MSG150: Seattle International District Lunch Food: Korean

Friday, April 4, 2008

Lunch #43: Blue & Pink

Wishes can come true! Back in January when the MSG150 route took us past the Historic Chinatown Gate (HCG) we had to skip the Blue & Pink Korean restaurant since it had apparently closed down. We hoped that it was just temporary and tried fruitlessly (and somewhat ineptly) to solve the mystery, but to no avail. However, last week on our way out to Sea Garden we noticed that our hopes had become reality. Blue & Pink is back! So today we executed the biggest backtrack in MSG150 history and showed up at the base of the HCG for a Bibimbab love-in.

Blue & Pink, Seattle
Address: 502 S. King St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Korean, Teriyaki
Average rating: 4 chopsticks
Lunch date: 4/4/2008 @ 11:54:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 21 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 50 minutes
Chopstix quality: Nice Wood
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: Seoul, South Korea
Number of tables: 8
Number of occupied tables: 4 (50%)
Number of business lunch tables: 3 (75%)
Number of "local" tables: 1 (25%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Pork Bulgoki - $10.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

This is one of our standby restaurants... and we were really disappointed when it was closed. We found that they had closed their doors because of the construction of the historic Chinatown gate, and only just recently reopened. I've had a hankerin' for their "Well-Being Stone Bowl Beebimbob" for 4 months now, and couldn't wait to order it. Unfortunately, the PayScale Sales team beat us there, and there weren't any stone bowls left.

Being forced to try something else, I went with the Pork Bulgoki. This was some swine cooked with a sauce and some veggies. The dish didn't appear to have any kim chi in it... but there was a hint of fermented-flavor in the dish. This was a new dish to me, so it was fun to eat, but I would definitely stick with the Stone Bowl Beebimbob because its a total experience when you're eating out of a bowl that can (and does) fry an egg. The price ($10.95) definitely prices it out of the normal lunch spectrum, but a good solid Korean dish for lunch + snack

This is one of the only Korean restaurants in the International District, and is definitely worth visiting.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Bibimbob - $7.95
Rating: 5 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

Me and Korean food - we go way back. I think my first experience, like many, was in college. It was a beautiful spring evening in North Carolina. The smell of flowers was in the air. The time was right. My college roommate, who is Korean, set up the encounter. It was Kimchi soup, or something like that. It was... awful. But then again, the first time often is.

Fast forward ten years or so, my coworkers and I discover Blue and Pink. Blue and Pink, or Booo Pooo as I like to call it, replaced Saigon something or another that was famous for their two dollar sandwiches and upset stomaches they caused. I quickly became a big fan of their Bibimbob. On a summer day it's ridikulous. It's kind of cold, with the greens, sprouts, rice, mixing with the hot beef, and tasty red sauce. An egg cooked easy, and layered over the top. I get hungry just thinking about it. Then one day they throw the "Stone pot Bimbibob" on the menu. What is this? The same, only 1000x times better. They put the aforementioned ingredients in a piping hot ceramic bowl, that literally cooks the food at the table while you eat it. The rice gets crunchy, the egg touches the edge of the pot and instantly scrambles. It's fun to watch, more fun to eat. I've also had their kimchi, which is quite good.

This visit, they had run out of stone pots for the bibimbob. No matter, I'm happy with the regular as well. The service here can be on the slow side, but they never rush you. They took about 20 minutes to bring me the Bibimbob, which is very slow. They serve tea in a large cup, not some dinky thimble like many other places. I've had many other dishes. Their mushroom fried rice - delicious. Their gyoza is decent, and the Bulgogi has a nice flavor.

Vegetarians have options as well. Steve - my vegetarian friend, immediately dismissed this place quickly when I invited him out. However I persisted, and made him a convert and evangelizer of their Bibimbob, though he does it without meat.

Easily this is one of my favorite places in the ID.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Beef Bulgoki - $10.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Blue & Pink took over the the spot that was previously occupied by Saigon Gourmet. You can still see the "ET" poking out from behind the Blue & Pink sign. The space has two entrances, one into the cozy dining area and the other into the kitchen and what used to be Saigon Gourmet's walk-up $2 sandwich (bahn mi) counter. The fried egg & tofu bahn mi was a long time staple of the pre-MSG150 MSG150 crew. Today there is no sandwich counter just a short menu of Korean favorites and teriyaki standards.

