Korean Restaurants – Page 21

Island Town…inside First Korean Market

January 31, 2007 Cathy Korean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy feels like blogging and Kirk doesn't. Thanks for reading my meal adventures.

Hi. Cold again…. If you lived in San Diego forever ago, you remember Woo Chee Chong. It was the first Asian market I ever went to. There were three locations and all of them had a small deli/hot food area where you could buy Peking Duck on Fridays and hot food to go, usually sold by the pound all week long. I remember we would buy the 5 spice BBQ pork for $3.99 a pound…

So, anyhow, they all closed in 1993 and the one on Convoy Street remained a market. Its in the same parking lot as Dumpling Inn and technically the same one as Jasmine Seafood. First Korean Market. I have no idea what the "Orient Bowl" sign is about. It is not as large as Zion, but it has a good variety of foods, fresh meats, fish and vegetables.

On the far Northernmost wall there is a large refrigerator section filled only with Kim Chee.

…and the area where the deli counter used to be is just inside to the right of the front door. There is a menu above it, with photos and also this take home one The Mister brought home for me to look at.

So, you know, I had to go.

There are six (6) CHAIRS total in front of two tabletops configured at a 90° angle from each other at that front door area.

The people working there are all family. They take great pride in making each meal, with mom bringing it around the corner and placing it in front of you, even though they could hand it to you over the counter.

So, I me The Mister here after work one evening and I had to try # 19, the shrimp tempura udon ($6.99)

Three tempura'd shrimp, nice and crispy, topped with the dried seaweed powder. A nice, rich broth and very chewy udon that remained chewy through the whole bowl. The Mister tried the #4, Galbi combo ($8.99).

A nice portion of galbi marinated beef ribs, rice, miso, 4 California rolls and 3 pieces of sashimi. The beef was excellent, and so was the rice. The miso was OK, not too watery and the California roll was with real (not fake) crab. The tuna sashimi was sliced thin and good and the shrimp was not bad. There was a lot of food. We also got hot tea from the hot pot next to the cash register.

On another day, I asked The Mister to bring home something for dinner…and, of course he did. I had a craving for # 24, the spicy tuna and vegetable bowl (Chirashi) ($7.99).

The Veggies(and there were a lot; its heavy and I imagine would be served in a large bowl, as Chirashi is at Happy Meal and Nozomi) are mostly cabbages with some sliced green onions and then it is topped with fish roe and also some tempura crunchies. Rice is sent separately in the "to go" box and there were two servings of what is probably Sriracha, although I did not see any Sriracha at the restaurant. The tuna was fresh, tasty and plentiful, and all at the bottom of the cabbage. I uncovered a bit so you could see, but there was a lot. Like pretty much the whole bottom of the box a lot…which was also part of the weight of it all.

The Mister wanted to try 9, the Shrimp Tempura Roll ($5.50) .

There were two tempura'd shrimp in here, real crab meat and lots of crunchies on the outside . It was refreshing and not as expensive at other places.

The Mister also wanted to try the Cutlet Combo (#13) ($8.99) and it came in two packages. They knew it was a 'to go' and clipped the corners on the Styrofoam box transporting the fish, shrimp and pork cutlet that were fried, so they arrived home still crispy. (If you recall, both Kirk and I complained about the soggy tempura on the "To Go" meals from Chopstix Too….this is the solution). The fried fish was excellent, as was the shrimp and the pork cutlet was juicy and had a good flavor. The combo box also came with four pieces of California Roll (real crab; not bad), shredded cabbage, rice and plenty of the various sauces necessary for a good meal.

Island Town does a lot of catering/makes trays to go. We saw some people picking up a tray of 110 California Rolls ($30) on a Friday night . (I counted: 14 by 7, plus 12 on top: I have no idea how they cut the original rolls).

As I said, its family run, and its inside the grocery store, so they kind of have access to the foods that may be either on sale or close to being thrown away anyhow. There are no lobster dishes on the menu, but they were being cooked on the grill when we walked in…

Island Town, inside First Korean Market 4625 Convoy Street, San Diego 92111 (858)571-7183

Closed Sundays. No credit cards, no checks!

