December 2010

Big Heart

By Colin W. Sargent

On a chilly December evening, you can’t beat Little Seoul.

Exciting, perfectly located Little Seoul doesn’t just offer one kind of kimchi. To my way of thinking, that would be not-so-deep kimchi. Instead, they offer no fewer than six variations on the 3,000-year-old traditional Korean side dish–each an entirely different explosion to the senses. One of them, the fermented cucumber, is so sneaky, vinegary, and strangely cooling it’s the culinary equivalent of having your office chair spun around halfway by someone surprising you.

That is, the individual flavors here have extraordinary personality. From sweet to sour, spicy, or bitter, every one of your taste buds  will be stimulated.

Holiday shoppers selecting this new Exchange Street attraction as the perfect prelude to a movie at the Nickelodeon will be delighted to learn the show starts here.

Hungry for exotic Korean fare, we tore into the heavenly Pork Bulgogi ($16), stir-fried, spicy pork with zesty red chili, onions, carrots, cabbage, thin zucchini, and sesame. It is deeply satisfying, with a punch.

But wait–there’s the mouth-watering Katsu ($12), lightly breaded, deep-fried strips of spicy chicken with a delicate, savory thin crust. This is served with crisp, shredded cabbage salad that’s a perfect counterpart to hot, crunchy chicken. Two dazzling sauces–a suave, remoulade-like tomato-mayonnaise and a thinner, darker, kickier soy sauce with sugar and oyster extract–complete the dishes. Yum.

Headurp Bop ($11.90) is absolutely fresh salmon and white fish served with shredded vegetables and briny salmon roe decorating the presentation like colorful tree ornaments. It’s spicy and extremely present–an eye-opener.

Served in a hot stone bowl, spectacular Bibimbop ($13) is the kind of stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mind dish that makes you close your eyes and crave it the next day. It’s rice topped with beef, shredded seaweed, sesame seed, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and optional (take it!) spicy Korean chili sauce, served with a fried egg. Then, stir it up as desired to watch the elements combine and utterly change. The result hits you so deeply you feel somehow that you’ve come home–even if you’ve never tasted a dish like this before, even if you’ve never been to Korea before!

For dessert, try the Mochi ice cream–little puffs of ice cream served with a delicate skin made of sticky rice and deluged with blueberries and chocolate sauce, each new bite a revelation.

And we haven’t even mentioned the incredible sushi bar and Japanese entrées. Remember, we told you about this place first.

LITTLE SEOUL

90 Exchange Street, Portland

Monday-Saturday: lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; dinner 4:30-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m.,
699-4326