I have had a number different dishes at Blue & Pink, but I come back for the "Well-Being Stone Bowl BiBimbob". Bibimbob (or bibimbab, or 비빔밥) consists of hot white rice, namul (marinated vegetables), beef and a lightly fried egg in a super heated stone bowl. It is served with a large spoon so that you can stir it all together. As it is stirred, the molten hot bowl finishes cooking the egg. As you eat from the top, the rice mixture that is still in contact with the bowl is seared into brown crispy goodness. Today, however, we learned that Blue & Pink only has seven stone bowls. We also learned that the only other party in the restaurant, a table of seven of PayScale's finest sales folks, had already been served the seven stone bowls. Once I regained my composure I chose the first item on the Korean section of the menu as a back-up: the Beef Bulgoki.

The bulgoki was a huge portion and a bit spendy for a lunch entree, but it was delicious. It consisted of thinly cut strips of beef cooked in a tangy sauce with bits of cabbage and other veggies. It is fairly meat heavy, but luckily we were served four vegetable sides (or banchan) to share: kimchi and various namul. They were all crispy and tangy and a nice complement to the bulgoki. The pea vines and kimchi were my favorites. Welcome back Blue & Pink. You were missed.

Luncher: Torrey

Lunch: Chicken Yakisoba - $6.50
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Blue & Pink Photos

Blue & Pink (aka BOOO POOO)

Blue & Pink under the HCG

Blue & Pink Menu

Specials Menu

Chicken Yakisoba

Beef Bulgoki

Pork Bulgoki

Bibimbob

Bibimbob sauced up

Banchan (Kimchi and various Namul)

Well-Being Stone Bowl BiBimbob remains

Friday, March 7, 2008

Lunch #34: Shilla Korean BBQ

Eager to move forward, the MSG150 crew headed out for our third trip to the UFC this week. We are done with the Uwajimaya Deli portion and are moving on to the private establishments along the north side of the food court. First stop, Shilla Korean BBQ. With the loss of Blue & Pink, Shilla is (I think) the only remaining Korean spot in the DLZ. There always seems to be a crowd in the UFC and today was no exception. Luckily Shilla's has a couple of its own tables and we were able to snag one for our group of five.

Shilla Korean BBQ, Seattle
Address: 600 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Korean: BBQ
Average rating: 3.6 chopsticks
Lunch date: 3/7/2008 @ 11:40:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 5 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 5 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 39 minutes
Chopstix quality: Cheap Wood
Do they use MSG?: ?
Where is the owner/chef from?: ?
Number of tables: 2
Number of occupied tables: 1 (50%)
Number of business lunch tables: 1 (100%)
Number of "local" tables: 0 (0%)
Healthcode Score: 25
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: #4 - Spicy BBQ Pork - $5.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

I was very glad to be through with the Uwajimaya Deli. It was mostly better than I had expected, but still on the low end of ID lunch quality. Shilla's is the first spot on the north side of the food court. For a stall in a food court, Shilla's has done a nice job of dressing itself up. It has a tile rooflet, stone wall, and a log post. There were a couple of people in front of us, but the line moved quickly. The friendly woman behind the counter was very efficient in taking orders and passing out food.

I ordered the Spicy BBQ Pork which came with two sides of Kimchi, white rice, and a huge pile of BBQ pork. It was excellent. The best meal so far at the UFC. The pork had a nice spice to it and was well flavored. With the spicy, tangy kimchi and rice it was a great lunch.

I also tried a shorty can of pear juice. It tasted a bit like canned fruit cocktail juice with pear pulp in it. Not horrible, but not something I'd buy again. Still not enough to ruin a solid four chopstick lunch.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: #6 - Country Style "Bi Bim" Rice - $6.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

Shilla's advertises that all food is cooked to order, and has a large variety of Korean dishes. I'm very partial to Bibimbop, ever since falling in love with it at Blue and Pink - now closed. Blue and Pink had the Stone Bibimbop on their specials board every day, and it was literally some of the best lunch food I've ever tasted anywhere. Alas, they're gone, hence we're at Shilla's. I order the Bi Bim rice, we'll see how they do.

