Came here for some food and drinks and had a great time. The place is tiny and service is slow but the food makes up for it. My friends and I had tofu kimchi, crispy pork skin, sweet and sour chicken, spicy rice cake, strawberry rice wine, and soju. All the food was really good but the standout was the crispy pork skin. It was crispy, fatty, and had a really good red paste marinade on it. It was different but really good. The strawberry makkoli (rice wine) was sweet for my taste but the strawberry they used to flavor it was really good. Not fake flavoring and it was a great chaser to my soju.
Review Source:absolutely hole in the wall place with korean menu that i'd drove by many times and missed without our great korean food guide! we ordered
strawberry slush drink - cannot get enough!
fired chicken - awesome! spicy and crunch!
crispy pork - crispy and spicy! yum!
tofu with kimchi and pork - absolutely good contrast and delicious
everything stew - ok, hot dog was weird
will come back for drink and awesome bar food!
I love Korean food and this place has some good Korean food. Â A little intimidating walking up to this establishment but, as other people have mentioned, the interior is quiet cozy. Â I tried the spicy rice cake and thought it was good, but wasn't overly impressed. Â The fire chicken sauce was perfect. Â Tried a few more dishes and didn't think anything was bad. Â The drinks we had were pretty good however. Â Would definitely consider eating here again if driving by, but probably won't make a trip of it.
Review Source:The fried pork skin, the Fire Chicken, and the Chicken Bokki (ok, these are rough translations) were spiced and cooked to perfection. The Soju / Hite Beer were on the pricey side, but this hole-in-the-wall joint's ambiance was lit to perfection. Service was quick and thorough. I did not have to yell above the music and would highly recommend this place for those who enjoy delicious korean snacks and liquor.
Review Source:I had a total blast at Dancen! Good food, good service, good people.
I actually thought the interior looked pretty rad. Dark with candles on the table, a few TV's that I didn't really notice, a small bar, and lots of people eating their tasty food. I don't understand some of these reviews about the service...we had awesome service, didn't have to ask for service, and our guy was very helpful.
Cheesy omelet to start! Thank you, I needed that from all those beers.
Strawberry slushy drink- I don't know what else was in this, but it was super fresh and packed a punch.
Tofu with kimchi and pork - hands down, the favorite.
Seafood pancake - very very good.
Fire Chicken - good and spicy, necessitated lots of gulping said strawberry drink...lots of bones though. Like, giant bones.
Combo Grill - I call this "mystery grill!" I don't know what some of the things were (because it was unrecognizable to me, but also because it was dark in there!), but I think one was an owl pellet. Hmm. I'll pass on this next time.
Totally affordable and made for an awesome night out. I'd happily make the trek up to whereverthehellthiswas to eat that tofu again.
Some of the other reviews are funny. Yes there are a lot of TVs, and yes it is dark, but this is not a seedy dive bar at all. Most everyone was here for food and drinks.
There was nothing strange about this place at all -so just be aware that many other reviews play up the differences of the place. We walked in - and none of us are Korean - and everyone was nice. It was not like some of the places in LA. Our server was super friendly and had some suggestions for us right away and off we went.
The service was excellent. When we wanted napkins, water, or more booze, we just asked. No problems.
We had the strawberry frozen drink - two pitchers and loved them both!
We had the kimchee and tofu, followed by the seafood pancake, fire chicken, and mixed kabob. Everything was amazing.
Next time I would skip the mixed kabob and just go for the steak and chicken - there were some odd pieces of meat (I am saying this as a non-Korean) that we did not like so much.
The fire chicken comes with these big chicken bones which were a trip. We just chewed on the meaty edges and joked about fighting over them like cavemen and cave-women.
Lots of younger Korean couples out on dinner dates and having a nice time. A very welcoming place with wonderful food.
We took a cab, but I think there is parking in the back alley.
So happy we tried this place.
Try their fresh fruit rice wine cocktail.
Music: weird techno Korean pop (?) I don't know.
Food: yummy. Most of the food I had here had been pretty good. They even have "exotic" Korean fares like grilled pig intestine. It tasted.... good! You just gotta make sure it's cooked crisp.
Drinks: delicious
Service: Korean-style so you have to call out to them when YOU need service. Otherwise, very friendly.
I miss this place since I've moved and am closer to all the Korean bars in Niles.
Forget that this place is a dark, kind of sketchy looking dive bar and EAT THE FOOD!
Oh, my God........................ !!!!!!!!!!! I have never had fire chicken soooooo FRESH and delicious! And I have an obsession with ddukbokki (rice cakes)........ Mmmmmmm! Good portions for four people (we went here with a pair of friends.)
