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| Taken from a Yelp review as I forgot to take a pciture os the place on the place on the way out: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/taste-of-korea-colorado-springs?select=0Qyl5Jq84OqxX0KQSyAotw |
Though happily surprised by the variety and quality of food in Colorado Springs there have been a few let downs. I will not discuss Mexican food because that is a subject sacred to all Californians, let's just say that when I find one I love I will write about it. No, instead I shall touch upon the myriad of Asian delicacies that I have come upon in my new home.
It was after both highs (Ai Sushi) and lows (almost every Chinese restaurant I've been to here) that I happened upon a little Korean place on the East side of town named Taste of Korea. Found within a strip mall a few doors down from what appeared to be a dive bar, on first appearance I did not have high hopes for the food there. Walking in my expectations rose a little bit. First off it was clean, and while I don't immediately equate cleanliness with good food (even McDonalds has to clean their bathrooms once in a while) it did give me a glint of hope. There was nice lady behind a counter that directed us to any two seat table. Unsure of where to sit we choose a table that had the least amount of blinding sunlight coming in from a covered window.
Slowly the experience got better and better. After sitting down at the table the nice lady moved us to another table farther back out of the sunlight. She quickly got us water and we ordered a plate of Yakimandu, which were your basic fried dumplings. These came out rather quickly and I would rate them as your average fried dumplings. They had good flavor to them, and were cooked nicely, but I felt I could have got them at almost any Asian themed restaurant in the city. Still they were hot and fresh and our hostess (the only person we'd seen since entering the restaurant) delivered them with a smile.
After gobbling those up, we were both pretty hungry by then, we sat and waited for our orders to come out. Thankfully the dumplings had filled me up enough to appreciate the fact that it was taking time for our orders to be completed. I think I would have been a little worried if they had just shoved them out in the next five minutes. It would have made me think that they were just warming up food they'd kept on had in the microwave (again see most of the Chinese restaurants here). Honestly I would say it took about twenty minutes to get our food, which wasn't bad as while we sat there at least three people with very large to-go orders came in to pick up their order.
So the moment arrives and someone from the back, probably one of the two cooks, brings us out our food. My wife's dish is by far the more complex looking of the two. In addition to a large serving of Bulgogi (thin slices of marinated beef) served on a hot cast iron plate, she also got eight small bowels of additional food (not including a small bowl of rice), which included her most favorite dish (kimchi pancakes) and her least favorite dish (seaweed). I, loving all things spicy, commandeered the bright red kimchi.
While not quite as impressive looking as my wife's dish I was instantly intrigued by my own food. This was the first time I had ordered Bibimbap (rice mixed with vegetables and beef). I was a bit put off by the fried egg, as it appeared slightly overcooked, but it didn't stop me from digging in. I was a bit surprised by the vegetables, in a good way. I am not normally one to enjoy beansprout, as I have had to push them aside in healthier dishes, but the seasoning and flavor of them when combined with the meat (agian Bulgogi), the egg, and the rice was the perfect balance of flavors. My only complaints were that there should have been a bit more meat in the bowl.
My wife on other hand thoroughly enjoyed her meal but believed they had been mistaken and given her the "hot" Bulgogi. After taking a few bites of her meat I had to agree, it was a bit spicy. Thankfully that just made it easier to steal some of it and put it into my bowl. So it all worked out in the end.
As we finished our meal the same cook from the back came out to see how we had enjoyed our food (the woman manning the front had since disappeared). She looked surprised to see that I had eaten all of my food, even going so far as to pick out almost every grain of rice out of the bottom of the bowl. This was done partly as I found myself still a bit hungry (a Bibimbap is not a whole lot of food but was probably the right amount for me) and partly because everything tasted so good. She asked us how we'd found her and was surprised when I said Yelp. I get the feeling Yelp isn't used a lot in Colorado Springs.
After boxing up my wife's left overs we left Taste of Korea with a mostly full stomach and a smile on our faces. I am happy that at the very least really good Korean food can be found in Colorado Springs, and I'm looking forward to coming back.
Taste of Korea
1825 Peterson Rd.
Colorado Springs, CO
(719) 574-2060
http://tasteofkoreacs.com/
Slowly the experience got better and better. After sitting down at the table the nice lady moved us to another table farther back out of the sunlight. She quickly got us water and we ordered a plate of Yakimandu, which were your basic fried dumplings. These came out rather quickly and I would rate them as your average fried dumplings. They had good flavor to them, and were cooked nicely, but I felt I could have got them at almost any Asian themed restaurant in the city. Still they were hot and fresh and our hostess (the only person we'd seen since entering the restaurant) delivered them with a smile.
After gobbling those up, we were both pretty hungry by then, we sat and waited for our orders to come out. Thankfully the dumplings had filled me up enough to appreciate the fact that it was taking time for our orders to be completed. I think I would have been a little worried if they had just shoved them out in the next five minutes. It would have made me think that they were just warming up food they'd kept on had in the microwave (again see most of the Chinese restaurants here). Honestly I would say it took about twenty minutes to get our food, which wasn't bad as while we sat there at least three people with very large to-go orders came in to pick up their order.
So the moment arrives and someone from the back, probably one of the two cooks, brings us out our food. My wife's dish is by far the more complex looking of the two. In addition to a large serving of Bulgogi (thin slices of marinated beef) served on a hot cast iron plate, she also got eight small bowels of additional food (not including a small bowl of rice), which included her most favorite dish (kimchi pancakes) and her least favorite dish (seaweed). I, loving all things spicy, commandeered the bright red kimchi.
While not quite as impressive looking as my wife's dish I was instantly intrigued by my own food. This was the first time I had ordered Bibimbap (rice mixed with vegetables and beef). I was a bit put off by the fried egg, as it appeared slightly overcooked, but it didn't stop me from digging in. I was a bit surprised by the vegetables, in a good way. I am not normally one to enjoy beansprout, as I have had to push them aside in healthier dishes, but the seasoning and flavor of them when combined with the meat (agian Bulgogi), the egg, and the rice was the perfect balance of flavors. My only complaints were that there should have been a bit more meat in the bowl.
My wife on other hand thoroughly enjoyed her meal but believed they had been mistaken and given her the "hot" Bulgogi. After taking a few bites of her meat I had to agree, it was a bit spicy. Thankfully that just made it easier to steal some of it and put it into my bowl. So it all worked out in the end.
As we finished our meal the same cook from the back came out to see how we had enjoyed our food (the woman manning the front had since disappeared). She looked surprised to see that I had eaten all of my food, even going so far as to pick out almost every grain of rice out of the bottom of the bowl. This was done partly as I found myself still a bit hungry (a Bibimbap is not a whole lot of food but was probably the right amount for me) and partly because everything tasted so good. She asked us how we'd found her and was surprised when I said Yelp. I get the feeling Yelp isn't used a lot in Colorado Springs.
After boxing up my wife's left overs we left Taste of Korea with a mostly full stomach and a smile on our faces. I am happy that at the very least really good Korean food can be found in Colorado Springs, and I'm looking forward to coming back.
Taste of Korea
1825 Peterson Rd.
Colorado Springs, CO
(719) 574-2060
http://tasteofkoreacs.com/
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