So good…
Won’t rehash the sparse banchan, although the family loved the barley rice. We were here for kalguksu and sujebi.
When we lived in NYC, we used to get the most amazing kalguksu and sujebi in KTown. It was hard to find in the Bay Area, where we moved to next for over a decade, so I was quite excited when we moved to Socal. But, I’ve mostly been eating Korean food in South Bay, and to put it bluntly, the k / s we’ve found has not been good.
This weekend, we went to Hangari and were not disappointed. Got excited to see a deep throng of people and as we soon found out, for good reason. Deep fragrant broth, redolent of chicken and garlic. Slightly chewy kalguksu that stayed chewy even as the bowl remained hot throughout the meal. Even better sujebi… God these were so good. Squares of pappardelle-thick dough that had so much texture. And the half chicken was delicious and not overcooked, as can happen in soups.
Afterwards, but Sul and Beans, which has become a family favorite… Would love other bingsoo recs! And hit Somi Somi, which continues to be meh for me. Reminds me of eating cold, sweet butter with minimal hints of the intended flavor.