Adventures in Queens: Hahn Ji Bach Korean Restaurant

I will finish blogging about Israel at some point. But first, back to New York. More specifically Queens, where the family and I headed off with friends to discover a new Korean Restaurant. I researched a bit using Yelp and Chowhound, and then, after driving to Murray Hill, pretty much semi-randomly found Hahn Ji Bach (spelled Ham Ji Bak on Yelp) right near the LIRR Murray Hill Train Station Stop at 41-08 149th Pl (NOT STREET!!!), Flushing, NY 11355 (718-460-9289). There are two other Korean restaurants flanking it, and several on the next block. If you drive, all three of these places have valet parking.

After tossing the keys to the valet (I felt so very Los Angeles) we headed in and sat down in this compact, traditionally decorated Korean Barbecue. I read on Yelp that the specialty was pork, and we proceeded to order several different pork barbecues, including spicy pork, pork belly, and some form of piece of pork. Although they have an English menu, we were clearly one of the few non-Korean speaking clients to have patronzed Hahn Ji Bach, and figuring out exactly what we ordered was a little difficult. Everyone was very nice though, and we received instruction on how to put together our barbecued meats. For example, pork belly should be eaten with a piece of kimchee, while the spicy pork was wrapped in a paper thin slice of daikon radish. The piece of pork was served with, garlic powder, sesamee oil and daikon radish. It was all rather good, as were the seemingly endless plates of beef short ribs eaten by the children, all of whom appear to be on an extended and expensive growth spurt.

Seafood pancake was good, and the bimbambop so so. The kim chee to start was good and more diverse than most Manhattanites are used to.

The lovely wife declared the place a winner and worthy of a repeat and I agree. The only problem is that the two restaurants flanking Hahn Ji Bach looked pretty good too, as did the few places down the street. Maybe I'll stop at Murray Hill the next time I take the LIRR!