Yakiniku Koryowon (Korea House)
After months of hesitation, I finally convinced myself to go to Yakiniku Koryowon.
Why did it take so long for me to make the journey here? Well, I honestly was afraid that I wouldn't like the food...after all, those of us who live in Hawaii don't normally get the "real" Korean experience when we eat out at Korean restaurants. A lot of places that I know of serve "Westernized" Korean food, so this was going to be a change. So I wouldn't get caught eating alone, I invited a friend who likes Korean food, and had also wanted to try eating here.
So, what were my first impressions of this place? Well, it was a much larger than I expected with about 30 tables and a private room in the back, which is where I sat. Every table had 2 grills and this place was much smokier than I was used to. They even had fans at the doors to get the smoke out!
Since we really had no idea on what to order, we settled on the Koryowon Special for two(US$34.95). For this, the menu stated that we got the following:
Kal bi, which is marinated beef. The kal bi came sizzling hot on a cast iron, "cow" shaped plate. The kal bi was served over a bed of white onions and was literally so tender that it melted in your mouth!
Grilled yellow corvina. Now I'm not so sure what type of fish this is as I've never seen it on the menu anywhere except for in Korean restaurants, however, the fish was fried nice and crispy. Done just right! The meat was firm and flaky.
Fish fritters. These are pieces of fish that are dipped in an egg batter then fried. The fish was fresh and the batter just slightly crispy. This is normally served with a dipping sauce, but I chose to eat this one plain.
Tofu stew. This one arrived at the table bubbling hot. In the pot, there were a few anchovies, white onions, spring onions, tofu, cucumbers, potatoes, and other vegetables. The soup had just the right amount of spiciness. My only wish? That it had more tofu...
After all of that, the dishes kept on coming. We also were allotted the standard ban chan side dishes and kim chees. Since I don't know the names for them all, I'll just show you the pictures with a brief description.
kim chee. This kim chee was different in that it had a few raw oysters in it.
marinated fern shoots.
fried seaweed.
potatoes marinated in soy sauce.
This was a vegetable that is similar to watercress but without the bitterness to it.
shredded white radish.
kim chee raw crab.
vegetable pancake.
soybean sprouts.
kim chee raw clams.
After seeing all of this food, I wondered what they were thinking of when they said it was a dinner for 2. This amount of food could easily accomodate 3 people. After eating as much as I could, I was too full to even move!
That said, this was a great dining experience and one worth trying again. The food was excellent as was the service. It was a great value.
Yakiniku Koryowon (Korea House)
1625 Kapiolani Boulevard
Telephone: 808.944.1122
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