Woo Lae Oak: SoHo Seoul Food-- or, "Toto, we're not in Koreatown anymore!"May 10 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Kitchen
The Bottom Line Woo Lae Oak is a more stylish way to eat Korean food; you trade some authenticity for a a beautiful, lower sodium presentation.
The Korean restaurants I've tried in NYC are usually similar- whether in Queens or Koreatown (in the 30's near Broadway), the restaurants range from multilevel, raucous formica BBQ houses to downright divey. And you always smell like garlic for 24 hours after, no matter how many times you brush your teeth or take a shower. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, given that the whole scene is sort of sloppy and fun. It's not about how you look, it's about cooking your own food on a smoky grill in the center of the table, drinking soju or O.B. beer to cool the fire in your mouth after eating too much kim chee, and challenging each other to eat whole, raw cloves of garlic dipped in kochujang. (Ok, so now I know how the garlic smell lingers.) Woo Lae Oak is none of the above, yet it is still a reasonable alternative to Koreatown. Located in still-trendy SoHo, I approached it with some skepticism. (For an overview of Korean food, please check out my review of Woo Chon, at: http://www.epinions.com/rest-review-2C22-905521D-38DFB95E-prod3 The rest of this review assumes basic familiarity with Korean cuisine.) FOOD: 3.5 - Very Good Make no mistake, the food here is beautiful, and you pay as much for the styling of it as you do for the taste. One of the most costly, but also most delicious and beautiful items, was the Dungeness crab wrapped in spinach crepe ($15). It was five finger-sized rolls of fresh crab meat, lightly grilled and accented with an orange slash of mustard sauce and a red "X" of hoisin-style barbecue sauce, all on a large white plate. Absolutely delicious, but at a little over $1 a bite, not the most cost-effective way to feed. Shrimp dumplings (mandoo) ($12) also came with a colorful melange of crisp sauteed vegetables. The dumplings didn't taste exceptional, much like shrimp dumplings from a slightly-better-than-average dim sum house. This dish, however, was big enough for a light lunch or dinner. Pa jun, the pan-fried mung bean pancake, was studded with scallion and calamari, and was about twice as thick (0.75") as the pa jun I've had in other Korean restaurants. It looked like a big frittata, and was heavy on the scallions and a bit lighter on the calamari. Again, at around $12, this dish would be plenty for a light (in volume, not calories) meal. For entrees, we had three cook-your-own barbecue items, kalbi, bul gogi, and vegetables. WLO also has a wide variety of other meats and seafood for your grilling pleasure, but we stuck with the basics. The BBQ entrees also come with "salad" (green leaf lettuce in a reddish spicy dressing), kim chi and rice. The meat is very good quality, some of the most tender, buttery beef I have had. Even a pile of raw meat is "styled" into a perfect little mound with an asymmetrical garnish of leek and mushroom. Also, it was well-seasoned and flavorful, without being overly sweet. Some Korean restaurants over-salt the meat, and you will find yourself guzzling water for the rest of the day. Not so at Woo Lae Oak. The vegetable BBQ was very interesting and delightful, including plantains, asparagus, baby corn ("Look Ma, roasted corn on the cob!"), zucchini, and big fat mushrooms. Finally, Korean BBQ that is vegetarian-friendly. Again, the plate of raw vegetables was beautifully arranged and colorful, so pretty I almost felt bad dismantling it to put it on the grill. Bibimbap, at $14, is probably the best value at WLO. Large enough to share, it comes with relatively little rice and LOTS of mix-ins. No egg, but plenty of cooked bul gogi, shredded carrots, watercress, cucumbers, and baby vegetables. The hot sauce is quite hot, and if you add another bowl of rice to it, one serving of bibimbap would be enough for a meal for two hungry people. Portions are deceptively large: for 4 women eating dinner (and an additional one sampling some appetizers), we ordered 3 appetizers, 3 BBQ entrees, bibimbap, and the pan chan. We were all STUFFED and didn't even come close to finishing the bibimbap, pan chan and the grilled vegetables, and didn't touch our "salads." Unlike traditional Korean restaurants which suggest ordering 1 more entree than you have people in your party, at WLO you can probably order 1 less and still have plenty of food. Okay, but how authentic is it? Frankly, not really. One thing that got me is that the side dishes (pan chan and nam mool), must be ordered separately! The pan chan side costs $5 and consists of marinated spinach, radish, and sprouts. The nam mool, because it is preserved and marinated meats, such as little fish or beef, is $10 a plate. They even charge $3 for lettuce that you use to wrap the BBQ meat and rice! To me, that is a bit like charging you separately for the bun, lettuce, tomato, and cheese when you order a cheeseburger! In essence, this adds almost $20 to the cost of a meal, as compared to the same meal at a more traditional Korean restaurant. On the other hand, though, consider that the extra money is going to pay for more style and better service, and maybe it's worth the trade off: DECOR: 4 - Very Good I'm consider myself a restaurant bathroom aesthete, if such a character is possible. WLO has some pretty cool bathrooms. The ladies' stalls are separated by translucent frosted glass, and the stone-like counter has two round, hammered metal sinks. With a full length, standalone mirror and slate floors, there is a very modern Zen feel to the place. The tables are polished granite with gas grills set in the center, with comfortable leather banquettes and chairs. One wall is exposed brick (which reminds you that you are in SoHo), and the rustic looking chopsticks, bowls and plates have that designer Asian look to them that says, "You know I cost a lot of money even though I look like stoneware." The back room is lit by votive candles and various random combinations of techno, house and Asian fusion music play in the background. Hey, I'll take trendy over tacky ("My Heart Will Go On (Titanic)" being played on a white baby grand piano next to an artificial waterfall and a big-screen TV with the sound turned down (Kum Gang San)) any day... SERVICE: 3 - Good Service was better than the Koreatown places, too. Solicitous without being overintrusive, the pretty waiters (is it the soju, or do they all look like Brandon Lee?) were actually knowledgable about the food and were able to answer my questions about Korean dishes that were not on the menu. Brains plus beauty, what an irresistible package... ...but I digress. The servers took care of everything, and smoothly. Our water glasses weren't refilled as often as I'd have liked, but they didn't let us run totally dry either. They also don't rush you like the "traditional" restaurants do- this means, they don't cook your food for you, so you can linger as long as you want. On the other hand, it does get to be slow going putting the stuff on the grill, and turning it every so often. If you're engrossed in conversation, it is important to have a grillmaster lest your food be burnt to a crisp. Final notes Woo Lae Oak 148 Mercer St. (between E. Houston and Prince) NY NY 10012 212-925-8200 (There is a "Woo Lae Oak" listed in L.A. but I don't know if they are related. Probably not.) Vegetarian friendly. Wheelchair accessible. Full wine list. Dinner will run around $35-40 per person, which includes tax and tip. Reservations not necessary during the week; call a day in advance for Friday and Saturday nights. There is no dress code, but remember that all the people who work there, and most of the patrons, will be dressed in their best trendy clothes. I went with a backpack and was fine. Recommended: YES, for a night out with friends, trendy crowd, or a fun date.  |
| Read all comments (17)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
