Scenario:
You pulled another all-nighter and you wake up from a splitting headache and a throat dryer than the Sahara Desert.
You know the feeling… it feels like someone is squeezing your optic nerve with a pair of pliers and your brain hurts just thinking or even moving your eyes around. An unexpected hiccup reminds you of what you had to drink last night and you choke a little trying to hold back the mixture of stomach acid and tequila coming up your throat. All of a sudden you’re buzzed again.
Some may say the best way to cure a hangover is to reach for the half finished bottle of Patron sitting next to you. Sounds like something the alcohol & spirits industry made up in order to sell some more products. A better way to quickly get hydrated and sober is to have a nice hot bowl of soup. Hae-jang-gook as they call it in Korea. We’re not talking about chicken noodle soup. Here are some really good places that serve food that will quickly fix your hangover… until your next all-nighter.
Han Bat (Sul Lung Tang) Restaurant (Lincoln Square)
2723 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
(between Fairfield Ave & Washtenaw Ave)
(773) 271-8640
Ethnicity: Korean
Open 7am to 9pm daily
Sul lung tang- That’s their specialty here and that’s all they serve. This place is a little dive but ambiance is not what you came for. Sul lung tang is a white beef broth soup that will make your hangover beg for mercy! It’s served several different ways with a side of rice and you can garnish it yourself with chopped green onions, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper.
Must try: Try the beef sul lung tang with rice noodles. You won’t regret it.
Pho Xe Tang a.k.a. “Tank Noodle” (Uptown/Viet Town)
4953 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640
(between Ainslie St & Argyle St)
(773) 878-2253
Ethnicity: Vietnemese
Open 8am to 9pm daily
If your Asian you’ve probably tried pho at least once or twice. Chicago’s Vietnamese town also known as ‘Argyle’, has a good selection of pho restaurants but Tank Noodle is probably the most well-known mostly because the restaurant hugs the corner of Broadway and Argyle and is one of the bigger pho restaurant on the block. Their sign has a picture of a tank not only because of its name, but because their pho is pretty solid too.
Must try: XL Pho Dac Biet minus tripes
Mountain View Chef (Chinatown)
2168 S Archer Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
(between 21st St & Cermak Rd)
(312) 842-2168
Ethnicity: Chinese
Open 8am to 2am daily
Mountain View Chef is regarded as one of the best dimsum restaurants in all of Chicago. But if you’re hung over, you’re not here just for dumplings and chicken feet. Order up a bowl of congee and it will melt away your hangover like butter on a hot skillet. Congee is usually served in more traditional Chinese restaurants, and surprisingly, many people have never heard of or tried Chinese Congee, although each Asian country has their own variation of the dish. Congee is simply a rice porrage that is served plain, or with chicken, duck, fish, or dried garlic flakes. Congee will do to your hangover what Liu Kang does to Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat. FINISH HIM! Congee FTW!
Must try: Chicken Congee with green onions, dried garlic and a dash of s & p.
San Soo Gap San (Lincoln Square)
5247 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 334-1589
Ethnicity: Korean
Open 10am-5am
I consider this place a dive restaurant. The restaurant reeks of burnt charcoal and makes your clothes stink like bbq- even if you didn’t have any. Be forewarned, the service stinks as well. The employees are at times very rude and in a bad mood, to the point that it makes you wonder if they are required to work the full 19 hour shift. But people keep coming back to this place because their Korean food makes up for the sub-par service. Plus, when its 3am, you’re tipsy and got the munchies, all of that doesn’t matter. San Soo Gap San made this list because their sul lung tang is very good, and it’s open until 5am.