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Richo, a closer look
 Richo official page! |
 Martha Cheng w/a in-depth look at Richo! |
 Richo from Yelper's! |
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Aloha!
2/20/11 - Down with that old gothic building of black! What an eyesore! Actually, it was a pretty cool sight when its former tenant, Momomo, was at the height of its popularity, but ever since removing their sushi bar, a downward trajectory continued unmercifully untill, well, that once cool black building began representing something completely else! In that particular case, lasting impressions definitely trumped first impressions...
Now, with its new owner Richo, the self-standing building has re-invented itself with a spritely coat of white, the only black remaining being a large sign panel out-front. Parking is pretty much the same, with two small lots on either side of the restaurant, while inside, the basic structure also remains basically intact, with only cosmetic remodeling performed. Still, the dark, sleek, modernish setting is attractive and stylish. A bar, which isn't manned by a bartender, sits to your right as you enter, while screen-divided, tatami-style rooms are also plentiful on two sides.
In the rear, what looks like a sushi bar is actually a robata bar, which is a bit confusing, since I thought this was a Korean restaurant!
In fact, that's not the only Japanes'ee thing about this place, as the atmosphere, delivery, and execution are rife with a pronounced Japanese signature, very much like a typical new-wave izakaya! Though the menu is predominantly Korean, its owner, Takeshi Urushido-san, is Japanese, and his restaurant is actually part of a small chain of restaurants currently operating in Japan. After asking, he even goes so far as to say, point-blank, that this is not really a place to be for strictly authentic Korean foods, as it's more like Korean with a Japanese fusion twist. It does take some getting used to, so an open mind is definitely required!
Besides the servers and clientele, the first glaring sign of Korean non-authenticity is that you'll find kim chee and namul on the appetizer portion of the menu. What? On the menu? Scandalous!!! That's quite an afront to most of us here in the islands, especially after checking out places like Sikdorak a few days ago, where two giant tubs of kim chee, one of daikon, one of Chinese cabbage, and both at least 3 lbs each, were placed on each table - and that's before our also-complimentary banchan dishes!
And how much do they charge for this kim chee? $3! And kim chee with a full namul (mixed vegetable) set? $11! Why, even a simple order of Korean seasoned nori is $3! Like it or not, the Japanese penchant for high prices and small portions rings true! Fortunately, though, the Japanese penchant for quality also rings true.
Their kim chee is definitely not the same as Korean kimchee, which comes stained with a dark-red chili mix, but is much lighter, cut smaller, and much cleaner, with a noticeable difference in taste, texture, and over-all feel. As with most other items here, look for authenticity and you'll be disappointed; look from the Japanese point of view, and you'll appreciate the added touches of detail and refinement:
The rest of the appetizer menu is comprised of a short, curious combination of choices, such as cocktail shrimp ($10), seaweed springrolls ($10), Korean-style poke ($9), and Korean-style sashimi, listed as $14 for a full set and $9 per half-set, as shown here:
The actual sashimi was fresh, beautiful, and as good as it gets, but fish was only a small portion of this particular order. A total of 4 pieces were rather dwarfed by its complete ensemble, which included shredded carrot, red cabbage, miso-pasted onion, sheets of nori, and a salt/sesame oil mix:
A fun dish, I must say, the idea being a kind of Asian wrap. I don't know what it is with these Korean restaurants, but the sesame oil and salt they use always tastes so good! At home, we usually use Kadoya-brand sesame oil, which we've found better and more affordable than most grocery store stuff. Explore a good Korean market like Queen's, Palama, or newcomer Keeaumoku Supermarket, however, where they take sesame oil seriously, and there are any number expensive brands that, based on price, must seriously outshine my normal brand!
