The more ethnic of the two local Korean restaurants here, this small, plain place serves up big bowls of steaming, whole-meal soups, platters of grilled meats, and various other creations in seafood, poultry, and meat. All of this is accompanied by many small dishes of pickled vegetables, sauces of various degrees of hotness (some are as hot as anything you could possibly eat), and other unexpected delights. The best meals you will eat here are the soups, which are much more substantial than those you're familiar with and make for more than ample meals. There’s a list of Chinese dishes, but if you order that stuff you’re missing the point.
New Orleans seems able to support only one high-profile Korean restaurant at a time. First came Genghis Khan. Gimchi came and went in a year (2009). Meanwhile Korea House--an unassuming, little-known cafe in Fat City--has served spectacular and ethnically true versions of this exciting cuisine.
The restaurant opened in the late 1980s, and has never made much noise about itself. Since it was right in the middle of flashy Fat City, around the corner from Drago's, a lot of people wondered whether it was actually open. For a short time, the place claimed to serve sushi, but I never saw it there, and lately a sign there says "No sushi."
A continuous renovation makes the dining room look nicer every time I go, although it's still simple and clean in its lines. It is certainly much nicer inside than the exterior would have you imagine.
Although the Korean national dish is the charcoal-grilled beef called bulgogi, make sure the soups, bibimbab, and dumplings are on the table before ordering that.
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| Environment | 0 |
| Hipness | 1 |
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| Value | 3 |
| Wine | 0 |
