Description
There's alchemy afoot at this strip mall restaurant, which many in the Korean community acknowledge as their favorite: Oven-heated stone bowls containing soft-tofu stew or puffy egg-and-broth custards hiss and steam as they exit the kitchen, and woks of spicy stew bubble away at the tables. Flames lash up through the barbecues where marinated kalbi cooks, while at other tables, cast-iron griddles send up clouds of porky smoke from the uncured pork belly sizzling on their surface. The waiters push around metal carts stacked with Ka Won's amazing banchan: pickled cucumber tossed with chiles; candied threads of dried squid; jiggly squares of agar bathed in soy; and of course, fermented, tangy kimchi. If you find yourself daunted, pick a prix-fixe dinner.