Getting back to our sashimi, all it takes is a little dip, a combination of veggies, and a wrap in nori to make a tasty, hand-held, fusion-style pupu:
A few weeks ago, at Seafood Village, our entire crew was a bit disappointed with the first of 9 different courses, a jellyfish salad. Gotta say, outside of novelty or some hidden cure for cancer, I'm not sure why folks eat jellyfish alone, but that being said, the fresh, springy, cleaner nature of Richo's version was so much better than the slightly sticky, slightly mushier dish a few weeks back, and that mellowed chili sauce was a big help, too:
Not sure how or why, but chijimi is a term widely used in Japan for pajeon, the savory Korean pancake. There are several varieties here, including a leek, seafood leek, squid chive, beef yam, and the cheese kimchee ($8 per half-order and $12 per full) you'll see next. A bit greasier and heavier than normal pajeon, but its taste was rich and intense, with super-crispy edges, a warm, kim chee-filled center, and a topping of gooey Mozarella cheese:
Tteokpokki, dteokpokki, nyebokki - whatever you wanna call it! Richo actually uses teockpokki, although locally, it seems topokki is the name we most often go by. Who cares, right? This dish is a most beloved of Korean street foods, as widespread and popular there as ramen or okonomiyaki is in Japan, but is still a bit of a secret to most here in the islands. This next version of topokki, topped with cheese, was actually a mistake correctly destined for another table:
Perhaps we should have taken it, as our real order of seafood topokki ($11.80) didn't look nearly as appetizing:
No, not quite the authentic versions I've had at better Korean restaurants, but the freshness, quality, and taste of ingredients still made the dish enjoyable. The long, cylindrical tubes of white come from a chewy mochi cake, and is, along with its red chili sauce, two of the most important elements in this particular dish. There's also fishcake, cabbage, onions, carrot, and whatever other ingredients you wanna add, in this case, clams, squid, and mussels.
There are any number of salads here at Richo, all from $6-$8, including tofu, ahi, tomato, wonbok, sangchu, and bulgogi. The only veggie dish we had outside of kim chee, however, was a special item salad of pork cabbage:
The minimum of actual pork meat may upset some, but for us, I could care less if there were none whatsoever. This dish was, however basic, absolutey excellent! Crispy leaves of Chinese cabbage were tossed in a light kochujung chili along with pork juices and a bare minimum of pork slices, all combining for a simple, healthy, and very satisfying mid-course dish.
Moving right along, there's general agreement that yakiniku is originally Korean, although the term itself is a japanese one, stitching together the two words "grilled" or "grilling" and "meat." The term yakiniku can encompass any number of similiar but different cooking styles, depending on the type of grill and also variety of meats used. Richo employs several styles, including this tabletop grill:
Personally, I prefer a flame most times, but without grills set into your table, I guess that's a bit more difficult. Cast-iron plates like the one above, however, also do a great job of imprinting a blackened, charred singe to your meats, and the convex angle ensured items wouldn't be left boiling in their own juices. These particular items cooking are not actually meats, but two types of organ, mino in the background, which the best part of the cow's stomach (a cow has 4 of them, depending on how you look at it!), and horumon in the foreground, which actually means any part of the cow's organs - unfortunately, I forgot what type of organs they actually were!
These entrails and digestive organs are really beginning to grow on me, especially with copious amounts of alcohol and a wife who somehow doesn't feel quite whole without them. Savage, I tell you! I especially appreciated the mino, which we cooked to a good charring on the outside and a chewy, firm inside.
Another evening saw us (Kumi!) ordering an already-cooked tripe, which was even better than either of our self-cooked varieties above! With a pinch of dry chili and sprinkle of green onions and sesame seeds, it was nicely done and much like the mino in taste, but at a more affordable $4.90:
But without a doubt, there's one organ you absolutely gotta try. In fact, it's the best organ meat I've ever had in my life, bar none! Tongue counts in this category, right? I've had it many, many times at restaurants all over the island and more, but this premium variety, which is not always available, is no ordinary cow tongue, believe you me. It doesn't even look the same! Normally found in thin slices and mostly pre-frozen, these cuts come from the deep-center portions, and only three orders-total can be extracted from any one cow - have you seen the size of a single beef tongue?!!! I guess you could call it the chateaubriand of tongue!
