Last weekend's second group dinner moved north, to Seoul House on Dufferin, just south of Yorkdale. The grill was eager for our arrival, even if it was feeling a little blue.
Our selection of ban chans (Korean side dishes). Clockwise from top left: kimchee (mildercompared to other versions I've had, but still good), shredded radish, bean sprouts, sliced fish cake, peanuts and anchovies (most grazed on the peanuts and left the fishies alone - I like these crunchy little creatures) and marinated eggplant.
Left: steamed dumplings. We also ordered the fried version, both palate-pleasing.
Right: A large plate of jap chae (sweet potato noodles). Hard to pull apart sometimes, but one of my favourite Korean dishes. Not as gummy as other places I've been to.
We ordered four batches of kalbi for the grill. All slices had been removed from the bones and nicely marinated. This was the action at my end of the table...
...while the other end stirred away at a tabletop cooker with pepper-sauced Mae Un Dea Ji Bul Go Gi (pork bulgogi). We also shared an order of Hae Mul Pa Jeon (seafood pancake).
As the mound of kalbi shrank, the grill collected ash, drippings, etc. Things got a little smokey by the last few pieces, with small fires erupting across the grill. Our waitress threw one of our leftover lettuce leaves onto the biggest blaze, which did the trick. Later on, one diner chewed on the charred lettuce, declaring that it wasn't half-bad.
Lesson: never belittle the power of romaine!
When another table reached the same smokey state, the side doors were opened to let the haze dissipate.
Earlier, we noticed that the table was equipped with a "panic button" to call the waitress. Nobody tested it until late in the meal, when we needed more tea. You can see the trepidation in our designated button-pusher's hand. Tea came in an instant.
The meal wound down with a plate of artfully cut juicy watermelon.
Full photo sets on Flickr from
here,
here and
here.
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