By now most of you probably know how much I love pork and duck, but there is another side to me. A fishier side. Growing up, I actually preferred seafood over red meat. I was a weird kid, and unlike my brother who loved Big Macs and galbi (갈비, Korean beef ribs), I loved vegetables, ice cold naeng myun (냉면, cold buckwheat noodles), and hwe (회, Korean-style raw fish). (By the way, I believe this is one of the reasons I’m vertically challenged and my brother is not, lack of good ole’ American beef. Alas, I’m sure my childhood fondness for coffee and jumping from great heights also played a part.) So a few weeks ago, when Hannah (my sister-in-law) told me Yuraku, her mom’s restaurant in Flushing, started serving “live fish” flown in straight from Korea, I knew a trip to Queens was in my not-so-distant future.

When Hannah’s mother, Mrs. Cho, took over Yuraku years ago, it was strictly a Japanese restaurant. But slowly, as the clientele started the reflect the neighborhood’s large Korean community, she started adding Korean dishes to the menu. A smart move, in my opinion, especially in regards to the most recent addition. Sashimi is fine and dandy, but Koreans aren’t too fond of eating fish that’s been sitting in the refrigerator, even if has only been a day or two. Hannah told me when her uncle came to visit from Korea, he was shocked to discover that in America, people eat “dead fish.” Koreans want fish to swim right onto their plates, and at Yuraku, that’s pretty damn close to what happens.

A whole live fluke is $150, but considering all the extras a live fish set comes with, a half order at $80 was more than plenty for the four fish-eating members in our group. [My brother, who doesn't like fish, happily made do with some tonkatsu (Japanese pork cutlet).] And for those cynics and curmudgeons who’ll say we got more food because of my SIL, according to Mrs. Cho, everyone who comes and orders the live fish goes home with leftovers. There’s a lot of food regardless.

The meal started with lots of small complimentary plates, definitely more than necessary, and more than I could photograph. Above, starting clockwise from the top-left, are the few dishes I took pictures of: kombucha squash with jujubes, edamame beans, pickled onions, wakame (seaweed) salad, abalone jook (죽, porridge), and cheesy corn. Not pictured, but included, was also a large plate of shrimp and vegetable tempura, fried tofu, and a hot stone pot of steamed skate (홍어찜, honguhjjim). Everything was good, but none worth filling up on, except perhaps the spicy garlicky skate. Like free bread at an Italian restaurant, at Yuraku you have to practice restraint and keep your eyes on the prize.

The prize, of course, is the fluke, but just as good if not better, were the raw sea cucumbers and sea squirts that came with the fluke. The sea cucumbers, although not “live,” were super fresh and almost crunchy to the bite. (Sea cucumbers when not fresh will be soft with no considerable snap.) I’m a big fan of raw sea cucumbers.

I’m also a big fan of sea squirts. Sea squirts have the texture of raw oysters, but with a bit more chew. At Yuraku, the sea squirts were briney and delicious.

The sea cucumbers and sea squirts were accompanied with chogochujang (초고추장, a vinegary sauce made with red pepper paste) for dipping, but both fresh and flavorful, only the tiniest dab for heat was needed.

For those squeamish about sea cucumbers and sea squirts, Yuraku can do a substitution of salmon on request, but really, I rather eat either over salmon any day.

And finally, the pièce de résistance, the fluke. Killed as soon as we placed the order, the fish tasted fresh, clean, and had just the right amount of firmness. Fresh fish shouldn’t be mushy. We finished every last bite. The fish didn’t die for naught.

After the fluke, there was more fish to come. Compliments of the chef, we received a small vinegary salad of sorts made with julienned cucumbers, crab sticks, and monkfish skin. I’m not crazy about crab sticks, but the crunchy cucumbers went nicely with the chewy monkfish skin. It was simple and lovely.

The meal of hwe, in true Korean fashion, ended with a hot bubbling stone pot of soul-satisfying maeuntang (매운탕, spicy fish soup), in this case agumaeuntang (아구매운탕, spicy monkfish soup), and rice. The soup, filled with monkfish, was rich with flavor but bright from the peppers and garlic.

As for the rice, it was in the form of albab (알밥, rice with flying fish roe) in small individual-size stone bowls. However, on the brink of explosion, and loving the maeuntang, I decided to forego the rice for more soup. That’s how I roll.

Flushing is a small trek for me, but for the sea cucumbers, sea squirts, live fluke, and maeuntang, I’ll gladly go the distance. After all, it’s still closer than Seoul. Why not have the fish come to you?

