[cha_charoni]

Just thought I'd start this thread since people were asking about it in the WLO thread. My parents got some take-out when it first opened and said it was pretty good. We tried going there a couple of weeks back and the wait was over an hour. Definitely liked the vibe when we first walked in and it reminded of being in Seoul. Anyhow, did some research and was able to find a website although it's mostly in Korean but the menu is translated to English with prices. After looking at the pics and menu, I think I'll have to stop by again soon and this time wait until I'm seated.

Anyone been yet care to give us a review?

http://kt411.com/adf...l.asp?Blobid=81

[DonRocks]

cha_charoni, on Apr 8 2008, 12:04 PM, said:

care to give us a review?

Sure!

여러분의 성원속에서 서울 꿀돼지가 애난데일 중심가에 새시설과 청결한 장비, 넓은 파킹장 그리고 저희 서울 꿀돼지의 정성되고 준비된 메뉴로 곧 여러분을 모시게 되었습니다. 많은 성원 바랍니다.

[jaimetown]

Translated with my rough Korean, maybe something like this:

"Thanks to your patronage, Seoul Honey Pig opened in the heart of Annandale in a new, clean facility with ample parking. We hope to serve you with our well prepared menu. See you soon."

[teddyguy]

jaimetown, on Apr 8 2008, 12:55 PM, said:

Translated with my rough Korean, maybe something like this:

"Thanks to your patronage, Seoul Honey Pig opened in the heart of Annandale in a new, clean facility with ample parking. We hope to serve you with our well prepared menu. See you soon."

I guess I'll give a short review:

I've been to this place 4 times, including once at midnight. The wait for tables is surprising for a Korean restaurant. I thought going at midnight would be okay, but even then I waited 25-30 minutes for a table.

The food is good. I like the gochu jang pork bellies (comes iwth vegetables), the regular fresh pork bellies (they grill kim chi with it), and any of the chul pan dishes (stir fries where they make fried rice with the leftovers). The tables are usually far too small to handle the stuff they put on it. This especially presents a problem if you order their excellent kim chi jige or their less impressive daenjang jige.

Service is uneven, especially because they're so busy. I've had a couple times where I've received excellent service, and one time where the waitress basically just left us alone for the whole time. Be prepared to flag down the waiter/waitress if you need anything.

Definitely wear the apron. Pork fat splatters. But it's darn tasty.

[Escoffier]

