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Showing results for tags 'Koreatown'.
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I have been wanting to try this hole in the wall place. The only problem is that the menu is in Korean only, and I am not Korean. Anyone being to the place and can recommend a couple of dishes? Thanks -
Hi everyone. I just moved to Annandale, VA from Texas over this past weekend. I have no idea what is going on around me and I feel like an ant in this booming place. I'm looking for those restaurants that are a secret to the masses. Also, anything nearby as well. I understand that that there are about ten thousand cities within a mile of my condo. --- [The following posts have been split into separate threads: Honey Pig Izakaya (Kibbee Nayee) Annangol (cheezepowder) Pho Cong Ly (thistle) Gangnam Sushi House (cheezepowder)]
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In case someone's really dying for Ramen in NoVa and can't drive to DC/MD for their fix, Tanpopo is now open. Some photos are on Yelp. A hand written message regarding their hours indicate that they open at 11:30 Tuesday to Sunday. For the avoidance of doubt, they're closed on Monday. The same hand scribbled message states they're only serving ramen and a few appetizers at this point. -
In an update, I went to Kimen Ramen this afternoon for dinner. I had their mazemen ramen (ETA: from the menu: soupless ramen, spicy hot minced pork / egg yolk / fish powder / minced garlic / green onion / chives / dried seaweed -- note, wasn't that spicy) and it was good! I'll be back. That said, I'm not sure the music they were playing was of this world. Or I'm getting old.
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Tom Sietsema did a quick write-up on Han Gang last week. Coincidentally, my friends and I (without knowing that the article had been written) had a late dinner there after the D.C. United game on Saturday. We arrived at 11:00 pm and were the only ones in the place. Which is a shame, because the kalbi wrapped in radish slices >>> kalbi wrapped in lettuce anywhere else. For me, the sweetness of the radish greatly enhances the flavor of the meat, whereas lettuce is useful only for its wrapping function. We were also given a very generous selection of panchan. My favorite was the dried anchovies. I ordered the cod stew, which was fine -- next time I'll get the short rib stew, in which the broth is a zillion times richer in flavor. Only downside of the place was an endless loop from Kenny G's soundtrack. It's like the Beatles at Kotobuki, except that I wanted to poke my eardrum out with chopsticks. Prices of menu items are a few dollars higher than at other places nearby, but the quality of ingredients (especially the short ribs) seems better here. -
I don't know Annandale that well but, as best I can tell, amidst all the great Asian restaurants, it's an area very under served by good coffee. While I can't be 100% certain (and would love a good challenge here from any who know Annandale better), I feel pretty safe advising that anyone in the area looking for decent coffee should go here and only here. OTOH, by no means would it make sense to drive here from Arlington County, Alexandria, DC or MoCo for coffee. Beanetics, like Caffe Amouri in Vienna or Misha's in Alexandria, roasts their own beans, which they largely buy from a NY based wholesaler. Relative to all the other roasters I can think of in our area, the operation here is a bit larger in terms of the square footage devoted to a large capacity roaster and related equipment and beans at immediate left when you enter. Pretty cool setup based only on curb appeal. I ordered a small cappuccino and a pourover (the latter using their own roasted Hawaiian Kona coffee since that's a varietal less common with shops who sell other roasters' beans). I forget the type of espresso machine they have but it wasn't a Marzocco. The capp was heavy on foam relative to the espresso and the espresso itself was a bit bitter. Serviceable to be sure but probably a better bet to go for freshly brewed coffee here. They offer either french press or pourover though the latter with a plastic funnel and filters too small for the opening but workable. My Kona was okay. Nothing with especially notable flavor or complexity but smooth enough and drinkable. The owners here have definite passion for what they're doing. They had maybe a dozen different single origin and blended beans available for sale in unusual but perhaps more advanced packaging. They do put roast dates on all the packages, which is great to see. Most were roasted within the past 5 to 7 days with just a few that went back no more than 17 or so days. Pastries, cookies, muffins are all fairly standard for area shops. They serve Two Leaves and a Bud tea, one of the two better options available on the market for bagged teas. I like when I see this or Mighty Leaf in a coffee shop since I don't expect them to invest more in the best loose leaf tea program. If looking for a decent cup before or after an Asian repast out Annandale way, you probably can't do too much better than Beanetics unless headed back toward DC. -
My youngest has speech therapy on Little River Turnpike at 8:15 a.m. Afterwards, I wanted some brunch. We could've gone back to Yechon or Gom Ba Woo but I thought we give this 24 hr joint a try. We only got 3 banchons - kimchi and two kinds of marinated daikons. The bulgogi was pretty good. The mandoo were very black peppery, otherwise not much flavor. The kimchi jeon (pancake) was too thick and flavorless.