Green Noodles, kim chee, teriyaki and, well a fusion-Nozomi

January 29, 2007 Cathy Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation, and apparently never was…but I have a few posts to put up because, well, I eat daily and am now used to documenting each meal. Oh, this is Cathy, BTW.

Hi. You drove by Nozomi…either in Carlsbad, that little corner in La Jolla or probably saw the one on Convoy Street, in the same mall with Convoy Noodle House…and you thought…what??? A Japanese place inside a mall with mostly Korean restaurants (and the Vietnamese Convoy Noodle house) Yep, me too. . .well, it turns out Nozomi is Japanese-Korean.

So, the menu…its extensive…with sashimi, sushi rolls…all kinds…like about 50 different rolls. There are photos in the front window, there are photos over the sushi bar inside..but not the take out menu, which is photocopied…and besides, we didn’t get any rolls. Nope. Soft shell crab was on the menu. We had to ($6.95).

Lightly breaded, crispy, quite large; not like the frozen soft shell crabs sold…in freezer sections of various stores. This reminded The Mister and I of soft shell crabs we’d get fresh back in Virginia. Then we were brought out two bowls of Kim Chee.
The kim chee on the left was more finely chopped, had a soy/salty base…basically was pickles with some red pepper interspersed and very good. The larger bowl was mostly with bok choy and other veggies and had a nice heat. Bowls and spoons came out with it. It was our "salad". The Mister ordered the Green Noodle soup, which we were warned came in a LARGE bowl ($8.95). Oh my… the bowl was 12 inches square…as large as a BIG old floor tile!
This photo was to show you what was in the bowl, after The Mister had removed one large bowl (that was for kim chee) of broth. The broth was *very* light…barely chicken flavored…it ended up needing the kim chee to be added to it. The noodles, by themselves were nice, chewy and a good texture…they had a nice not too deep but discernible vegetable flavor flavor. The soup had 2 full shrimp, one mussel, a lot of small chopped (canned) clams, potatoes, onions, squash and mushrooms in it. Way much food. Way filling. I ordered the dinner Bento Box ($9.95) with BBQ’d pork.
Salad, rice, 4 pieces of California roll (with real crab), tempura’d vegetables, one shrimp and one piece of fish. Oh the pork. First of all, it was a *huge* portion…and the flavor was superb. Grilled just enough to get some smoke into it and a light, not too sweet of a teriyaki sauce…saltier more than sweet sauce.
Lots of food, lots of flavor if you add the kim chee, fresh food, lots of different rolls and good service. Try it.

There are donburi and curries on the menu also.

Nozomi #1 4637 Convoy #104 San Diego 92111 (858) 569-7773
Nozomi #2 4159 Regents Park Row #190 La Jolla 92037 (858) 452-7778
Nozomi #3 3050 Pio Pico Drive #A Carlsbad 92008 (760) 729-7877

Mid-week Meanderings: Update on Sammy’s, visit to Buga with Ed from Yuma

January 17, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Well here’s a few hump-day revisits…not too wordy, I hope, since I’ve posted on these places before.

Update on Sammy’s:

**** Sammy’s has closed

Sam has hired on a new Itamae, originally from Yokohama, via Nashville(ask Him it’s an interesting story), and second generation Itamae named Aki. Turns Aki has some pretty good “chops”, no pun intended. On my most recent visit, all I said was “Omakase shimasu”…and here’s what came out:

It all started out with those two slices of battered and fried fish you see. As I grabbed the fish and was about to bite into it, Aki told me it was Chi-ai, otherwise known as the blood saturated maguro meat that is usually discarded…..of course I jammed on the brakes! There are only a few people I know who eat the “dark blood meat”, and I ain’t one of ’em(tho’ my Mom was…). But what the heck, I said Omakase, right? Turned out to be very tasty, not overly fishy, and for once I actually enjoyed the flavor that Kewpie Mayo added to a dish.

