Korean -> Seoul Gooldaegee Korean BBQ -> Annandale, VA

We were trying to find something that would work for the cold blistery day. We decided on some Korean food to warm ourselves up.

	Sauteed Peppers – Pickled and sour so not really my thing, not that spicy.
	Seasoned Bracken Fern Stems – Crunchy, a bit mild on the taste. Wife enjoyed it though.
	Salad – Very nice dressing, sweet with just a touch of vinegar in it.. Although there was a bit too much dressing as the salad was basically washing itself in it. The onions also weren’t very pungent which the wife fully appreciated.
	Kimchi Soup – Wife liked how the soup was sweeter and one could taste the natural cabbage taste in the soup. Also the soup is not as spicy as others.
	Kimchi – Pretty standard kimchi flavor. A little more aromatic and strong, a little less sweet though.
	Seafood Tofu Soup – We ask if the soup could not be spicy so that the wife could have some, she could fully appreciate how the flavoring was still there without the kick. There is a smokey sort of flavoring going on here that was very unique. Not a lot of seafood. The tofu was a bit firmer as well, but overall a nice placement.
	Rice – Standard. A hint of barley flavoring to the rice. Very soft and airy.
	Haemul Beendae (Seafood Pancake) – A bit more starch and less seafood. Loved the superb crunchy exterior to the pancake. Very disappointing that the pancake had a lot more spring onions and not a lot of seafood.
	Grilled Kimchi – The grilled Kimchi baked the flavor into the cabbage heightening the intensity when eating it. Bean Sprouts Grilled – Of course the wife loved this little number. The sprouts had a slight falvoring but when grilled added a bit of charcoal taste to it. Grilled Squash – The squash was a bit hard and wasn’t as nice as the other grilled veggeis.
	Seng Pork Bellies (Grilled Sliced Pork Bellies) – The server comes throws the bad boys on for you. You have to basically wait until then come out really burnt and crispy. That mixed into the fat made for a delectable combination.
	Sauces – The soy was for the seafood pancake. The addition of the pepper added a little bit of spice to the dish. The garlic sesame mixture was good for the pork.
	Bean Paste, Garlic, and Peppers – The bean paste went well with the pork. Slightly salty. If one desired, one could grill the garlic and peppers and eat as well. I grilled some garlic but didn’t brave the peppers.

Decor: Waitresses were very nice. Some of them had limited English skills but were still able to get through the service process. The walls are decorated with Korean Pop singers and TV’s have Korean programming running. The chairs felt better than they looked as they were plastic.

Overall Assessment: ($, 8/10) – Our comparison for Korean food comes down to the Lighthouse Tofu. The wife and I agree that the food is cheaper here and the flavoring of the food is better here. However the quality of the ingredients is better at Lighthouse. So there is a correlation between a tradeoff in quality and pricing. The service in our opinion is better here.

Website: http://411q.us/koreanbbq
Location: 7220 Columbia Pke, 22003
Reservation: N/A
Takeout: 703.256.5133‎
Hours: 24-7

 

Korean -> Market Galbee -> Seattle, WA

Stopped by here as we needed a drink.

Strawberry Punch – Slightly sweet but hit the spot as we were moving about. Barely could taste the strawberry though as the sweetness overpowered everything. Nice touch to add a slice of orange. That did add a very very slight citric tone to the drink.

Decor: N/A as it was counter.

Overall Assessment: ($, 2/10) – Just had a drink but was really too sweet but for a hot summer stroll it hit the spot. Also a little pricey but I guess what did you expect for something in the center of the tourist area.

Website: N/A
Location: 1505 Pike Place, 98101
Reservation: N/A
Takeout: N/A
Hours: Unknown

 

Korean -> Shilla Bakery – > Annandale, VA

Well eventually we got a hold of the roommate, we decided on getting some dessert together. We were going to try out his Korean place that had good desserts.

	Red Bean Bing Soo – Roommate got this. Nice red bean with a sweet milk and cream. I liked it better than the fruit one. Too bad the wife wanted the fruit one.
	Fresh Fruit Bing Soo – Tons of fruit in here; honeydew, kiwi, strawberry, pineapple, grapes, etc… The problem is some of the fruit is canned, some aren’t that fresh tasting. I did like the mochi cake in year. The chewy dough based cakes add some variety to the ice and cream. The ice is a bit more compact than one would like, but that is a minor complaint

Decor: Really a no thrills environment. Has a cafe feel to it. The staff look a bit young and give that I don’t want to be here vibe. At least the tables and chairs are pretty comfortable. The place seems to be a haven for Asian teenagers and yuppies. However it wasn’t too loud that you couldn’t have a discussion.

Overall Assessment: ($, 1/10) – All we got were the shaved ice desserts and they were so – so especially for the price tag of $6 -$7. We’ve had better shaved ice desserts elsewhere.

Website: N/A
Location: 7039 Little River Turnpike, 20003
Reservation: N/A
Takeout: N/A
Hours: Mon – Fri; 0700 – 2300, Sat; 0800 – 0000, Sun; 0800 – 2300

 

Korean -> Lighthouse Tofu -> Annandale, Va

Needed some lunch after another exam.

	White Mushroom Tofu Soup – Tofu soup full of enoki and shittake mushrooms. Wife once agian very pleased with the hearty and flavorful soup with all of the mushrooms in it.
	Haemul Pajeon – See previous review (Link Below).
	Spicy Seafood Tofu Soup – See previous review (Link Below).

Previous Review:
/2007/09/14/korean-lighthouse-tofu-annandale-va/

 

Korean -> Gom Ba Woo -> Annandale, VA

Wow, we went a full week without going out! How did that happen?  We had a craving for the Korean seafood and scallion pancake. Then we were walking the girls and we were craving the fried mushrooms from Vienna Inn. We went to Vienna Inn only to discover they are closed on Sundays at 6pm. Argh! So we went back to the original plan.

• Kimchi – Not as good as Lighthouse.  Really spicy and not much other flavoring
• Kongnamul – (Bean Sprouts) So so.  Wasn’t anything really special
• Kakduji – (Kimchi Radishes) – I thought they were too hard, the wife would have liked it more if it wasn’t spicy.
• Cucumber Kimchi – Wife didn’t touch this much and she actually likes cucumber. It tastes too much like the other Kimchi based products.
• Nappa Cured in Mustard – Lack a really defining flavor.  Some pieces were more flavorful than others.
• Haemul Pajeon – Seafood pancake had way too much spring onions.  Not enough seafood.  Also it wasn’t very crispy, it was soft and soggy.
• Spicy Seafood Tofu Soup – Lacked seafood.  The tofu wasn’t smooth, silky and soft.  Also it wasn’t very spicy at all as well.

Decor: The place had framed Korean pictures.   The staff was really bad.  The staff took forever with the drinks and side dishes.  We got no refills on the water. We were seated next to a really nice Korean man who helped us get our bill.   Otherwise we would have probably sat for another 20 minutes.  I think you are at a disadvantage if you come here and you don’t speak Korean.

Overall Assessment: ($, 1/10)  As the wife and I discussed later, once you’ve found a place that sets a certain bar for ethnic cuisine, it’s hard to eat at places that don’t meet it.  We prefer the Lighthouse tofu joint.   We were sorely disappointed with this place.  The food was comparable to the H-mart food, but with worse service.  Another Washingtonian dud.

Website: N/A
Location: 7133-C Columbia Pike, 22003
Reservation: No
Takeout: 703.642.1577
Hours: Daily; 0700 – 2300