BBQ IN KOREATOWN

MARCI
Last Saturday, Jeremy and I started smelling something good outside our window.  Indeed, a strange occurrence in Manhattan but it was the aroma from portable barbecue pits preparing for the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.

We talked briefly about partaking in the weekend long event at Madison Square Park -- where 18 pitmasters from around the country served their savory bbq -- but we had a new continent to visit:  Asia.  Maybe it was the smell of smoking meats  that made Jeremy think of Korean barbecue.  Whatever the reason, we headed to the northern end of Koreatown for dinner at MADANGSUI.

JEREMY
We decided to have an early dinner and when we got to the restaurant at 5pm, there was practically no one there.  In the middle of the table, there was a grill and above us was a vent to suck out any smoke.

They first served us banchan, little side dishes that included kimchi which is smelly pickled cabbage, pickled radish, plain radish, seaweed, some potato salad like dish, some sauces and a bean paste.

To start, we ordered hae-mool-pa-jun which was like a scallion pancake with seafood.  There was too much seafood in it but it was tasty.  We also had a salad with ginger dressing which was good.   My mom ordered some sort of kimchi-tofu soup which looked nasty.  It was so hot that the waitress cracked an egg in the bowl and it cooked itself.  Even though I didn't want to taste it, I did.  But it wasn't for me.  My mom really liked it because it had tofu.

We also had bimibop which is rice with zucchini and ground beef in a spicy sauce.  This was pretty good but we left a lot over to make room for the barbecue.

  

Then the waitress came back and she turned on the grill.  After it warmed up, they brought out the raw marinated bul-go-gi and cooked it.  With the meat came large pieces of lettuce.  You take the meat, put it on the lettuce and then put on some of the banchan,  wrap it up and eat it.  It tasted sweet and tangy.   I asked my mom if there was any other barbecue dish that were popular.  She said galbi which is boneless shortribs. So we decided to order this, too.  I think the waitress thought it was weird that we were ordering so much food because she was talking to another waitress and pointing to our table.  But she brought it anyway.  After the ribs were cooked she cut them with a scissor.  The ribs tasted like the bul-go-gi but fattier.  We had a couple of bites and then took it home for my dad.

We were too full to eat at the restaurant so decided to have dessert somewhere else in Koreatown.

MARCI
We went to the restaurant early because they say it gets pretty crowded and we hadn't made a reservation.  As Jeremy mentioned, the restaurant was empty.  He was very curious about the grill in the middle of our table and thought we'd be doing our own cooking but quickly learned that that's the wait staff's job.

The seafood pancake was a bit greasy, but enormous and tasty.  The kimchi tofu soup reminded me of a more flavorful version of egg drop soup.  The bimipop was really tasty but I've had it before where the clay pot makes the rice crusty giving the dish a more interesting texture.  Then came the bul-go-gi.  The marinated meat was delicious especially after adding some of the banchan and eating it with the lettuce wrap.  As Jeremy pointed out, we decided to go for one more dish and ordered the boneless short ribs, a Korean specialty.  The meat was a little fatty but it was very tasty.  We left the restaurant with half of everything to bring home.  We then walked to 32nd Street, the heart of Koreatown.

JEREMY

We went to two places for dessert.  First was some Korean cafe where we ordered gombo and a tapioca ball.  Both were pretty nasty.  So we went to KORYODONG, the big pastry shop and I ordered a red bean paste ball and a melon ice pop.  They were also pretty gross.

MARCI
I can't disagree.  Dessert was not a highlight.

JEREMY
I really liked the meat at Madangsui but that was about it.  Would I go back for Korean bbq.  Probably, but it wouldn't be my first choice.  And definitely no dessert!

MADANGSUI
35 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001
www.madangsui.com

a sideways thumb, according to Jeremy, is 2:4 stars