Katie M.
Yelp
What I loved the most about this place was that I don't have to drive 3+ hours to Dallas (or Carrolton) anymore! Born and raised in Seoul, I approve that this place has some decent authentic Korean food. Not "Americanized" or altered in an awkward way. But the "pure American & Oklahoman" whom I went with loved the food too! I'm glad they opened (like 2 months ago). I was waiting for the day I finally had time to visit here, and I don't regret it. It was the best way to solve my late-night K-food craving! I decided to be more informative than a normal review based on other reviews I read here.
We went and last-minute-ordered Bossam, Cheese Donkatsu, and Corn Cheese. It was an hour before they closed for memorial day, so there were only 3 tables filled. Probably because of this, the music was not too loud unlike what other reviews wrote. From 4 TV screens mounted on the wall, different K-pop music videos were shown -- but none of the those were coming out from the speaker. Travis Scott's rap music were being played, and a couple of the songs were bombarded with obnoxious cursing words.
If there were a single K-pop song played, we would have noticed. At least I think the obnoxious songs were played after the little boy and dad (who sat in the table next to us) left. So quick message to the owner, Bryan, at least you should have asked your servers or sneak in on a random night to check rather than immediately showing unprofessional response to a certain review here. I feel embarrassed as another Korean whenever I see these kinds of responses from "Korean places" outside of Korea. I hope you take this as a cordial suggestion. Plus, I personally thought K-pop music could have been so much more uplifting for a Korean bar than American rap music.
Some review said the food were bland & tasteless. Well, all I gotta say is "blame your own tastebuds that got ruined by excessive amounts of sauces smothered on foods in American style cooking". (Or maybe, it were their other dish.) Authentic Bossam dish, unless it mentions that it is "marinated in xx sauce", is SUPPOSED to have plain pork meat boiled/steamed in water or broth so the excess fat is dissolved out and the softness of the meat is obtained.
For bossam, you're supposed to mix and match the ingredients there to create your own taste -- a food ball wrapped with the leafy green, hence the Korean meaning of the name "bossam". The ssam (leafy green) was romaine lettuce which is closest to the original Korean sangchu ssam (but a bit thicker). It was served with the authentic bossam dish combination: garlic chunks, green pepper slices, ssamjang, Korean (tiny) shrimp sauce (pink in color), fresh kimchi, and spicy marinated half-dried Korean radish (called "moo". The half-dried ones are called Moo-mar-lang-ee). Also, you normally eat with a bowl of rice, therefore, it's a meal for 2-3 persons. Although it was all nice and authentic for me -- a Korean, I'd recommend JJAN POCHA to put a tiny instruction on the dish on how to eat bossam.
Donkatsu was more like the Japanese multi-layered tonkatsu, with a Korean twist with an extra layer of mozzarella cheese. We loved it! Although authentic traditional Korean donkkassu can be found in Edmond (@B**g***), this itself tasted great! It's served in the Korean "light western meal" style with a side of toasted sesame sprinkled scoop of rice, Danmuji (Korean Moo (radish) pickle), shredded dabage with (spicy) ketchup. Donkatsu sauce is pretty authentic too (it's like a combination of Worcestershire & A1 & bechamel sauces (made of butter&flour roux).
Now the corn cheese.. Due to a miscommunication, the kitchen closed when I found out the server omitted my order request for corn cheese. Luke, our server, kindly offered that he knows how to make it and can serve it for us if we are OK with that. I appreciated him being flexible and asked him to make it for us. (Pssst... Honestly this can be easily made at home -- pretty much a fool-proof and fail-proof dish. So I was sure he'd do a fine job making it.) He went immediately at it, and as expected, it tasted authentic and we liked it. Not sure if it tastes the same as from the kitchen chef, but just so you know -- Luke knows how to cook the Corn Cheese plate. lol..
In conclusion, if you want to save time and gas to go to Texas (or even to Edmond), I'd definitely recommend this place. Side note, the little boy liked the japchae (soy sauce and sesame oil marinated glass noodles saute dish with meat and veggies. It's like a healthy Korean style spaghetti, if you will. I had seen ZERO non-Korean friends disliking this dish). The merit of having Korean food is the nutritional balance with protein, vitamin (veggies), lesser fat, and the right amount of carb. I searched and found a Youtube shorts of JJAN POCHA with the japchae, soondooboo, and bossam too. And disclaimer, I'm not related to ANY of these entities or restaurants that I mentioned. Hope this review helps!