The complimentary hot tea brought to each table at this Koreatown restaurant serves as a sign of the dining experience to come. The impressively tranquil 47-seat space makes it easy for diners to relax, thanks to hushed music tones and a full wall devoted to a blown-up photograph of a tree-covered road.
It's also easy to decide what dish to get. If the concise eight-item menu stumps you, a giant banner on one wall lists each dish in Korean and English along with photographs. Though each entree is a soup of some kind, the range of flavors is fairly large. From spicy soft tofu stew to beef steak sliced lean meat, you'll find different specialties for all tastes, as long as those tastes are decidedly Korean.
The ginseng with chicken soup is the most popular dish, known not only for its flavor but its healing powers as well. Just remember to de-bone as you go; the soup comes with almost an entire Cornish hen boiled into its yellow broth. Each order, served in a heavy-duty heat-resistant black bowl seated firmly atop an equally thick plate, is piping hot when wheeled out to the table on a cafeteria-style serving cart. The broths can be rather bland until you stir some of the sea salt, green onions, peppers and other various toppings (presented in an assortment of white porcelain serving bowls as part of the meal) into the mix.
By the time the Ginseng tea floating with pine nuts comes to the table for dessert, you're likely to feel fully Korean. But for the full experience, why not buy some "bean rice snack" or a jar of one of the various sauces and pastes available at the checkout counter?
Average cost: <$10
Centerstage Reviewer: Zach Freeman
