Go no further than Dolsot for authentic Korean food
April 30, 2013
Restaurant reviews are a regular feature of The Issaquah Press. Reviewers visit restaurants unannounced and pay in full for their meals.
In a world of American-Asian food, it’s easy to get something sub par. But, Dolsot Korean Cuisine definitely has an authentic feel.
The recently opened restaurant is small and quiet. There was only one other family there that night, so we had the attention of both a waiter and waitress who were very observant of our needs.
Upon arrival, we were quickly seated and a young, Korean gentleman took the time to explain the menu. This was necessary, because 90 percent of the menu is in Korean, with little explanation in English.
There were appetizers, soups and main dishes, and we played it safe and went with chicken teriyaki and an appetizer. The appetizer, gogi mandu, was a steamed dumpling with pork inside. It came with a dipping sauce reminiscent of soy sauce, and was very good, although the dumpling was a little doughy.
The chicken teriyaki was nothing like fast food chicken teriyaki. It arrived in a thick, hot, stone bowl with a raw egg in the middle. There was rice on the bottom along with vegetables and chicken. Our waiter said it would continue cooking, so we stirred the egg in, and it did just that. The chicken was cooked when it arrived, and the bowl kept the meal warm the entirety of our visit.
The entrée was a little pricier ($15) but there was so much of it that we took enough home for a second meal each. There wasn’t a lot of chicken, which was a little disappointing, but there was plenty of rice, and it wasn’t spicy, which is important to someone who doesn’t like a lot of spice.
To my surprise, we were also served something called banchan, little dishes of food along with our meal. Our waiter explained what everything was, and said all the vegetables used are fresh and local; they definitely won points for sustainability.
We were also served a simple soup that wasn’t anything extraordinary, but was good nonetheless. The banchan consisted of cold broccoli, a very small salad with a dressing that really packs a punch, kimchi (fermented cabbage seasoned with chili peppers and salt) and bean sprouts. The broccoli was nothing special and the salad dressing was too spicy for me, though my dining partner has tougher taste buds and enjoyed it. The cabbage was bland but decent, especially for someone who doesn’t like cabbage, and the bean sprouts were ordinary.
Between the appetizer at $8 and the dinner at $15 it may not seem like a budget-friendly place to eat, but with the amount of food served, it is a good bargain.
As we were leaving, our waiter said Korean food is typically very spicy, but I was glad to know there were milder options on the menu.
Although I could have easily made the chicken teriyaki myself at home, the dumplings were worth the trip. The banchan was unique and the soup good. It is worth another visit just to try something different. If you’re looking for a relaxed evening in a casual restaurant when you don’t want to cook, Dolsot is a great choice.
If you go
Dolsot Korean Cuisine
-317 N.W. Gilman Blvd.
-427-1600
-11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday
-Appetizers: $6.95 to $14.95; soups: $8.95 to $12.95; entrées: $7.95 to $30
Big House BBQ delivers big portions, flavor
April 2, 2013
Restaurant reviews are a regular feature of The Issaquah Press. Reviewers visit restaurants unannounced and pay in full for their meals.
Nutritionists often extoll the virtues of making lunch the largest meal of the day, leaving a person the rest of the afternoon to digest and burn calories.
Big House BBQ isn’t the place for calorie counters, but for those looking to spend their afternoon with a belly full of Memphis-style slow-cooked beef, pork and chicken, a stop by the big red trailer across the street from Home Depot is in order.
As essentially Issaquah’s only recurring mobile food truck, Big House is not much for aesthetics — nor should it be. Three picnic tables, a canvas tent and a modest trailer with the smell of smoked meat wafting out are all that greet the diner.
Liberty grad takes food truck to head of the class
February 12, 2013
Michael Kramer grew up in the kitchen. So, it’s no surprise to his closest family members and friends that his food truck Za’aTar is receiving rave reviews.
As a youngster, if he weren’t entwined in his grandmother’s legs while she was cooking comfort food worthy of any diner, he’d be underfoot while his dad whipped up a pretty mean homestyle Italian meal
What to know
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Now 22, the Liberty High School graduate said that in looking back, it was perhaps his mother who provided the most memorable life lessons to prepare him for what not to do while running a kitchen.
