Hockey Season Begins Anew...and Cheetos Brand Korean Barbecue Snacks

Yes, hockey started again last night. The Rangers are back, and so are we, although no longer in section 314. Thanks to the recession, we have moved "up" to section 227, which, although it is much easier to see and somewhat more centered, seems a little soulless in comparison. We shall see, and of course the Rangers won their home opener. So all is good in the world.

After the game, we walked down to 33rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues towards Manhattan's Korea Town. Although much smaller (and more expensive) than Queens, its always fun to go down to. We often get dessert, soup, or barbecue, but we also go to the grocery store located in the middle of the block on the north side of the street.

Tonight's highlight was Cheetos Brand Korean Barbecue brand snacks. Straight from Korea (so of course the bag just says "barbecue," the Cheetos, complete with Chester Cheetah and a small prize inside, look just like regular Cheetos, without the orange color. They do taste a little like Korean Barbecue, with a plum-soy-sweet flavor. Edible: sort of. Cool. Absolutely. As cool as Chester Cheetah himself.

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!

Kum Gang San: Another Reason to go to Flushing to Eat!

Just when you thought I was done with Flushing.... well, I'm not. Although I love going to 32nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues after hockey games to have Korean Barbecue, there is nothing like Northern Boulevard in Flushing (and Union Street, too) to satisfy your most hard to please barbecue cravings. While there are many places to eat in the area, a traditional favorite is Kum Gang San (138-28 Northern Boulevard, Flushing: 11354 (718-461-0909). Its open 24/7, it has parking, and its so large that you will get seated, even with a large party and no reservation on a Saturday night.

We went to Kum Gang San with East Side friends after an exciting day of bowling (well, at least the kids had fun). Less than a half hour after leaving Chelsea Piers, we had arrived. Kum Gang San has a waiting room, complete with tables, a bar, and an extensive Korean Library. After a brief wait (we didn't even have time to get drinks) we were seated at our table. Our server helped us order the proper amount of barbecue, and we were off.

Although I liked all of the food, several items stood out. The short ribs are exceptional, and I prefer to them to the good, but not as good, sirloin. There is also premium kal-bi (short ribs), which we didn't get but which I am quite curious about for next time. The kids like chicken, which is fine for them, but which I don't get. It tastes fine too: just like chicken.

We ordered a kim-chee pancake, which was a hit with non-dieting adults and kids. We also ordered a noodle dish with chicken off of the ala-carte menu, which was surprisingly good. Another surprise hit was Man Do Gui, fried beef dumplings. The kim-chee was excellent, too.

On the surface, the prices appear similar to Manhattan. But when you consider that soft drinks are $1.50, and that the dishes are 25% larger, it ended up being a bargain when we were done.

Pho 32: Vietnamese Food Near MSG with a Korean Provenance

After the Ranger's victory, the lovely wife and I were hungry and cold. We took a quick trip out of Madison Square Garden towards 32nd Street, the Korea Town of Manhattan. We weren't in the mood for barbecue, and it was to cold to eat Pinkberry. We noticed a Vietnamese Restaurant called Pho 32 and Shabu at 2 West 32nd Street (212-695-0888), decided pho would be a great idea, and went in.

Pho 32 is a moderately priced, attractive restaurant. Not surprisingly, given its location, Pho is a Korean run restaurant . The menus are all in English and Korean, as are the signs in the restaurant and even in the bathroom. The only Vietnamese I saw was on a bottle of hot sauce. There are three other Phos owned by the same group: all in Queens. Not that you have to be from a certain place to cook their food well. The whole family and I have were recently at a Chinese restaurant in Queens run by a Korean family. And when I was in college, the local "Italian" pizzeria was actually run by two Albanian brothers. I have yet to have a better calzone (and I have been looking).

On this cold night, we both had the pho. You can choose a variety of meats to put in it: we both chose brisket. When I'm a little less cold and a little more adventurous, I will go for the tendon. You can also get chicken or seafood. The soup itself was quite flavorful, but the brisket tasted pre-cooked. The beer is cold and the Vietnamese coffee hot (or cold). The service is incredibly fast, and there is a late night happy hour with discount priced drinks and beer. There is an impressive shabu-shabu menu and , smoothies, and some rice dishes.

I am going back to Pho 32 when I am hungry either right before or right after a game. It was fast, it was tasty, and I am curious about the other items on the menu. I am actually dreaming about the pho as I write this. mmmmmm-mmm. Pho.

Have You Seen This Bottle

Tonight I went out for business dinner Korean food with some fellow physicians. We tried a new place: Choong Moo Ro (10 West 32nd Street, near 5th Ave: (212) 594-4963). Choong Moo Ro has a somewhat short menu for a Korean restaurant...about four pages long. All of the traditional bar-b-cue dishes are there, as are bim bam bop, hot pot, bokeum and a whole variety of scallion pancakes. We decided against bar-b-cue tonight because, as one of my colleagues said, we were "too tired to cook for ourselves."

Choong Moo Ro is a way hipper looking restaurant than many of the Korean Barbecue places on 32nd Street. The tables are brushed stainless and rounded. The walls are slick, a problem, as the sound reflects all over the place. The crowd was overwhelmingly a young, put together, well dressed and Asian. I did not eat the barbecue, but I will say it looked quite good. However, the kim Chee was fair at best. The selection was somewhat weak, and the amount given was small. To the restaurants credit, when we finished the kimchee, the helpful staff did ask us if wanted more. Bim Bam Bop was tasty, as was a spicy pork, tofu and kimchee dish that we ordered. I did not like the scallion pancake. Several soups, including dumpling were good. OB beer was $5. As is typical in Korean restaurants on 36th Street, the food was served in no particular order.

