Eating Out: Korean

Asian food is one of my favorite types of food. In fact, I think Vietnamese is my comfort food. But today I’m talking about Korean food as it is my newest food discovery.

One of my good friends is Korean-American and probably the only young mom who makes her own bone broths. Every time I go over to her house she’s got homemade kimchi, homemade broth, rice, and some sort of amazing soup or noodle dish all going at once on the stove. She even showed me how to make mochi at home! I’m in awe….

Anyway, while I’d love to show tons of photos of her food, tonight I’m going to share another Korean food adventure with you. Saturday for lunch I had my second experience at New Oriental Market – a Korean market on N. Lamar (Austin, Texas) that has a cafeteria. The first time I tried this place I was nervous and went with the safe bet: Bolgogi, Korean BBQ. It was super delish!

Beef bulgogi and side dishes - kimchi and bean sprouts and rice

This was in the mid summer when it wasn’t diabolically hot yet.

Saturday, it was the hottest day on record and so I went crazy and ordered a cold buckwheat noodles soup (Naengmyeon). This soup was amazing! It had a vinegary broth and was full of what I think was asian pear  and cucumbers sliced like french fries, as well as a hard boiled egg and buckwheat noodles.

Naengmyeon - notice the ice cubes of broth to keep it cold!

I was in awe of the deliciousness of this dish. It was so cool and refreshing, sweet (the pears) and sour (vinegar). Plus I really liked eating out of a giant metal bowl.

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Cedar Hell

Cedar Fever is knocking me out. I have never had cedar fever before but I hear it’s so bad this year that no one is getting away un-pollinated.

Things were going fine until I used a neti pot. I think that shot pollen further into my nasal cavity cause for the next two days after that event I was miserable. Yesterday my mom, a cedar fever veteran who basically refuses to leave the house during daylight hours during the pollen frenzies, introduced me to Vick’s Vapo Rub (a little around the nose to catch the pollen) and eye drops. MIRACLES! My dad said, “eat local honey” which gave me an excuse to eat a giant spoonful of the greatest sweetener God gave man.

So last night, despite being totally miserable, I bucked up with additional eye drops, Vick’s, and yes, honey and got myself to Uchiko. My only true foodie friend tagged along for his first tasting. I had been talking about Uchiko for months and he promised we’d celebrate his next home sale with dinner there.

Let me just say, Uchiko is the place where dreams are made and come true.

I’ve never in my life been so in love with a restaurant. Coffee shops, yes, I’ve been known to obsess over them (hello Houndstooth – Austin –  and Hermes – a little charming place in Tuscany), but not restaurants.

Uchiko is theatre. It’s art. It’s joy.It’s celebration. It’s also re-learning how to eat. The waiter we had was fantastically service oriented and non- judgemental. My friend and I got confused over a few items and the format but the waiter patiently and expertly explained everything. We ordered a few sushi rolls and onion rings. My friend started in on how his day was weird.

The food arrived. A bite. Life stopped. The weirdness of the day disolved as the food became our focus. Each bite was slow and met with sighs of joy. More food was ordered. And more food. And …. more food. Oh and sake. Generous amounts of sake.

Not only was the food fantastic and artful, but so was the decor and the service. As we ordered, our plates would disappear. Water was quickly refilled. Each waiter who brought out food explained each ingredient and detailed it’s fabulousness. As I enjoyed my finely crafted meal, I realized that in many ways the chef was playing with food. Playing in a highly sophisticated and educated way. But playing. And it’s that what life is about? If Chef Tyson Cole and Ex. Chef Paul Qui’s emotions are carried forth in the food, then I’d say they are the most joyful of people and love their work…I mean play.

My friend called it “a runway restaurant”. Chanel once said fashion is in the sky and how we live. Uchiko exemplifies that. It is haute cuisine at its finest and without any snobbery.

If you go make sure you finish the night with one of the deserts. I recommend the Fried Milk.

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