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Ireh, a closer look
 Lalinzy blogs on Ireh! |
 Ireh Korean Restaurant from Yelpers! |
Above and below, the Ala Wai Boat Harbor in Waikiki, on a typical Winter day in the islands!
Aloha!
2/24/11 - Continuing our trek through a number of relatively new and undoubtedly great Korean restaurants, today I'll be presenting another little gem I'm sure you'll appreciate in one way or another.
Once upon a short time ago, I remember when Yummy's Korean bbq first opened in Hawaii Kai in 1986, and ever since, the floodgates have been thrown wide-open for an abundance of similiarly-minded eateries. A little Gina's here, a little Peppa's there, a smidgeon of nnnth-street BBQ for good measure, and all of a sudden, the Korean bbq plate lunch was born! Thus, it has been the case for many years now that Korean food in the islands, at least outside of the Korean community, has mostly been known for marinated bbq meats, presented in inexpensive, construction worker-sized plates! Retaining the 2 scoops of rice but dispensing with the normal macaroni salad of a typical local plate lunch, they also loaded each plate with 3-5 different banchan varieties of your choice, from a selection of up to 10 or more (mac salad is often one of those choices, too). Above and beyond, though, it was mostly about Korean-style bbq meats like kalbi, boneless chicken, bulgogi, and spicy pork.
As great as that all is, all I can say now is - we've come a long way, baby!
Yes, the afore-mentioned items are still a huge part of genuine Korean cuisine in the islands, and a blue moon is the only time you'll find both expensive or inexpensive Korean restaurants without bbq meats. Ireh on Keeaumoku St., however, is one exception to the rule. Believe it or not, you won't find a single type of bbq meat anywhere on the menu, cooked or customer-cooked, yakiniku-style!
But before even talking food, there are several reasons I really love this place, not least among them being the clean, bright, very cheerful atmosphere. I mean, it's not about expensive or stylish furnishings nor over-the-top gimmicks, but simple, new, and very practical applications in a clean, modern, cafe-like surrounding. With K-pop or K-drama on one flat-screen and Hawaii tourist-promotion videos that'd make HVB proud on the other, the over-all cleanliness and well-kept, neatly structured arrangements, however basic, and whether concerning the dining room, kitchen, or bathroom, induces a feeling that the owners take pride in their establishment. And that kind of pride must translate into, among other things, great food, yes?
BTW - who the heck is that guy on the poster under the tv? I see him everywhere!
As stated, Ireh doesn't carry any type of bbq meat whatsoever (though there is meat jun and various otherwise-cooked meats!), instead concentrating on a number of different noodles, dumplings, jook (rice porridge), rice dishes, topokki, and Asian-style desserts. I guess the theme here is simple, inexpensive, street-style, yet authentic dishes of a more humble variety, which, as you know, can produce some of the most pleasing and heart-warming meals ever! Not that I've had the good fortune of a Korean grandmother or up-bringing, but if ever there were a place I could imagine as being home-style, unpretentious, and embodying the stuff any Korean kid grew up with, it'd have to be here.
Banchan varieties aren't the most diverse nor as heavily-portioned as most Korean restaurants, but they are clean, tasty, and of a good quality. Our few visits here included exactly the same types of complimentary dishes, and consisted of thin-sliced danmuji (takuan or pickled radish for us locals!), kim chee, and a type of pickled, shoyu-flavored onion, jalapeno, and radish dish I can only describe as being like a Japanese sanbai-zuke, only with a spiciness exceeding even our kim chee (not sure what the Korean name for it is).
For starters of the price-tagged variety, I highly recommend their mandoo. At $8.95, it's priced a bit steeply when compared to typical entree choices here, but when it arrives, you'll see why:
That's 8 pieces of the largest mandoo I've seen anywhere! To begin with, the wrappers are much bigger than your typical grocery store variety, and they stuff them to the hilt with pork, onion, glass noodle, garlic, ginger, and who knows what else - really good stuff! I thought So Gong Dong at the McCully Shopping Center made some really great mandoo, but these are also fabulous.
I also appreciate it when restaurants make them to order, not simply in mass and standing by. Of course, the mix inside has to be made earlier, but like a good katsu, it makes all the difference in the world when mandoo is stuffed, wrapped, and cooked right then and there. In fact, with a straight-shot view of the kitchen from our table, we could tell that even smaller dumplings placed inside of soup noodles were assembled fresh!
Here's another order of mandoo, only boiled instead of fried. Once again, simply awesome!
The one dish I didn't quite take to was their beef vegetable jook, or porridge ($8.95) Not that it was anything bad, but the flavoring wasn't quite there and the broth, a little too thick for my tastes. The beef was pretty much useless in this dish, as it came in the form of tiny shreds that largely blended in with everything else.
