I've been wanting to check out Korean BBQ for a long time, but options are very limited in West Virginia. Fortunately, I had a trip planned to Columbus where I was meeting up with friends, which was the perfect opportunity to try it out. KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot is a Korean barbecue and hot pot chain with a location in Columbus. The concept combines two interactive dining styles in one meal: Korean BBQ, where you grill meats at your table, and hot pot, where you cook meats, vegetables, noodles, and seafood in a simmering broth. You can choose Korean BBQ, hot pot or both. Step 1: Choose from 30 different meats, seafood, and veggies - like pork belly, steak, chicken, fish, shrimp and bulgogi. We weren't sure how many items to order, and they are all included in the total price. So, we may have gone overboard. We ordered: Sliced Ribeye, Sliced Pork Belly, Sliced Prime Brisket, Crab Meat, Spam, Shrimp Dumplings, Tempura, Quail Eggs, Gyoza, Fresh Corn, Black Fungus, Udon, Rice Cake, Ramen Noodle, Vermicelli, Spicy Beef Bulgogi, Steak, Short Ribs, Garlic Chicken, Spicy Calamari, Garlic Shrimp, Pineapple, Zucchini, Garlic, Sweet Potato, Onion, Beech Mushroom, King Oyster Mushroom, Lobster Balls, Shumai, Baby Octopus, Fried Tofu, Broccoli, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Mung Bean Sprout, Sliced Pumpkins, Daikon, Fried Taro, Eggplant, Potato, Baby Bamboo Shoot, King Mushroom, Shiitake Mushroom, Beech Mushroom, Enoki Mushroom & Lotus Root. STEP 2: Make your own sauce. There are millions of possibilities to craft a perfect dipping sauce. STEP 3: Grab your sides. There are some appetizers from the hot bar. STEP 4: Then, it's time to grill. Everything takes different amounts of time to cook, so it can get a bit tricky. For hot pot, it's mostly the same, except you choose a soup base. And, it was a great deal to do both. They offer Thai tom yum, Szechuan spicy, tomato, healthy herbs, Japanese miso, Korean seafood tofu, mushroom and gluten-free. In addition to all of that, they offer bubble tea. So, why NOT have a milk tea? The cup was a nice material, too, that I reused for the day. So, it's more about the interactive experience here. It's fun, it's a bit of work and it's mostly up to you what the flavor ultimately is. But I enjoyed it. Grade: A

Drunken Tiger is Arizona's first Korean pub serving up authentic and modern Korean street and bar food.



"Casual, dark and gritty, with just a touch of intoxication, Drunken Tiger deviates from traditional restaurants and bars as the first Korean pub in Arizona. Drunken Tiger—the ‘misfit of Korean restaurants’—celebrates the best of Korean and American cultures and presents a bodacious menu filled with quintessential Korean street and bar food along with creative Korean-American culinary concoctions," according to the website.



"Gentle palates will quickly accustom to bulgogi fries or ‘chimek’ (Korean double-fried chicken and beer) while more daring foodies can broaden their horizons with silkworm pupae soup or chicken gizzards. If you're somewhere in the middle, classic dishes like the tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) customized with cheese and ramen noodles are always a good idea. Prefer your food as hot as the summers in Arizona? The fire chicken or fire corn cheese is sure to singe the tastebuds of people who claim to be reincarnates of fire-breathing dragons."



I ordered a Makkoli (Korean Rice Wine) in peach, which was sweet but potent. And we tried two different snacks: Takoyaki - ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter with octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger (beni shoga), and green onion (negi). The balls are brushed with takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver (aonori) and shavings of dried bonito (katsuobushi). The bonito was a bit much for me, but I loved this sweet and sour seafood meatball. The last was tteok kochi, which are these chewy rice cakes in a spicy red sauce. Loved the textures of both these dishes. Tasty and satisfying.



Grade: A

Korean corn dogs are hot dogs or even mozzarella cheese coated in a batter (and sometimes panko, rice flour, french fry pieces, or ramen) and deep fried. They're finished with sugar and squirt or ketchup, mayo, mustard, or all three.