Some Aji(Horse Mackerel):

A very nice presentation.

Everything was quite good, I’m a big fan of the Aji-senbei(fried Aji bones), but the chopped Aji mixed with a touch of ponzu, thinly sliced ginger, and green onions, was especially delicous.

An interesting and very tasty Futomaki(fat cut roll) version of Negi-Toro(fatty tuna and green onion roll):

In addition to the thin slices of Takuwan(pickled daikon radish) and Kaiware(radish sprouts), Aki added in a generous amount of Yamaimo(mountain yam) which added a very nice mild sweet flavor to the roll. When I questioned Aki about his use of yamaimo and takuwan in his negi-toro, he simply said, “it is the way that my Father makes it!” And it was very good!

And a Oshizushi(pressed sushi) to finish off:

I enjoyed the interplay of the salty Ikura(Salmon Roe) and Uni that topped the Oshizushi. Really good stuff, that left me stuffed.

Sam is currently closed for lunch, but will reopen for lunch in the upcoming weeks. His hiring of Aki will allow for lunch service as well as allow Sam to actually work on the business end of owning a Sushi Bar.

Sammy Sushi
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Previous posts on Sammy’s:

Sammy Sushi.

Our live uni dinner at Sammy’s(sorry but the photos really suck on this one).

Oshizushi at Sammy’s.

A recent visit to Buga with Ed from Yuma:

Ed from Yuma, and His pal Greg were able to make a quick trip into town, and we met up for dinner at Buga, scene of the first known recorded sighting of Ed’s delici-yoso dance. It had been a while since I’ve been to Buga so I jumped at the chance.

We had the good service as on previous visits, though I thought the panchan were not quite as good as my previous visits.

Not that it was bad, in my opinion it’s still the best panchan around, but today the variety seemed uninspired…must just be me.

We ordered three items, starting with the Samgyeopsal(sliced pork belly):

Pork fat rules…man this was good!

And of course some Kalbi:

Great as always.

On this visit Ed decided to try the Kori Gomtang(Oxtail Soup):

Ed was a bit surprised at the look and flavor of this, but I explained to him that the long boiling process breaks down all the collagen and other items and turns the soup white. We flavored the broth with sea salt that was provided. I’ve had much better versions of this back home, and in LA.

Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Open daily 11 to 11

I’ve kept the text short on this one, much more info can be found on my previous posts:

My first Buga post.

Bibim Naengmyun at Buga.

I try the Yookwe at Buga.

And one from our good friend Clayfu at Buga.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Korean Hometown Restaurant

September 14, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

I really don’t know the Korean name of this restaurant, so will just go by the English sign.

I first noticed this little restaurant over a year ago. We had finished a nice meal at China Max, and were wandering around the strip mall, when I noticed a Woman running two plates of Mandoo over to the Pool Hall located right next door. Even though I was stuffed to the gills, it still looked pretty good. A few days later I received an Email from our eating buddy Calvin; who mentioned that "the food is like what my Mom and Aunts make, and the sometimes surly service is like what you’d get at home." Hmmmm…..sounds good, after all Mom’s make the best food, right? Hmmmm…sounds bad, remember how Mom acted when you didn’t eat your peas???? Or when that "Tuna Surprise" really did surprise???

Recently the Missus and I finally made our way to this restaurant. The interior is full of wooden booths, with Soju posters on the walls, along with a closing time of 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, I could sense pretty hearty grub.

This really is a Family operation. We were first served by an Older Lady, and later on when 2 other Young Women(daughters?) walked in, they immediately started waiting on us as well. A Middle-Aged Gentleman was manning the kitchen. We looked over the menu, and placed our orders.

And soon enough our panchan arrived.

The portion size of the various panchan were pretty good. And the quality ranged from some pretty tasty stuff, to very, very mediocre(iceberg lettuce salad with thousand island dressing??).

The Missus enjoyed the sweet potato and shrimp:

And the steamed egg.

The Seaweed Salad wasn’t bad.