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I went to Annangol for dinner and enjoyed it overall. It's at 4215 Annandale Center Dr, in same shopping strip as Napoleon bakery. The seafood pancake was alot of green onion, slices of carrot, and a few little bits of octopus and shrimp. But mostly green onion. The fried dumplings were good though a little greasy. For the main dishes, we ordered short ribs on the bone, short ribs not on the bone, and spicy pork ribs. The server brought a plate of lettuce/other greens for wrapping the meat. She also brought a round platter divided into sections with banchan (including kimchi and a scoop of potato salad) and raw garlic, slices of long green peppers, and spicy bean paste to include with the lettuce when wrapping the meat. She also brought a metal bowl filled with slices of onion. Although there's a burner in the center of the table, she brought the meat already cooked. That's a plus or a minus depending on how much you like cooking it yourself. We were glad to receive it cooked because then we could eat it right away without fussing with it. The onion slices went on the burner with the meat. The short ribs had a bit of a smoky flavor, and my parents were glad that the marinade was not too sweet. The spicy pork was 1 bone plus meat, and the pork was not particularly spicy. I liked the beef better overall. (Annangol also has duck on the menu, both with and without special sauce. The server told us it's a minimum of 2 orders though.) -
TS offered it up as one of his top bargain eats this week. The name is certainly distinctive...and curiously hard for me to spell. Someone has even video-diaried it in this YouTube clip. So, anybody been? -
Apparently, they closed with no notice to employees - the Philadelphia branch also closed recently, which leaves New York City ... Think the employees in NYC are feeling secure? Look at the Jobs tab on their New York City website: People are hauling ass - you sow what you reap. This place is toast, and the employees know it.
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Its been a long time since we ahve been to Yechon. Last night, after spending 6 hours at Dino on my "day off", I picked up Kay downtown and after only taking three wrong turns we arrived at Yechon in need of food and drink. The greeting was particularly cheerful as we sat. We looked at the huge menu and finally made some decisions.... sort of. The waitress approached and was very patient as we dithered and switched our order several times, but finally we settled on a couple of soups, a pancake, man doo and cold sake. First to arrive was about 8-9 small dishes: Almond (?) jelly with a bit of peanut and a soy based sauce Cucumbers and assorted veggie garnish in a slightly sweet sauce with a touch of a bite (If Kraft Catalina dressing were actually food and well made and slightly spciy it would taste like this) Potato salad- creamy, traditional American picnic style with carrots and peas Fried tofu with spicy sauce- insanely good. The tofu has an egggy custardy consistency, incredible flavor and just the right amount of soy and spice based sauce. Asparagus- out of season but nice Kim Chee- very crunchy, very spicy Mystery greens in a sesame oil based marinade- wonderful Shredded raddish in spicy sauce- great, standard preparation Next up was the pancake. It was maybe 14 inches across and cut into 8 slices. Korean opancakes may be an acquired taste and we like them in moderation every once in a while. This one had scallions and oyster. The batter was quite eggy and fluffy and very good. It was crispy brown on the bottom giving it more flavor interest than most versions I have had. The only problem with it was the size of the portion. It would ahve been incredible with 8 olk at the table as we could have wolfed it down and been left wanting more. As it was, we ate only half o f it and were stuffed. The oyster falvor was distinct with the creamy milky briny flavor of cooked oyster. I had the cold buckwheat noodle with sliced beef in cold broth. The broth came with ice floating in it too keep it really cold. The beef was incredible and the other garnishes were welcome, especially the pickled mustard green. Kay had a bowl of soy miso broth, tofu, squash soup. It was superb. Many versions of this dish are too salty for my taste and this one had a distinctly miso flavor and the veggies, while well cooked, were not mush. As we ate the soups we asked for some more Kim Chee and we got 5 more dishes of the side dishes- this time we got a cabbage salad. Alas, we did not get a refil of