Contributed
Late-night customers line up for fresh Mediterranean food from the Liberty High School graduate Michael Kramer’s food truck Za’atar Dec. 13 when it set up shop at Second and Pike in downtown Seattle.
“One time when we went camping, she was trying to fry up some potatoes for breakfast when she asked, ‘Why is the oil bubbling up?’” Kramer recalled.
Red Corner seeks to carve out niche in crowded market
February 12, 2013
Red Corner, the newest Chinese restaurant in town, faces an uphill battle trying to wrangle its way into a small dining market already saturated with established Asian eateries.
With so many other Chinese restaurants with their own loyal clientele, it takes something special to pry them away to build up your own base of regulars. Red Corner might not pull it off.
ReviewIf you goRed Corner Chinese Restaurant
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Red Corner offers up Szechuan cuisine inside a hole-in-the-wall diner next to Gold’s Gym. While dining with a couple of friends, nothing we had was bad, but just nothing we ate was particularly memorable either.
Filos on Issaquah Creek offers primo pizza, pasta
November 20, 2012
About 30 years ago, Leif Moi helped open a Jay Berry’s restaurant on Northwest Gilman Boulevard, offering dining along Issaquah Creek.
After a lengthy hiatus from the business, Moi has returned to Issaquah with his second Filos restaurant — his first in Redmond and his second, Filos on Issaquah Creek, located along the same bend in the waterway as the long-departed Jay Berry’s.
Hop Jack’s offers fresh take on regional cuisine
August 7, 2012
A friend who’s originally from Tennessee laments missing one of her favorite staples of Southern cuisine — biscuits and gravy.
Imagine, then, her surprise to discover the answer to her Jonesing for homemade Southern cuisine could be found in a Klahanie neighborhood pub — Hop Jack’s.
With five locations in the Puget Sound region, Hop Jack’s is on the cusp of being a chain, but it still retains that neighborhood feel, catering to the middle-class looking for a place to meet after a hard day’s work.
Small Saffron Deli delivers on big Southeast Asian flavors
January 31, 2012
A sign in front of the Saffron Deli announces “Southeast Asian fusion” cuisine.
Inside the eatery, the hostess said her menu is straight from Laos. It includes some dishes with which you are probably familiar, such as beef or chicken pho, but also some possibly more adventurous choices, such as Hainan chicken or Gau Lau beef soup.
The two visitors in question here played it safe with a vegetable soup and chicken pho, but were impressed with the flavor of each, enough that trying some of the other offerings at some point in the future is definitely not out of the question.
Go out of your way to discover Szechuan Bean Flower
January 17, 2012
If you’re going to open a restaurant off the beaten path, it better feature food tantalizing enough to draw you out of your way to find it.
Such is the situation with Szechuan Bean Flower Restaurant, tucked way behind AtWork!, located on Locust Street.
Longtime diners will recognize the building that was home for a couple of other restaurants that have since moved or gone under. So, it’s a risk opening a Chinese restaurant in an unproven location.
Japan Ginger delivers a quick, appetizing bite
December 27, 2011
Upon walking into Japan Ginger Teriyaki and Sushi Bar, one can get confused. Do you sit at a table and wait for a server or do you go up to the counter and order off the large menu board?
We ended up ordering at the counter and then helping ourselves to a seat — not a great beginning to a lunch, but it was all uphill from there.
As the restaurant is named for its teriyaki, I felt obliged to try some. My friend the vegetarian opted for yakisoba noodles with tofu.
The meals arrived in a very reasonable amount of time, our plates carried by a friendly waiter/host. The first thing we both noticed was how good the food looked, that the presentation was done very nicely.
Zeeks Pizza finds a niche in busy pizza market
December 20, 2011
In a market saturated with pizza joints, both franchise and local, it really takes that extra something special to stand apart from the crowd. Whether you’re looking for authentic Italian, the biggest pie or just a lunch buffet, Issaquah has something for every discerning palate.
Enter Zeeks Pizza. With 10 regional locations, it still doesn’t qualify as a national chain. So you still get that hometown feel when you walk into its Issaquah Highlands setting.