"Two Hands Corndogs approaches the people with a familiar vessel but a twist inside out. Corndog can be seen everywhere in America, but Two Hands is capturing America's taste buds with the Korean-style corndog that had not been tasted before. The twist in the familiar and friendly menu intrigues people of all genders and ages, with a very approachable cost range and top-notch branding/storytelling. Two Hands Corndogs finds you in your local area now from more than 40 locations and hundreds more coming next year," according to the website.



I ordered delivery from this restaurant because I really wanted to try a Korean corndog, and I was not disappointed. They are like a texture circus with a soft inside, chewy outside and fun toppings. I tried 3:

Classic Dog - Combination of sweet and savory taste. The classic korean style corn dog

Potato Dog - Potato cubes wrapped corn dog with Two Hands dirty sauce

Crispy Rice Dog - Crispy rice puffs wrapped corn dog, added extra crispness and flavor

These were all fun to eat and had crispy, crunchy, chewy textures. Plus, there is a little bit of sweetness that balances out the savoriness of these which really makes for a delicious bite.



Grade: A

One of the most exciting restaurants I've had the pleasure of enjoying recently is located in Bridgeport: Authentically Mia's Korean & American Cuisine.


"Authentically Mia’s offers Korean/American fusion cuisine just around the corner! Enjoy tender, juicy, Korean-style beef, pork, and chicken specialties served in flavorful sauces with wonderfully hearty accents such as rice and mung bean noodles with a colorful explosion of vegetables. Choose tasty Korean Kimbap (pronounced “keem-bahp”; kim = seaweed & bap = seasoned rice) – a rolled, sushi-like staple of South Korean dining. Indulge in Bulgogi (pronounced “bool-GOH-gee” ; “fire meat”) – thin, marinated strips of barbecued prime cuts of beef and pork. Try our sweet, spicy, and savory wraps, bowls, salads, and much more – all served with Mia’s special touch!"



The restaurant is only open during lunch hours during the weekdays, so it took me some time to make it here. The menu: Because this restaurant offers something unique, something you can't find in many other places, it was a joy to peruse the menu. Kimbap? Bulgogi? Bi Bim Bop? I wanted everything. And ... I may have ordered a little of everything to go. Let's start with the bulgogi lunch - which comes with rice, kimchi and a spring roll. I have a soft spot for bulgogi because the first time I ever heard of it was in the kitchen of a friend of a friend's vacation home. Her family recipe blew my mind. I've been hooked ever since. It's sweet and salty and comforting. Rice makes it a filling dish, the kimchi adds some tang, and the spring roll some crunch. It's a symphony of texture and flavor.



And while that was more than filling, my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I had to try their special that day, which included California rolls, kimbap, and yubuchobap and a side of Mia's soy sauce, which is just a bit sweet. California rolls with avocado and crab were delish. The kimbap has that bulgogi, pickled radish and cucumber - it's almost a sweeter and yet more savory version of a sushi roll. And the yubuchobap are like envelopes of rice with a chewy tofu exterior. Even down to the sweet slices of kiwi, this meal is perfectly balanced. 

My only regret? That I haven't been back yet. 

Grade: A

So, a new Asian fusion restaurant has opened in Morgantown bringing a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai dishes with it.

Green Tea Asian Fusion has opened on Burroughs Street (in the former Nonna's Bakery location across from The Wine Bar) and is under the same ownership as Asian Bistro in Northpointe Plaza. So, the two are very similar. Green Tea is like a mini Asian Bistro for this side of town.

There are just a handful of booths, a couple tables and some bar seating. The lights glow and cycle through bright colors, and the bar is lit up as well. It's simple, if not a bit sparse. A small case full of toys for purchase is available at the entrance (a nice way to keep kids entertained during dinner?).

The menu has standard items from Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and sushi. It's hard to know what to order in a place like this, because it's just a mish-mash of cuisines. Not that I think that's bad - I think it creates its own cuisine in its own right. Some people poo-poo Americanized Chinese food, because it's not ~authentic~ but that is so dismissive to the cuisine in its own right. No, it's not native to its country of origin; instead, it has crafted dishes specifically tailored to American palates - and some places are doing it really damn well. That's respectable in its own right. Plus, it's always nice to have places like this for when you want sushi, but your friend wants Chinese.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, Lisa and I took a long look over the menu and decided to just go all out and try a few different dishes. But first, we both ordered bubble teas. The mango was the original/most popular, so we went for that. These were deceptively giant. Light, fruity - I'm on board.