Kimchee but were too stuffed to even dream of asking for it by then. Dessert was a complimentary cup of watermelo and orange juice. This feast was $56. I think it was the best Korean meal we ahve ever had (Gom Ba Woo with Grover and Escoffier would be a close second). I would love to go back with 6 other friends and have more variety. All the food was bright, clean flavored with lots of distinct tangy flavors. We were stuffed but not weighted down. The service was warm and friendly, we were doted over by our waitress. When we asked what another table was having we were told "Fish soup". But then she went over to that table and looked at the dish, went and got us the menu and showed us which fish soup it was (clam and cod). So in ending, what stands out most in my mind is not just the food, but the warm welcome we got at Yechon. If only my local Korean restaurant would learn that lesson! -
Got a late start on Saturday night and places were either closed or packed with no tables available until midnight, and we were circling around and ended up at Blue Sand for dinner around 10:00 or so. The menu isn't particularly easy to navigate for non Korean customers, but with some help from the server, we ended up with a double order of pork belly (double order required), and squid tempura. The good: about a half dozen banchan -- seaweed salad, kimchi, pickled eggplant, mung bean salad, spinach, a couple of other things I didn't recognize -- and two different soups came with the meal, a tofu soup/stew and an egg soup that eventually cooked into a soft custard. The squid tempura was very nicely fried, not greasy, tender with just a little chewiness, a good sized order, and came with soy sauce & onion to dip into. The pork belly was cooked at the table grill and was not seasoned or marinaded at all that I could discern, so a little bland. Definitely needed the gochuchang and lettuce wrappers to give it some oomph. For two people, the bill came to $50. The bad: the music. incessant 90s Korean disco pop, loud enough that it was impossible to ignore and we so wanted to ignore it. Also, this is not one of the 24-hour restaurants, and so we closed the place down at 11:00, but the tables that were remaining when we came in were all male and all 50+ in age, so not a hipster joint by any stretch of the imagination. The place was clean but the decor was tired looking. -
This restaurant is new, & getting pretty good reviews-would anyone be interested in meeting for lunch or dinner there sometime in the next few weeks? I don't eat a lot of Korean BBQ, but they're running an AYCE special w/ fatty brisket (chadol bakgi), 3 layered pork belly (sam kyup sal), spicy pork belly (jang sam gyup sal), miso pork, & spicy chicken (dak galbi), & 'the works'-steamed egg, soup, sides, & rice, noodles, or rice cakes for $18.99 (Or $27.99 w/ that, plus intestines). I'd also like to try some of the soups, cold noodles, & haemul jun. --- dr.com Dinner at Kogiya, Thursday, May 16th at 5:30 PM here -
Lady KN and I were at Honey Pig Izakaya tonight -- we didn't see it specifically mentioned in the Honey Pig Multiple Locations thread, but if that's where it belongs, then please move it there...!) We were sort of aiming for Honey Pig, but ended up at Honey Pig Izakaya instead. We're glad we did -- less boisterous, lower music, no barbecue residue all over us. Owned by the same people as Honey Pig, they gladly took our Living Social coupon. We ordered around the menu and had way too much food, and just the right amount of beer, for what would have been $90 all in, four beers, tax and tip included. Seafood Pancake - Not as large as the one at To Sok Jip, and a bit on the greasy side, but quite good. We had two small wedges left over at the end and I picked through one of them to find about 75% octopus (or squid), and some flecks of white fish flake and shrimp pieces. Of course, lots of scallions too, with the green parts left in long slices and the white parts in very small disks. I would order this again. Grilled Whole Squid - A beautiful dish, about 8-9 inches long, 3 inches wide, perfectly browned and sliced in quarter-inch rings. Despite its appearance, the dish was otherwise a dud. It was quite chewy and had very little flavor. I would not order this again. Spicy Seafood and Tofu Stir Fry - Not too spicy, so I'm assuming they dumbed it down for us meeguks (learned that from Escoffier). The tofu was quite soft, and disintegrated as we picked through the dish. It had lots of octopus, which gave it a chewy mouthfeel, and some tender mussels (not enough for Lady KN's liking), shrimp and squid. I might order this dish again, only spicier. Sushi Special -- Deal of the night at 10 pieces of nigiri (or whatever the Korean word is) for $12.99. Eel, tuna, salmon, white fish, yellow tail, more or less. I would order this again. We perused the izakaya menu and promised to graze it on our next visit.... -