There's a reason why cuts are mostly thin, too, as it is usually relatively tough and chewy. Expecting another momentary case of tmj, especially after seeing its block-like thickness, what I found instead was a tenderness typically reserved for a good New York steak, only much fattier and juicier, and the taste was absolutely phenomenal! In fact, if ever there were an outstanding appetizer portion of a restaurant-hopping Progressive dinner meal, like the one I was asked to submit to Wanda Adams for the Honolulu Advertiser's article recently, I'd heavily consider this very dish! If only I could show Anthony Bourdain around, too!
But getting away from the subject of guts and innards, one of our buddies ordered that most classic of Korean meats, kalbi, only here, it's listed as LA kalbi:
Not sure what LA actually means when it comes to Korean bbq, but in typical Japanese fashion, it was lighter in marinade and lightly-cooked, with large, luscious sections of fat providing lots and lots of decadent flavors. A decent-tasting kalbi, indeed, but with such meager portions going for $13.50, a bit of a stretch, too.
That robata bar shown earlier is there for good reason, and if preferred, I would say you could even make a complete night out of ripping meats and veggies off of sticks! There's sausage, tongue, tripe, tomato bacon, garlic, various parts of chicken like wing, breast, thigh, or tsukune, along with such items as ahi and pineapple! Quality-wise, this chicken thigh with Japanese green onion was as good as it gets anywhere on the island, with a juicy, tender meat, a simple sprinkling of salt, and real coals that all ensure a great kushiyaki dish:
Faced with the choice of deep-fried chicken in either garlic shoyu or spicy sauce, our buddy went with the first:
Great choice!!! Moist, tender, juicy boneless chicken pieces coated nicely with batter and deep-fried to perfection, with a semi-sweet, though not overpowering shoyu glaze that complemented the dish well. Even through its wet sauce, the coating remained respectably light and crispy, and it was this outer portion that made it most memorable to me. Japanese, Korean, local, Mainland, whatever - I'm sure everyone will appreciate a few pieces!
And to close, here's one of those trendy street-foods that have taken hold in Japan, okoge cheese ($10):
It's best to eat this dish right away, as the longer you wait, the more you may have to deal with hardened kernels of rice getting stuck in your ivory-white's. Yep, okoge cheese is basically flavored rice, flattened like a pancake and fried to a heavy crisp, then sandwiched around a center of gooey, sticky cheese (and nori, in this case!). Quite the curious combination and a bit greasy in the end, perhaps, but it does work for those not in the mood for light lunches! It's probably a dish best shared by several people, where you can enjoy all the power and richness inherent without eating too much and getting weighed down.
Having been here twice already, I still find Richo a bit of a curiosity. The menu is about as eclectic and unique as it gets anywhere, with its mostly Korean, yet also definitely Japanese signatures, along with a few local twists here and there. I mean, you've got topokki, pajeon (chijimi), samghetang, and soondubu mixing with nabe, kushiyaki, and stone-pot kamameshi, not to mention poke, shrimp cocktail, and ahi salad! I'm sure there's a method to the madness, though, and the important thing is, I enjoyed myself immensely, both times, although I do have a penchant for drink-friendly izakayas serving a wide variety of small dishes.
Certain items were better than others, particularly the premium tongue, garlic chicken, robata fare, and perhaps okoge cheese (as long as you don't eat too much!), but everything came with a degree of quality that I really appreciated. Service is always friendly but often a bit thin-staffed, while the cool atmosphere is also a plus.
In the end, try it out yourself!
Richo Korean Restaurant
3008 Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki, at the old Momomo building.
734-2222.
5pm-12am Tuesday-Thursday, 5pm-1am Friday-Saturday, Sunday 4pm-10pm, Monday closed.
Hope your foraging adventures continue-on with a passion, and that your long weekend is full of food 'n fun! I'll be back soon enough with another report.
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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