Korean Food

[Andrew Fenton]

finally!  took you guys long enough to post.  man i'm hungry all over again, and i just had szechuan tasty house for lunch.

And when he says he had Szechuan Tasty House for lunch... man, HE HAD THE WHOLE HOUSE!

ba-dump-dump!

seriously, though, it was good stuff. You missed out...

[I_call_the_duck]

Agreed. Everything was wonderful.

My favs--for the banchan, I liked the cucumber, daikon, and lotus root. The eel was marvelous. It came out sizzling.

I actually liked the pork belly, especially when really seared. It was a little bland, and was made better by dipping it into the vinaigrette from the cucumber banchan, and adding some grilled jalapenos.

Another thing: We intended to start off with the eel, pancake, and dumplings, and proceed to the bbq, but everything came pretty much at once. Food frenzy. That was seriously a lot of food, and we were contemplating getting one more dish, but we resisted. We thought we ordered a lot, but judging from the table of twelve that was next to us, we were rank amateurs.

Capogiro: Mr. Duck and I shared a Giandujia and Croccante au Rhum. (a very generous scoop by the new guy ) The giandujia was amazing. The croccante au rhum that I tasted had a nice flavor of rum, but my serving only generated random blasts of rum. Nevertheless, it was quite tasty.

So when are we going again?

Edited June 4, 2007 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[philadining]

I have to stick-up for the pork belly - I rather liked it, and I didn't see any of it left-over or anything!

But yes, you're right, the marinated stuff is better, I did like the Kalbi, which is suspect might have been even better if the grill had been up to temp when the waitress put it on. And I really enjoyed the Bulgogi too, I'd order that again.

I wasn't detecting a huge amount of charcoal smoky flavor either, but it was there a bit, and I did feel like the general heat level was better than most of the propane grills I've used, so I really like the charcoal thing. Plus we get to experience the heart-stopping moment of terror when the waitress removes the bucket of hot coals with a flimsy metal rod!

Agree that the dumplings were -eh.. I don't know what's up with that, I haven't had any Korean dumplings that thrilled me here in Philly, but I know they can be good, I've had awesome ones in NY at Mandoo Bar (2 W. 32nd St - sorry, can't find a website, but here's the menupages entry>>)

The eel deserves some respect too, it had that great sweet-sticky-salty-fishy thing going.

Overall I thought this was some of the better barbecue that I've had, I'd go back for sure. There was a little trouble communicating: nobody speaks much English, but it's not a big deal, they were nice to us, and with a little pointing and pantomiming we got what we needed!

[I_call_the_duck]

I think the charcoal smoke went on me. I was reeking when we got home.

[MarketStEl]

Pandolre/Pandolne: 6775 N. 5th Street, Philadelphia PA.

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ya wanna do something right, ya gotta do it yerself:

Nearest SEPTA service: Bus Route 70 (Fern Rock Transportation Center to Torresdale or Tacony via Cottman Avenue) from Fern Rock Transportation Center (Broad Street Line and Regional Rail routes R1, R2, R3 and R5) to 5th Street and Oak Lane Road. Continue one block north on 5th to just before Cheltenham Avenue.

[Manley]

My wife and I really enjoy Korean food and will be trying some of the places mentioned in this thread. For a long time, we were going to the Korean buffet Porky & Porkie on 11th and Washington. While we'd had better Korean food before, we really liked that we could cook the meat and seafood ourselves and we didn't have to commit to one or two entrees. But, alas, like all good things, Porky & Porkie is no more. And while the Vietnamese restaurant across the street has been a wonderful consolation prize, we'd love to find another good Korean buffet.

Does anyone here know of a good Korean Buffet in the greater Philly metro area? We are willing to drive about an hour from Lower Bucks or even further for a really special place.

[herbacidal]

The Korean BBQ places on N 5th are where the good stuff is.

Kim's at 5955 N 5th is one of the only places with charcoal grills instead of gas. A good place to start. There's lots and lots of Korean places up and down there.

