Get Your Spice on at Il Mee

Il Mee Korean Restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside. In fact, its isolated location is dark and frankly creepy to walk around at night.

However, all those unsettling feelings disappear when you walk inside. The small cozy restaurant has traditional floor seating with mats as well as the dining chairs most of us are use to. The restaurant is quiet, and the staff is welcoming.

Service: There is a language barrier. The servers seemed to have trouble understanding me, and I know I had trouble understanding them. However, they were patient, very willing to work through the communication problems and extremely helpful navigating the menu.

The menu is rather intimidating to look at. Parts of it are written in Korean, and the names of the dishes are incredibly unfamiliar to someone who has not had Korean before. Thankfully, the item descriptions are in English.

Soup: The yook-gae-jang is a spicy soup with thin strips of tenderly cooked beef and a generous portion of tasty, semi-crunchy vegetables. The key word for this menu item is spicy. If you are not a fan of the burn that shoots down your throat and simmers in your belly when you try spicy food, then steer clear of this selection. The soup is $8.95, and the serving is rather large. I have enough left over for Saturday and Sunday's lunches.

Entree: The bull-go-gi-baek-ban is sauteed beef served with vegetables and rice. The slightly sweet, thinly sliced marinated beef is a surprising pleasure that is complimented by well-cooked rice. The vegetables added a spicy, tangy mix to the dish that, though completely unexpected, worked well. The bull-go-gi-baek-ban is $12.95. The portion was rather large, making the price quite the bargain.

Bottom Line: Il Mee tastes like home cooking. This traditional and affordable hole-in-the wall restaurant provides a nice, fun environment to try some authentic Korean dishes.

Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Location: 1000 N. Cobb Pkwy, Marietta, 30062

Phone: 770-426-4929