We also had their frozen blended sake (can't remember what it's called). It tastes like a pina colada but WITHOUT cream! And surprisingly, it had a nice alcohol kick to it... as my girl friend and I got a nice buzz from the carafe.
My bf (who is Korean and a complete Korean food snob) really really liked this place. I would say it is totally worth the drive from the City (we hate to drive anywhere haha).
I wish it was closer. If it was closer, I would give it 5 stars! Lol.
Woah, yummy. Â I bought a $30 coupon for $15 on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FUMCdeal.com&s=56736af2d82490c147656bec5505aa2eca0b3293249f614dceebf890f28bcef9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://UMCdeal.com</a> and thought I'd check this place out. Â Actually, I thought I was buying a coupon for an entirely different Korean restaurant alltogether...what a delightful mistake that was! Â I feel like I found a gem. Â The food deserves 5 stars, as well as the service (friendly. helpful, etc). The atmosphere is what it is - you go for the food. Â There's no website, so I didn't know what to expect. Â Next time I'll either carry out, or wear PJs (which isn't a bad idea given most have elastic wastebands). Just good food - don't miss the fire chicken or pork / kimchee soup. Â Mmmmm.
Review Source:As others have mentioned, it's not the most inviting place from the outside, but it's a nice and cozy bar on the inside. There's not much seating, so you're not going to get a big crowd. I imagine that it gets busier as the night goes on.
I had the tteokbokki, and it tasted just right: plenty of noodles, a hardboiled egg, and some mandu thrown in for variety. The chamisul was a bit pricey, but it was the city and all.
I'd like to rate it higher, but it is utterly impossible to find any information about this place. There are no hours of operation posted anywhere, and, again, it's super uninviting. You pretty much have to know what it is and where it is to get in.
*They opened at 6pm on a Friday evening when I went there.*
One of my new late night obsessions! Â We had the dduk bokki (spicy rice cakes) and fire chicken and I was very pleased. I'm a huge fan of dduk bokki and Dancen delivered on their version. Â The fire chicken was well flavored and had a great smokiness to it (the bartender was grilling it right at the bar). Â Not to mention that the prices are really reasonable (both dishes were $10 each). Â We went on a Thursday night and they were open til 2 AM so another plus.
I was debating between 4 and 5 stars for this place as the service isn't the best but  their delicious well-priced food won me over.  I will be back Dancen!
I just realized that I've somehow never gotten around to writing a review for Dancen, which is silly.
I found this place searching for a place that serves dukbokki in Chicago, having become obsessed with it as comfort food while living in China. Â (No, that doesn't really make sense, but just roll with it. Â Korea is closer to China than it is to Chicago, anyway, so it sort of works.)
At any rate, Dancen is the sketchiest-looking restaurant/bar I've ever walked into. Â To the point where my boyfriend and I almost turned around and walked right back out.
Don't make that mistake! Â The food, from the seafood pancake to the fire chicken to the very, very spicy stew, is absolutely amazing. Â And cheap. Â And did I mention amazing? Â AMAZING.
I know Dancen seriously looks like a vampire layer from the outside - its windows are blocked and there are usually Korean guys smoking on the sidewalk who will side-eye you as you go in. And to be honest it kind of looks like a vampire layer on the inside too. It's small and dark, with little "decorative" multi-colored lights around the restaurant. It's a strange vibe. To people who have never been to Korea - no, Korea is not like this. Mostly.
The servers look like emo kids that started drinking soju and smoking cigarettes at 13, and they're not the friendliest bunch, but they took our order and brought us our food, which was enough for me. The cook that I saw that day looked so much like a legit Korean mom that I almost took off my shoes so I wouldn't get yelled at. But the food. Oh, the food. Seafood pancakes and kimchi jigae just like my mom makes it! Everything was perfect. The fire chicken was perfection. If you're not familiar with Korean food, I would say the fire chicken is a safe bet, just be warned that it's pretty spicy.
They have some TVs that were playing Sports Center when we went in for dinner, which is a negative for date night. Note to the boyfriend, eyes on ME, and not the TV behind me! Last time I checked, you weren't dating Jay Cutler, thanks.
The prices are the icing on the cake - we ordered a bunch of dishes and the check was under $50. Kamsamnida, Dancen!
1. Their food is perfect, and delicious. Wonderful!! I crave it often.
2. Their service is TERRIBLE. I've been here over a dozen times, with numerous little stories to tell, but the one that happened recently has made me pretty much stop going back to the place.
Setting: Packed Friday night. It also happened to be my birthday!
We walk in, and they tell us they have no tables at the moment and do not give us a waiting time, implying that we should just leave. We ask if we can get it to-go, and we walked up to order. He told us it'd be a 45-minute wait! Long, but like I mentioned earlier, their food is great.
