Korean, page 1

Delicious grilled meats, along with lots of very traditional menu items, at Choi's Garden.

Choi’s Garden. A Closer Look. 1303 Rycroft St. in McCully/Moiliili. 596-7555. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. Tucked away on a small side street near Ala Moana and Wal-Mart is an excellent, authentic eatery furnished with a nice collection of Korean pottery, paintings, and other forms of traditional art. You better go early if you are having dinner, because the parking lot fills up quick. There are a good number of wait staff who are cleanly uniformed, attentive, and polite. Should you choose yakiniku dining, there are long tubes that come down from the ceiling to suck out the smoke and prevent it from smelling up your clothes and hair, although you should never expect a 100% success rate. The menu can get confusing if you are not familiar with Korean foods, but if you turn to the lunch menu, which can be ordered at dinner also, you’ll find the BBQ meats that are so popular locally. You can also order combinations, though the menu doesn’t say anything about it. At least 8 separate ban-chan side dishes are usually presented, even for as little as 2 people!

A healthy hot-pot from the very traditional and authentic Shillawon even comes with a piece of ginseng root - see it?

Shillawon. A Closer Look. 747 Amana St. at the Pacific Grand Building in McCully/Moiliili. 944-8700. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking at building or on street. Prices: $$. Map. Shillawon has been quite a hidden jewel of a restaurant for some time now, catering mostly to the local Korean community and a smattering of Japanese visitors who are in-the-know. It is located on a small side street near the Ala Moana Shopping Center, and remains “camouflaged” on the street level of a large building complex. You will see the sign out front, but only if you are looking for it. Most of the entrees, especially the yakiniku-style meals, are hugely proportioned even without the 8-10 banchan side-dishes you receive in addition. Shillawon is a very traditional restaurant, indeed, featuring classics like grilled corvina fish, naeng myun noodles, Korean savory pancakes, and nutritious stone-pot rice bowls, where fluffy white rice is mixed with healthy vegetable choices, including a piece of bitter ginseng root, and served with kal-bi or other items on the side. Like Japanese Ishiyaki, the heated stone pot cooks the rice to a toasty brown, but can overcook itself if you fail to incrementally add some of the hot water provided.

Yakiniku Seoul. 1521 S. King St. in McCully/Moilili. 944-0110. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking behind store - to access, follow King st. (one way), pass Kaheka st. and turn next right into small, un-named street just before Kalakaua ave., then quick left up ramp. Prices: $$. Map. One of your nicer Korean restaurants comes with a large menu selection of traditional foods that can come prepared or raw and cooked on your table-top grills. They are well-regarded for using Tamaki Gold rice, a high- quality strain often used in the better sushi houses. The servings of the rice are smaller than normal, but I’ll take quality over quantity – most of the time, at least!

Yu Chun is famous for their house-made chic naeng myun, or iced black noodle dish.

Yu Chun. A closer look. 2 locations: 1159 Kapiolani Blvd. in McCully/Moiliili, 589-0022; and 825 Keeaumoku St., both in McCully/Moiliili, 944-1994. Lunch and dinner daily, except closed on Sunday Keeaumoku location. Parking outside Stores or on street. Prices: $$. Map. These guys are famous for their arrowroot naengmyun, a black, cold-noodle dish that comes in either a traditional, ice-filled broth or a spicy-red, more contemporary soup. It is a popular meal with the Korean population and also a sizeable number of Japanese tourists, but hasn’t really caught on big with locals yet. Otherwise, they also have the full line-up of bbq meats and other very authentic Korean specialties.

So Gong Dong is a chain found all over Korea, and is famous for soondubu, or tofu soup.

So Gong Dong. 1960 Kapiolani Blvd. at the McCully S.C. 946-8206. Lunch and dinner daily, late night till 1:30am Thursday-Sunday. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. This shop is full of spicy Korean dishes and an option for yakiniku grilling. There are soups, stews, noodles, bbq meats, fish, and whatever else you need. They seem to specialize in soondubu (tofu soup), a bright red, kim-chee flavored bowl of broth with silky-soft tofu, which comes in ten different varieties that can house everything from oysters, shrimp, clams, and mussels to spam, enoki mushroom, and beef intestine.

Sorabol. 805 Keeaumoku St. in McCully/Moiliili. 947-3113. 24 hours. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. This is one of the largest Korean sit-down restaurants on the island and compared to its kin, which mostly attract ethnic Korean patrons, Sorabol also attracts a large number of locals. The 24 hour convenience is always a plus, and meals can either be yakiniku-style or fully prepared. They are famous for their thick-cut kal-bi ribs, but the butterfish is also great, as are the BBQ meats, stews, soups and noodles.

Whole lotta action at Seoul Garden!

Seoul Garden. A Closer Look. 1679 Kapiolani Blvd. near the Ala Moana S.C. 944-4803. Lunch and dinner daily, late-night till 12am. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. You have to share parking spaces with the Femme Nu strip club nextdoor, so there’s your excuse next time someone see’s your car parked out front. Seoul Garden is a great place for traditional Korean food. Lunchtime is perfect for large plates under $10 and dinnertime favors yakiniku-style cooking.

Korea House is one of the best spots on the island for true Korean yakiniku!

Korea House (Yakiniku Koryowon). A Closer Look. 1625 Kapiolani Blvd. near Ala Moana S.C. 944-1122. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. Now, that's korean bbq! Authentic dishes abound and the smoke smell is everywhere as patrons get busy grilling in a dining room where the ventilation system could probably use a good overhaul. Nevertheless, we can excuse that simply because the food is done so well. The kalbi, bulgogi, and chicken dishes are all great, with the smokey, grilled flavor of true Korean BBQ. During lunch hours the yakiniku grills are not fired up, but the moderately-priced BBQ plates certainly bring in some good crowds.

Yakiniku Migawon. 1726 Kapiolani Blvd. near the Ala Moana S.C. 947-5454. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking fronting store on Kalauokalani Way side, or across same street in large lot, but only in yellow stalls. Prices: $$. Map. A second restaurant, Yakiniku Migawon 2, is located at 2345 Kuhio Ave., 924-3277, in Waikiki. The main location across from the Convention Center is a smoke-filled bbq fest! The specialty here is the Migawon wang kalbi, which they say has a different marinade with garlic and sesame added – but I thought all Korean places add garlic and sesame?! Oh, well. The BBQ meats are flavored a bit on the light side, but the spicy beef/vegetable soup is very tasty, with shredded beef, fern shoots, onions, bean sprouts, and generous servings of egg, which go well in the spicy red broth.

Oktom, like this from Jang Su Jang, is found nowhere else except for Jeju Island, Korea, and very rarely in parts of Japan.

Jang Su Jang. A Closer Look. 98-1277 Kaahumanu St. at the Waimalu Shopping Plaza. 487-2646. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. With most top-shelf Korean restaurants situated in the town area, Jang Su Jang is a welcome site out in Pearl City. There is yakiniku grilling available and the whole gamut of Korean specialties like spicy crab and chitterling stew (kot ke mae un tang and kob chang chi ke), pan-fried squid or octopus, mandoo kook soo, and bi bim bap in a sizzling stone pot, as well as all the bbq meats and much more. They also have a few local-inspired items, such as a delicious, refreshing poke salad that you will absolutely love and a tasty mochiko chicken. For those needing real, authentic Korean foods closer to the west side in a comfortable and nice atmosphere, this is definitely a spot to check out.

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