Charim

Tried Charim today for lunch....
Nice, acceptable food, but nothing really excited me.
For what we got, I considered it quite expensive. Our meal totaled $41.00.
The decor, while nice, doesn't have any Korean inspiration. Very generic. The place was clean; that was nice.
We both got sweet iced tea. Being from the South I consider myself an iced tea connoisseur. This tea was probably pre-sweetened from concentrate. Meh.
We ordered the Korean style pancake appetizer; nice crisping on the edges, good size, tasty...
My wife had the hot pot bimbibap, which she quite liked.
I had the pork katsu... basically a chicken fried pork cutlet, with a brown sauce, served with cold mashed potatoes that had thin sliced  cucumbers mixed in. It was very nicely cooked, with crispy not greasy breading, but wasn't very flavorful. The mashed potatoes were also somewhat bland, although not bad... just bland.
The banchans were fine. We got sliced fish cake, boiled peanuts, radish kimchee, classic kimchee (very good), pickled cucumbers, bean sprouts in sesame oil.
Overall, Charim's food was good, but all in all, if I want "classic" Korean, I will go to Koreana II. Prices are better, food is better, banchans better, and it has a great hole-in-the-wall atmosphere!

Grilled chicken? Check. Flavorful spices? Check. Scallions and other green somethings for functional garnish? Check. Sticky rice (and the option for brown or white)? Check. Slices of onion and peppers? Alright, we've got the main ingredients in Chicken Bulgogi...

You know what we don't have? Fish sauce/oil! This my friends is what I call an ideal meal at a Korean restaurant and one that I've unfortunately not been privy to until trying a meal here at Charim. Whoever said that Charim caters to those unfamiliar with Korean food is right and as that kind of customer, I couldn't be happier about that.

Thank you Charim for labeling everything so well and for having such helpful staff that efficiently give guidance for newbs like me to Korean food. I had a less than positive association with Korean cuisine before my Charim trip because of other visits to places where ingredients weren't listed and I didn't know the soup or noodle dish I ordered was made with fish sauce, which is a flavor I don't want to touch with a ten foot pole.

Chicken Bulgogi is spicy, but if you're not into that go for the beef Bulgogi which is apparently not nearly as hot. I loved the spice of the Chicken Bulgogi, but my taste buds could only handle it tempered with some major amounts of water. It can get severely busy (overflow from invariable waits at Havana Rumba?) on weekend nights so if you're like me and need an ever flowing well of water to help the spice you might find yourself parched.

Excellently prepared dolsot bi bim bap.