Seoul Mama is owned by a mother daughter team, and they make delicious, #beautifulfood. Our favorite is the Ramen, and vegetable pancake, and beef bulgogi. I tried a new item on the menu, beef japchae, and the owner delivered it and told us that it is a dish that you don't see served very often except for special family occasions. Every vegetable is cooked separately and the dish is assembled making it more time needy. It is a blend of delicious stir-fried vegetables with glass noodles and a lovely sweet and savory sauce. It was served room temperature or barely above that, which I did not ask if that is common or not. It was delicious and I will definitely order it again. read more

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Excellent, authentic dishes and friendly, attentive service. Definitely worth a visit!

All round excellent place. Service was fast and friendly. Every dish was delicious and packed with flavor. Had the fried vegetable dumplings, chicken wings and ramen. Go there! read more

Great food. Have eaten here several times. Creative menu, genuine Korean cooking. Good portions. Why one star? Because they cannot deliver on their product. For the third time during the pandemic, I placed an order that was unconsciously delayed. Today was the worst. Web site reports 35 minutes to pick up. Once ordered, the website reports a 75 minute wait. When I tried to pick up 75 minutes after ordering, they hadn't even started preparing my order. I canceled and went home empty-handed. Grreat food. Too bad they can't figure out how to cook it and deliver it on a timely basis. They lost another loyal customer. read more

Fun place next to LA Fitness. Korean bowls. Lots of thin sliced meat. Mama is in the kitchen making authentic offerings. Good service and reasonable prices. We are older so we split a bowl and that was fine for us. read more

Great service, great food, great staff and great atmosphere. We had a phenomenal experience. The food was unique and tasty. Definitely gave us a taste of Seoul. Good portions and all the food was delicious (we have a group of 4 and each tried different things). 10/10 would recommend. read more

I want to start by saying I was a huge supporter and fan of this restaurant when it first opened. I know times are weird right now but in an effort to support local we ordered dinner from them tonight. Very disappointed. We ordered the beef bulgogi and it wasn't marinated so it tasted like plain cooked beef. We ordered vegetable dumplings and got pork, and I specifically ordered not spicy ramen and made a point to say it was for my 5 year old who can't do spice and it was SO spicy she couldn't eat her dinner. Over $40 worth of food. I talked to the hostess and she said they have been dead and business has been far and few between today. I was the only car picking up food. I really hope they can get their stuff together, otherwise they won't stay open. Rooting for you Seoul Mama! I know you can do better!!! read more

Seoul Mama - Beef Bulgogi, steamed dumplings, came with white rice, kimchi, zuchini - Korean Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

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Really good authentic korean food! the fried chicken is my favorite! the sizes of the platters are big so come hungry! definitely a place to go get food if you're ever in the area! read more

Just in town for a wedding and really didn't expect much but pleasantly surprised when I came across this restaurant. I got the beef and pork kalbi lunch special to go and wow I was delighted once I actually started eating it. I'm mid-meal and pork Kalbi is so tender, flavorful and perfect with the side dishes. I might just have to come back and have a sit down meal before I leave! read more

Excellent find! Two of us went right when it opened and we weren't even the first ones to be sat (always a good sign when it is busy at open). Typical strip mall, minimal ambience, but the food was great and the service was good. Even though the restaurant was nearly full within 30 minutes of opening, the server kept up and brought food and refills as needed. We ate pork dumplings (very good), seafood and tofu soup (our least favorite, but still okay), and beef bibimpop (excellent) and are looking forward to coming back in the future to try other menu options. read more

The food here was amazing and fairly cheap. 5 friends and I went here to eat for my birthday and the service was amazingly fast, food was amazing, and it was very cheap. We all split Dumplings, Beef and Chicken Bulgogi, and the Mild Chicken and the bill was only around $60 with enough food leftover for all of us to be stuffed. read more

Went to ISU, and when I was there I always craved soon dubu... now there's a place for it when I visit! Our server, Josh, was very friendly and attentive! The chef, Yongae, was sweet and came out to check on how we enjoyed our meal. Will definitely recommend to my friends that are still in Blono! read more

I am a huge fan of Korean cuisine and this checks all of the boxes. I've enjoyed every dish I've tried -- you can't go wrong here.

