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Writing about Café Todahmgol in Duluth is an exercise in frustration … I just get hungry.  Perhaps that is why I’ve never spent the time to relay my thoughts on this tucked away Korean restaurant way up yonder.  You see, as you begin to reach the Northeast border of Atlanta, most often identified by Interstate 285 and Spaghetti Junction, Korean restaurants become as common place as even the most inundating of fast food chains.

Though these spots are everywhere, it seems as if most “ethnic food” passionistas continually identify just a handful of restaurant when discussing Atlanta’s best Korean Barbecue.  Restaurants like Han Il Kwan, Hae Woon Dae, Honey Pig, Iron Age, and Myung Ga Won repeatedly get a nod.  Cho Sun Ok, Sun and Moon Café, and Star Daepo also get mentioned.  That’s frankly just the tip of the iceberg.  I’ve been to all of those places, some several times over, and yet I’m constantly disappointed that Café T, one of Atlanta’s best Korean restaurants of any discipline, is buried beneath a heap of the less worthy. 

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For the past few years, Atlanta’s Korean taco market has been dominated by Tomas Lee’s Hankook Taqueria and their hand in the cookie jar food truck spin-off Yumbii.  Recently, Lee expanded into Midtown Atlanta with the opening of Takorea, a near carbon copy of his concept from the backwoods of Westside.

Once you strip away the misguided name and the disjointed aesthetic of Takorea, what you are left with is a restaurant whose newborn reputation seems to vastly exceed the quality of anything that comes out of the kitchen.  Takorea is, in that respect, exactly like Lee’s other establishments: viable for Atlantans due to a lack of framework against which it can be properly judged.

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Just a few days ago, I stepped back into Hankook Taqueria and had a fairly flat experience.  I’m actually working on that post as we speak.  However, owner Tomas Lee just got a whole heck of a lot of attention for his Hankook Taqueria and their Yumbii Taco Truck that is sure to bring them a lot of attention.  The chef was the lead chef mentioned in today’s article in the New York Times about Korean Tacos.

While the article doesn’t actually review the quality of the food at the various establishments it mentions, it’s a good summary text for those not familiar with the Kogi BBQ story.  My favorite part of the article is the supplement slideshow, though Hankook is nowhere to be found there.  The picture above is from my meal way back in the day.  You can see all the pictures from my meal at Hankook here.  I’ll have some more pictures up soon as well.  Oh, by the way, the author was none other than John T. Edge of Southern Foodways Alliance fame.  You ought to follow him!

Mrs. Vennerable and I make it our personal quest to check out as many bulgogi offerings as we can.  That being the case, it should be no surprise that the two of us made our way up to Doraville and stumbled into Today Restaurant (or Woori Jip for the Korean in you) to add another notch in that bedpost.  You see, most Atlanta foodie fanatics have made a food quest or two up Buford Highway in search of great grub.  The area is knee deep in what we American’s identify as “ethnic food;” and, if you didn’t know better … you could probably spend a few years eating a meal a day there and never enter the same stronghold more than once.

Despite the endless array of options, a handful of restaurants in each cultural compartment always seem to garner a good bit of attention.  In the case of Korean cuisine, Hae Woon Dae is one such establishment.  Why do I mention HWD in a review of Today Restaurant?  Simple, because they are smack dab on top of each other.  Unfortunately for Today, Hae Woon Dae is a bit of a behemoth in reputation and I can’t imagine it helps to be their neighbor.  However, as Vennerable and I turned into the somewhat off the beaten path parking lot at 5805 Buford Highway, the mystery of the unknown is exactly why we stepped out of the shadows for a meal (well, that and the fact that Don Quixote is closed on Sunday’s).

Snuggled between those two eateries you’ll find a demonstrative sign and a busy as a bee doorway.  Behind that door sits the predictably styled establishment known around these English speaking parts as Today Restaurant.  At first sight, the ground work was certainly there for a foodie discovery worthy of the “Foodie Finds” tag (currently reserved for The Kind Pie and Celia’s Carniceria).  While the meal didn’t quite knock it out of the park like those two, we left feeling like we got our monies’ worth.

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Last week, I mentioned that a well respected NYC foodie and a local heavyweight were scampering around town to try some of the best Atlanta has to offer.  Yesterday, Ed Levine, the NYC dude of Serious Eats fame, posted a writing by John Kessler, the AJC’s food dude.  Topics included the delicious pizzas that we all talk oh so much about.  Yes, that’s Varasano’s, Antico Pizza, & Fritti, for all you rock dwellers.  Though there isn’t a great deal of “review” details in the post, the article does seem to tip its hat in the direction of Antico.

Kessler goes on to discuss Atlanta’s burgeoning farm-to-table scene, BuHi’s Korean BBQ and ramen, and checks out with a tip of the hat to Woodfire Grill’s Kevin Gillespie and The Hil’s Hilary White.  I’m not sure if Levine actually went anywhere other than Antico and V’s, and his opinion is notably absent from the piece.  Still, it’s great to see Kessler pushing us on the national scene, and it’s a well-written summary piece for anyone trying to get a lay of the land.

[via Serious Eats]

A lot of people have postulated as to why Hankook Taqueria, the one part Korean cafeteria and one part taqueria, has opened on the Westside.  Whatever the reason, the addition of a Korean inspired restaurant over yonder helps to expand the culinary landscape.  While there are a handful of establishments that serve Korean cuisine, not a single one of them is in ears shot of Hankook.  Further to the point, I’m pretty sure this is the first foray into Korean tacos in the ATL.  These facts alone make HT a valuable addition to the neighborhood, even if the food isn’t anything wonderful.

The man behind Hankook is Tomas Lee.  Lee, an accomplished chef, has already tried his hand as a restaurateur.  Unfortunately, his eponymous Tomas in Norcross and Wok-In Wok-Out in Lawrenceville are both a thing of the past.  Now this former Buckhead Diner executive chef finds himself much closer to the heart of the city in a very unassuming location.

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Bulgolgi has long been a staple of my diet.  Ever since college, when I made weekly visits to the Korean spot just across the street from my pad, I’ve had a soft spot for Korean food.  I was actually introduced to Bulgolgi over at a friends house and ever since then, I’ve been trying every version I can get my hands on.

Luckily, Eat Drink Man has thrown his hat into the ring.  He just posted an excellent recipe for Bulgolgi over on his blog.  In addition, he took the time to give you some details about the dish as well as some insider tips on what to do when preparing this meaty goodness.  When you are done perusing that recipe, check out his Flickr feed as he takes excellent pictures

(photo via Flickr courtesy of LarimdaMe)

Yesterday was a culinary gold medal for me.  First up was lunch at Myung Ga Won, one of the best Korean barbecue joints in the city.  Dinner was an off the hook meal at MF Buckhead.  We managed to score a pair of seats to one of Chris Kinjo’s omakase meals at MF Buckhead.  Truly an awesome experience.  While I work on the posts, check out Kessler’s thoughts on one such meal from a few months ago (as well as here).  While our ticket blew way past Kessler (in part because of the sake we ordered), I agree with him: it’s a meal I’ll never forget.