Even though the Baechu(Napa Cabbage) Kimchi wasn’t the best, it was still passable. As was the most of the panchan. We were starving so we basically attacked the panchan. And even though we were in the secluded corner booth, the Older Lady came by just as we were finishing up our panchan, looked at us, and said, "Oh, you hungry, huh?" To which we pointed out the stuff we liked and said "It’s really good". Damned if She didn’t break out into a smile, and a minute later came back with a second round of panchan…and we didn’t even ask! Just like Mom????

The Missus, being absolutely starved had ordered the Combination BiBim Naeng Myun and Bulgogi($13.99). Not knowing what to expect, the usual metal bowl of rice, and a sizzling plate of Bulgogi arrived at the table.

The Missus enjoyed the Bulgogi, though I told Her it was on the sweet side, and with the mushrooms and carrots it was almost like a stir fry. I will say this, it wasn’t bland in the least. With some help She managed to finish the Bulgogi, only to be met with this. The BiBim Naeng Myun(spicy cold noodles).

Geez, do you think this was enough food? I didn’t think this was very good, the Hot sauce tasted earthy and beany, but without any sweetness, or tangy flavor, and suffered from a lack of depth. The noodles were not good either, instead of having a taut elasticity, they were on the mushy side. The ice was shaved frozen broth. Overall, not something I’d have here again.

I realize that we didn’t even get to what I had yet. I ordered the Spam and Kimchi Fried Rice($8.99):

This was a large portion of rice, that had been stir fried with a generous helping of Spam(must’ve been a half can!), some kimchi, and Gochujang. I really enjoyed this, the sour hints from the KimChi kinda freaked the Missus out, so She ate the Egg! Try as I might, I couldn’t finish, so I had the rest the next day.

Korean Hometown Restaurant serves up rustic, though tasty Korean dishes. It is indeed Homestyle. Doesn’t some KimChi Fried Rice sound good with a couple of Hite? Looks like we’ll be back….well, I’ll definitely will be back. Mainly to try out this item on the menu:

It’s the only item that’s priced the same for lunch and dinner. Is that saying something?

Korean Hometown Restaurant
4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Happy Meal

September 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

No, it’s not a joke, this Korean Food "booth" in the Food Court at Zion Market is really called Happy Meal…..automatically puts a smile on your face doesn’t it?

Happy Meal came recommended by Denver, based on price and portion size, and Cathy, based on the same value criteria, plus She mentioned they used to give out little "toys" when they first opened up. So one evening a few weeks back, I had done some shopping at Zion Market, and my stomach and I decided to have a "Happy Meal". The prices at Happy Meal are very reasonable, and come with a good selection of panchan.

The best was the seasoned squid on the bottom of the photo above. Here’s more.

Overall, a nice, though pretty routine selection.

All this, along with a bowl of fairly bland seaweed soup, comes with your meal. Which in this case was the Bulgogi Box($6.99/lunch, $7.99/dinner).

I had wanted to order the Spicy Pork, but "no pork today…" A pretty large portion of Bulgogi, rice, a green salad with sesame dressing, and 2 mandoo(Korean Dumplings), along with the panchan made for quite a large amount of food for $7.99. The mandoo tasted like packaged frozen stuff, and the salad was pretty much routine. The Bulgogi was quite mild in flavor, and the thin slices of potato and onions mixed in with the beef, almost reminded me of a stir fry. Not great, but well worth the price.

The usual drill at Happy Meal, is to place your order at the counter, pay, and have a seat. The counter person will first bring you your panchan, soup, and drink; than later drop off your main course. This can be a major factor during a busy lunch hour, as I found out on my next visit. Even though it was quite early for lunch (1115am), every table except one(which after ordering and paying I occupied), with plastic number cards on them. Very few customers actually had food in front of them, and I really felt for the Young Lady working the counter, both taking orders and serving each table twice. I shoulda brought a book, it took me 30 minutes to get my food, which started with the usual panchan and soup:

Do you notice something about the panchan? Check out the portion size…..

