee Kui.............$16.50
Broiled red snapper with special hot sauce
Ko-dong-o Kui.............$8.50
Sauteed mackerel
Kongchee Kui.............$8.50
Broiled sardine
Combination
Combination of Chop Chae, Bulgogi, Galbi, Yakidori,
Soup, Mandoo and assorted side dishes
(serves two).............$35.00
Sam Mee Korean BBQ
3370 N. Clark
Chicago IL 60654
phone: (773) 525-5050
Map to Sam Mee
BUSINESS HOURS
MONDAY - THURSDAY 4:00-10:30pm
FRIDAY 4:00-Midnight
SATURDAY Noon-Midnight
SUNDAY Noon-10:00pm
design by Rick Vaughn
RESTAURANT REVIEW
By The Plaid Adder plaidder@mindspring.com
Sam Mee Korean Restaurant Somewhere on North Clark, near the El
Sam Mee has an unprepossessing exterior: a sort of sad-looking sign, purely functional storefront, and not much snazzy when you look in the windows. Inside, it’s spare, but clean, well-lit and in repair (unless you want to count the sort of peeling wallpaper to be found in some of the private rooms in the back, but that’s not visible from the main dining room…more on that later). I mention all of this just because if you were looking for it, you might miss it; and you shouldn’t do that. Korean food is less well-known and widely-consumed than Chinese or Japanese, both cuisines with which it obviously has some affinities; but that’s not because it’s not up to the same standard. My introduction to Korean food was a dinner put together by a friend of mine’s parents on the night that I and the rest of the bridal crew arrived to begin the monumental task of constructing her wedding. For the next several days we worked like dogs, doing things like arranging the flowers (there is still a picture of me somewhere sawing the ends of the stems off a 50-pack of roses because I have to get them all recut and into water before I get into the rental car and drive off to pick up another shift of visitors at what is now Reagan International Airport…but I digress). But that’s all right, because that meal stands out as one of the great culinary moments of my life. (The wedding was also a beautiful experience.) So I was pretty psyched when a friend of mine introduced us to Sam Mee, which we intend to patronize frequently and with gusto.
I have to say it’s the only Korean restaurant we’ve been to yet here, but we keep going back, so it must be good. The menu includes a lot of stuff that we’re not woman enough to try yet—which for us means that it is based around either an animal or portion of an animal that we are not used to thinking of as food. (Given popular misconceptions about Asian food I hasten to point out that none of this involves animals we think of as pets—I mean ox feet and things like that.) However, it includes a number of vegetarian and beef/chicken based items suitable for the timid. But whatever you do, if you go there, you gotta get bibim bop.
I say this not just because it’s fun to order. Bibim bop is a whole slew of ingredients, including pork, rice, many vegetables, and a fried egg, that are dumped into a bowl with some sauce and mashed up together into a mixture which you then eat. I know it sounds nasty, but it’s not; it’s fantastic. I warn y’all that it is spicy, and that furthermore it’s a spicy that sneaks up on you. You go through the first plateful thinking, "This isn’t spicy at all, she must just have thought we were typical Indianans to be warning us about it," and then after a certain point you stop eating and say, "I think I’ll just drink water for a while." Our other favorite thing is bin dae duck bokum, described as a "mung bean pancake" with vegetables and spicy sauce. It also is spicy, but it also is mighty tasty.
In fact, if you’re a spicephobe, Korean probably just isn’t going to work that well for you; even the condiments they put out on the table are pretty hot. They come in six little bowls, and except for the dried fish (which I’ve tried, but found a little too…dry) they work very well with the meal. It’s kim chi, fish, soybeans, seaweed, spiced potatoes, and one other thing I can’t remember.
So, the food is good. But. The real attraction at Sam Mee is the seating arrangements.
Well, perhaps not everyone shares this opinion. But we were very excited to discover when we showed up by ourselves the second time around that there are these little rooms in the back that you can have all to yourselves. You take your shoes off and leave them in the hallway, then go sit on these low benches surrounding a table. The rooms have sliding doors you can use to close them off if you want privacy (although this also means that you forgo the attentions of the wait staff). So, not only do you get to have your own little secluded nook all to yourself, but, since you have already taken your shoes off, you can play some serious footsie.
So, as far as I’m concerned, this makes Sam Mee the ideal spot—great food, excellent service (around when you need them, not in your face when you don’t, and very friendly and helpful) and a place to get mushy. The only drawback is that the romantic possibilities represented by the private rooms are somewhat counteracted by the spiciness of the food—spicy food demands respect and attention, and after a while the sensation of having your mouth and throat on fire can interfere with the others you may be interested in experiencing. But even if mushiness is not something you look for in a dinner experience, it’s still a good place to go for compelling food served by competent people.
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