> I'm guessing that street is Garden Grove


Yes.



>
> > I ordered the kim chee and pork stew that i wanted to try - but it
> > was harsh - mostly kim chee, and kim chee in the side dishes too. I
> > like Korean barbecue, so that's what I'll get next time. It appears
> > to be a traditional place, all Koreans dining there, traditional
> > Korean metal chopsticks, friendly service.
>
> I like a light kim chee. Frankly, I like the Japanese take on kim chee
> best. Most of that which I've had in Korean joints has got enough
> muscle to whip me at arm-wrestling.



I didn't know that there was a Japanese take on kim chee. I would have
thought that kim chee would be too harsh for the Japanese taste. It
should be interesting. I do like the stuff, but in moderation. Where
did you find the Japanese kim chee variation?




>
> There is a place called Sushi Soo on Garden Grove, probably not as far
> as you drove. They actually do have a pretty fair sushi bar and she's
> over-the-top helpful with all things Korean. And otherwise. Frankly
> you eventually have to shoo her away.
>
> They do significant barbecue there, that she always talks us out of in
> favor of some other Korean thing or other. It's not cook-at-table
> style, but ones-size-fits all ribs and such. She tells me it's too hot
> for me. This while I'm squirting sri racha sauce like it's silly
> string...
>
> Funny how the Korean joints (of some varieties--I've yet to break the
> code), bring five to eight tiny dishes of pickles and fried micro-fish
> and who knows what. Just like most joints provide ketchup, salt and
> pepper. Soo carps that they have to do it for the Korean customers or
> they'll be considered inhospitable, even though they rarely touch them,
> she tells us.





Lately I've liked the side dishes better than the main courses, in the
Korean places I tried in Westminster and LA. That's often the case
with me in Mexican restaurants as well, if the salsa and chips are
very fresh and good. I like to eat the side dishes, and in the pho
joints I like to eat all of the vegetables, and i noticed that the
Vietnamese people only seem to eat a small amount of the vegetables -
bean sprouts and leaves - and leave the rest behind. I eat 'em all.
I'm a vegetable phreake.

I read that authentic Korean places are supposed to offer you free
side dish refills, but neither of the California places did so, even
the fancy joint on ..Garden Grove. But my favorite Korean place, in
Mesa, Arizona, does!



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