Yesterday we had dinner here and we were overjoyed that Bloomington now has real Korean food. Our server, Jamie, was a delight. She shared some of her personal experiences travelling in Korea. The food was excellent. Quality and quantity was more than adequate. We liked our experience so much that we are now having lunch at Seoul Mama. This will become one of our regular haunts. read more

My friends and I came for dinner while we were in town. My boyfriend and I specifically ordered spicy KFC, ramen, and seafood tofu soup. Everything was delicious! I wish they served bigger portions of the side dishes for bigger groups but that's no big deal. Service was great as well. read more

Awesome!!! Definitely give this family run restaurant a try!!! We had the vegetable dumplings as a starter--great flavor and texture. The Kimchi was excellent. The pork bulgogi is awesome!!. It is not too spicy--Personally it could be just a touch spicier--which I might just ask for that next time--but as it was most people who like some spice will find it excellent . Overall, it is hard to find fault as it was super tender and well seasoned. If you like super spicy--I'd ask them to take it up a notch for you. My wife had the beef bulgogi--excellent flavor--just a hint of sweetness and very tender. Save room for the dessert pancake with the warm brown sugar center. We will definitely be back--in fact I think it may have just become our new favorite restaurant read more

An excellent Korean restaurant! Check out Seoul Mama if you crave authentic Korean food and drinks.

I dropped in two days ago for lunch. I ordered the beef bulgogi and it was delicious. Would come here again!

If you are looking for authentic Korean food, then look no further! This was an extraordinary lunch experience. I knew it would be fun when only chop sticks and a spoon met us at the table. Chopsticks can be intimidating but I encourage you to give it a go before asking for a fork. We started with the Korean fried chicken 5pcs ($6.95). They were very crispy well seasoned spicy (but not hot) wings that had sesame seeds sprinkled on them, served up piping hot & perfectly cooked. My table ordered the pork bulgogi ($12.95). This ramen inspired soup had a delicious and full flavored broth that married the pork vegetables, noodles delectably. The portion was very generous. Also included in this adventure was the beef bibimbap ($14.95). The table service for this dish is impressive! It is served in a VERY hot terra cotta bowl that sizzles the bottom layer of rice, making a nice texture for the mountain of well arranged seaweed, spinach, rice noodles, mushrooms & beef layered on top with a fried egg. Absolutely amazing!! A mild chili sauce is on the table allowing you to spice up the dish to your liking. The environment was quiet. The service impeccable! I already have plans to repeat this experience again tomorrow! See you there! read more

New Korean restaurant in town! Thank you Seoul Mama... from now on, don't have to go to Champaign or Chicago to have some Korean food. I had pork bulgogi (so tender and soft... loved sauce... sweet & spicy), bibimbap (lots of veggies and beef was also very tender... recommend putting red chili paste a little bit), and Galbi (simply perfect!!!). For dessert, had Hotteok (see the attached photo, one of the best desserts I have had recently! Very unique. filled with some black-color brown sugar or honey, comes with smooth vanilla ice cream, Definitely recommend this!!!). Will visit there some time soon again. read more

Seoul Mama - Korean Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

Outstanding food. Read the reviews got the popcorn chicken, cabbage rolls and bulgogi. All excellent.

I love this place! Best place to get ramen and delicious desserts. It's pretty small and has the vibe of a small restaurant but they make great food. read more

Tried it out last week! Loved the dumplings. The menu was more limited than I expected and some of the prices higher too. Overall, flavorful and tasty food and friendly staff! read more

The waiter that I had was amazing, always around for water and whatever else. With each meal came with a history of the food from Korea. The meal I had was the fish pancake and a kimchi stew I can't remember the name of, both were amazing. Recommend to anyone nearby. read more

My 11-year-old and I were regulars at Orient Gourmet, about once a month. We were sad to see it go. Not so much after trying its replacement, Seoul Mama We got there about 5:30 on Wednesday evening and were the only customers...it was close to half full by the time we left. Three servers were on duty. Our food came out quickly and steadily. We had: * Steamed pork dumplings (great) * Chicken bulgogi (really good) * Korean popcorn chicken (also really good) * Hotteok dessert (excellent - my daughter said it was "the best dessert she's ever had") The side dishes were good. The rice was perfectly cooked. The same friendly people who ran Orient Gourmet run Seoul Mama. We will be back for sure. read more

Tonight was our first time trying Korean food and it did not disappoint! We ordered take out of the Beef Bulgogi and the Ramen with bulgogi and egg. Both were amazing with great flavor. Food was ready in about 10 minutes. Will definitely be ordering from here again. read more

