ROAD TO SEOUL, located five minutes from Loyola, offers a plethora of Korean-style meats such as calf intestine, bulgogi, galbi and octopus.
Rapidly gaining in popularity among students, Korean barbecue has become engrained in Loyola’s culture. Cubs of all grades start their weekends by eating lunch together at Korean barbecue restaurants near Loyola, and this edition’s column will discover what is now a mainstay among our community. In the midst of a bustling Friday after school where friends converse with one another on where to dine for lunch after a tiring week, Cubs want a Korean BBQ restaurant with the most convenience, close distance from Loyola and the best tasting meat.
In fact, last Friday, members of The Loyalist and I experienced KBBQ for ourselves at Road to Seoul on Western Boulevard. Only five minutes away from Loyola, Road to Seoul oozes authenticity— in fact, this restaurant was recommended to me by a Korean-American Cub! The restaurant’s ambience does not exude the same grandeur or charm of previously-reviewed institutions, yet Road to Seoul makes up for what it lacks in setting with bargain prices, generous portions and delicious food.
The setup at every table in Road to Seoul is comprised of a grill at the table’s center surrounded by various Korean condiments. Some of these small dishes include a seaweed salad, pickled radish salad, rice paper wraps and dukpokki, a rice cake served with spicy sauce. These condiments, paired with the opportunity for customers to cook their own food, make for a genuinely Korean experience.
Road to Seoul’s claim to fame lies within its menu: $16.99 per person for an all-you-can-eat Korean feast. Diners can choose among 23 different meats, some of them more eccentric than others (such as calf intestine or baby octopus), to grill on their own table. After much deliberation, we chose bulgolgi, a traditional Korean marinated beef; pork ribs, marinated in a spicy sauce; and BBQ chicken, which by far won the most praise for its succulence and barbecue sauce.
With so many options near campus, Korean BBQ should be on every Loyola student’s bucket list. Road to Seoul is a solid choice for its affordability, proximity to Loyola and mouthwatering grilled meats.