The Young Lady explained that they accidentally gave me panchan for two, but that was okay since I had to wait so long.

The Japchae(cellophane noodles) tasted really good, everything else was pretty routine, though the radish("Mu") kimchi tasted a bit too sour and off. Still this was quite a bit of food, and I still hadn’t gotten to my main course. Which was the Dolsot BiBimBap($6.99/lunch, $7.99/dinner).

The sizzling Stone Bowl(Dolsot) was brought to my table along with a squeeze bottle of Gochujang, I let the bowl sit for a minute to develop the wonderful crust, and dug in. The toppings were pretty routine, fernbrake, ginger, bean sprouts, minced meat, all topped with the perfect egg. Sorry, not the best photo I’ve ever taken, so let me mix it up for you….

I really enjoy the various textures of the crusted rice, the veggies, and so forth. The flavor wasn’t anything special and none of this is going to stand the culinary world on it’s ear, but you really get what you pay for(In this case $6.99) at Happy Meal. This ain’t no lousy same chicken with a different sauce food court garbage. So after my Happy Meal, with the happy panchan mistake, I was looking for a cool dark place to lie down. Happy, happy, me………

Some Notes: As I mentioned, service may be on the slow side during peak hours. I didn’t notice any difference, except price between lunch and dinner. The food and portion sizes are an excellent value, especially lunch.

Happy Meal
4611 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for the recommendation Denver and Cathy!

Kim’s Korean BBQ

August 14, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Kim's has closed

Located in the Jumbo Strip mall, at the corner of Plaza Boulevard and Highland Avenue, next to a Hometown Buffet and Chuck E Cheese in National City….yep, National City, is Kim's Restaurant. A Korean BBQ in the most unlikely of all places.

I'd been in the area several times, but always thought the doorway to the restaurant seemed a bit uninviting.

But today, I took a walk down the dark hallway lined with a few doors, and past a "private" BBQ room, to the front desk, and met with a slightly surprised look. Perhaps I looked like a refugee from Chuck E Cheese's next door. After the surprised look faded, a smile appeared, and I was guided to a table, and brought a menu. The interior of the restaurant is fairly large, and really contrasted with the slightly run down exterior.

As I read through the menu, full of the usual suspects, BiBimBap, Dofu Jigae, and various meat both marinated and unmarinated for BBQ, I was told that a minimum of 2 orders of meat was required in order to use table top cooking. I really didn't feel like smelling like a piece of grilled meat myself, so I had no problem with not cooking my own. I placed my order, and proceeded to get hooked on the Korean Soap Opera playing on the plasma television.

I know it's cheesy, silly, and predictable, but I kept watching the show.

Soon enough my panchan arrived, 8 little dishes all told, along with a plate of sliced romaine, and thinly sliced radish.

The panchan was consistently unremarkable, and nothing stood out. The Baechu(Napa Cabbage), and Oi(Cucumber) Kimchi were very mild, and one dimensional, lacking any any sweet, slightly sour, fishy, or spicy flavor that would make it memorable. The same for the pieces of Gochu Pajun(green onion pancake), Namul(Ban Sprouts), Sliced Mushroom, etc. If I had to select one that was the best, it would be the spinach with garlic.

I had ordered the "full order" of Bulgogi($16.95). There is a "smaller" order of Bulgogi for $10.95 on the menu as well. And soon enough a large sizzling plate of Bulgogi was brought to my table. Along with the usual metal bowl of rice, and a small bowl of watered down Miso Soup(!).

Once the Bulgogi had settled, it was time to get to work with the greens and sliced radish.

Never having read the "manual" on eating in this manner; I was once shown the correct way to eat, by placing a small piece(s) of Bulgogi on my plate, place some of the greens on top, cover with the slice of radish, and ta-da!!!!