Their version is quite good. It comes in styrofoam, not stone pot, and the egg is scrambled, not fried, but the excellent commingling of flavors are there - there's the sauteed greens, good beef, some bean sprouts, that delicious Korean hot sauce, and a side of kimchi. The lady kicked in some Miso Soup for free, which was nice.

To drink, I got some grape flavored drink. I think it's called SacSac juice, and the web site claimes "it has a unique taste of chewing full sacs." It was sweet and tasty - and true to it's name, it had some SacSac floating in it. As you drink, you have little grapes trying to pop into your mouth. This guy writes a much more detailed review. I agree with him.

I got some "Chimes Ginger Chews" as my interesting choice from the market. They're from Indonesia, and made with Peanut Butter. I like Ginger Ale, and Ginger with my sushi, but this was just bad. Plain bad. It did not "instantly transport me to a happy place." Other people liked it though.

By the way, if anyone knows where I can get good Stone Bimbimbop in Seattle, please let us know!

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: #9 - Spicy Beef Stew - $5.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

Korean food is rare in the Internationl District, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The menu had a bunch of stuff that I was totally uninformed about, and I went with the dish that had three words that I understood in it: Spicy Beef Stew.

The soup was served piping hot. It took a good 10 minutes before it was at an edible temperature but once it cooled down, I definitely liked it. The stew was full of lots of good stuff: noodles, big bean sprouts, and some vegetables. The beef was a little sparse and not as tender as it could be... but not noticably so.

The dish also came with some sides: rice, vegetables, and kim-chi (on request). The rice was pretty sticky and easy to eat. I'm not actually sure how they cooked the vegetables, but they were really good. The kim-chi was... kim-chi: good, but still a big pile of fermented cabbage.

A good amount of food for $6. When you're ready for a change in the ID.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Japchae (sans beef) - $6.95
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Rob's Review

I stood in front of the Shilla hanging menu, going through the options one by one, looking for something vaguely vegetarian. The Kimchi Stew sounded good if they could make it without the pork. They claimed the Japchae noodle dish was a great vegetarian option without the beef. There was also some sort of ramen noodle soup. I asked about the kimchi stew, but the pork was too intrinsic to the dish, as it turned out, and so I went with the beef-less japchae. Plus another buck for a cup of miso soup. After Chef Kenzo and the steam table, it was nice to have a freshly cooked lunch. The styrofoam container I eventually received was quite heavy, and it looked like they given me a huge helping of noodles, but no, it was an almost but not quite big enough helping of noodles over a bed of rice. It came with what seemed like one piece of kimchi (the pork-less variety, I hoped) and something else that I've already forgotten. The japchae, which consisted of thin glass noodles and some vegetables, was pretty good. Two very short sections of noodle were hard, but they were small and easy to work around. It does seem a little odd to me to give both Shilla and the steam table three chopsticks, because I think I liked the Shilla UFC experience a bit better, but that's the way the fortune cookie crumbles, I guess.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Korean BBQ Beef - $6.95
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Michael's Review

There is a staple lunch item around here: Rice and Meat and Vegetables. Or you can really mix things up and have Meat and Vegetables and Rice. But in the end it all starts to seem the same.

So did my Korean Beef BBQ differ from anything else I've had this month? Not so much. It was tasty Meat. With some Rice. And a bit of Veggies. And the quality was good and it was fresh and hot, but really it was the same darn thing that everyone else has too.

I was sitting there eating my RMV and thinking about what I could really say about this lunch choice that we have said about a dozen others. I couldn't come up with much. And then I looked across the food court to 'Made to Order' and started thinking about how much better the Beef Sukiyaki was. Sure its just another RMV but something about it was just so much better than this. So, 3 stars for this place, its good, but this dish isn't all that. Eat the Sukiyaki across the aisle.