At this point I know the Korean places I like by location and not name, because many don't have romanized names.

[mrbigjas]

the korean alphabet is phonetic and easy to learn to read. i think everyone should do it. problem solved.

[Greg Ling]

The Korean BBQ places on N 5th are where the good stuff is.

Kim's at 5955 N 5th is one of the only places with charcoal grills instead of gas.  A good place to start.  There's lots and lots of Korean places up and down there. 

At this point I know the Korean places I like by location and not name, because many don't have romanized names.

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The place that was at rising sun that had a buffet is supposedly reopening and they had charcoal there.

+

Hey Herb, are you up for another Sid show on mon.

We are gonna hit up some Korean places again.

[karma police]

Any other good tofu houses other than Jong Ka Jib? I will actually be moving to Philly (well somewhere on the mainline not really downtown) from Atlanta. Believe it or not Atlanta has an amazing assortment of ethnic eateries. I don't want to have to give up good kimchi soon doo boo so I'm hoping there are lots of options.

Once I relocate I am sure I will annoy with posts about where to get good tacos (with tortillas hecho a mano), the best Indian and Bangladeshi places, pho, and other things I can't live without. I promise to do a seach of this board first...

Anyway, lets just start with tofu houses (unless this is "the" place I need to know about.)

[herp17]

The Korean BBQ places on N 5th are where the good stuff is.

Kim's at 5955 N 5th is one of the only places with charcoal grills instead of gas.  A good place to start.  There's lots and lots of Korean places up and down there. 

At this point I know the Korean places I like by location and not name, because many don't have romanized names.

←

The place that was at rising sun that had a buffet is supposedly reopening and they had charcoal there.

+

Hey Herb, are you up for another Sid show on mon.

We are gonna hit up some Korean places again.

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Is this true or a rumor?

I missed that place greatly. Please let it be true.

[philadining]

Victor Fiorillo has the spam at Pojangmacha in Upper Darby, as recounted in Philadelphia Magazine.

[philadining]

Three of us hit Kim's for some real-charcoal barbecue, after some appetite warm-up at SOHO.

Kim's

5955 N. 5th St. - Philadelphia, PA.19120

(215) 927-4550

www.jasonflowers.com/kims/index.html

The food was great, but almost as important, the service was almost overwhelmingly friendly. Everyone was exceedingly nice, and helpful, even though we were struggling with a little bit of a language barrier. But it's not a big problem, the menu's in English, and the servers speak enough to communicate what needs to be communicated. They checked-in on us often, offering to change the grill, or add new coals, or get us more lettuce, or scold us for not drinking our soju quickly enough! Overall, they just gave the impression of being happy to see us, which is a marked contrast to the somewhat indifferent service I've encountered at similar places.

The banchan selection and quality was very good.

Maybe it was the SOHO chicken we started with, or maybe it was the fact that we ordered about three times as much food as we should have, but we barely made a dent in these, although they were all quite delicious.

This marinated beef and squid combo was more than enough to feed three of us, it somehow seemed to have no bottom, every time we'd load up the grill, it seemed like the heaping pile on the plate hadn't reduced any...

Out of an inability to narrow our options, we ALSO got an order of spicy marinated pork, which itself would have fed six amply. I'm simultaneiously proud and ashamed to say that we pretty much plowed through the pork, and most of the beef and squid. The pork was the winner for the night, with just the right thickness, fattiness and tenderness. The beef and squid was quite good too, just overshadowed by the pork. I'm not sure that's ever a fair fight.

From a purely technical standpoint, I think these in-table grills are the best I've encountered. I feel that they transfer both the heat and the smoky flavor of the coals better than most. There's a moveable exhaust vent that descends over the grill to suck up the smoke, but it wasn't especially effective. The room itself did not get all that smoky, but we certainly did, not that we minded all that much, I can think of worse things than going home smelling like charcoal and pork. One important warning: we discovered that at least at our table, some fat could drip down from the grill, into the table well, and then drain down onto the floor, so be careful where you put your feet!