So Grover and I decide to visit Honey Pig on Friday for lunch. Honey Pig is located behind Bank of America on Columbia Pike near Little River Turnpike. We were greeted at the door and led to a table that was directly in the path to the kitchen and restrooms (naturally there were 20 other vacant tables which were not in the path to the kitchen or restrooms). We settled into our new table in a far corner way away from the kitchen and bathrooms and looked over the menu. The menu is quite extensive but you might want to bring someone who speaks Korean to order for you...luckily, I have Grover. After perusing the menu for a few minutes, our server came to take our order. Grover ordered us both marinated and non-marinated pork belly with kimchi. A busgirl (water girl? water person? person who delivers things but isn't a waitress?) rather uncermoniously placed one glass of ice water and one glass of bori-cha on the table and fled post-haste. This was fine (for me) but I was reasonably sure that Grover would want something to drink as well. After a few seconds of frantic signaling, finger waving and yoo-hooing, we managed to get the attention of someone who had absolutely no idea of what we might want...we resorted to pointing at the glasses and making the universal opening of the hands gesture to signal that we'd like another glass of water and bori-cha...with much whispering and finally pidgin Spanish/Korean we were brought more water and bori-cha...next came the kimchi and panchan...the kimchi was milder than I like but tasty, there were some onions marinated in soy sauce and vinegar that were really good, some spicy veggie bits (I'm not exactly sure what these were but they tasted good so the passed the good-taste test). Now came the big moment, our up to this point server who seems to have never smiled in her life uncermoniously began placing squares of marinated and unmarinated pork belly on the grill. Honey Pig makes great noises about how the servers cook the meat for you and you sit and savor the wonderful aromas of cooking meat and then, when the meat is done, you wolf it down...well...I don't want to disillusion you, but once the meat was on the grill, it would have been easier to find a seat on the metro during rush hour than to find our server...okay, no big deal, we can push meat around a hot grill and so we did...while performing this daring action we noticed that everyone in the place was wearing a protective bib (no other word would suffice) with the exception of...you guessed it...me and Grover...again the yoo-hooing, finger pointing and other gestures (some of which were starting to border on the rude even if they were carefully hidden by the table), after much sighing and "oh woe is me" action, our kindly server deigned to bless us with our requisite bibs...naturally we still had not received either rice or lettuce to wrap the now rapidly cooking meat. Once again into the breach we leaped and once again we were blessed with service only slightly slower than the hectic pace of a glacier...finally gathering all the necessary pieces of our lunch we placed grilled kimchi on top of grilled pork belly and tried to put the lousy service out of mind. The meat was very good, the grilled kimchi was a new taste for me and one I really enjoyed (once it cooled down enough so that I could eat it...Grover had no such problem). Temporarily putting aside the service issues (as if) we cased the joint to see if it would make a suitable $20 Tuesday...there is no table that will hold more than 8 people, there are no long tables where people can eat family style and naturally all the tables are bolted to the floor for the safety of the gas feeds for the grills. No go, can't do it. No way to feed a hungry horde of Rockwellians in a group unless we either take over the whole place or decide to eat in groups of 4.
So, after all the attitude, lousy service, misunderstandings, etc, it's our opinion (and you know what people say about opinions), go if you want, try to overlook the spotty service, be prepared to ask a number of times for things that should just appear, try to outwait your server and when your order finally arrives, eat up and leave. Don't expect niceties, don't expect to be overwhelmed with service, just expect your food to show up (eventually) be cooked by you, and to enjoy your efforts...I gave myself a 20% tip because I served myself so well...your experience may be different, but we're really not interested in finding out if ours would be.
Lunch for the two of us was $25.99 without the tax...the lack of service I believe was free but the bill wasn't itemized so I can't tell for sure.

[cha_charoni]

So I finally got to check out Honey Pig last night and boy I wish I hadn't waited so long. There were seven of us and we were seated after about a 2 minute wait while they cleared off a two round tables that were adjoined together. One of the tables had the grill in the table while the other one used a portable grill burner.

For the 7 of us, we ordered 3 orders of the jju-moo-lluk galbi, 3 orders of the gochu jang pork bellies, 3 orders of the marinated pork galbi. We also got 2 orders of the kimcheejigae as well.

My favorite of the 3 was the gochu jang pork bellies although all 3 orders were very good. The beef and pork was very good quality. The restaurant was very busy and quite honestly the atmosphere made me feel like were in a restaurant in Seoul with the way the restaurant was set-up and the busyness of the place.

The service was pretty good all things considered. The tables are small with the grill sitting in the middle of a circular table and there's plenty of people working there that we were able to flag down someone whenever we needed anything. They even left us a carafe of water for the table that was filled whenever it was left empty. For those expecting to find a plethora of pan-chan, this restaurant may not be for you. Here it's all about the meat and main dishes. We definitely went through a lot of lettuce and the lettuce/onion salad as well as the marinated onions that went so well with the meat.

Looking around, I did get some food envy and next time I'm definitely going to order some of the non-marinated pork bellies with kimchi as well as one of the chul-pan dishes. In the end, all of us were quite satisified and probably ordered one meat dish too much. Our bill came out to be $135 without tip for 9 meat dishes and 2 kimcheejigae's and itemized in English. A pretty awesome value but I wonder if they will increase the prices back to their original prices that they have slashed out on their menu. By the time we left, there was definitely a wait of people waiting outside to get a table. I'm sure on the weekends this place must be packed throughout the night.

I would imagine having a native Korean speaker definitely is a plus to help navigate the menu and how to enjoy some the items that you won't find in your typical korean restaurant.

Anyhow, can't wait to go back and try some of the other things on the menu we didn't try.