"Bulgogi Cultists, Rejoice: Jonathan Gold Finds First-Rate Korean Barbecue at Gwang Yang" by Jonathan Gold on latimes.com
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Siroo or Juk Story - whatever it goes by now - has the best shaved ice I've had in the US. I recently tried many of the top kakigori shops in Tokyo and Siroo's bingsu compares favorably. Granted, bingsu is a little different than kakigori. Highly recommended in any case. Next time, I may try the rice porridge. -
Dropped in last night on recommendation of a friend who's about as Ethiopian as you can be if you were born in Wisconsin. I wasn't too keen on the usual round-up of stewed lentils-- bland -- though others liked the yellow peas (Mrs. B will translate) quite a bit. Spicing that might have been in the lentils was apparently reserved for an excellent kitfo, fresh and very spicy, maybe my favorite ever. And I particularly enjoyed a firfir (also spelled "fitfit," on the menu once or twice) made with a tangy spice mixture tosses with injera and dried beef. Well worth a stop. -
Soju Sarang now open in Annandale. Has anyone tried this spot? -
Le Matin de Paris has closed, and is being replaced by Manoa Bakery & Cafe.
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This is in the former location of Annadale Seafood, located at 7123 Columbia Pike in Annandale, which is where I have one of my favorite Korean food experiences ever. Tonight, wanted to re-live that memory and headed back. It is now called Janguh Si Kwanguh Dong. It doesn't look like anything on the interior was changed, perhaps it is a bit cleaner, but still much the same. They have upgraded the menu and there are better descriptions and more English. I wait staff spoke better English also, and were able to better describe the differences in the sashimi platters. Basically, there are about 4 varieties, all available in a large, medium, or small. The varieties loosely are: fish only, fish only but including a flounder that was live in the tank, fish and seafood (all the fish, but including abalone, sea cucumber, and sea squirt), and fish including the live flounder and the seafood. We were debating the seafood vs. the fish only. While I would have liked to try the seafood, the rest of my party is not as adventurous. We opted for the fish only. The waitress suggested that we not get the live flounder, but we didn't listen and opted for the live flounder. The initial dishes included a pumpkin porage which was very tasty, a tempura style california roll, salad, spicy tuna roll, edamame, squid tempura, some other type of sushi style roll, corn with cheese (my wife and mom's favorite), sauteed mushrooms, some sort of smoky rice, scrambled eggs (my daughter went crazy on this and ate the whole portion), a whole fried tilapia (I may have left out one or two). Next came the sashimi, which included salmon, tuna, white tuna, yellowtail, and a bunch of flounder (fillet, and a belly cut-more to follow on this later). All of the fish was very tasty. They gave us a little separated dish with sesame oul with salt and nori, and told us to each this with the white tuna. It made it very tasty. The flounder was very tough in the Korean style, with the belly being even more tough. My dad did not like the flounder because he thought it was too tough (the waitress tried to warn us, I still liked it). Once the sashimi was done, they brought us each a bowl of miso, again my daughter loved this (we also got her an order of shrimp tempura, which was shared and everyone really enjoyed it)(our daughter was a real trooper and really enjoyed the meal). After the miso, there was some nappa kimchi, radish kimche, some soy sprouts, and potato salad. This was followed by a flounder bone stew. This was actually the highlight of the meal for me (the rest of my family was rightfully stuffed). The soup had some flounder bones, nappa, sprouts, onion, tofu, and a spicy broth. The broth was the star! Meal was finished with Korean yogurt shakes. Total meal, $110 for 4, plus $11 for the shrimp tempura. All in all a great meal. Although my memory is a bit hazy from the last time we were here, I think there was more offering in the dishes before the sashimi, but it was still a great meal and I will come back again.
