Sunday, March 2, 2008

Korean Food: First Impression

K: We decided to celebrate our purchasing of the tickets by going out to eat this past Saturday night. What better time to try our first Korean meal? Our choices for Korean restaurants in St. Louis our somewhat limited, but we were advised to try The Korean Restaurant (not kidding, that is the actual name of the place) by a Korean friend of ours. It is supposed to be very authentic and is located at Olive and Fee Fee.
Well we ended up trying it and really liked it. We took some pictures of the place --- for you guys. And of the food --- for us, so we can remember what we liked/didn't like. We highly suggest trying it!

This was the outside of the restaurant - not overly impressive. But Mark and I have decided that the shabbier many Asian restaurants look, the better the food.



Though we didn't sit at one, you can request to sit at a table with a hotplate. They also bring this wok-like grill to the table to cook your food and keep it hot. From some of our Korea research, this seems to be a very popular style of eating over there. We'll be requesting a table like this next time.


Koreans typically serve a bunch of sides with their meals. This restaurant brought out these six side dishes, which we found very tasty. Mark especially liked the two middle dishes, although we still aren't sure what the one in the middle-right was. The one closest to us is Kim Chi, which is a staple dish served with every meal.


This was the appetizer we ordered. It is the Korean version of a sushi roll, only it had meat in it and wasn't served with soy sauce. We can't remember the name, but think it was Kim Bop?


Finally, the entrees. Mark got the Korean spare rib dish. I got the Korean BBQ (which I liked so much I forgot to take a picture). The meat was already cut off the bone so you could use chop sticks to eat it.
We were very impressed. We think we chose "safe" dishes this time, and will try to be a little more adventurous next time around. If anyone would like to go with us, just say the word!

9 comments:

Julia Goolia said...

Mmmm, that food is making me hungry! Great job, you little photo-taking blogger:)

Anonymous said...

안녕하세요? ^_^

I sorta stumbled onto your blog, but I happen to love Korean food (and the language), so I thought I would comment. You were right, about the Kim Bop. That is what its called. Its spelled 김밥. And the kimchi (김치) you ate looks likes its 맛김치. Its the common nappa cabbage type. There is something like 150 types of kimchi. And if you want to try something different next time, try bibimbap (비빔밥), and soon-doo-boo (순두부) which is a soft tofu soup. And the best is 떡볶이 (sounds like dawk bohg gi). It's a spicey, sweet rice cake dish ( I practically live off the stuff ^_^ ).

안녕히 계세요 ^_^.

P.S. Do you or your husband know the language yet? I get the feeling the answer is "not yet", so I thought I'd ask. :)

Unknown said...

안녕하세요? ^_^: Thanks for the info! Very interesting. We'll definitely be trying your recommendations. And to answer your question: No, we haven't learned Korean yet. We're attempting to use the Rosetta Stone, but haven't made it very far. How did you learn the language? Any advice?

And Julia: I felt like a dork taking pictures of the food, especially when the flast would go off... Guess those are the sacrifices made by good bloggers, huh!

pitchfest said...

와... 한국말 잘 해요.

That middle right dish is sliced lotus seed pod and they marinate it in syrup.

Those side dishes come for free in Korea with a main course and you can get free refills of them too. In a chain diner here like 김밥천국 (the name means 'Kimbap Heaven'), a decent stew with all of those will cost you around $3.

Hannah said...

Michael has informed me that he would like to go to a Korean restaurant with you guys. I guess I will come too ;-) Let us know when you go next!

Anonymous said...

안녕하세요? ^_^

I also tried Rosetta stone a while back. It was good for listening practice, but if I remember correctly, it only teaches the formal style of speech, without honorifics.

Now I study at a language school with native speakers and I have a language exchange partner. But before that, I used http://learn-korean-now.com to get the basics of the language. The website isn't perfect, but its very , very good. Also, rki.kbs.co.kr/learn_korean/lessons/e_index.htm can help you practice your pronunciation of vowels. Once you get the basics down, you can get a language exchange partner on CraigsList.org, to help you practice.

안녕히 계세요 ^_^

Youn Wha said...

I would also ask for pbolicha?
I don't know how to write in english- but it is korean tea, made of roasted corn, served hot or cold.
I love it!!!

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?

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