We asked him if it would be possible get a table if in the time before we get our food a table opens up. He said yes, but we saw THREE tables leave in the course of waiting and we asked each time if we could sit down there, but he REFUSED, giving us an excuse that some people outside smoking had come before us. BULLCRAP. There was no one! And I saw him invite other people who entered AFTER us those seats!
It was just blatant complete rudeness. I guess I never thought any restaurant would exercise their "right to refuse service to anyone" on me! We waited for an hour, completely baffled at what just happened.
OMG. I think I found a new favorite.
It's dark and not very attractive-looking on the inside. The tables are also mounted on some kind of (wooden? I forgot) block. I had no leg room. There were at least three TV screens playing hockey (The Blackhawks beat the Vancouver team on the night we went, by the way. Yay!). As Mike K. noted, the people who come here are serious about drinking and eating, and so were we!
We first ordered makegeolli (Korean rice wine) and soju. The makegeolli is milky white in color and it's served in a big bowl, where you can then use a ladle to serve it among yourselves in smaller bowls. Â It's a very sweet wine. You can barely taste the alcohol. It was my first time trying this, and I loved it. Soju, do I have to explain that? Chances are, if you're reading this review, you're probably looking for a Korean bar/restaurant and you probably know what soju is. One of my friends describe it like the Korean version of vodka. That's probably more or less correct. The other woman in my party was also a big fan of soju, and I'm glad because otherwise I wouldn't have had anyone to drink with me (the guys were a little less enthusiastic about it).
The best part about this place? The food here is soooooo good! Seriously, who knew a dark and almost scary-looking bar could serve such delicious food! I was amazed. Now, I don't know the name of the food items my friends ordered though so I'll try to be as descriptive as possible.
I really love their plate of boiled tofu wedges served cold topped with stir-fry pork slices and kimchi. I'm a big fan of tofu, and I'm also a big fan of pork and kimchi, so when you put the two together, I'm a very happy person. I also really like kimchi when it's cooked, so that's another plus.
There was a chicken dish that I didn't like as much, but it was still very good. The chicken pieces were grilled and there was shredded cabbage on the side. What I didn't really like was the amount of sesame seeds on the chicken. My friends loved this dish though.
Then my absolute favorite item of the night was the fish cod soup... or at least I think that's what it was called. I had a glance at the menu (they have English!), so I think this is it but I don't understand a word of Korean so I don't know for sure what my friends had ordered. The funny thing is that I went with a new group of friends, and so they were worried that I would not be able to take the spice. Bring it on! The soup was VERY spicy. In fact, it's red in color. I loved it. Then they told me that there were fish intestines in the soup. Hey, I'm Chinese, we eat almost everything. The tofu in the soup helped a lot with the spice.
I had actually ate some food before I came here with my new friends, and I initially thought that I wouldn't be able to eat, but I ate and ate and ate... I don't even know how that happened, but that's saying a lot about this place!
Wow. Â We went with a group of Korean guys who introduced us to some new and exceptionally good food. Â They ordered a bunch of things we had never had and probably wouldn't have ordered. Â We had fish cake soup, chicken gizzards, and cod intestines. Â Everything was ridiculously fresh and tasty. Â
Dancen has some kind of sweet berry rice wine we absolutely loved. Â
We'll have to return-- best Korean food we've had so far in this city.
Best Pineapple Soju in Chicago. it came a little too frozen and my friends and I were a bit impatient, so we put it next to the portable heater to melt it. Whatever, it worked and was super yummy! The pork ribs are really good! Its marinated in a soy sauce, so there is not "porky" taste or smell. The joo-mok-bap, which is seasoned rice balls are nice to have with the pork and tonkatsu- breaded and fried pork cutlet. And of course- the al-tang- a spicy soup with fish roe. You cannot go wrong on a cold night- al tang and soju. A girls best friend..... along with eyeliner, spanx and high heels.
Review Source:Step behind the blacked out glass windows into this Korean gem. Part dive bar and part restaurant, they cook some of the food on a grill at the bar and the rest in a small kitchen. $14 pitchers of OB and Hite, Multiple $12 bottles of soju (korean "lite" vodka) and a bevy of $2 grill items like pork and beef skewers are a steal. The fire chicken will burn you down but you gotta order it. The staff is attentive and language is not a problem. I have no idea what radio station they play but think Black Rain soundtrack. If you want to feel like you're in another country or just need to get smashed on the cheap ck out Dancen.
Review Source:I come here every time I crave Korean food (bar food). We usually come here late at night, but they open around 6:30pm or 7pm.
I love love love the pork cartilage and the grilled chicken!! Plus the welcoming cheese omelet is always sooooo yummy! Plus the drinks are cheap! Plus I love the smell of Korean food!
Anyways, if you want try authentic Korean bar food, come here.