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Some Korean-American friends took me to Kimko Seafood in Ellicott City this weekend for Korean style sashimi. This place was mentioned under a different name, Bethany Seafood in a post by howchow a while ago. It's known to have lobster sashimi. I also found out from my friends that they often serve San Nakji, live octopus sashimi. Unfortunately, when we arrived they had run out of the octopus for the week. We ordered the large sashimi platter/dinner for the 5 of us. I believe it was $200. You start off with a small cup of congee, and then they brought out 20 different plates of bonchon. This included a large seafood pancake, fishes prepared in various forms- grilled/fried/raw, seaweed, edamame, potato salad, grilled chicken gizzards, rice with roe, seaweed soup, salmon collarbone, clams, and octopus. The sashimi platter is served on a meter long plank. Korean style sashimi is also eaten with kochujang, the red chile pepper sauce, as well as soy sauce and wasabi. My friend told me Koreans also prefer to chewier pieces of sashimi, the most popular being halibut. The lobster sashimi is pretty incredible. They take a fresh lobster from the tank, dispatch it, and right away, bring the tail split open and cut up topped with some roe. The remainder goes into a soup at the end of the meal. The meat is sweet, had a little bite at first, and then melts into the mouth. I also loved the fresh sea cucumber sashimi. It is not at all liked the cooked sea cucumber I've had. It has a mild briny flavor and has the texture of raw octopus. We also had the abalone and sea squirt sashimi. Abalone reminded me of a mushroom, and the sea squirt, while bitter at first, was just ok. The lobster soup is in a spicy broth also loaded with fish. It was wonderful. PICS -
While driving in Annandale today, I noticed a new restaurant on Little River Turnpike called Gangnam Sushi House (Facebook page) replacing Osaka.
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The Annandale Bon Chon location is now called Chi Mc, and is almost *exactly* the same as Bon Chon was, with slightly better service and (I think) a few more options to choose from. Matt "took me" there for Father's Day (he *loves* chicken wings), and it was wonderful - everything Bon Chon ever was, and perhaps more. I phoned my order in at 4:35, and they said it'd be ready at 5:10 (we ate in). They said they were out of drummies, so we got one Large Wings and a bottle of ShoChu ($33.95) and one Medium Wings ($14) - I can't find the receipt, so I'm going from memory here. We ordered them both half soy-garlic and half spicy, and plenty of drumsticks did appear after all. After receiving the shochu, and a large, thin, (temperature)-hot bowl of tofu-onion-soy soup, and two bowls of chilled, pickled radish cubes (the perfect chaser to the spicy chicken) - the chicken came, and it was virtually identical to Bon Chon's. It met our expectations and more. Matt flubbed a piano recital, and drowned his sorrows in chicken wings this evening - as a dear friend told me, "chicken wings are a unifying force of nature," and she's right. We had a fantastic time - thanks, Matt! Initialized strongly in Italic.
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Arg! Chinese school hiatus meant no Chinese newspapers weekly which means missing out on news like a new Asian-Fusion-Izakaya-Karaoke bar from the same owners as Honeypig. They claim to have a huge list of Chinese songs. Karaoke pig night anyone? Wara Wara (Annandale). -
there's another place in Annandale that serves these also. It's called Lunchtime and it's in the basement of an office building next to a McDonalds. One of my Korean friends say's this place serves the best noodles in Annandale. They also have great panfried dumplings.
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