1.325
26 (Wed) November 2010
Bulgogi
3.0
at Yetmat Seoul Bulgogi
-Changcheon, Mapu, Seoul, Korea-
with the Family, MtG, CBD
Yetmat Seoul Bulgogi is a Korean restaurant. Specializes in bulgogi, served the old-fashioned way (“yetmat” = “old taste”): over oak coals on a perforated brass dome designed specifically for bulgogi that both allows the meat to cook crisply and also captures the runoff juices in a moat-like receptacle circling the base of the pan, which may be spooned over rice or sipped directly as a broth. Just the pan itself was a welcome sight, something I haven’t seen in at least a decade. Having stated previously that bulgogi has become something of a rarity on the domestic Korean restaurant scene, “limited to expensive specialty restaurants where a serving of 150 g can run in excess of 50,000 won, [or] restaurants catering to tourists,” I’m happy to stand resoundingly corrected by the prices here: 15,000 won for a 300-gram serving, 85% cheaper than I’d previously mentioned. The meat was accompanied by a heaping platter of veggies and glass noodles, along with complimentary bowls of mu guk. Most importantly, of course, the food was excellent, coming very close to 4.0. No wonder that the restaurant was packed, the clientele strictly local.