Yuraku Restaurant
192- 20 Northern Boulevard (map)
Flushing, NY‎ 11358
(718) 357-4309‎

• Moving to the East Village – NYC
• Yakisoba Sandwich at Panya – NYC
• Dinner at Momofuku Ssäm Bar – NYC

Two weeks ago I realized my hair was starting to look like Kim’s weave on Housewives of Atlanta, (OMG, wasn’t that show the best? All I have to say is ‘POW!,’ ‘WOW!’) so I stole away from the office to get a quick trim on 32nd street. Leaving the salon after my haircut, I realized I was late for a meeting, but still hadn’t had a bite to eat. Being a few doors down from Woorijip, I planned on running in and grabbing some kimbab (김밥, also called gim bap, kimbop, kimbob, etc… it’s all the same) before hopping back on the train. But, as fate or Woorijip management would have it, there was a ten dollar credit card minimum, and having spent the last few singles on a tip to the shampoo girl, I had no choice but to return back to the office with a growling stomach. I eventually ended up eating animal crackers from the vending machine in the office pantry. Not a nice lunch.

A few days later, David and I were heading to Flushing, where Ellie, Gil, and Julie were going to pick us up for a day trip to Mohegan Sun. Yipee! During the ride there, Ellie texted, “Did you guys eat?,” like a good friend of mine would ask. When I replied no, she texted back, “We’ll pick up some food on the way. Maybe gim bap.” Double Yipee!! A quick ride on the LIRR later, we were at Song’s Family (송가네).

You may be wondering if Ellie had read my mind, but kimbab is the usual traveling snack/meal for Korean people. Growing up, whenever my family went on a trip anywhere, my mom was sure to have rolled some kimbab in the morning and packed it in the car. Have kimbab, will travel. Conveniently wrapped in seaweed (kim, 김) and filled with rice, meat, and veggies, it’s the Korean version of the sandwich in that it’s portable and easy to eat with one hand, with or without chopsticks. (This is not sushi, which is Japanese, and usually consists of raw seafood. Kimbab is 100% Korean. Don’t get it twisted.) Of course, it’s not only for traveling. It makes tasty lunches for school or work. Although, my first day of school didn’t go too well, when I opened up my bag lunch in the cafeteria, and my new classmate shouted at the top of her lungs, “Ewww, is that raw fish?!” Mothers out there, a piece of advice, kids can be cruel. Don’t send your kid to school with anything more unusual than a wonder bread sandwich unless the school is extremely diverse, or you have money to pay for your child’s therapy ten years later. Anyway, I digress…

Song’s family is in the same location Nolbu, another kimbab joint, used to be in. I used to go to Nolbu all the time a few years back when my parents lived nearby in Bayside. They had the best kimbab in New York City. According to the gossip, Nolbu was given the boot because Song’s Family offered to pay the owners of the building more rent. Now Nolbu is across the street. Not sure if this is true or not, but that’s the rumor. Kimbab drama, don’t you love it?

At Song’s, we loaded up on a few different types of kimbab. The first was Cheese Kimbab ($4.50), which is always my favorite. I know some people have a problem with American cheese, but it is what it is. Artificial yumminess that reminds you of your childhood. Of course, I rather eat some Winnemere from Jasper Hill when I want a nibble with a glass of wine, but not in kimbab. Kimbab is simple and should be kept simple. Also in the kimbab was some spinach, carrot, odeng (fishcake), takuan or danmuji (단무지), and egg. It was good, but could have used more cheese. You really can’t go wrong with more cheese.

The next roll was Sesame Leaf Kimbab ($4.50). Besides the addition of sesame leaves (actually perilla leaves, kkennip, 깻잎), the filling was similar to the Cheese Kimbab minus the cheese and with a sliver of bland sausage. Spinach, carrots, egg, and takuan are the usual fillings. I thought this kimbab was a bit plain. I was expecting more of a pickled kkennip taste, so these were bland in comparison.

The Avocado Kimbab was David’s pick ($5), and this too was a little boring. All the ingredients inside were a bit flavorless: avocado, imitation crab, takuan, and cucumbers. Kimbab, unlike sushi, is not dipped in any soy sauce, so although these ingredients may have worked in a california roll, if you are into fake sushi (which I’m not), in a kimbab it completely bombed.

The last roll was Ellie’s Combination Kimbab ($5). Again, it was filled with the usual ingredients of odeng, carrot, spinach, egg, and takuan, but also had some kimchi in it. The kimchi, however, was very mild. It seems they rinsed the kimchi before adding it to the roll. I wish they hadn’t though, or perhaps wish they hadn’t done such a good job. There was hardly a hint of spice.