And, I already knew I wanted cheese dumplings, because they are my lifeblood. These did not disappoint. Very creamy, perfectly crispy outside (I think I like these folded over versions better than the folded up because they get more crisp). A sweet chili sauce for dipping - very tasty.

Lisa got the shumai - also delicious. I used to buy these at the Asian grocery store frozen, nuke them and pop them like popcorn. They're pretty cheap - like these - but so good nonetheless. Love these little things.

We got an order of General Tso's, because as you know, it's my benchmark for Chinese restaurants. Any decent Chinese restaurant should be able to make a good version of the most popular dish. So, it's a good way to start. And, I think this is a pretty solid rendition of it. The quality of the meat was good - not stringy or too dark. The sauce was sweet, just a touch of heat. It's what I was expecting, if not a little bit better quality. I was satisfied.


So, it came with soup and salad, which I passed to Lisa. Not my favorite parts of the meal. I'll occasionally go for the soup if it's chilly out, but otherwise, bring on the main dishes.

So, in additional to the General Tso's, we decided to try out the sushi menu and ordered the "Crunchy Unicorn Roll" because it just sounded so ridiculous. It was shrimp tempura, avocado, cream cheese topped with spicy crabmeat and crunch flakes. They definitely know how to put on a presentation. Take a look at these photos on Yelp. These were tasty; I'm not sure this combination of ingredients could not be tasty. It was maybe a touch dry with those crunchy things. Spicy mayo would take this up to another level. Spicy mayo takes everything up to the next level.

So, I think this is a nice addition. It has a little bit of all my favorites, and it's in a place that was void of this type of cuisine. Everything we had was good. I haven't tried anything yet that is an absolute "must-try," but the menu is large, so there is time to explore. And, I could see them doing a lot of takeout business since they're small. Or, delivery ... and since they're close to me, I might have to try them out sooner than I originally thought ...

Grade: A

When I'm bored, I'll sometimes browse the #Morgantown hashtag on Instagram to see what cool photos of my town folks are capturing. While on there, I discovered Kkochi. After some more digging, I discovered the Facebook page and found out they are delivery only. A few days later, I put in an order with some coworkers.

Kkochi sells two main items: kkochi and kimbap. Kkochi is Korean-style grilled kebabs with Korean BBQ sauce. Kimbap is a Korean-style sushi roll, but everything is cooked (no raw). You can check out her Facebook album for photos of all her offerings. Kkochi offerings include beef, pork, spicy pork, chicken, spicy chicken, shrimp, spicy shrimp, and vegetarian. The kkochi includes two skewers of the meat, plus green onion, onion and sauce - either BBQ or spicy. Plus rice and kimchi.

I ordered the beef kkochi, because I wanted to see what the regular BBQ sauce was like. This was by far the best part of my meal. It was fairly small, though, just two skewers at $13 is a little pricey. But super tasty. Tender beef and a delicious sweet BBQ sauce with some sesame seeds on top. Kimchi was good and spicy.

A friend had the spicy chicken, and I tried it. Not as crazy about the spicy ones as the regular sauce ones. Spicy seems like a mixture of Sriracha.



The kimbap seems like something I'd love because I'm crazy about sushi. She has regular (seaweed paper, rice, crabstick, fishcake, pickled radish, egg, cucumber and comes with pickled radish), cheese, kimchi (with Korean bulgogi sauce), beef bulgogi (with Korean bulgogi sauce), chicken bulgogi (with Korean bulgogi sauce), turkey (turkey bacon), tuna (tuna salad), ham, vegetarian, tofu, veggie meat, and mushroom.

I love bulgogi, so I went with the beef bulgogi one. It comes with everything on the regular one, but with the beef and sauce. It was pretty tasty, but it was just too dry without the sauce. It really needs that Korean BBQ sauce to give it some more flavor -- just like how sushi has the soy sauce with it. I really think with that extra sauce, these would be awesome.

