Chicagoans are no strangers to Korean barbecue; the city is full of great options for that smoky, marinated, meaty goodness. But a fancy downtown version? Not until this month, when Perilla Steak opened in the L7 Chicago Hotel (225 N. Wabash Ave., Loop). Those who frequent the Loop may remember this building as the Hotel Monaco, and the space Perilla Steak occupies as South Water Kitchen, but the (previously pretty boring) restaurant has undergone a massive AvroKO-led renovation into a den of some of the fanciest meats in town.
The two men behind Perilla Steak, GM Thomas Oh and executive chef Andrew Lim, also helm the acclaimed Perilla Korean American Fare in the West Loop, and both jumped at the chance to bring their family cuisine to a wider audience downtown. “The idea was that we wanted to take the idea of Korean cuisine, something we had been working on for years already, and elevate it,” says Oh. Wary of the overused word “elevate,” he explains: “When we say ‘elevate’ we are referring back to the old mom and pop shop, my mom’s old restaurant, the old Koreatown days.” They want to take the flavors and hospitality of those restaurants and combine them with high quality ingredients, service, and an epic design.
Perilla Steak isn’t just a Korean barbecue joint with nicer flatware; it’s an homage to the classic Chicago steakhouse. Lim makes traditional steakhouse dishes his own with Korean ingredients and techniques; nothing that makes them unrecognizable, but enough to make them unique and memorable. Caesar salad is served with milk bread croutons and bonito flakes; a Korean seafood pancake subs in for a classic crab cake, caviar comes with garlic chives and Korean pancakes, and Bolognese is combined with Kalgusku, or chewy knife-cut noodles.
The star of the show, however, is the beef, and the selection is impressive. Perilla Steak offers a variety of prime and wagyu options, sourced from all over the world. Unlike a traditional steakhouse experience, where diners generally order a large hunk of a single cut of meat, at Perilla Steak, diners can order sets, which come with a variety of cuts which are grilled tableside by your server. For example, the Wagyu set is served with ribeye, short rib, filet mignon, marinated short rib and melt-in-your-mouth Miyazaki A-5 New York strip. These come with housemade banchan (Korean small dishes like kimchi), dipping sauces, and various wraps, including perilla leaf, the restaurants’ namesake, which imparts a complex, bitter, slightly licorice flavor. “There’s nothing else like that in Chicago where you can have all those things together,” says Oh.
Because Perilla Steak is a hotel restaurant, diners get the bonus of all-day dining. Lim was surprised to see his Korean-style breakfast plate (available for breakfast and lunch) as the runaway hit of the menu. It’s a combination of small dishes of kimchi, egg, rice, a light broth, and a choice of skirt steak, chicken thigh, or grilled mackerel. According to Oh, “Everyone has been going crazy for it.” If you’re in the market for a more typical breakfast, the American breakfast plate features Publican Quality Bread and housemade English muffins, which Lim describes as “the best English muffin this side of the Mississippi.”
Oh is excited to expand diners’ vision of a steakhouse, but also give something back to the genre. He says: “The idea of taking something that Andy and I both grew up with – this classic Chicago steakhouse experience – and then reinterpreting it through the lens of our own upbringing and culture is really exciting for both of us.”