There's a variety of lunch options near my office, but many are your standard pizza joints,…read morein-house lunch spots, and cafes. Gangnam Korean BBQ caught my eye as a place that would have something different - and more flavour - to offer.
Their menu has a broad selection of options, with a couple dozen apps, as well as several each of rice and noodle dishes, soups, hot pot and of course, their namesake Korean BBQ. I was looking for something that wouldn't splatter my work clothes in some sort of sauce, so I went with the tofu bibimbap.
It was a great mixture of crisp, pickled veg, a rich fried egg with crispy edges and a runny yolk, and soft, lightly fried tofu. A side of gochujang let me spice it up to my own taste.
The bibimbap came with bonus sides of miso soup, kimchi and danmuji (yellow, pickled daikon). All added their own flavours and textures to the meal - the warm, savoury soup, the funky snap of the kimchi, and I really enjoyed the danmuji. In addition to its vibrant yellow, the pickling mellowed out the earthy funk of the daikon but each bite still had a great crunch and light tartness that helped cut through the richer parts of my meal.
All told, it was a delicious meal and at an easy-on-the-wallet price of just $14 for a hearty, but healthy, meal.
A return visit saw me coming by with my wife for a weekend lunch.
She went for a couple of their many delicious-sounding apps, the fried Brussels sprouts and yakitori, while I went for the jajangmyeon (black bean pork and noodles).
My wife's dishes came out first, and impressively quickly.
Deep fried Brussels sprouts are this generations beet and goat cheese salad in their ubiquity, but hey, it works! With just the right level of char, the crispy cruciferous vegetable was dressed in a teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds for extra flavour.
The yakitori weren't quite what I expected, as the chunks of chicken were deep fried instead of the typical grilling, but I appreciated their crisp crust that the frying imparted. A bed of spinach and drizzle of sauces felt like an unnecessary deviation that would be better served by a smoky, charcoal grilling, but they weren't bad so much as a bit superfluous.
After a short wait, and a few stolen bites of my wife's food, my hefty bowl of noodles was before me. The noodles had a similar look to ramen, minus the de rigeur crinkle and weren't as supple, and came with a veritable sea of black bean sauce. The deeply rich, savoury and sweet sauce doused every noodle and then some, with tender bites of pork, cabbage and onion fleshing out the dish.
Our server said this was his favourite dish on the menu, and I can see why - it's a bit of a deep cut versus the more familiar dishes to us non-Koreans, but it checked a lot of delicious boxes!
My times sampling Gangnam's food have been nothing but complete successes, and while I benefit from proximity to them, they're a destination-worthy place with wonderfully executed food at more than reasonable prices.
