Song 7.2 (117 2nd Avenue @ 7th St.)

Every time I pass this place, it seems to be closed, so I was glad that it was open a few days ago. My buddy Dan & I sat at a booth & flicked through the menu. The decor is very 'Student Union'; it looks like the type of place college or highschool kids would go to meet up after school & gossip of whatever. There are photos of customers everywhere, graffiti on the tables & atrocious Korean pop music blaring.

The place was pretty empty & the staff were all sitting around a huge pot stuffing their faces while we looked at the menu. Honestly, I expected a lot more. The menu is mainly comprised of 'tapas-style' small dishes & large pots to be shared, none of which looked very appetizing. I decided on the fried meat dumplings & a small plate of eel. Dan got a seaweed salad & spicy mackerel.

Looking absolutely nothing like the items on the menu, our dishes arrived. My eel had some sort of funky, tracing-paper looking oddity on top of it & Dan's mackerel, well, um. I'll admit that the eel tasted very good, minus the 'paper', but I really didn't care for the dumplings. Dan was still really hungover from the night before, so after poking around a bit, he decided to take the food home.

The place is generally pretty busy at night, so maybe we were just expecting something different. The meal ended up being insanely expensive considering the portion sizes. I'm guessing that the thing to do would be to eat there in a large group & get those massive hot pots. I can check song 7.2 off of my list, but I won't be going back there.

Persimmon (277 E. 10th St.)

I had a chance to check out Korean hot-spot, Persimmon, located on 10th St. between Avenue A & 1st a few days ago. Chef/Owner Youngsun Lee honed his skills at Momofuku & has now created a prix fixe 'neo'-Korean experience in the East Village.

The menu is seasonal, changing every two weeks & will set you back $39 for 5 courses per person. They are currently applying for a liquor license, so are no longer BYOB, a shame as some booze would have really improved my meal.

I started with the fish cakes & Dan got the sliced beef with melon sauce, both of which were good. We both selected the Bossam or pork belly for the next course which I'll have to admit was amazing! Simply cooked, yet delightfully fatty & flavorful, this was by far my favorite dish.

I followed with the massive Salmon & Rice pot which I really enjoyed. The small dishes that came with the mains really added to the experience. They included kimchi, roasted baby garlic & tiny fried fish. I'll have to admit that the next 2 courses really didn't do much for me; a small soup with mushrooms & a watermelon dessert.

All in all, I enjoyed the food there. The staff were attentive (we sat at the bar, right by the kitchen) & friendly. I'll definetly be going back when they get thier liquor license & the menu has changed (hopefully the Bossam will still be on there!)

Woo Chon (8-10 W. 36th St.)

Nestled in the heart of Korea Town is a pure gem. It doesn't look like much from the outside & the decor is spartan, but don't let that fool you. I met up with Adam & some other hungry individuals on Saturday for some primo Korean BBQ. While downing Shochu & hurling abuse at each other we ate some pretty excellent food.

We started with a few appetizers; Mandoo Gui (meat dumplings), Seafood Pajun (an insanely excellent seafood & scallion pancake), among others. The wait staff fired up the hibachi grill & it was onto the good stuff - MEAT!

That table was covered with all manner of side dishes to go along with the impending meat feast. Kimchi, vegetables, lettuce (for wrapping), a delicious hoisin variation & spicy blue crab legs (YUM!). As far as the BBQ went, we got pork, chicken & beef, but the real show stopper was the squid. Cooked in an excellent, spicy sauce, it was simply amazing. & the group atmosphere of cooking your own food en masse made the meal very enjoyable.

We took our sweet time eating & we never rushed. The service was excellent & I really liked how they changed the hibachi grill-top after every meat course which prevented sticking/burning. The meal was a little on the expensive side for Korean BBQ, but I think it was worth every penny All in all an excellent time, I recommend you check it out if you get a chance.

Dok Suni

I had a chance to check out Dok Suni (119 1st Avenue) with my buddy Todd for some excellent Korean food. Dok Suni means 'strong woman', which is quite fitting seeing as they've been open for more than a decade.

We started with a small plate of shrimp which was fried in a white cornmeal batter & served alongside a particularly tasty crab/seafood salad. They were good, but really not that filling.

I used to go to Dok Suni a lot back in 2000 or so. I would make the trip all the way from the upper east side just to get their mackerel, so I was delighted when I saw that it was still on the menu. It was marinated in sea salt, lightly fried & served with a fried red pepper sauce. The recipe had changed somewhat (if my memory serves me correctly), but it was still very good (& very spicy). The dish was served with white rice & mid-ban-chan (a selection of marinated vegetables & tofu).

Todd got the Bibimbop which looked excellent. We ordered a large bottle of 'OB', a Korean beer. It wasn't very impressive (think watered down Bud Light), but I'm glad that we gave it a whirl.

All in all, it was an excellent meal & reasonably priced. The decor is great (old Korean book pages cover the walls), the service was top notch (it was somewhat empty when we arrived but began to fill up while we were leaving) & they played some really good hip hop all night. In short, I recommend Dok Suni.