potatopudding: Monday Meals: Spoon Korean Bistro

Well would you look at that–our favorite Korea restaurant in the Bay area!

For all the popularity of Korean food in recent years, we've struggled to find a very good Korean restaurant. This one certainly went above and beyond our expectations.

So yes, this may not be what you think of first when you're craving Korean food. But you should definitely give this a try! You may have heard of the Korean citrus tea or yujacha (that isn't really tea at all, but I digress). Well, this is the blueberry version of that! I tried the blackberry which looked almost the same as this. It was less sweet but just as tasty.

Oh and we can't forget the banchan or the small appetizer dishes you get with most any Korean meal at a restaurant. The day we went we got bean sprouts (kongnamul), kimchi, fried fish cake (odeng), steamed broccoli, gochu seasoned broccoli stems, and seaweed (miyeok muchim).

[Note: You can always ask for refills! Don't be afraid to do that. They actually expect you to ask.]

Now here are the dishes we ordered! Potato got the "Korean Noodle Soup" or kalguksu (literally "knife noodles") spicy. Warm and hearty, it really hits the spot on a cold day.

And here's what I got: "Soft Tofu Stew" or soondooboo. Sooooo good. The broth was flavored just right and was extremely filling! It came with a side of rice which definitely reminded me of dishes my mama used to make. You can never go wrong with soup and rice, in my honest opinion.