Jook dishes actually account for 15 of the 56 items listed outside of desserts, with variations like red bean, mushroom, yam, vegetable chlorella, pine nut, and abalone. Despite my cool reception to the stuff, I still came out so impressed over-all with this place that I had to tell Big Al, who promptly decided to check it out for himself. His order was a kim chee noodle ($8.95), which he said was delicious (taken from an Iphone)!
Wanting to try it out ourselves, Kumi and I came back for an order, only this time, we figured we'd try it with their hand-cut noodles, whatever that meant!
Hmmm... Didn't quite see any noodles there. What could be lurking beneath these spicy waters?
I figured hand-cut noodles would be the same as any other noodles, only cut fresh and by hand (or shall I say knife) in the kitchen from wide, flat sheets, but what we found instead was a type of noodle that, well, didn't actually look like a noodle. It was cut allright, and irregularly so, as a charmingly rustic and home-made noodle should be, but each was about the width of a lasagna strip!
There were 2 types found, the first sporting a bright orange:
The number of different noodles on the menu is a bit surprising, and we're not talking about a bunch of different toppings on the same type of noodle, either! No, the noodles themselves are different, going by names like red bean, white bean, green bean, chewing (chewy), kim chee, vegetable green, Korean ramen, and the other flat, hand-cut noodle found in our dish above, derived from sesame leaf:
While the carrot was mellow and slightly sweet, this sesame leaf variety came not with a sesame taste, but with a very pronounced essence of wheat, almost like a mugi-cha (wheat tea), with a touch of herbiness as well. Healthy as heck, I can only surmise, but perhaps a bit too strong after a while, and not very much representative of the silky, white, non-threatening nature of regular noodles. In the end, no regrets, as I was happy to try something new, but next time, I can't say I wouldn't prefer the normal white noodles Big Al was fortunate enough to order - I know because I had those same great noodles in the very next dish shown! The broth itself was delicious, though, and not nearly as spicy as its deep-red coloring may portray.
Here's the white noodle variety, the same one Big Al ordered:
Like a thinner, flattened udon, this seafood noodle ($8.95) was perfectly cooked, arriving springy-chewy and swimming in an aromatic broth that was loaded with essences of the sea, but also light and not overly-flavored at the same time. I especially loved these two little critters inside:
But the real winner for me here at Ireh was their topokki, of which there are many varieties. There's a standard model, which comes with the two most prominent ingredients, solid tubes made of rice and a red, gravy-like chili sauce, along with fishcake, onion, boiled egg, and cabbage. Additional items are added for a twist on the original, such as cheese, beef/vegetable, and various types of noodle, of which the latter choice can then be considered a rabokki, or rapokki. As stated last time at Richo, topokki is a very popular street food, especially peddled through curb-side, open-air vendors that are found all over major cities.
Here's a shot at my rabokki, or topokki with noodles, this particular choice coming with what they call chewing (chewy) noodle:
Kumi and I both love naeng myun, or cold buckwheat noodles, for their thin, chewy, springy texture and also their healthy qualities, so I surmised what was listed as a topokki with chewing(chewy) noodle would utilize this same type of strand. Wrong, was I, but that wasn't a problem, since what we got instead was also delicious! They were definitely chewy as well, only not of the brownish, semi-transluscent naeng myun variety, but a type of white noodle that was every bit as good, if not better! Thus far, it was the best topokki (rabokki) I've had anywhere, hands down!
Mom loved the noodles, too, but was even crazier for the rice sticks, which were also very chewy, like a soft, less-elastic mochi. Being her first time trying topokki, she was so impressed that she had to request a take-out order for dinner that night, too!
Oftentimes, I get razzed from folks because I'm not a big dessert guy. Yes, it's true, so this time, I had to employ the help of a Yelp friend, who was kind enough to allow me use of her picture. Seeing that Ireh's Korean-style shave ice is so good (from what they've been saying!), I couldn't leave this very important issue to not.
I love Ireh. It's cheap, clean, comfortable, and full of authentic Korean dishes. Service is helpful and friendly, and there's lots of parking either on the street or directly behind the restaurant, in the lot shared with Keeaumoku Supermarket, Orinne Sarangchae, and others here in Koreamoku. And whatever you do, make sure you try their topokki and rabokki!
I'm still not quite done with our barrage of new Korean restaurants, but we're gonna take a small break with a few other food types before returning once again.
Hope you're all having a great and wonderful day!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Ireh
911 Keeaumoku St.
943-6000
Monday-Saturday 8am-10pm; Sunday 11pm-10pm
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