I wish I had eaten the barbecue; it would have allowed me to more fully judge Choong Moo Ro. However, there are several reasons I will likely not be running back. The first is the noise; because of the layout and decor of the restaurant, it can be impossible to hear your neighbor. The second is the kim chee, which I really like and which was quite weak here. The food itself, was perfectly edible, but it is at so many other places on 32nd Street. But if you are looking for a "scene type" restaurant, this may be the only one with an authentic Korean Barbecue that I have been too.

More Korean Food After the Rangers: Kom Tang Soot

After the Rangers excellent victory over the hated Islanders Monday night, the lovely wife, our East side friends and I headed out to dinner. As regular readers know, the lovely wife and I like Korean food before and after games: its delicious and served quickly. And although it was freezing Monday, we headed off to 32nd street.

The only requirement for a meal that night was that we all wanted to bar-b-que at the table. And heat, of course. We found what we were looking for at Kom Tang Soot (it has various other names as well, but this one works), which is located at 32 W 32nd Street (212-947-9482). KTS, as I will now call it, is the last bar-b-que restaurant on 32nd Street to still use charcoal, as opposed to gas. Kang Suh, a favorite of our London friends, used to have charcoal but seems to have dropped it in recent years. Its open 24 hours, so its good after clubbing too (one day, the lovely wife and I may decide to club, and its good to have options.)

The thing to eat at KTS are short ribs. Well marinated and grilled on the coals and wood, they have a great smoky flavor that is not to be missed. We tried the sirloin, which was good, but nowhere near the level of the short ribs, which are sublime. It is my personal opinion that chicken, squid, pork, etc. are not worth the time and effort of Korean bar-b-que. So we didn't get any of those. But who am I to judge. Do what you like.

Sorry about that. Getting back to it, the kimchi is OK, but there is better. It was also a bit on the skimpy side. Bibimbab was tasty and will be reordered. We had the Mandoo Kuk, which is Korean dumpling soup, which I found a refreshing dish on a cold night full of spicy food. Its $11, but there was more than enough for four of us.

All in all, a great Post-Ranger place. Try to sit upstairs at the big window. Its always fun to see whats happening on 32nd Street.

Posts of KTS from other bloggers in English appear limited and include:

Park Slope Gastrome and China Latina Chowhound (what an attractive pattern to their blog!)

The Pain of The Rangers is Too Much To Bear

After Henrik Lundqvist gave up four goals in the first period the lovely wife and I started to make plans to take Boys 1 and 2 to Korean Bar-B-Que early. The Rangers had other plans in mind for us. After pulling Ludqvist and putting in Kevin Weekes, the Rangers staged a near comeback in the second period, with Jagr scoring a goal and Shanahan scoring two. However, near the end of the period, the Islanders scored another (Kozlov), making it 5-3. Bar-b-que would wait until after the game.

The third period was exciting, but towards the end we were wishing we had gone for the kim-chee. Although Shanahan finished up the hat trick with his third goal, bringing it back to a one goal game, Kozlov was not to be stopped. He scored two more goals, bringing the final score to 7-4. It was miserable.

The Garden itself was particularly rowdy tonight, with a large collection of Islander fans, some clearly looking for an altercation. Although I only saw two fights, it was the first early Sunday game I have gone to where you almost smell the bad vibes.

As we had boys one and two as well as another family, we chose to go back to Kang Suh for dinner. This time we ate in the main dining room. The kim-chee was not as good as last time, and I miss the wood burning grills they used to have at the tables. The meat was still excellent, although I would like to try to eat somewhere else next time.

Ranger's Look Great and Korean Food Pre-Game is Great, Too

First of all, I would like to congratulate Jaromir Jagr, the Captain of the New York Rangers, for scoring his 600th career goal tonight. It was a great thing to witness, especially as Brendan Shanahan shot his 600th earlier this year. Also, the Rangers kicked Tampa Bay butt and easily won 4-1. After yesterdays fiasco in Pittsburgh, its good to see the Rangers over 500 and nipping at the heels of the Devil's.

But before the game, there was the Korean food. It would have been better after the game, but we brought the kids. After our failed adventure with Korean food two weeks ago, the lovely wife and I arranged to meet everyone at Kang Suh, a restaraunt first introduced to us by our friends now in London. Kang Suh is on 32nd Street, east of Broadway. It is a multilevel restaraunt that also has nice private rooms for moderate sized groups. This was a great thing tonight, as we had dinner with two other Ranger Fan Families (total: 5 adults, 5 kids). The service at Kang Suh can be bit choppy when they are busy (which is most of the time), but the lovely wife was able to push them along so we made it in time for the opening faceoff.

Kang Suh has excellent marinated shortribs. They are marinated in a traditional sweet, soy based sauce, but they are cut thicker than the beef shortribs I have had at other Korean restaraunts. The meat is of good quality, and grills well. The kids like the chicken, which is great for them, but I would not have it with all excellent alternatives available on the bar-b-que menu. The marinated pork is very tasty. We tried the brisket (pictured), which tastes more like cheese steak beef than anything else. This has been true for several Korean Bar-b-que's I have eaten at, so I think I will stop trying while I'm ahead. Kang Suh has excellent and varied Kim Chee, which is different every time you go. They have reasonable prices for beer. I whole heartedly recommend it for before or after games at Madison Square Garden.