[deangold]

Sitting here in a pig fat splattered haze, sipping on a medicinal malt Scotch to cut the richness of our experience, I must say that our first visit to Honey Pig was a resounding success. First of all we found it. Given our driving experiences in Virginia, that was a major accomplishment. We were seated right away and the waiter told us to ask him if we had questions. We did have questions so we let him steer us to Lightly Seasoned Beef Rib and Spicy Thick Pork Belly. The former is large chunks of beef rib, marinated and meant to be rolled in lettuce with garlic, peppers, diped in salted oil. Boy was it good.... much better than the version at Yechon. But the real revelation was the spicy pork belly. Marinated thick slabs of pork belly that were half lean and half fat were dumped on the huge grill along with a pile of quite good kimchee, a couple slices each of some sort of potato and some sort of squash. This was a life changing/affirming event! We spend the next half hour or so taking the thick fatty slabs, growing ever more crisp as time went by, putting a bit of grilled kim chee and then dipping them in the slightly sweet, possibly citrus (yuzu?) enhanced dipping sauce. Ohhhhhh my gosh was it goooooooooood!

$38 for enough food to bring both of our reputable digestive systems to a halt!

[deangold]

Burp! Tripe, pork rib, beer all for $38.00. The tripe was stellar, big thick pieces of who knows exactly what part of the animal, but it was chewier and crisper than I expected. Amazing. The rib was blade or someother shouldlike part with one rib bone. Very good. Each had its own dipping sauce and there were more side dishes: cukes, kim chee (very soft and pungent) and some sort of seaweed. A couple of Gins with fresh lime juice and simple eyrup before leaving for the pig palace have left my memory a little hazy. Antoerh discovery was taking the lettuce and green onion and tossing it with the mariated onions and eating it salad style. Yum! I smell faintly of grilled pig and am very tired. To bed!

[ema]

I have been there twice and I enjoyed their food. I am still confused at the various cooking surface they have. I have seen concave ones, convex ones, and the grill with large grid. Is there a particular type of meat that goes with a particular type of cooking surface. Here is a copy of their menu http://hostmaxi.net/...l.asp?Blobid=89 , however I have seen various pieces of paper in Korean posted through out the restaurant about specials. Anyone have any idea what they are?

[deangold]

We ahve now been 4 times. We ahve ahd most of the BBQ dishes.

I think the issue of the convex and concave BBQ surfaces has to do with what you order and what kind of table you are sitting at. Some tables have a gas ring in the table. These grills can get either an open grill, or the big concave or convex grills it seems. The small butane burners at other tables seem to get the square grill with raised ridges. While I prefer the convex grils for the pork belly so that the fat from the pig parts can run into the kim chee sizzling on the grill, the square grills do well with anything except the LA style ribs which tend to steam/braise as much as grill due to their large size and sweet marinade.

Of the BBQ, we love the thick prok belly and the #1 "Black" pork belly (thick square pieces of fat and lean). The thick beef is really good too. I think I prefer the brisket to the thicck beef. I am not sure which menu item is the thick beef, the brisket is listed on one of the specials as you come in as is the LA Ribs (Cross cut ribs with three bones and a large slice of meat attached. They cut the meat fromt he bones for you and then you chew the gristle from the bones)

With a larger crowd, we would again order the tripe but for two it is a little gamey and chewy. We have yet to go onto the additional dishes: cold noodles and soups of various kinds. Again,, we need a larger crowd. The convex grills seem to be for stir fries but we have never seen on in action, just the debris after their use on neighboring tables.

I like ther regular brand of Sochu, the first time I can make that statement.

[Escoffier]

deangold, on Jul 28 2008, 10:46 AM, said:

Again,, we need a larger crowd. The convex grills seem to be for stir fries but we have never seen on in action, just the debris after their use on neighboring tables.

Maybe we can get Grover to organize another Korean night nosh. I think if YOU ask her Dean, she'd probably say yes (a $20 Tuesday sounds just about right).

[deangold]

Escoffier, on Jul 28 2008, 10:59 AM, said:

Maybe we can get Grover to organize another Korean night nosh. I think if YOU ask her Dean, she'd probably say yes (a $20 Tuesday sounds just about right).