Lucy, the owner, even threw in some extras for us - kimchi kimbap and ham kimbap. She said the ham has been selling well. Both were not bad. Again, wish I had some of that extra sauce, though.

If you're interested, they're delivery only currently and are delivering in the downtown WVU area. She said they took card but had some trouble when we tried, so I ended up writing a check. But give her a call at 304-881-9653 or shoot her a Facbeook message.

Grade: B

The Seoul of Charleston – what kind of restaurant do you think that might be? Korean? Soul?

Both are right. The Seoul of Charleston – which is actually now called The Heart and Seoul Bar and Grill – serves both Korean and soul food. Heavenly.

Seoul – because it’s the capital of South Korea. And the homonym “soul” as in, soul food.

It was located on Washington Street West, but is now located at 1634 6th Avenue. They’ve only been there for a few weeks, they said, and it’s because they wanted a liquor license to sell a Korean drink.

It’s in a VFW building that has seen better days, so a little hesitant walking in. Once we got inside, it seemed to cater more toward a bar crowd than a restaurant crowd. Lots of red, cement walls with a few black tables and a bar along the right side. It’s a little dark and looks like it’s seen some long, rough nights.

A few “limited” menus were in a clear casings on the bar top. Because they just moved recently, they said they didn’t have a full menu quite yet. We quickly looked over the menus, and I asked about one item. A worker checked with the kitchen and found out most of the full menu was actually available. Score!

Since half of the restaurant is focused on soul food, they have fried chicken, fish, ribeye, short ribs, bake beans, macaroni and cheese, cornbread and sweet potato casserole on the menu.

The Korean menu has beef and chicken bulgogi – Korean BBQ; chicken, shrimp and vegetable eggrolls; kimbap – Korean-style sushi; kalbi – Korean-style beef short ribs marinated in brown sugar, soy sauce and spices; kimchi - homemade, hot, pickled Napa cabbage with special spices, mandu – fried vegetable dumplings, and fried rice.

I wanted the best of both worlds, so I went with beef bulgogi and Granny’s Sweet Baked Mac & Cheese.

Visiting a friend of a friend freshman year, my friend’s mother made homemade, authentic bulgogi. And ohmygod.

We waited quite a while for our food, but I was okay with it. Sallie Shultz, who is half-Korean, has used her mother’s and grandmother’s recipes in the kitchen. She came out to talk with us and was very accommodating for my vegetarian companion and me.

Co-Owner Donald Williams and Shultz started the restaurant after making too much food after a party once and setting up shop. They noticed it was selling and the rest is history.

After a wait, she placed our plates in front of us.

Mine had half of it covered in pieces of beef, the other half, a square of pasta goodness.

This is some of the best bulgogi I’ve ever eaten. Bulgogi is essentially Korean BBQ. It’s thinly sliced beef, which has been marinated in brown sugar, soy sauce, and a special blend of spices.

The beef is of superb quality – no gristle, fat – only quality, moist, perfectly seasoned beef. It has just a hint of sweetness with a little tang. No condiments necessary – good pieces of meat. Just amazing.

Granny’s Sweet Baked Macaroni and Cheese was also a recipe handed down to Shultz. The macaroni and cheese was cut into a hunk and was also slightly sweet, but in a way that just makes it taste authentically southern. It was full of cream and butter and all those things that make macaroni and cheese a legitimate side dish, rather than something from a box. Indulgent. Delicious. Fantastic.

They have specials each day of the week available after 2 p.m. Tuesday is cook’s choice, Wednesday is Ox tail, Thursday is pepper steak, and Friday is curry chicken.

They’re open until late in the night – I asked what time they closed on Wednesday and they said 2 or 3 a.m. So that’s an option for late night eating. Some menu items aren’t available after a certain time.

They also deliver. Call them for details.

They’re typically open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday 12 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., Saturday 4 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. and closed on Sunday and last two Mondays.

They accept major credit cards. (304) 421-7685 for more info.

Just go there. And eat some of the best food Charleston has to offer.

Grade: A