Food Friday: Korea House

In my mind, Charlotte Pike is known for a few things: Pawn Shops and Vietnamese Food. Tucked in among the check-cashing and Pho houses is the best Korean Food I have ever had. Korea House is a no-frills jewel. It's not much from the outside and inside certainly isn't much better. But if you just want good food and friendly staff, this is your place.

We started off with some edamame because I was starving and couldn't wait for the whole meal.  Notice the spot with fewer pods? Yeah, I dug in before I took the picture. Couldn't help it.

What I love most about Kroean food in general is the wonderful side dishes that they bring along with your meal. Normally it's various types of pickled vegetables, potatoes, fish, and egg pancakes. I love the variety and the taste at Korea house. The Kimchi is spicy but not so overpowering that you can't taste the cabbage.  The potatoes soaked in a sweet brown sauce is a calming balance to the heat of everything else. My personal favorite is the salted fish.

The following dishes are great. Trust me. I just think it is hard to photograph Korean food and make it look appealing with an iPhone. Steve and I split two entrees. The portions are so huge here that they could be for competitive eaters like myself. You can probably split one dish or save some for leftovers. I usually rotate between a few dishes: the rice fingers and fish, dolsot bibimbop, and potato noodles did not make the cut this time. Sorry other delicious foods!

After some tense negotiations, we agreed on pork belly with kimichi and tofu and bulgolgi. Pork belly is a nice way of saying thick cut fatty bacon. There are few meats that I enjoy better than pork belly.  The meat-to-fat ratio is just right, with a good amount of the soft chewy stuff. The tofu on the bottom is soft and silky. It just folds away like butter and soaks up all the spice and fat. This dish is greasy, no lie. If you wan't something healthy that will make you feel light- don't order this. If you want to grub like I usually do, stick with the pork fat. 

The second main dish that we ordered was the bulgogi, which is Korean BBQ beef. The meat is thinly sliced and cooked up with a good protion of onion and served with hot sauce, rice, and lettuce leaves.  Don't let the lettuce confuse you, this is another greasy dish. The meat is soaking in oil and there is a nicle amount left in the dish when you are done.  Make's you feel real good about your food choice. But you know what? I don't care. Every once in a while you need food that tastes like a state fair and you deserve it. That oil soaks into the rice and makes everything glisten with flavor. This is Steve's favorite dish and the boy always orders it. I have a bulgogi-addict in the making.

This is a mustache of a man who just had a great meal!