How about a Friday at 10:30pm late night pig out?!? That way both Kay and I can attend.

[TheMatt]

Escoffier, on Jul 28 2008, 10:59 AM, said:

Maybe we can get Grover to organize another Korean night nosh. I think if YOU ask her Dean, she'd probably say yes (a $20 Tuesday sounds just about right).

Well, I enjoyed the Gamasot evening she organized, so this sounds good to me!

[grover]

I don't mind organizing a dinner for DR friends. It is my great pleasure. When I was there in April, I thought about doing it but they didn't have a big table for 10-15. (Please correct me if I am wrong) All the tables (4 tops) were fixed onto the floor, not movable.
2 minutes later I posted above...
I just called Honey Pig to find out their capacity. They said that they can arrange the table for us if we make an appointment. I mentioned the party will be up to 20.

[TheMatt]

As I anticipate this, it's scary to think there will probably be *more* meat than was present at Gamasot. Be afraid, O heart!

[Marty L.]

Dean: I need to arrange a Korean BBQ dinner for something on the order of 20-30 students of mine. Could I pull it off at either Honey Pig or YeChon? Any other suggestions (not prohibitively expensive)? Thanks

[grover]

FYI: The URL for Honey Pig, which Cha_charoni posted, has been changed. http://kt411.com/adf/index.asp?ID=96 or please see ema's posting above. Just in case if it is changed in the future, the phone number and address are:

7220 Columbia Pike, Annandale , VA, 22003
703-256-5133 / 703-256-5229

[TheMatt]

grover, on Jul 28 2008, 02:37 PM, said:

FYI: The URL for Honey Pig, which Cha_charoni posted, has been changed. http://kt411.com/adf/index.asp?ID=96 or please see ema's posting above. Just in case if it is changed in the future, the phone number and address are:

7220 Columbia Pike, Annandale , VA, 22003
703-256-5133 / 703-256-5229

Hmm. According to Firefox 3, kt411.com is a possible attack site, so caveat clickor.

[Escoffier]

TheMatt, on Jul 28 2008, 04:15 PM, said:

Hmm. According to Firefox 3, kt411.com is a possible attack site, so caveat clickor.

Read the entire "Why did I get this notice" notice on the next page. It says that this site hasn't hosted any nasties or other unwanted software but might have in the last 90 days (more or less what it says).I'm not sure that it's clean but I don't think it's all that bad.

Now on to the good stuff...too much meat? Nonsense...why just eating Honey-toasted Cheerios for 36 months has brought my chloresterol almost back to terminal ...lots of meaty goodness here (even if we did have really glacial service the lunchtime we were there). It sounds like the service has improved so I'm up for a repeat visit (besides, Grover is one fine food ordering person)

[deangold]

Last night another trip to Honey Pig. Fresh Pork Belly (this is the thickest cut, very meaty) followed by Baby OCtopus & Pork Chul Pan. The pork was cooked in a concave pan so the juices (alright, fat) ran down to the center. Then a plate of baby octopus and more pork belly along with cabbage, red pepper and squash was dumped in. This bubbled ominously for a white before the wsitress motions for us to start eating it. The dish was hot for me so poor Kay was gasping for breath. She asked for rice and the waitress asked Fried Rice? and we said yes. She got a bowl of rice and disappeared into the kitchen for a flash and returned with the rice now topped by lots of seaweed, shredded green & white onion and maybe more. Much of the meat and octopus (but not all) was put on a side plate and the rice mix was tossed on the grill. It stir fried for a bit and then Kay got the first taste. Heaven! As it cooked, the flavors went from seaweed dominated to crispy toasted rice dominated. We sat there scraping off the brunt rice at the end! With 2 beers, $33.00!

Remember! Friday August 22 at 10:30pm: Honey Pig Pig Pig-out!!!

[deangold]

Last night they added a new trick to the BBQ. With the pork neck and beeef brisket, not only did we get grilled kim chee, but a large pile of thickly sliced garlic cloves, thinly sliced onions and green peppers. We did not stir it enough so the garlic was not browned but it was good. A bottle of soju, 2 plates of bbq and a bowl of steamed egg all for $39.98!

