Staying True To Tradition

Acorn Jelly Rice Soup ($12.95, served cold)

For authentic home-style Korean cuisine (think comfort food enjoyed in a Korean home), visit New Shilawon Korean Restaurant.

Locally family-owned and operated, the restaurant has become popular for its allyou-can-eat yakiniku and shabu shabu, and its Nutritious Stone Pot Rice meals, and creates its meals from original recipes prepared using traditional Korean cooking techniques.

Customers can enjoy a taste of Korea like nowhere else on the island, with Traditional Korean Style Bulgogi ($46.99 for two people), which is a soy sauce-base marinated beef served with long rice, sliced mochi cakes and vegetables, according to manager Jandy Lee.

“It’s cooked on copper, so it’s very heavy and it keeps the food really hot,” she explains. “Not a lot of restaurants carry the copper. It has holes in it, so you’re not really grilling the meat, it’s kind of steaming it. Also, the broth is on the side, so it’s really different from when they do yakiniku on the table.

“That’s how the king used to eat bulgogi back in the day, and that’s how traditional bulgogi is supposed to be eaten, but as time went by it switched over to just grilling.”

Lee adds that Bulgogi is considered a festive food in Korea, often enjoyed at parties and on special occasions.

JELLY FOR YOUR BELLY

Another unique dish is Acorn Jelly Rice Soup ($12.95, served cold) consisting of acorn jelly, kimchi, green onion and cucumber, topped with dry nori, and served with rice.

“We have a regular customer that comes three times a week, and he always gets it because it reminds him of his grandparents,” shares manager Jandy Lee. “It’s very traditional, something you’d eat at your grandparents’ (place). It’s also a really good alternative to cold noodles.”