Let me preface this with a little self-description: I'm a boring southern-born white girl. Nothing special, no swell ethnic back-story, no fascinating history. I get the feeling that this fact is psychologically why I am more drawn to ethnic cuisines than standard American fare, and take great joy in experiencing the weirdest and most intriguing cultures' foods (may Andrew Zimmern have mercy on my soul).
That being said, my absolute fantastically #1 favorite food ethnicity is South Korean. If you have not had the glory and the rapture that is Korean food, my friend, you are missing out on a singular joy in life, a massively multi-faceted mouthful of memories. It is a verifiable smorgasbord of sumptuousness, and I've been in love with it since my first bite in 2005. Since then I've been on an ongoing pilgrimage to discover what Atlanta (itself a large multi-cultural hotpot) has to offer, from Bi Bim Bap to japchae. Don't be scared by the strange things you hear about eastern cultures and their foods, Korean cuisine can be just as friendly to a meat-loving, big-boned American football fan as it can to little ol' me.
The Scene
Honey Pig is an experience, more so than other Korean BBQ-style restaurants that I frequent around town. Taking savings where they can, they use brass cymbals from a local music store that was going out of business to cook your meat (see below), even going so far as to spit shining them between each serving to get that middle-school-band-geek smell out. The location is surrounded by other curiosities: an ivory-hunter's emporium, the local West African witch doctor's office, the Jules Verne national museum….This part might be a lie.
First up was the kimchee and spicy bean sprouts being added to the grill, of which I promptly partook. Luckily I was dining with a pretty strict carnivorous dinosaur, so all of the banchan belonged to me. When the 'meat additions' (materials to wrap up with the meat to add different flavors) arrived, I cultivated my growing love for fermented beans, which the Travel Channel has taught me are quite prolific in Korean cuisine, and marveled at the interesting addition of three types of wraps: lettuce, sliced radish (I'm assuming it was daikon-type radish, but I didn't ask), and rice paper (which went over well with my carnivore partner).
Meat-wise, beef was first up, followed by the signature pork that carried the name of the restaurant on its piggy shoulders. Our waiter was quite attentive, explaining what each plate contained and answering questions about the methods of cooking. The beef proved to be an acceptable taste and consistency (might have preferred a little more taste from the marinade, however), but I think I may not be a fatty pork lover, for it didn't seem to have a lot of flavor and none of the garnishes (chili paste, kimchee, bean sprouts, garlic, sesame oil mixture, and/or fermented beans) seemed to aid in my quest for more taste.
Eating my way through life
Portions must be the name of the game at this lovely establishment, however, and my favorite part of the meal illustrated this aptly. After most of the meat was consumed by myself and my prehistoric comrade, the waiter brought rice and made what looked like a combination between dol sot and fried rice with the remaining kimchee, bean sprouts, and a rice mixture he brought out. By the time he was finished mixing, the pseudo-dol sot was a PERFECT consistency! The little bits of crusty rice that were touching the cymbal were excellently mixed and tasted like a little slice of heaven (which I was happy to enjoy at super-spicy-breakfast-hour the next morning).
But wait…
At this point in the meal, I noticed something: all of the waiters were 20-something and male! In fact, to my knowledge, there was only one female in the place (the hostess)….
It was a Korean Host Club!
Each one of the waiters fit a certain trope: a megane, a tough guy, one that looked overly effeminate. I felt like I'd stepped into a shoujo manga…
The experience, quantity, and excellent 'fried rice' after the meal made it well worth a return visit, even without adorable Korean guys to entice my visual palate. I hope to bring other dinosaurs to this non-standard (at least for me) establishment. =)
~Stegosaurus
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