You got yourself some "insta-dumpling" action going on. I enjoyed the slightly pickled flavor of the crisp radish, the greens were drenched in a dressing that was way too sour, and covered with chili powder, the Bulgogi was very soft and tender, though coming up short in the flavor department. Still the Bulgogi was light years better than the version at another restaurant that I had eaten recently. After eating about 6 of these, I started on just the Bulgogi and Rice, and in the end had quite a bit to take home. Overall the Bulgogi and the Panchan were nothing to write home about, and gave me no reason to make the a trip out to National City in the future. If in the neighborhood during lunch, I may give one of those $5.99 lunch specials a try.

But then again, they must show that Korean Soap Opera every night, right??? Hmmmm……not that I'm hooked mind you; just an interested spectator.

The prices at Kim's BBQ, is about par with most Korean BBQ's. Galbi runs about $19-21, and most items range from $10.99 to $20. I thought the plates of panchan were on the small side, but there were 8 different types. The portion of Bulgogi was more than satisfactory. The service was adequate, and once the Young Lady realized that I wasn't a wayward Hometown Buffet customer she was very nice. I'd say the food is several notches below Seoul BBQ in flavor, but just as tender. And I don't think there are too many other Korean restaurants in the area. If you know of one, please let me know!

Kim's Restaurant
1141 Highland Ave
National City, CA 91950

Friend’s House Korean BBQ

August 3, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

Quickly now, how many of you always walk or drive past a restaurant, and think to yourself, "hmmm, I really need to check that place out, one of these days?" Next part of the question, how many of you actually do make an effort to try out this "mystery restaurant", the one that never, ever seems to have any customers, that looks like a front for the Yakuza, or some other crime outfit, the one that never has any wonderful cooking fragrances wafting out the door. If you’re like me, you just walk or drive on by…….

Until you start food blogging. Now with a true mission, empowered and emboldened by Typepad, you become Super Foodie. If you’ve driven up Convoy street, or eaten at Nozomi, Convoy Noodle House, or Dede’s, you’ve probably taken a glance at Friend’s House Korean BBQ.

So did you take the time to walk in and eat? If you did, you’re of a minority of people I’ve spoken to. Only two individuals I know, have claimed to have eaten there. And when queried, all I could get out of them was a cryptic, "well, we mostly go there to drink soju…."

So on this evening, after staring at the food photos, and glancing at the menu, I walked on in. And was quickly greeted by 2 very nice young ladies, and seated at a table.

The interior of Friend’s House is paneled and divided with untreated wood, along with many photos, and a faux corrugated metal "roof".

I guess it does make you feel like you’re visiting a "friend’s house", and perhaps sitting on the patio, or in the garage. I’m sure that Friend’s House sounds more appetizing than Friend’s Garage……

I looked over then menu, and started with, the one dish that was mentioned to me. The Kun Mandoo($7.50):

These were a shade better then the frozen stuff, okay in flavor, though a bit on the oily side. The wrappers were also very brittle. But you could tell they were handmade. Not bad, but really not very good, the meal still showed promise.

I remember Ed from Yuma and I having dinner at Boo Cho and talking about how panchan is served in various Korean restaurants. Some restaurants will serve the panchan upfront, and give you something to "pick on" while waiting for your main course(s). Well, at Friend’s House everything came out in one furious rush, except for one item, that I’ll go into at the end.

The panchan:

Everything except the Baechu Kimchi, was served on a cute little plate, almost like what you’d use to feed little kids. I truly expected to see some Hello Kitty emblem on the plate. The Baechu Kimchi was very, very sour, at first I thought it might even be spoiled, but it was not. Overall, the panchan was a disappointment, well maybe not, since how can you be disappointed if you have no expectations. To summarize, the same marinade was used for the baechu kimchi, Cuttelfish, fishcake, and Mu(radish). They all tasted the same. The marinated potato wasn’t too bad, but on the mild side.

My Bulgogi(Thin sliced marinated beef $13.95) arrived at the same moment, along with the usual metal container of rice:

Well let’s see; the portion size was quite generous, but that’s about it. I knew this was going to be very mediocre Bulgogi when the sizzling plate was placed on my table, and I really couldn’t detect any fragrance at all. The meat seemed like it was quickly dumped into a marinade right before cooking, it was tough and flavorless. I didn’t eat but a few bites. I brought it home, and after the Missus got home from work, She opened the Styrofoam container, stared at the meat, wrinkled Her nose, and went "yuck".

