By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal
Any restaurant that makes abundant use of charcoal and chiles is fine by me. And by that simple standard, Koreana II measures up pretty darned well.
The dining area has the look of a slightly worn banquet hall, with festive elements like pink tables and a faux-limestone wall, where a gurgling fountain spills into a tank full of ornamental fish.
 Meals come with cold, spicy side dishes called panchan, which include every combination of flavors imaginable. By Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal |
If you're not well versed in Korean food, it's good to be a bit bold at Koreana. Sometimes you'll encounter warm, informative servers with serviceable English; other times, the service may seem brusque and nervous, and you'll find yourself wishing you had a Korean phrase book.
Of course, you can always point at the menu, but it isn't always clear. Such little obstacles aside, Koreana serves up big, bold flavors that require no translation.
You could start with "sizzling rice soup" (for two, $4.95). In its clear, golden broth, you'll find tiny pink shrimp, delicate mussels, little rings of squid, clumps of crunchy rice, finely minced carrots and onions, and green florets of broccoli.
Or you could begin with man-doo ($4.95/$8.95). The small order brings an attractive boat-shaped tray filled with seven crescent-shaped dumplings stuffed with minced beef and aromatic vegetables, then fried to a resounding crunch; in a tray at the stern of your boat, you'll find a simple dipping sauce of vinegar and soy.
If you're in the mood for exotica — long-simmered cow hocks, for instance — you'll find it here, but if you're not, there are plenty of meat, seafood and poultry dishes.
Better to sample the Korean cuisine. A bowl of kimchee casserole ($9.95/$16.95 — and the small portion serves more than one person) arrives as a bubbling brick red stew filled with leaves of marinated cabbage, dark greens, thin sheets of simmered beef, domino-sized slices of tofu and enough richly inflected layers of heat to leave me wiping my brow and reaching for the steamed rice.
One night, we erred and ordered bi bim bop ($9.95), a pedestrian version of the classic Korean dish (sliced beef and shredded vegetables topped with a fried egg, served over rice), served in a shiny metal bowl. Had we read the menu more closely, we'd have realized that at Koreana, stone bi bim bop — a far more appealing variation in which a hot stone bowl creates a sizzling border of crunchy rice — is called dol-sot bop ($11.95), and that a seafood version is also available: hae-mooi dol-sot bop ($13.95).
As for grilled food, if you're ordering two or more portions of gal-bi ($15.95), marinated short ribs, your server will bring charcoal to your table and you can grill your own. Otherwise, the kitchen does a fine job. Sliced from the ribs and served atop a bed of grilled onions, the charred meat has a rich, smoky chew; and the melting texture of slightly fatty ribs.
And like every entrée, the gal-bi comes with miso soup, steamed rice and nearly a dozen little bowls of the cold, spicy Korean side dishes called panchan.
Yep, whether you're alone or with a group, you'll be inundated with panchan, and that's heaven. The dishes — cabbage, turnips, greens, cucumbers, tiny fish, carrots and more, are like a field guide to every possible combination of flavor, texture and color.
Hot, crisp, red-flecked turnips; hot-salty morsels of tiny chewy fish, like silver threads nestled among jalapenos; cucumbers in a brine of vinegar and hot spices; leaves of hot, garlicky cabbage; zucchini, carrots, bean sprouts. This is food everyone — but especially vegetarians — can eat with true relish.
Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@gmail.com.
Koreana II 5000 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY
502-968-9686
Rating: 2.5 stars
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