Oh, and despite the three of us ordering enough meat for an army, we couldn't very well be expected to deprive ourselves of a pajun could we?

This was an especially good one, filled with scallions and mild-to-medium-heat fresh chile peppers.

Adding-up the quality of the meat, which was quite high, the taste of the marinades, the added flavor from real charcoal, the effectiveness of the grill, the variety and tastiness of the banchan, the excellent pajun, and the friendliness of the service, this ranks as one of the very best Korean Barbecue meals I've had.

Prices are in-line with other similar places: a huge plate of meat ranges from the mid-twenties to about $30, depending on the specific meat or combination. Each order is large enough to feed 4-6 normal people, with all the banchan, and maybe adding on a pancake or a stew or something. We spent lots more, getting two large orders of meat, and a pancake, but took lots home, and next time would likely order half as much even with a larger group of people!

I haven't had a chance to see whether Kuk-Il has opened back up or not, but even if it has, I think I like the grills at Kim's a little better. The price, variety and all-you-can-eat thing was nice at the buffet at Kuk-Il, but for absolute quality of meats, I think I prefer Kim's.

There's plenty more to explore on north 5th street, but it's going to be hard to resist Kim's...

Edited July 24, 2007 by philadining (log)

[Greg Ling]

Try the Jia Jiang Mein at Kim's. They also scold you if do not eat that immediately.

[MarketStEl]

Three of us hit Kim's for some real-charcoal barbecue, after some appetite warm-up at SOHO.[...]

There's plenty more to explore on north 5th street, but it's going to be hard to resist Kim's...

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Where on North 5th? Address, please?

I'll supply my own SEPTA directions.

[Greg Ling]

Three of us hit Kim's for some real-charcoal barbecue, after some appetite warm-up at SOHO.[...]

There's plenty more to explore on north 5th street, but it's going to be hard to resist Kim's...

←

Where on North 5th? Address, please?

I'll supply my own SEPTA directions.

←

Hey Sandy, It's two blocks from the place that Sam took us awhile back.

Up for next weekend?

[herbacidal]

I'm there.

[MarketStEl]

Count me in! You both know how to reach me.

Yes, I remember where we went with Sam.

[JanMcBaker]

Can I add myself in? Sandy-- Kim's is at 5th and Champlost-- you can pretty much roll off the 47 bus and end up at their front door. There's also a couple new looking places a few blocks up on Cheltenham Avenue at Oak Lane Rd.-- catty-corner from each other on either side of Cheltenham Ave. The one on the Cheltenham side used to be a pizza place.....

[herbacidal]

Um, if it's anything like last time, we won't start eating until 11pm or so.

[Greg Ling]

I'm not done work until 10, so probably not.

But I feel less of a degenerate drinking soju that late.

[TarteTatin]

New Korean opening up:

Meju Korean Restaurant

213 Chestnut St.

215-923-1020

(where Mandoline was)

BYOB.

It is being opened by Steve, the owner of Double Shot Coffee Shop next door.

He's a really super guy, hard worker, and he is Korean, so I have a feeling it will be good.

Opening "in November 2007".

Steve says it will be dinner only for a few weeks, and then he'll open for lunch

(so I can bring my clients there!)

The card says:

Kim Bop, Mandu, Duk Bok Gi, Jap Chae, Haemul Pa Jun, Soon Doo Bu Jigae, Yook Gae Jang, Kimchi Jigae, Mandu Guk, Bibim Bop, Dol-Sot Bibim Bop, Kimchi Bokum Bop, Bulgogi, Galbi (also all of those are listed in Korean on the card)

[mrbigjas]

if only they'll add gamjatang, sundae and jokbal, it'll be perfect!

[herbacidal]

if only they'll add gamjatang, sundae and jokbal, it'll be perfect!

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Okay, that's next on my Korean food love affair, actually learning the dish names!

[mrbigjas]

gamjatang = pork neck bone and potato stew

sundae = blood sausage

jokbal = pig foot. watch

for an intro.