Thanks to my best friend from growing up, I LOVE Korean food. Of course, this is quite a bit of a quandary since I’m allergic to peppers and Koreans LOVE their peppers. Luckily I have been able to successfully avoid them by knowing what to order… kind of.
Mike and I decided to eat in Koreatown after a very successful shopping trip at JC Penney (my new favorite store… who knew?!) I had a list of places to try and we stepped into Shilla (on 32nd between Broadway and 5th). It was only after Mike mentioned it that I realized that we had been there before. Whoops! I remembered liking it but being annoyed that they make you order 2 BBQ dishes to eat at the BBQ. I wasn’t overly hungry, but we decided to go for it… Plus an order of Bim Bim Bob (in a hot stone bowl of course… aka “dol sot”). Our BBQ picks were Bul Go Gi (my favorite! it’s thinly sliced beef in a special marinade) and Saewoo Gui (grilled jumbo shrimp).
(Apologies for the pictures… still using my iPhone since my camera battery wasn’t charging for a few days… fixed now)
When we sat down, we were immediately greeted by a spoon that looked, shall we say, protected:
The center of the tables have an actual grill in them. They light them up and somehow they don’t catch on fire… but it makes for some fun table grilling.
The salad looked good but was far too red for me to consider eating:
The one thing that always shocks and amuses newbies to Korean BBQ is all the dishes that they put out beforehand. 90% of them I could not possibly identify (except that if it’s very red it’s probably kimchi), but some I really enjoy.
Mike especially likes the crunchy fish.
The waiters bring the food out raw and throw it on the grill, then come back periodically to flip it and move it around so nothing burns. (Shilla has onions as well. Each place has their own set of veggies they use). Unfortunately sometimes they forget to let you know when it’s done, but you figure it out and hope you’re not eating something that isn’t quite cooked. The shrimp came out first and they were flavorful and delicious.
When the waiter brought out the meat, I was immediately concerned. First, it wasn’t thinly sliced like Bulgogi usually is and second, it was BRIGHT red. Kimchi red. UH OH! Sure enough it was a mistake and the right meat came out.
Once the bulgogi was done, we made lettuce wraps (rice + meat + whatever from the side dishes you desire to include all wrapped up in a lettuce leaf).
We also split the Dol Sot Bim Bim Bob. Bim Bim Bob is rice topped with assorted veggies, a protein (in this case, chicken), and a fried egg on top. You usually put kimchi in it, but I use the Korean soy sauce (with sesame oil I believe). When you get it in a restaurant, you can order it in a hot stone bowl which makes the rice burn and stick a little to the sides. This is my favorite part.
The meal ended with a sip of tea, which was especially delicious. The waitress said it was ginger and cinnamon, however, I also tasted something floral, vanilla, and honey. Whatever it was, it was a nice sweet way to end the meal.
Of course, none of the food at Shilla can come anywhere near to comparing to Esther’s home cooked Korean food. However, since I can’t hire Esther as my personal chef (the whole doctor’s hours would probably get in the way), it’s a decent alternative. I will say though that I have had better in K-Town (and without the 2 dish BBQ minimum) for cheaper (this was $21 for the bulgogi, $22 for the shrimp, and then the affordable meal option of $13 Bim Bim Bob).
Overall Nom Points: 7 out of 10