The problem with all the kimbab at Song’s Family were that they were all a bit boring. Not horrible, just lacking any excitement. As I said, kimbab is simple, but it should still be flavorful. Another problem was that all the rolls were a tad too loose. That combined with the fact they were sliced thinner than normal, some pieces were hard to pick up without falling apart. Ellie said the tightness depends on the people that happen to be rolling the kimbab that day, as she can attest to eating well rolled kimbab at Song’s Family, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. However, flavor-wise, Song’s Family needs to jazz it up a notch. I haven’t tried Nolbu since the move, but I do know Nolbu from yesteryear can kick Song’s Family’s kimbab butt. One saving grace was the little styrofoam container of kongnamul gook (콩나물국, soybean sprout soup) with red pepper. Usually, kimbab is accompanied with some form of miso soup, so kongnamul gook was a nice change of pace. Although, we almost didn’t get the soup because Ellie kept trying to convince us in the shop to tell the people we didn’t want the soup since it might spill in the car. It’s very rare I turn down free food, so of course we took the soup. And luckily, we didn’t spill a drop or else Ellie would have unleashed her wrath upon us. Haha, probably not, but all the same, it’s a good thing the ride up to Mohegan was accident free. And big thanks to Julie for driving our gambling asses all the way to Connecticut. We love you Julie!

The next week, I was still in the mood for kimbab, so during lunch I made my way down to K-Town and went to E-Mo, a tiny shop specializing in just kimbab. Now emo (이모) means aunt on the mother’s side in Korean, so you’ll be served by a nice Korean woman there and not someone that looks like this. No offense to my wide emo fan base, of course. Usually I get the Cheese or Spicy Squid Kimbab, but this time I got the Beef Kimbab ($5.50). So far Beef Kimbab is my favorite at E-mo. The meat could have been more moist, but it was still tasty. Besides the beef, it was filled with, again the usual, of carrots, spinach, takuan, and egg, but at E-mo, they also add some marinated burdock root. Not all places add burdock, but when they do, I appreciate it. It adds a slightly sweet and crunchy earthiness to the kimbab. In general, the kimbab at E-mo are what good kimbabs should be, simple yet full of flavor. In a beef kimbab showdown though, I don’t know if E-mo could take on Nolbu, which has Bulgogi Kimbab. I’ll have to revisit Nolbu the next time I’m in Flushing to find out. Oh the pains of blogging.

Song’s Family (송가네)
151-29 34th Ave (Northern Blvd.)
Flushing, NY 11354

E-Mo
2 W. 32nd St. (betw 5th Ave & Broadway)
New York, NY 10001

• Dinner at Momofuku Ssäm Bar – NYC
• Moving to the East Village – NYC
• Live Fluke and More at Yuraku – NYC

I was never a big fan of kids until my brother had a baby three years ago. Little Adam was born exactly three years from yesterday, and since then I’ve been infatuated with him. Yes, I love him even though he tells me to go home when I go visit him. Once he even told me to get out of a moving vehicle on the way to the park. Nonetheless, I find him adorable. So when Labor Day weekend was approaching, I rented a Zipcar, and made plans with my bro and sister-in-law, Hannah, to take Adam to the beach. On the night before the day we were supposed to go, I called Hannah to confirm and she said no one wanted to go anymore because they thought there was going to be too much traffic. Can you believe it? I was stood up by a three-year-old! I guess I’m losing my touch with the boys.

Unfortunately, Zipcar has this policy where you have to give them twenty-four hours advance notice to cancel a reservation longer than eight hours without a penalty. In short, even if I didn’t use it, I would be charged for the full time the car had been rented. I think this is pretty dumb considering the high demand for cars in Manhattan. Someone would snatch up the car as soon as I clicked cancel on their website and Zipcar would essentially get paid twice on the same car. Sheesh. David and I decided we couldn’t let that happen, so I called up my girlfriend Ellie and off we went to Robert Moses without Adam.

Of course, when going to the beach, you have to take a snack, so Ellie suggested we go to Cherry Valley Deli to get some heroes. Cherry Valley is known for having an incredibly large selection of sandwiches (118 total on their menu) and also for having interesting combinations. You can get sandwiches like a Fiddler’s Green Hero (Grilled Steak w/ Fried Onions, American, Lettuce, Tomato, & Mayo on a Toasted Hero) or a Beast Wrap (Chicken Cutlet, w/ Bacon, Swiss, Brown Gravy, & Onion Rings on a Garlic Wrap). We opted to take the more classic route; a BLT and a Prosciutto Hero.

