How to Find Good Korean Restaurants in the U.S.

A Korean Girl Explains How to Find Good Korean Restaurants in the U.S.

Finding truly great Korean restaurants can be tricky.

Here’s a guide to help you find good Korean restaurants in the United States.

Quick Summary

  • The closer you are to the biggest Koreatown, the more and better choices you get.
  • The smaller the menu, the higher the chance of good Korean restaurants.
  • Staples like rice, kimchi, and banchan are great indicators of a restaurant’s quality.

1. Location, Location, Location

Most Koreans and Korean Americans live in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, and San Jose according the Korean population report on Pew Research Center.

These cities offer the highest concentration of quality Korean restaurants.

Places like the Bay Area and Atlanta also have good options, though fewer compared to LA and NY.

The quality of Korean food tends to drop off the further you move from these areas, but with the right knowledge, you can still find gems.

2. Owner Operated

This one isn’t always true, but look for places where the owner shows up every day.

They’ll make sure that things are running smoothly.

When you spot an ajumma wearing a lot of gold accessories at a counter handling checks, that usually is a sign that it’s a good Korean restaurant with local reputation.

Restaurant quality decreases when restaurants expand too quickly into chains.

3. Focused Menus Are Key

One of the easiest ways to judge a Korean restaurant is by the menu.

If the restaurant offers an overwhelming variety of dishes (especially if they include non-Korean items like sushi or Chinese food), it’s a red flag.

Korean restaurants focusing on one type of dish are usually the best, like BCD Tofu House. It’s a must-visit place even for Koreans visiting Los Angeles. Their sundubu jjigae (spicy soft tofu stew) is better than what you get in the motherland.

Dak galbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) places should offer only mak-guksu (buckwheat noodles) and bokkeum-bap (fried rice) to eat after the main dak galbi dish.

Places offering both jokbal (braised pig’s trotters) and bossam (steamed pork) are likely to excel in pork-based dishes.

4. Gauge Quality by Staples

Korean meals revolve around rice, kimchi, and banchan (side dishes).

These core elements are great indicators of a restaurant’s overall quality.

Kimchi:

Good kimchi should be well-balanced.

Avoid places where kimchi is either too sweet or too sour, as these extremes point to a lack of care in other dishes.

Rice:

Restaurants often cook rice in bulk, which can lead to mediocre quality.

However, most places improve this by placing fresh rice into stainless steel bowls and storing them in warmers to keep the rice warm and decent in quality.

If the rice feels freshly cooked, you’re in a good spot.

Also, if you get purple rice, that means the restaurant cares like a Korean mom.

The best one is where rice is served in a dolsot stone bowl.

Tips! When you get dolsot rice, make sure to ask a server for “nurungji mul (water for scorched rice)”. You first scoop out the rice and pour water into the stone pot. By the time you finish eating, the remaining heat in the stone pot will mix the scorched rice and water to create hot “sungnyung” for nutty savory rice tea.

Banchan:

The side dishes tell you a lot about the restaurant’s approach to freshness and seasonality.

The number of banchan can vary depending on the main dish, but good banchan will feature local, seasonal ingredients prepared with care.

These small bites can elevate your entire meal.

You should be able to get a free refill of banchan as well!

Conclusion

The best Korean restaurants in the U.S. aren’t necessarily the most expensive or famous.

By paying attention to the menu and the quality of staples like rice, kimchi, and banchan, and by focusing on Korean population centers, you can find authentic and delicious Korean food!

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