Seoul Asian Market & Cafe

Menu Items

Reviews

• ★★★★½ Beef Bulgogi Pork Bulgogi Visited Apr 19, 2023

  A Cheaper Korean BBQ Option, Decent Beef and Pork Bulgogi

  I believe this was my 2nd time eating here, but it had been years since my last visit and I think the store had moved from the end of the building.
  
  I had heard good things about the cafe located inside, and after looking online and seeing the price for the bulgogi plate was about $8 less than everywhere else, I decided to give it a try for lunch.
  
  The beef and pork bulgogi plates here are $15. Most places are about $23 at the time of this review. I hadn't seen the plates, so I wasn't sure what to expect, sides? no sides? small portions? bento box?
  
  So the first thing was getting our order in. We entered the cafe and were pointed the other direction. You have to order the cafe food at the front grocery cash register. You pay and then take your receipt over to the restaurant area where they prepare the food. This was the same as the other place I ate years ago, so I really do think its the same place now. This ordering system also allows you to pick basically any drink they sell in the grocery store, so I picked something Id never tried before, a barley soda. After ordering and entering the dining area, we noticed it was nearly full. Theres about 10 dining tables that hold about 4 people each, and I noticed the majority of people were eating bulgogi.
  
  While I was waiting I tried the barley soda. It had a charcoal like flavor, and a beer like flavor, but was fizzy and sweet like Coke. It took me a moment to realize what the flavor resembled. Im assuming they toast the barley or something. Probably my first and last time drinking that, although the flavor seemed familiar. Maybe similar to Malta or other drinks I've had from Africa or Mexico.
  
  It took about 10 minutes for the food to be ready, I picked up the tray from the counter, and noticed it was pretty heavy. The meat was served on a iron skillet, with side dishes on a separate plate.
  
  Included with the meal was a large bowl of steamed rice, a decent sized portion of bulgogi with sesame seeds on top and onions on the bottom. The side dishes included a portion of kimchi, kimchi beansprouts, a fishcake and and item I didnt recognize at first and thought was possibly seaweed or some okra-like vegetable.
  
  I tried the bulgogi first, it was pretty good, but was a bit lacking in flavor. The onions on the bottom were still semi-raw and the meat was a little plain, I feel like a better marinade was needed.
  
  The kimchi was decent, not overly sour or spicy, not the best I've had, but decent. The fishcake was very bland however, almost like a plain egg omlet, I only ate 2 bites and never finished the rest.
  
  Now for the green mystery item. As soon as I bit into it, I knew what it was, kimchi shishito peppers. I'd never seen shishito peppers pickled and spiced before. They were decent, but I think I prefer my shishito peppers baked. The skins on the peppers made them a bit chewy and hard to eat, but it was an interesting item to at least try.
  
  My friend ordered the pork bulgogi and I tried some of it. It had a lot more flavor than the beef, and while I rarely order pork bulgogi, I would probably recommend it as an option here, as I feel the flavor was much better than the beef. I also requested 2 containers of gochujang and ate that with my bulgogi, which helped spice it up and improve the flavor.
  
  For the price it was much cheaper than other Korean restaurants in town, and the surrounding area. The number of sides served with the bulgogi were limited, but portions were pretty decent. The flavor of everything was good, well worth the price paid, and while I wouldn't put this place in my top 10 Korean restaurants, its a great place to get Korean food on a budget.

  Seoul Market - Beef Bulgogi with Sides Seoul Market - Beef Bulgogi Seoul Market - Pork Bulgogi Seoul Market - Ban Chan (Side Dishes) Carbonated & Sweetened Barley Tea Seoul Market - Drink Fridges & Menu Seoul Market - Dining Area Seoul Market - Cash Register for Cafe & Greocery Seoul Cafe - Entrance Seoul Market - Drink Fridges & Menu Drink Fridges & Menu

  — Paul