[DonRocks]

I can't say enough good things about my first visit to Gooldaegee this evening. At 6:30 PM, it was becoming crowded, and my young dining companion and I got seated at a center table where we were utterly lavished by the owner, a loquacious, matronly figure whose name sounded vaguely like Meek Young. She (correctly) assumed we wanted to stay on the mild side, and recommended #8 (the galbi, $22.99 and the most expensive meat on the menu by far). We also ordered #1, the grilled sliced black pork belly for $12.99. Both dishes were as good as could be hoped, and I particularly recommend #1 for any pork lovers out there - it will be very difficult not to order this on my next visit. The condiments were all just fine, but the service is what really stood out as extraordinary - the owner stood there and cooked our entire meal for us, and went out of her way to be nice to Matt.

There were lots of Korean families having dinner at this bustling restaurant, some with high-chairs at their tables. Based on what I saw this evening, Gooldaegee absolutely deserves a mention in the recent discussion about Restaurants Welcoming Infants And Toddlers.

Open 24/7. Next time I need grilled pork belly at 3 AM, I'm going to bypass Yechon and come here. Gooldaegee also sits near the top of my list of where to take visitors coming to Washington and looking for a unique dining adventure.

Cheers,
Rocks.

[deangold]

DonRocks, on Oct 23 2008, 08:25 PM, said:

She (correctly) assumed we wanted to stay on the mild side, and recommended #8 (the galbi, $22.99 and the most expensive meat on the menu by far). Cheers,
Rocks.

I hope you got the grilled kimchee! Any time you want to do a run for pork fat on the grill on a Friday or Saturday at around 11:30, call me!

[DonRocks]

deangold, on Oct 23 2008, 10:27 PM, said:

I hope you got the grilled kimchee!

Yes! The kimchee was grilled alongside the pork belly; the galbi with enough garlic bulbs (and onions, and bean sprouts) - all grilled in separate areas - to kill a vampire.

[sunshine]

I love this place so much I almost got a T-shirt (but alas, none in my size). We have had the grilled thick cut pork belly, the pork bulgogi and the spicy squid/pork chul-pan (the fried rice dish with all the mix-ins) as well as their seafood scallion pancake. The pork belly/pork bulgogi dishes are cooked with kimchee, lots of garlic cloves, squash slivers and kong-namul (soy bean sprouts). The grill dishes come with lettuce leaves (to wrap your meat in), rice, a green salad with lots of onions and sweet soy dressing, a couple pan-chan (tonite seaweed salad and hot pickled turnips or daikon) as well as mul-kimchee (water kimchee - like a cold kimchee soup), and raw garlic slivers, green jalapeno and soybean paste (which i like to put on my rice or meat before I wrap them in a lettuce leaf with a little onion from the salad and stuff the whole thing in my mouth). We always do the grilled meat first, then the fried rice as a second course. The server is supposed to help you cook your food and cut up the larger pieces. I like getting the fried rice nice and crispy on the pan so that it has a toasty flavor in addition to the flavors of the spicy squid, pork, soybean sprouts, onions, and seaweed. The ambience at nite and on weekends is smoky, loud (with Korean pop rock blasting) and bustling, so I would not recommend it for families with small children past 6 pm on weekend nites, but we have also been here at lunchtime on a Sunday with a more relaxed and peaceful vibe.

The owner was there tonite (she was the one yelling across the room for servers and also stepping in to make sure things were right with everyone), and service was decidedly better (more attentive) with her around. Open 24 hours and so reasonably priced for the amount of food! Tonite we split a seafood pancake, 3 orders of the thick pork belly and the squid/pork chul-pan dish plus a Heineken for $66 and change (not including tip) for 4 people and a toddler. I heart Honeypig!

[bimbap]

Had thick cut pork belly and kalbi last night. The meat was top-notch, but I found the kimchi was a little too fresh for me (it's all a matter of personal taste really). I especially enjoyed the two "dipping sauces" that came with the meat. One was a sesame oil sauce with salt, the other was a sweeter sauce rather reminiscent of a bulgogi marinade.

