There is a new restaurant in town serving French – Korean inspired food. This is a second restaurant by the owner and I’ve tried her first restaurant. I was so disappointed by the food – so much that I was hesitant to try this place. But, we went anyway.
We ordered three dishes:
Pork belly, kimchi, bean sprout pancake (left)
Short rib, shallot, scallion Dumpling (right)
And… Short rib, sambal daikon, mustard green rice bowl.
Everything tasted okay. Having eaten Korean food all of my life, I suppose I have high standards. The pancake was a saltier version of what was really a Bin-Dae-Dduk. Dumplings were way too salty and greasy which aren’t at all how Mandoos are. Korean mandoos taste very clean void of oil unless you fry them. The wraps were stuck together, eventually ripping off as we grabbed them for a bite. The grease from inside the dumpling pooled all over the dish, coating each dumpling adding to the heaviness that was already present by too-thick of a wrapping. They did add scallions to probably counter the grease, but it wasn’t enough.
Disappointing thus far…
The rice bowl was what saved the meal for me.
The meat was cooked to perfection which redeemed the disappointments so far. This dish was a twist on the traditional Bibimbap as they substituted vegetables with just lettuce and daikons (what is a poor man’s food to me) and added a soy sauce cured raw yolk.
That was a pleasant surprise as I actually had this version back in Korea in my childhood days. My eemo housed college students in the 80s. We would spend a few days during our summer breaks and one day, one of the students came out with a bowl of rice mixed in soy sauce and yolk. He gave my brother and I a bite and asked if we wanted some for ourselves. I don’t think it was a common dish to eat as my cousins didn’t react too excitedly about us eating it.
Despite my disappointment, it was a packed house and the fact that people are trying Korean food comforted me a bit.
At least, I’m inspired to make some BinDaeDduk at home which I’ll post soon.
– J
Everyday Korean 