Jim B.
Yelp
Today, I was over at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens taking pictures of flowers, bees, and butterflies. Since it is pretty far from my house, I decided to stop somewhere on the way home for lunch. I did a search for Korean food and saw Il Song Garden listed. To me that was like a sign. I would drive from one garden to another and enjoy some delicious Korean food.
Now before I go any further, it is time for my usual disclaimer. I am not Korean. I have never been to Korea. I'm just an old fat man who enjoys watching Korean television series on Netflix, and gets really hungry watching the characters pigging out on what looks like amazing food. I can not vouch for the authenticity of any Korean Restaurant. Therefore, I can only make comments about how the food tasted to me.
I was the only diner in the restaurant at the time I visited. The young man who worked the front led me to a table and asked if I wanted a drink. I ordered an unsweet tea. When he brought it back, he took my order for a squid salad appetizer and seafood Cha Jang Myun. He then explained that I was welcome to go to the little salad bar and get my own side dishes.
I was in heaven looking at the side dishes. They had just enough choices to make me happy, and the thought of self-serve (read that as take AS MUCH as you want) kimchi was exciting. I took some fairly hefty portions of spicy pickled radish, korean pickles, fish cake, and kimchi. They are all my favorite sides, and you NEVER get enough in those cute little dishes they usually put in front of you. Let me just say right here that everyone of them was really good.
When I got back to the table, the server was there with my squid salad. I had never had it before, but it was nothing like I expected. I was thinking it would be like calamari rings in a spicy asian dressing. No it was not. It was large thick slices of squid mixed with some paper thin veggies and marinated in a delicious spicy sauce. It tasted so good! I truly could have eaten a plate full of it and been happy with my meal.
The Cha Jang Myun came in a HUGE white bowl. It smelled absolutely divine! I really thought I smelled chocolate, but I think that was just my imagination. It is made with a thick black bean sauce, and I can not find any reference to chocolate in any recipe or article about it. It certainly doesn't taste like chocolate. But then neither does Mexican mole sauce. Regardless, it was really delicious and satisfying. I made quite a mess slurping it off the chop sticks and was glad I was alone in the dining room! The seafood pieces in it were tasty. I know there were mussels and shrimp. I'm not sure what else.
The place itself is really nice. The dining room is very clean and has a warm and cozy feel to it. They have some televisions on the walls. I like the one in front of me that was playing videos like MTV, except that they were Korean songs and clips from the K-dramas they were used on. I recognized a lot of the shows as those I have seen.
I can't wait until I get to go back and try some other dishes. My youngest son also likes Korean food and wants me to take him. No problem. I'm ready.