The wait staff was very nice, especially since we had a very boisterous toddler, so we never had to work the grill at all except to eat from it. They put us at one of their small two top tables which made the panchan, spoons and chopsticks way too accessible for my son. I spent most of my meal trying to keep him from flinging things onto the floor. We were right up against a large table occupied by a group of twentysomethings who greatly endeared themselves to us by playing with/distracting our son. After we left, my husband regretted not buying them a bottle of soju!

[Twinsdaddy]

This place sounds great, but I cannot eat at a restaurant reminds me of one of the Greaseman's favorite sayings.

[hillvalley]

Went last night with a group of 7. I had been once before, with someone who knew what they were doing so I had certain expectations about what we would be served. Unfortunately we definitely got the non-Korean version of their meals. Almost no veggies were included with the spicy pork, I had to ask for kimchi, only one basket of lettuce was given to a table of 7 which we had to ask to be refilled, and I had to ask for rice with the baby octopus and pork chul pan. We also had no help with the cooking, which wasn't an issue except when waiting to cook the spicy pork which needed to be snipped into smaller pieces. They appeared surprised that I knew what to ask for. Yes, it was a crowded Saturday night but a)the last time I was there it was that crowded and wastreated better and the tables full of Korean people better did not have similar problems. I'm writing this more as a warning than a complaint: before you go make sure you reread this thread and know what to ask for if it isn't provided.

That being said, the meal was fantastic and we all had a great time. We ordered bulgolgi, fresh pork, spicy pork, and two orders (although I'm not sure it was two) of the previously mentioned baby octopus and pork chul pan. The bulgogi was okay but I have had better elsewhere. The pork was fantastic as was the spicy pork, although it wasn't that spicy. I can't handle a lot of spice and it was fine for me.

I think the chul pan was the hit of the evening, especially once the rice and ecutrements were added. The baby octopus is snipped up into little pieces which helped for those of us who are a little squimish.

It should also be mentioned that we were able to make a reservation for 7 at 7 on a Saturday night. We had to wait about 10 minutes and then were hearded over to the table we would be occupying while the the previous diners were finished up with the instructions "Stand here and look at them. Then they'll leave faster. Keep looking!"

Dinner for 7 with no drinks was $12 a person. We will be back again. Soon.

[goodeats]

The Asian Gazette ad stated they are having a "Grand Opening on February 27, 2008." ?? There's also something about 30% off to celebrate the grand opening with the following specials (sorry if it's a bit off, as I'm translating from Chinese): $9.99 for Soju; $13.99 for Boneless Short Ribs (beef small ribs? orig. $19.99); $12.99 for Pork Belly slices (orig. $17.99); $6.99 for seafood pancake. There's also a lunch special for LA Galbi beef + cold noodles for $9.99.

Did something change? If so, maybe that's why hillvalley + group's experience was different?? I've not been there, but found the grand opening announcement interesting, so I thought I would post it.

[The Doctor]

Hi all,

Headed here tonight, and I think I am a little intimidated.

By going to the English version of their website, http://welcome.bz/se...me.asp?blobid=8, the only item I am sure about ordering is the #1, black pork bellies. The numbers skip from 8 to 21, and there's no mention of any chul pan dishes, except for a few images on the website.

Also, how does the chul pan work? Are you supposed to intentionally leave stuff on the grill for them to make it with?


Sincerely,
Scared in DC

[deangold]

The Doctor, on Jan 25 2009, 03:54 PM, said:

Also, how does the chul pan work? Are you supposed to intentionally leave stuff on the grill for them to make it with?

The Chul Pan is on the menu on the back side att he bottom if I recall. You just order your meats and cephlapods (pork belly, squid, baby squid, octopus all good and differently chewy). When you are about half way thru the chul pan, ask for fried rice and they will bring over veggies, garlic, onion, seaweed, rice and make a mush out of it all. A the rice cooks, it crisps on the bottom until you want to lick the pan to gett he last crumbs even if it is searingly heated!