The drive to Robert Moses took about forty-five minutes, and by the time we got there we were starving for some sammy action (yes, I say sammy, I’m not ashamed). So as soon as we had our spot claimed, we started chowing down on the sandwiches. No time for sunscreen. The BLT ($5.49) was tasty. It was pretty standard stuff: bacon, ice berg lettuce, tomato, and mayo. We were expecting thick-cut bacon, but it was regular bacon. And even though they forgot the red onions we asked for, we liked it. It’s hard to screw up something with bacon.

The Prosciutto Hero ($7.74) was not on the menu, but when we saw the hunk of prosciutto in the case at Cherry Valley, we knew we had to have some. We ordered prosciutto, tomato, mozzarella, roasted red peppers, and red onions with oil and vinegar on a hero. Again, they forgot the red onions, but in general, it was good. Nothing fancy, no Prosciutto di Parma, no basil, no fresh mozarella, just a simple delicious sandwich at a reasonable price. It was a nice choice for the beach.

Full and content, we had an amusing day at Robert Moses. For some reason, Ellie kept wanting to feed her leftover bread to the seagulls. I think she wanted to share some sammy love, but Gil, her husband, wouldn’t let her, saying they would end up pooping on us. Personally, I was against feeding the birds also. I didn’t want to reenact a scene from The Birds on my day off from work. Regardless, I think the seagulls heard us, and all day they kept looming above and around us. I saw one even try to eat the stones that David had collected to practice juggling. (Don’t ask me why he’s into juggling; it’s a mystery.)

Another funny thing that happened that day was that I kept getting attacked by these nasty biting flies. Every time I put on any sun block, the smell of the lotion attracted them by the thousands. Each time this happened, I had to run into the water to escape. The flies were even attracted by Off! bug spray. I felt like a character in a cartoon being chased by bees after trying to steal their honey. It was pretty crazy and ridiculously hilarious at the same time. After a few hours though, we had enough of the wild life at Robert Moses and we were off again, this time in search for dinner.

Ellie had been telling me for months about a really good Gamjatang (감자탕) place in Flushing called Geo Si Gi (거시기). Gamjatang means potato soup in Korean, but really it’s more of a spicy stew made with pork backbones, potatos, and perilla leaves. Gamjatang is one of my favorite dishes. I love picking out the meat in the crevices of the bones. Usually though, I don’t like Gamjatang at restaurants because it’s never as good as my mom’s, but Geo Si Gi makes some killer Gamjatang.

At Geo Si Gi, the Gamjatang is first brought out in a giant metal pot on a portable gas burner, so it finishes cooking at the table, and you can keep it hot as you are eating it. I love that about Korean food; hot food is eaten hot and cold food is eaten cold. Lukewarm food makes me feel like the food is just old. When it is done cooking, you ladle out the soup into individual bowls. On the side, they had a vinaigrette — made of korean mustard, vinegar, and perilla seeds — to use a as a dipping sauce for the meat. There was also another little container full of crushed perilla seeds for those who like a bit more perilla flavor.

The Gamjatang at Geo Si Gi is the best I’ve ever had at a restaurant. The soup was nice and spicy and they were very generous with the meaty pork bones. Also in the soup were some fresh soy bean sprouts, scallions, sujebi (수제비, handmade flour dumplings), and rice cakes. You can also get an additional order of some of the ingredients like rice cake and sujebi for $1.50 – $2 each, but we were good without it. However, what really made the dish was the vinaigrette for the pork. The light acidic tanginess perfectly complemented the spicy meat.

When you are done eating all the meat in the pot, you can ask for rice and your server will cook up the rice with some seaweed and sesame oil, along with the remaining soup. The soup is then cooked down and you end up with some really flavorful rice with a consistency similar to paella. If it’s done right, you’ll also end up with some nice crunchy rice bits at the bottom of the pot. Yum…. At home, we do this all the time with other Korean stews. It’s a nice way to end a meal.

But if you need something sweet, Geo Si Gi has free ice cream. Yes, free! It’s not the decadent good stuff, but, hey it’s free! Eat it! I was unfortunately too full to eat any, but Gil got a scoop of chocolate and strawberry for Ellie. Now isn’t that really sweet?

So although I was dissed by Adam and Zipcar tried to screw me, I still had a fun, relaxing day with good food and good friends, which is always a nice combination. As for Adam, I’m sure he’ll come around one day, especially now that I know of a free ice cream spot.

Cherry Valley Deli
12-29 150th Street
Whitestone, NY 11357

Geo Si Gi
15228 Northern Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11354

• Kimbab at E-Mo & Song’s Familiy – NYC
• Dinner at Momofuku Ssäm Bar – NYC
• Moving to the East Village – NYC