To say the place isn't fancy is an understatement. Nope, very simple indeed. We were greeted by the owner I am going to assume. He was extremely gracious, invited us to sit down and handed us our menus. As we perused them, we both received tall glasses of hot tea which was pale in color with a slightly nutty and roasted taste. The owner then tried to explain the menu to us. He asked if I liked spicy food which of course I do, so he directed me to that page in the menu. Bless his heart, he was trying but his English was rather limited. I understood him for the most part, Brad said it was a good thing he explained everything to me, because he caught none of the explanation. The menu was in Korean first, a little English next with pictures for the Korean food challenged. He showed us the traditional spicy Korean dishes, Chinese dishes that were translated to Korean dishes, then he turned the page and I saw the picture. I think I squealed. My all time favorite Korean dish was there, bibimbap
Bibimbap is like a flavor explosion, a Korean food party in a sizzling stone bowl. Then there's the chili paste sauce, need I say more? And of course there was bulgogi which I absolutely love. So Brad and I decided let's get a few dishes and split them. He got the bibimbap and I got the spicy pork bulgogi, we added steamed dumplings because we wanted to and waited for the dishes to arrive.
Best way to describe the first dishes that hit our table would be Korean dim sum. A plate with pickled radishes, slices of some kind of omelet, fried tofu and kimchi another of my favorite dishes. We plowed through those, they were yummy and small, and the bulgogi came after we were done. Another round of the little tasty bites came with the bulgogi. We piled sticky rice in our bowls, brought our dipping bowls closer because those dipping sauces were to die for and dug in. Delish! The pork was paper thin, there were sliced vegetables, too good. As we were enjoying the bulgogi, the bibimbap made it's appearance. Hello beautiful, come to mama! I took a cross section of everything in the bowl, half the egg, some of the sliced zucchini (which I am used to spinach not zucchini), finely sliced carrots, rice noodles, shredded beef and sticky rice underneath.
I have heard tale of the perfect bite, thought that maybe like figuring out which came first the chicken or the egg, it's impossible, but I experienced it today. With my chopsticks I scooped up a mouthful of food which was....dramatic pause.....the elusive perfect bite. The silkiness of the egg, the sweetness of the carrots, the garlicky bite of the zucchini, the nuttiness from the sesame oil that coated the bean sprouts, the richness of the beef, the saltiness of the nori in the rice, and I got some rice that was almost crispy from being on that hot bowl and the punch from the chili paste based sauce I liberally doused the whole bowl with and there it was, my perfect bite! Nirvana on my chopsticks.
As I was happily humming along and eating my food, the steamed dumplings came in for a landing..Delicious, the beef was beautifully spiced, the sauce to dip in savory and a bit sweet. So good...Brad and I were sitting there thinking we couldn't possibly eat anymore when the owner came and brought two bowls of a sauce he explained was a fermented bean paste. That Korean people mix it with their noodles. I looked around the restaurant and saw my fellow diner's chopsticks coated with the dark paste as they slurped their noodles up. He told us to mix it up with our food, which I happily did. It was rich, thick and almost black. There was caramelized onions, a little salty, I joked with Brad it was like Korean spaghetti sauce! So good and unlike anything I had ever tasted.
The owner explaining the dishes, and taking the time to teach us the correct Korean pronunciation, checking in on us to make sure we were happy, I was impressed. He spent an awful lot of time helping us out, and for that I am truly appreciative!
Brad asked for a take out menu as we were getting ready to go and he gave us a business card. On the back were some of the dishes you could order. Like I said to Brad, this is what I imagine a mom and pop Korean place to be like. Nothing fancy, no cutesy folded napkins, spartanly decorated, but oh so yummy and homey feeling.
I told Brad, the next time I go, that spicy beef and noodle soup I saw on the menu, the Jap Chae and the seafood version of the Bibimbap will be on the table for us to share.
Jeulgeoun sigsa!
No comments:
Post a Comment