And in what was an apt end to the meal, my soup arrived as I asked for my check.

The service at Friend’s House was very nice, though on the scatter-brained side. Not one customer entered the restaurant while I had my meal, so maybe someone can clue me in. Not that I’ll be back, though who knows, after a few bottles of Soju, that Bulgogi might taste good.

Friend’s House Korean BBQ
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Boo Cho – A Revisit Part II

July 10, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

*** Boo Cho has another set of new owners who have changed the name of the restaurant to Dae Jang Keum. An updated post can be found here.

A few days after my visit to Boo Cho, the Missus and I decided to drop by again, for a fairly late (9pm) dinner. As we walked in, we quickly noticed the place was packed.

We managed to snag the last available table, and watched the heads from the other tables bob up-and-down. Reminded me of that arcade game….you know the one, you hit the gophers(might be something else – not quite sure which rodent) with a mallet as they pop up and down from their burrows. The staff was running like crazy, with clean grills, banchan, and plates of meat flying past us. We managed to place our order, and soon after the banchan arrived.

As with my previous visit, the Baechu Kimchi was quite good. In fact, even the Missus, who’s not a fan of Baechu Kimchi enjoyed it.

The Oi(cucumber) Kimchi, fishcake, and Namul(marinated beansprouts) were quite good as well.

Even though it’s been quite hot, the Missus ordered Yookaejang(Spicy Beef Soup – $8.99):

The slightly clear beef broth sprinkled with chili powder, had a nice flavor, and the soup was full of Gosari(fernbrake), egg, green onions, and some melt in your mouth tender slices of beef.

Along with the usual bowl of rice, this was quite a meal.

I ordered the Bibim Naengmyun($8.99):

I’m a sucker for spicy cold noodle dishes, and this did not disappoint. The thin noodles were superbly elastic and chewy. We had what the Missus calls the "more you eat, the more there seems to be" syndrome, that never ending bowl of noodles. The garnishes were more of afterthoughts; the beef was flavorless, as were the slices of Asian Pear. But the sauce was so very "beany" in flavor, and the heat level was perfect.

In spite of how full the restaurant was, we had very good service. We were asked twice if we wanted our banchan refilled, of course we got more Napa Cabbage and Cucumber Kimchi. And in what we thought was a very nice touch, the Young Lady brought out even another plate of the Cucumber Kimchi, telling us "sorry, we didn’t give you enough the last time!"

I guess you could say Boo Cho is back on my list…… I’m hoping Boo Cho manages to keep the quality and service consistent over time.

Boo Cho Restaurant
7905 Engineer Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Boo Cho – A Revisit Part I

July 9, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

*** Boo Cho is now Dae Jang Keum, and an updated post can be found here.

On a recent trip to Sammy’s next door, I noticed that Boo Cho had changed owners again. This would make the third set of owners in the last three years. Though it’s disheartening to see a revolving door of ownership for any restaurant location, a part of me was a bit happy. You see Boo Cho used to be one of our favorite Korean BBQ Restaurants in San Diego. But under the last set of Owners, I thought the food had gone steeply downhill. As fate would have it Ed from Yuma was making one of His trips down to San Diego. So we decided to give Boo Cho as shot. You can read Ed’s Chowhound post on Boo Cho here.

As we entered on this evening there were only two other occupied tables in the restaurant. But it was only 6pm, and with the recent hot weather, people are eating at a much later time.

We were seated and given our menus, which did reflect on a few slight changes. Soon enough we placed our order. We decided on the Special BBQ for 2($49.99). Now we understood that there were 3 different types of meat, I’ll try to remember what they are, but please forgive any inaccuracies, I usually don’t take notes. In a few moments our sauces arrived.

As did the rice paper wrappers, mesclun, and thinly sliced daikon radish, for creating your own dumplings with the BBQ.