Now at a different restaurant because we were refused service. Came in before 9:00 pm, but we told the last tables were sat at 8:30 when they close. Told the girl who greeted us that they posted just yesterday that Friday hours are until 9:30 pm. "I'll check with my manager." Came back and told us the manager said "We can't seat you, but would you like a reservation for tomorrow?" This is absolutely unacceptable! If you aren't willing to seat people in the last hour of your stated operating times, then shorten your hours. It's Friday evening!!! I'll add that there were a number of empty tables. And sending a young girl to refuse service is pretty crappy too. read more

Love the beef bulgogi, dumplings, and pickled radishes. Simple, consistent, and delicious. So happy to see this place continue to thrive!

Waited for 2 hours only served appetizers, after a while server came and stated that they were out of ingredients to make our food.

Delicious hot food really hit the spot on a cold night. It was my first time to pick up curbside here but definitely will not be my last. Beef bulgogi, popcorn chicken and the nutty rice cake were all excellent. I only wish I had ordered an extra side of the white rice because it was perfect. So good, even, that I think would enjoy a bowl of it with nothing on it. Amazing! Great job Seoul Mama! read more

Banchans should be out soon after ordering, not after all of the food has already been served. Gochujang should be offered with the bibimbap, not after having asked for it 3 times. The food was decent, but not spectacular. The prices were also pretty high for what I'm used to. I suppose for being the only Korean restaurant in town, it'll do. read more

Their dishes are hit or miss when it comes to taste. The main thing that bothered me is that many of their dishes lacked garlic which I understand can be smelly but without it, the side dishes and courses were bland. I would recommend getting the bibimbap, pork dumplings and soondubu. Those tasted alright minus the dumplings tasting store bought. If you get the tteokbokki, make sure to get ramen with it because it comes in a broth and it tastes boring without anything else added to it. I didn't know what to do with all of that broth so I ended up dousing mine with the hot sauce plus added a ton of green onions to make it flavorful. Adding cheese is amazing--I highly recommend that. I wouldn't recommend the chicken cabbage roll. That tasted like nothing. If you get it anyways, at least dip it in the ssamjang because the soy sauce doesn't do it any good. read more

Great food and an attentive staff. Each main dish comes with little banchan (side dishes) and those are fun to try also! Their japchae and bulgogi lunch boxes are a must try! read more

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Bloomington! The food is delicious (and authentic) and the owners are so kind. My friends and I always come here when we're craving Korean. I LOVE the ramen and the spicy tofu soup. SO GOOD. Highly recommend if you're looking for some good Korean food! Also, the seafood pancake is to die for! read more

Food was amazing. We loved the Korean wings. Probably some of the best we've had in the states so far. Had to get the mild because we had kids with us but the server gave us a side of hot sauce. The tofu soup was great as well and could tell all the food was homemade. Will definitely go here again we go through Bloomington again. read more

When this was Orient Gourmet, it was my favorite place in town. We tried it recently, and got a range of items. We got chicken wings, ramen, and bulgolgi. All of them were quite bland and not super flavor. The chicken wings were over fried and dry. Was hoping it would be better, but just meh. read more

So starting out not good. We were so excited this place opened and waited until later to come by so we would miss the crowd. Walked up and 3 empty tables. They post they are open until 9:30 but then told us they won't seat them after 8:30? After telling they posted on Facebook their hours were until 9:30 the young lady goes and talks to the manager. The manager never came out to talk to us and send the young girl back out and to tell us they can take a reservation for the next day. What? You are still open now with empty tables. Not a good way to start and probably not a way to get people to come back. read more

Phenomenal food and huge portions. Extremely friendly service. I forgot my wallet when I picked up food and run back home for it(across town). I apologized and said I didn't think I'd be back before they closed. The extremely warm and inviting hostess said that's not a problem and kept the doors open a few mins after close so I could get our food. It's become a regular treat for us and will continue to go back for the quality food and the staff that sincerely cares about their business. read more

Although it's not a the traditional bbq where you do it yourself but the mild tofu soup and the soy garlic chicken wings are very good. Their rice is really good if you put in the soup it tastes amazing. Also their green tea mochi is Perfect for dessert. read more

New in town! Loved the food. Had bulgogi and bibimbap, meat was very tender and flavorful. Kimchi was just perfect and was not too sour. Will defiantly go there again. read more