I got a hot tip on this place, which is located very deceptively inside a gas station in Wheaton. In fact, I had a horrible time finding it because it’s not readily apparent from the outside and almost had a mental breakdown because I just wanted some Korean food. Sadly, this would not have been the first time I cried over not being able to find a restaurant. In order to spare everyone else the trouble and the tears, you can enter through the doors on the University Blvd. side or from the gas station entrance.
The menu looks beautiful and there are a lot of options and sides, and great options for vegetarians. I wanted to keep it on the light side, and I was eating alone, so I went with the bibimbap (no rice because that’s how I roll) with bulgogi beef and the regular kimchi, and I ordered it spicy. They were nothing if not fast, and the two dishes arrived on beautiful plates and looking very composed. The bibimbap was on a bed of baby spinach with tons of shredded carrot and daikon. The kimchi was a little on the small side, but it looked great.
Kimchi: very refreshing with a nice semi-wilted, semi-crunchy texture, but dramatically under-spiced. I come from the school of thought that kimchi should be painful to eat and this was not.
Bibimbap: The beef was cooked nicely and tender, and it was a sufficient amount. The baby spinach and other veggies were fresh and the daikon was nice and cool. And my #2 rule of food is that a fried egg makes almost anything better. On the other hand, calling this “spicy” is an insult to all spicy things, and it was just generally nothing special. The sauce was good, but it needed more of it in general as both the veggies and the meat were pretty dry. I’ve made bibimbap at home and this tasted no better than mine, and I promise I’m not secretly some super-talented Korean chef.
Price: $15 per person
Bottom line: Seoul Food was just alright. I might even consider it good if I remember that it’s located inside of a gas station, but I feel like that should have no bearing on its rating. I think it was slightly overpriced for what I got, but it fed me, I feel good about what I ate, and I’d go here again if I were in the area and someone else wanted to try it and everything better was closed.
Ward Five Foodie 