Free Korean Food

This week there was a roaming food truck giving away free food to promote Korean cuisine. On Monday I was able to catch up with it near NYC's Bryant Park on 40th Street near 6th Avenue. They were giving away kalbi (barbecued marinated short ribs) with rice and salad compliments of a local Koreatown restaurant, Don Bogam. It was very good, but not substantial enough for a full lunch...more like an appetizer.

New Wonjo Restaurant

...is located in NYC's Koreatown at 23 W. 32nd Street.

"S" and I went there for their weekday lunch specials and had the Galbi Bento Box (marinated short ribs, salad, cold noodles and California roll) for $11.95.

As soon as we sat down we were given cold water and a half dozen complimentary appetizers - kimchee, seaweed, pickled string beans, etc.

The galbi was just grilled and had a terrific marinated flavor. I love the orange salad dressing.

Kunjip

...is located in NYC's Koreatown at 9 W. 32nd Street.

"S" and I went there for lunch. Even at 12:15pm on a weekday the restaurant was already packed and we waited on line for 15 minutes.

"S" had the Gobdol Bibimbob + DeonJang/Soon Doo Boo Chigae - ground beef, vegetables and egg in hot pot + bean paste/spicy tofu stew ($12.95). It was served bubbling hot over a small flame.

And I had the Dook Bae Ki Bulgoki - marinated sliced beef, rice cake and noodles in stone pot ($11.95). My lunch was also very hot and even when I was halfway done it was still steaming hot.

And we also received barley rice and several small dishes of appetizers. And afterwards they gave us iced cinnamon tea.

Kunjip Korean

NYC's Koreatown is a compact area between 31st to 35th Streets and bordered by Broadway and Madison Avenues, but it's packed with restaurants and for some reason most are opened 24 hours a day.

As with most Korean restaurants as soon as we ordered we were inundated with little dishes of various pickled foods such as kim chi and radishes. We also received a bubbling little pot of eggs that were smooth and light like a custard.

We ordered two appetizers: Hae Mool Pa Jun (seafood pancake) $9.95 and steamed Man Doo Jim (vegetable dumplings) $7.95 small. The pancake was crisp and tasty with vegetables, shrimp and squid. And the dumplings were tender and loaded with veggies.

For entree one order of Gal Bi Gui (marinated boneless short ribs bbq) $23.95 was enough for the 3 of us to share along with bowls of rice and a basket of lettuce. This restaurant gives you the option of having the bbq done at your table on a portable grill or they will do it for you in the kitchen. We opted for the latter to avoid the bbq aroma that tends to cling to your hair and clothes after a meal such as this. Even though we didn't witness the actual bbqing the meat was tender, flavorful and cooked to perfection.

For an after dinner palate cleanser we were served soup bowls of lukewarm cinnamon water.

Park's BBQ

In the Korean section of LA there is a plethora of Korean bbq restuarants. One standout is Park's BBQ. It doesn't look like much when you finally pull into the strip mall parking lot,but once inside you are impressed with the restaurant's clean and modern interior.

We ordered seafood pancake, pork belly and boneless kalbi (beef ribs). As at most Korean restaurants our meal was preceded by several small dishes including kimchi, sliced radish, seaweed and assorted pickled vegetables.