Our brazier was prepared, by first placing a container of charcoal into the receptacle built into the table, then laying the cast iron grill on the top.

One thing I quickly noticed was the very large amount of flaming charcoal being used, a very good sign.

We also had our first "surprise" of the evening. It seems that the special for two comes with a bottle of Soju, that mind numbing alcoholic beverage that brings to mind vodka. For some reason, the evening really started "brightening up".

Soon enough the banchan arrived.

To be perfectly honest, banchan had never been Boo Cho’s strong suit, and I didn’t expect this visit to be much different. How wrong I was. Not that the banchan was outstanding, but it was pretty good. I really enjoyed the Baechu Kimchee(Napa Cabbage), I mean I really enjoyed it. Things were really looking up, when our meat arrived:

Now if I recall, the 3 types of meat provided were; San Galbi(unmarinated beef ribs), Chadolbaegee(a thinly sliced fatty beef), and a nicely marbled, lightly marinated beef, I believe it was Joo Mool Luck. And we got cooking……

About this time we got our next "surprise", a boiling casserole was delivered to our table. The special came with a vegetable "soup":

The broth was quite beefy in flavor, and the soup was full of tofu, daikon, and other veggies.

By this time all of the flavors started to blur, with the banchan, the soup, the various meats, and of course, the Soju. I did think that the meat was a step up from the previous Boo Cho, though still a step down from Buga Korean BBQ. Still, there’s nothing like the flavor of charcoal. At this point, the grill was soiled, and I was beginning to think that our next course would be the Fire Department.

Just then one of the Servers stepped in, and replaced our grill. Perfect timing!

In the end Ed and I devoured everything, and remarked how Boo Cho was back on our list. Ed enjoyed Himself so much, that He returned a few days later. Funny thing, the Missus and I returned a few days later as well. I’ll post that in Part 2.

Some Notes: The main thing to remember is to not wear anything that you DON’T want smelling like charcoal. As Boo Cho fills up, even the heavy duty ventilation system can’t quite keep up.

Part II tomorrow!

Boo Cho Restaurant
7905 Engineer Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Han Bat Restaurant

April 10, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

**** Han Bat has closed

A while back, knowing how much the Missus enjoys Korean Black Goat Casserole, Calvin told me about Han Bat. Calvin said he noticed signage in the front of the restaurant mentioning Black Goat Soup. So we made a trip to Plaza Del Sol, and Han Bat.

Han Bat is a fairly small, Mom and Pop type operation, with a brightly colored and well lit interior. In what was a ominous sign, Han Bat was also totally empty, on a Friday evening!

The limited menu had about 20 items, all of them some type of soup or casserole. We saw several Black Goat soups and casseroles, and attempted to order, but was told that they were out of goat. When I asked when they’d have goat again, I got a shrug of the shoulders. So no goat. In one instant, twenty percent of the items on the menu weren’t available. We did find something interesting, and placed our order.

The Lady dropped of our panchan, which consisted of only 4 little plates of very routine panchan. Nothing earth-shattering, and a little on the chintzy side.

Since they were out of Goat, we ordered the Duck Casserole for two ($26.50):

A portable stove was placed on the table and a smallish sized cast iron pot of broth and vegetables was heated. First off the broth had a very high oil content, as you can clearly see by the distinct yellow color. Strangely enough, as rich as the broth was, it was lacking in flavor, and spice. The Missus kept adding sea salt from the little jar on the table to Her broth. The duck meat resembled tough slices of beef with gristly, tough, fat. The Missus couldn’t bring Herself to eat it, but it was fine to me, though really lacking in flavor. I ended up using all the dipping sauce for the duck and vegetables.

Though we got charged $2.00 for tea, served in a small beer glasses, we never got refills. Even when we asked….

It really did seem that Han Bat was in full cost-cutting mode. Maybe someone else can tell me how good their Black Goat is, I don’t think we’ll be back. We’ll stick with Ko Hayang Jip.

I actually went home and made tacos.

Han Bat Restaurant
4690 Convoy St Ste 108
San Diego, CA 92111