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Seoulia - Korean (With Barbecue) on Rhode Island Avenue and Sellman Road in the Former Gom Tang E Space in Beltsville - Reopen under New Ownership


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I've only been to this Korean restaurant twice. It is in a small strip mall on Rhode Island Ave just a few blocks north of the intersection with Rt. 1 in Beltsville.

Seoulia seems to specialize in soups and casseroles. There are some tables that have inset grills for bbq, but most of the other diners seem to chose dishes that involve tabletop burners with bubbling pots of stew/soup/casserole.

On the first visit, I had the soondubu jjigae (soft tofu stew), which was spicy and pretty flavorful. On the second trip, we had both the seafood and kimchi pancakes and also some bulgogi. The bulgogi was pretty standard, but the pancakes were both quite good, containing various forms of squid, shrimp, and such.

I definitely intend to come back and try some of the casserole/stew dishes that seem most popular with the Korean clientele.

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This place is tucked away off the main strip in Beltsville, but is definitely worth a visit.  Stopped in for lunch today and couldn't help but over-order.  The seafood pajeon is massive and stuffed with all manner of seafood.  Excellent crispy texture for all but the most interior pieces.  I'll be back for more of that.  Also had the kimchi jjigae.  Hearty and spicy.  This was all served wtih a TON of banchan (kimchi, sprouts, broccoli with chili sauce, potato, chayote, grilled pepper strips).

The only downside was having to endure soft hits from the 80s the entire time.

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I've known the Annandale branch has been closed for awhile now, yet I forgot to move it from the Multiple Locations Dining Guide into Centreville, and was cursing myself for being negligent. However, as I was in the process, I found out that a branch opened in Beltsville a little over a year ago, so it belongs there after all; just with a slightly different subtext.

 

I thought I had tried all of the Korean places in or around Beltsville, but I had also never heard of Gom Tang E. For my money, though, Seoulia is the best Korean in the area. I always end up rotating between the same three dishes:

Dolsot Bibimbap is a classic done well. The dish comes in a large clay pot, with assorted vegetables and meat on top of (steamed?) rice. Hot sauce comes on the side and adds a nice kick. The best part of the dish is getting to the perfectly crispy rice on the bottom of the pot, which I have to chip out with a spoon. We always order a well-done egg on top, but they should be able to do the traditional soft-boiled egg.

Japchae is another classic dish, stir-fried sweet potato noodles with sesame oil and assorted vegetables. The dish is a bit sweet, but delicious. This is a really simple dish, but they do it as well as anyone.

Seoulia's specialties are their stews, and they don't disappoint. For about $32, you get a huge pot of spicy broth filled to the brim with different items, which is cooked tableside on a portable burner. I always get the version with octopus, udon noodles, tofu, barbecue beef, and more. The soup is absolutely packed with flavor, and the portion size is big enough for two people to eat and still have leftovers. The soup goes great with rice as well.

Appetizers range from decent to really good. Their barbecue is fine, but nothing to write home about (although I feel that way about restaurant Korean barbecue in general).

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I like their haemul pajeon and also the kimchi version (the pancake appetizers), although they aren't quite as good as the ones at Hwa Gae Jang Tuh in Rockville. Also good is the the soon dubu jigae (soft tofu stew); they also have the unusual budae jigae (Korean "army base stew" with hot dogs and other random ingredients).

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Do you know the address of Gom Tang E?  I'm still uncertain--I think it either is Seoulia, or has been replaced by Seoulia.

You're right - it was replaced by Seoulia.

It's odd that Gom Tang E has closed in obvious Korean locations (Annandale and Beltsville), yet is opening in Eden Center.

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It's odd that Gom Tang E has closed in obvious Korean locations (Annandale and Beltsville), yet is opening in Eden Center.

Less Korean competition in Eden Center.  Would you rather be the only Korean restaurant among a lot of Vietnamese restaurants or just another Korean restaurant in a town full of them?

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Less Korean competition in Eden Center.  Would you rather be the only Korean restaurant among a lot of Vietnamese restaurants or just another Korean restaurant in a town full of them? 

Good point. However, don't forget what happened to what was essentially the only Korean restaurant in DC, Yee Hwa (not that Downtown is exactly a Vietnamese enclave).

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Seoulia is in heavy rotation when I'm in my Laurel office (competing only with Da Rae Won, Yia Yia's, and Pho 88).  Everything I've had there has been great.  In general, I stick to the soups, and all have been winners.  The pajeon is great (and massive), and the dolsot bibimbap is a fine rendition.

They were advertising duk bo ki this past week.  For $12.99 you get an embarrassingly large serving of rice cakes, fish cake, and bean thread coated in red pepper and soaked in fiery red sauce...and topped with 4 pan-fried mandu.  Between that and the banchan, that $12.99 covered 3 full meals over the next couple of days.

With winter upon us, one could do much worse than the various hot soups on offer withiin a very small radius in Beltsville.

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Went yesterday for lunch.  I never made it before the name change, closing, whatever the f happened over there, but one of my dining companions had.  He said it was cleaner and the food was better.  I'm terrible with korean menus but I had boiling kim chee soup, third from the bottom on the soup list, just the right heat level for what I wanted that day.  Generous banchan including one which was maybe fermented some sort of bean and brown and disgusting to some but awesome like stinky cheese to me. 

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Made it to Seoulia with a small group. The menu is down to a collection of standard dishes (bibimbap and the like), but they have kept most of the soup dishes from the earlier menu.  I think there was a short list of bbq items, but it wasn't clear if this was for cooking at the table, or in the kitchen.

We had the tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) with fish cakes, haemul pajeon (seafood pancake), soon dubu jigae (soft tofu stew), and the oxtail soup, plus appeased the lone vegetarian in the party with japchae sans beef (yam noodles with vegetables). The prices are fair, the dishes are generous, and one of the owners?chef?grandma? came out to advise on some of the dishes while we were ordering.  The soon dubu jigae was similar to pre-re-branding; I found the oxtail soup to be a bit bland, but I think it is supposed to be that way. The tteokbokki was a pretty big hit with the entire group. I would like to see a few more tentacles in the haemul pajeon, which was a bit more batter and less seafood, but still quite tasty.

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