Tuesday throwback to last Saturday’s Korean dinner — one of the first proper sit-down Korean meals since circuit breaker lifted. Phase 2 reopening was rolling and we were slowly easing back into the dine-in routine for cuisines that just don’t translate well to delivery.

We ordered (Korean BBQ + sides):

Marinated pork belly (samgyeopsal)
Beef bulgogi
Banchan (side dishes — kimchi, pickled vegetables, sprouts)
Jjigae (stew — kimchi or soft tofu)
Steamed rice
Soju

Korean BBQ doesn’t really work as delivery. The whole format is built around the table grill — meat sizzling over the gas burner in front of you, sides arriving in their small dishes, the small ceremony of wrapping a piece of cooked meat in a lettuce leaf with a dab of ssamjang. None of that translates to a takeaway box.

So when we went out for Korean, it was a sit-down meal at a phase-2-reopened restaurant. Safe distancing markers between tables, contact tracing on entry, staff in masks. The format of eating out had changed but the experience was still recognisable.

The marinated pork belly was the highlight. Thick slices, sweet-soy-garlic marinade soaked through the meat, grilled over the table burner until the edges caramelised and the fat rendered. Wrapped in a fresh lettuce leaf with a smear of ssamjang and a slice of raw garlic for the proper bite.

Beef bulgogi came on a hot plate, already cooked, with onions and scallions tossed through. Sweet-savoury, tender, the comfort-food Korean dish.

Banchan was the underrated component. Six or seven small dishes — kimchi (fermented cabbage), pickled radish, sprouts, seasoned spinach, anchovies — refilled when we ran low.

Jjigae arrived in its bubbling stone pot. Spicy, complex broth, eat with rice on the side.

Soju to wash it all down.

First proper Korean dinner since lockdown felt like a small step back to normal.

Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Excellent return-to-dine-in Korean dinner — would re-visit.

Original IG post