I'd be more scared of the soju!

[The Doctor]

deangold, on Jan 25 2009, 04:45 PM, said:

The Chul Pan is on the menu on the back side att he bottom if I recall. You just order your meats and cephlapods (pork belly, squid, baby squid, octopus all good and differently chewy). When you are about half way thru the chul pan, ask for fried rice and they will bring over veggies, garlic, onion, seaweed, rice and make a mush out of it all. A the rice cooks, it crisps on the bottom until you want to lick the pan to gett he last crumbs even if it is searingly heated!

I'd be more scared of the soju!

Thanks for the reply! Still one question -- do I order the "chul pan" at the beginning, or just order meats as normal and then halfway through ask for the fried rice?

Cheers.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor, on Jan 25 2009, 05:05 PM, said:

Thanks for the reply! Still one question -- do I order the "chul pan" at the beginning, or just order meats as normal and then halfway through ask for the fried rice?

Cheers.

Maybe I could better phrase the question as: When you order chul pan, what comes with it? Does ordering it imply that they're gonna throw some fried rice on the grill when you're halfway done with the meat, or something else?

[hillvalley]

Order it at the beginning. I'm pretty sure there isn't a section called chul pan-we had to look up the thread on someone's iPhone, but as soon as we said chul pan the waitress understood what we wanted. Also keep in mind that you won't necessarily have the same waitress/er throughout the meal. Different people come by to take your order, help cooking with the food, etc. Also, the bori-cha (hot drink I think made of barley?) is called hot water if you need refills.

One other piece of advice-only wear clothes that you won't mind smelling of pork bbq long after the meal is finished

[Escoffier]

hillvalley, on Jan 25 2009, 05:19 PM, said:

Also, the bori-cha (hot drink I think made of barley?) is called hot water if you need refills.

NO, it's called bori-cha and is indeed barley tea..it's not hot water...

[hillvalley]

I understand that, but when us folk without a native Korean around asks for another glass the waitress responds with,"hot water?" This has happened both times I was there.

The second time I was there when I asked for a refill of "the barley drink" I got a blank stare. When I said, "hot water" both the waitress and the woman who she sent to get the pitcher (who was not Korean) understood what I meant.

I only knew the term was bori-cha for my post because I copied from an earlier post in this thread.

[The Doctor]

OK,

I'm happy to report a very enjoyable experience tonight at the Honey Pig.

Short summary: Perhaps owing to a bit of luck, we got everything we wanted, including the fried rice -- filling two people at a cost of $20 per person with generous tip.

Long summary:
There was a long line to be seated, but it moved pretty quickly.

They brought water out to start. We didn't get any bori-cha. We didn't ask for any, either, since we both ordered other drinks.

As soon as we were handed menus, the waitress (first of several) wanted to know our order. She could tell we needed guidance, so she recommended a pork and a beef. We said "what about fried rice?" and she then pointed down to the chul pan section of the menu (which exists on the printed version). She was also able to communicate to us that two dishes would be plenty of food.

So we ordered the #1 seng pork bellies (grilled sliced black pork belly) and the #11 bul nac chul pan (bul go ki, octopus, and fresh vegetable with special spicy sauce).

Immediately thereafter, they brought out the panchan. This was soon followed by kimchee placed on the grill, which served as the accompaniment to the pork belly.

We again asked if we would get fried rice, which caused a look of confusion on our server's face.

Once that course was polished off, they switched the grills for the chul pan. I think I figured out the mystery of the fried rice: It is made possible by ordering any of the chul pans. After you work at it a while, you indicate to them that it's rice time, and they bring over some rice and extra veggies to stir in.

After actually going through with the meal, I feel I have a much better handle on things now.

The menu can be funny in that everything is marked as "on sale." All they do is put some inflated fake price just so they can cross it off and put the real price.

[grover]

hillvalley, on Jan 25 2009, 07:43 PM, said:

The second time I was there when I asked for a refill of "the barley drink" I got a blank stare. When I said, "hot water" both the waitress and the woman who she sent to get the pitcher (who was not Korean) understood what I meant.

