Revisits to Grandma Tofu and BBQ (aka Halmouny/Hal Mu Ni)

I know…..same title as the last time I posted on the place. Honestly, nothing else came to mind. A couple weeks ago I had yet another birthday. Instead of doing a party, I just wanted to enjoy an evening with the Missus. Not sure where to go, we decided on Halmouny….Grandma's.

Instead of the usual combination bossam with pork belly and pig's feet, we went with the Modeum Bossam, which also includes soondae, blood sausage. I've written about the bossam a couple of times already, so I'll just let you enjoy the photos.

I will say that the Missus is still not fond of the blood sausage. I think it's a texture thing as it's pretty mild in flavor, but kind of sticky in texture.

We also ordered the Kimchi Soondubu, which wasn't anything special as it lacked a nice deep flavor and could have used more spice.

We ended up having a ton of leftovers…..in fact, I ended up making sandwiches with the leftover pork belly and pig's feet, which were delicious.

Soon after this visit, we noticed that the place was closed and some renovating was going on. The "term" under renovation always worries us as it often means a place is closing down or management is changing. Lucky for us, this was not the case here.

Upon our return, we noticed that the booths had been replaced, tables had been changed out, they now had built in burners which were still not in service as of our visit. The place was still full of dark woods, but the television was not as annoying, and the whole place had a nicer, lighter appearance.

When you've been to a place many times, it easy to fall into the same ol', same ol'….ordering the "usual". After all, the menu here has some pitfalls. On this night, instead of ordering the Seolleongtang for the Missus, and the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap, we decided on ordering one of our favorite dishes, but one we had doubts that "Grandma" could pull off. The Heokyumso Jeongol, Black Goat Stew. Soon enough, a butane stove arrived (since the built-ins aren't ready yet), topped with a pretty hefty sized pot. Our panchan arrived, the usual suspects, and two good sized bowls of dolsot bop…….we could hear the rice sizzling.

 In all honesty, I was surprised at how good this was….maybe not the best I've ever had, but this was a notch above decent. There was a good amount, of fairly tender chopped goat, along with tendon on the bottom of the bowl. The goat was assertively gamey, which we appreciated. The flavor of the broth was good, not too salty, but could have used a bit more savory and acid tones. Still, this was hearty, and quite satisfying…..

Along with the wonderful rice crust….loosened by adding just a touch of water to the dolsot…..wonderful flavors and textures here.

Even though the menu says this is a portion for two ($29.99), this was way more food than we could eat. We ended up taking home almost half of it.

Just goes to show, we need to stretch out once in a while, beyond the horizon of our favorites.

I guess it'll be Budae Jeongol next time….after all, who doesn't love a stew of Spam, sausage, and, ramen noodles, right? Heck, it'll be just like college again!

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ (Halmouny)
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111