Kimski Review

Natalie Antin

One spot that stands as a monument to Chicago’s multicultural dining scene is Kimski, a self-described Korean-Polish-American fusion restaurant located in Bridgeport. The restaurant is a chic, colorful, and modern counter service joint with seating in the back. One extremely important note about the restaurant is that while the restaurant itself is not 21+, all of the seating areas in the back are connected to a bar and have a 21+ policy. My dining party (all 21 and under) was unaware of this policy, but the restaurant staff helpfully made space for us to eat at a table away from the main dining area so we could still enjoy our meal. The staff was incredibly kind throughout the meal and were continuously apologetic that we were unaware of the 21+ policy, and even brought us complimentary cucumber salad for our troubles.

After this minor hiccup, my group of 5 ordered an array of dishes with mostly mains, and a couple of starters that we all split. The dish I was most curious about was the potato and cheese pierogies which we ordered as a shared starter. These caught my eye from the first time I looked at the restaurant's menu as they seemed like a bit of an outlier on a mostly Korean inspired menu. We were all pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed them. The dough was the perfect texture and the soy cream that came on top provided a nice variety of flavors. The other starter we shared was the garlic chili cucumber salad which the staff was kind enough to give us complimentary. The cucumbers tasted like any traditional chili cucumber salad and the fried garlic sprinkled on top gave the dish some nice textural variance.

The restaurant offers a wide variety of main dishes, but we opted for the cured salmon rice bowl, cheesy beef sandwich, and the fried chicken sandwich.

The cured salmon rice bowl was fantastic and came with a large portion of white rice topped with a healthy amount of smoked salmon, smoked trout roe, everything seasoning, and a soy cream sauce. The bowl was a nice fusion of a Korean salmon bowl and a lox bagel flavor. The smoked salmon and everything seasoning specifically gave the bowl that lox bagel flavor and the soy cream acted almost as a cream cheese.

The fried chicken sandwich was a huge hit with everyone at the table. The sandwich featured a Korean fried chicken thigh with pickles, cabbage, and a chili sauce all on a brioche bun. The sandwich was absolutely massive and likely too big for any one person to finish on their own. The chicken had a nice heat that was definitely the predominant flavor without being too overpowering.

Lastly, the cheesy beef sandwich was the all-around favorite dish of the entire meal. The sandwich is essentially a Korean Philly cheesesteak with bulgogi beef, cheese sauce, gochujang mayo, blistered shishito peppers, and braised onions. Everything about the sandwich was fantastic and it was just a perfect fusion with the Philly cheesesteak construction and Korean inspired ingredients.

Overall, despite the initial issues regarding their 21+ policy, my friends and I had a fantastic meal at Kimski. From the kind staff to the incredible food the entire experience was great and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is 21+ as a dine in experience and anyone under 21 for takeout.