They don't know what "the barley drink" means.

[Scooter]

deangold, on Jan 25 2009, 04:45 PM, said:

The Chul Pan is on the menu on the back side att he bottom if I recall. You just order your meats and cephlapods (pork belly, squid, baby squid, octopus all good and differently chewy). When you are about half way thru the chul pan, ask for fried rice and they will bring over veggies, garlic, onion, seaweed, rice and make a mush out of it all. A the rice cooks, it crisps on the bottom until you want to lick the pan to gett he last crumbs even if it is searingly heated!

I'd be more scared of the soju!

Yes, beware the soju!

[The Doctor]

OK, some pictures from last night's meal.

In order:

1: The assortment of panchan they brought to the table.
2: The pork bellies, with the kimchee and other items that come with the dish.
3: The cooking of the chul pan.
4: The rice being added the chul pan.
5: The final fried rice product.

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[hexerei]

When you order the spicy pork belly (number three? possibly number 7...) the waitress may give you a look of "No, no silly man. Far too spicy for you." They're about a four on a ten scale of spiciness- the fat from the pork mixes the spice up well. The only problem is that if the overhead vent isn't venting too well, you can get a floating cloud of vaporized pepper sauce in the face.

Fantastic experience- it felt like we ate six pounds of meat in ten minutes and didn't suffer for a second.

[hamburglerhelper]

Has anyone eaten at Oe Gad Gib(I believe this is the correct spelling). For my money I prefer this place over Honey pig... It is at 7331 Little River Turnpike. It is very hard to see from the road so just turn into the Jerrys subs and pizza lot and it is right there. It's got an "all you can eat" option and they cook stuff on a heated stone instead of a metal grate... It's pretty close to honey pig i believe and its very worth going.

[ol_ironstomach]

hamburglerhelper, on Feb 23 2009, 01:04 AM, said:

Has anyone eaten at Oe Gad Gib(I believe this is the correct spelling).

The Oegadgib thread is to be found here.

[Crackpot Gourmet]

Are we crazy to think we can take friends here for dinner tonight around 7? Will we be collecting social security before we start to dine?

[goldenticket]

Crackpot Gourmet, on Feb 28 2009, 10:58 AM, said:

Are we crazy to think we can take friends here for dinner tonight around 7? Will we be collecting social security before we start to dine?

Call and make a reservation - they do take them. We went on a Saturday night about a month ago with a group of 7 (reservation made in advance) with only a brief wait before we were seated.

[Crackpot Gourmet]

Thanks. Had no idea they took reservations.

[deangold]

Crackpot Gourmet, on Feb 28 2009, 03:51 PM, said:

Thanks. Had no idea they took reservations.

usually for larger groups... 8 or more is what I have typically heard. #33 Pig Neck is amazing.

[Ericandblueboy]

The restaurant was very accomodating to our huge group but I think the food may have suffered a little because of our group size? I truly enjoyed only 1 dish tonight (pork shoulder I believe). Everything else was on the tough and chewy side: pork belly, beef, octopus, and intestines. I actually thought the intestines were kind of gross because they tasted just like intestines (guess that means I only like non-intestine-like tasting intestines....)

Oh yeah, we got some Hite beer. When we looked over at another table (presumably Koreans), they were drinking Coors Light. Incidentally, both beers have the temperature ready label (if the label is blue, it's at the right temperature).

Despite all my complaining, it was a cultural experience. The place was packed on a Tuesday night. Korean pop music wafted through the air and we all left smelling like we could use a shower.

[grover]

$20 Tuesday Honey Pig dinner photos

First row from the left:
Pork neck, Lightly seasoned boneless short Rib (Menu #7), Bulgogi-Octopus Iron grill (Menu #11), Cow intestine before grilled

Second row from the left:
Cow Intestine after grilled, Stir-fried rice with Bulgogi-Octopus jus, Spicy pork belly (Menu #3)

Steamed egg and Korean miso stew were given as a bonus.

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[StephenB]

Grover, thank you for planning an interesting, unusual experience. How do you say in Korean, Matte imashita!