I'm bumping this up one star from my last visit...
There must be some old school halmunee (grandma) throwing down in the kitchen because both times the food has been so tasty, like only a korean grandma could create. Â
My Duk Boki fix is now cured but the tong dak craving has officially begun.
OMG so I was thinking about what review to write for my visit to Chi- Town and this place was the first that popped into my mind.. So being from LA and being used to eating Korean food nearly every day.. my gf's and I got a mad craving for korean food after only the second day visitng Chicago. So we did what any other korean food craving girls would do, looked up "korean food" near "chicago" on yelp~ hopped on the L till it ended, got lost, took a cab and finally ended up at this bar that has blacked out windows. Me being the cool girl I am tried to peer inside waving my arms all about shouting " i think i see people! I think I see people!" only to have the waiter come out a second later and say.. "uhhh do you girls want to come in?" (from the inside you can see everything on the outside) *cheeks flush*
Anyway, Dancen is reallly small, but their altang and soju saved my life. It was so good and all that i really needed to make me feel at ease again andd we made friends with the bartender Jay Ahjushi. hahaha Ahjushi if your reading this I hope you remember who this is!~ he and his friend were really cool and made night 2 in Chi-town extra fun for us! I know they miss us dearly~ =P till our next adventure in chicago.. where we will Dancen the night away!
No bells and whistles here. It's a small Korean dive bar, but definitely worth trying out. They offer some dishes that you normally don't find at other Korean bars like the fire chicken or chicken kalbi. Some of the items even come with fried rice at the end, like they do at Chosunok.
Loved the prices & the free mini omelette!
$2 skewers of marinated chicken, pork, beef
$10 dukboki (spicy rice cake), donkatsu (breaded pork cutlet), tong dak (fried chicken)
$4 bottles of imported beer, I think domestic was $3
The food was solid. The fat pieces of dukboki came with clear noodles, dumplings, and egg. Â A lot of places make donkatsu paper thin, but it was very thick here. The bartender Jay was friendly and able to speak Korean and English.
The fire chicken here is HOT!!!! Â I love spicy foods but there is something about this bird that creeps up on you and sets your mouth on a sadomasochistic journey. Â It's a vicious cycle that doesn't stop because no matter how painful your mouth is, and how much beer you drink to wash it down, you'll still reach for another bite because it's so damn good. Â
Great dukboki and kimichi pa-jun too.
Came out to Dancen because I needed a stiff one on a Sunday everning. The place was empty and the young Korean bartender was actually vacuuming. Right away, he obliged with my order and gave me a complimentary fried egg crêpe and some kimchi, then turned on some Korean R&B. He barely spoke any English and it made for a pretty cool cultural experience. I will definitively be back for some chow if I can find a friend whose interest might be piqued by it.
Review Source:i like! Â now, i still need to check out this "fire chicken". Â i love how they always serve you fried eggs as an (pre)appetizer.
also, the best thing is the location. Â next door, seoul dan lan, is an awesome korean dive karaoke place!! Â like, "hourglass", it has a strange tiki-lounge atmosphere.
I don't know what it is about Korean bars but they sure like to keep things understated and vague. Â Take Dancen, for example. Â I've passed this place a zillion times and never paid any mind. Â When my friends wanted to come here I insisted no Korean bars were around this location and thought they all went insane.
I was wrong.
Dancen is very real and very Korean. Â They've been doing a better job of catering to non-Koreans lately as evidenced by me seeing the very first non-Korean in the place a few weeks ago and they hiring a server that speaks very good English (but then again maybe the original servers spoke excellent English, too - I wouldn't know to compare as I only spoke to them in Korean - sorry!).
The interior is pretty dark and sparse. Â This is a place for serious drinking and eating. Â This being said, this place tends to attract an older crowd. Â There's no scenery to admire here. Â You have one big screen projection TV in the front and a smaller TV in the back showing the game of the day but outside of that, it's tables, chairs and a bar. Â You ready to get down, or what?
Just like any other Korean bar, they have the liquor ready. Â You want it, they'll make it happen. Â If you're looking for beer specials, you're probably better off hitting up Hourglass but other than that, the alcohol is status quo here. Â
The specialty of the house is their "bul-ddak" which translates into "fire chicken". Â As you can already piece together, it's a pretty damn spicy chicken. Â It's very good and hot. Â They have a spicy pork but I personally think the chicken is the piece de resistance (French + Korean Bar review = serious pwnage).
Our usual set up is the "bul-ddak", "bu-dae jigae" (army stew), "ddukbokki" (their ddukbokki [spicy rice cake] has thicker dduk [rice cake] than most places and comes w/ myun [crystal noodles] as you'd find in "naeng-myun") and countless bottles of Bek Se Ju until they kick us out.
See you there!
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