Culinary Japanese/Korean entente bears tasty fruit
The warm weather has again found me in an Asian mood, looking for lighter foods for the hot days, so I jumped at the opportunity when Capitalist Comrade said she had seen a new Japanese/Korean restaurant. It's an odd mix for cuisine when you consider the two nations hate each other, but it has been done successfully elsewhere in town and sounded delightful. A taxi sped us south on ulica Wiertnicza toward Wilanow and dropped us off at a house with a large, well-lit white sign proclaiming Ohh! Sushi Seoul Garden.
It was immediately apparent the house was still in need of renovation as one of the bottom steps rocked a little under foot. What would have been the living room was a small dining room, with a sushi bar and four tables pleasantly divided by a wood and paper screen. We were offered a private room and took it. It had one large table with six chairs and simple Japanese paintings hanging on the south wall. Otherwise the room was not decorated much. Windows looked out over the well-kept garden, where a series of canopies shaded outdoor tables.
Rice wine seemed the perfect beverage for the evening, so Capitalist Comrade and I both indulged in a little sweet sake (zl. 28). It came warmed, but not hot, in a small bottle with an ochoa (Japanese shot glass) on the side.
Then we sat about pondering the menu. Sushi was the definite starter as both of us had a craving. A la carte sushi ranged from zl. 13-zl. 26 for two pieces, and maki were zl. 12-zl. 25. We were picking and choosing our way through our favorites when we asked for a little assistance from our smiling waitress. She recommended a sushi set (zl. 40-zl. 140) to satisfy our cravings more economically. We chose the normal sushi set (zl. 50) which included nine pieces of sushi and six maki.
Conversation had been going much too fast to study the menu and there were many choices from both cuisines to translate and contemplate. Hors d'oeuvres were zl. 13-zl. 20, salads zl. 5-zl. 12, udon (Japanese noodles) were zl. 30, and soup, zl. 6. Japanese dishes ranged from zl. 23-zl. 47, with dishes for two, such as sukiyaki and tepayaki, at zl. 80. The Korean dishes were numerous and ranged in price from zl. 13-zl. 60, with dishes for two at zl. 60-zl. 120. A separate section of Korean pot dishes ranged from zl. 30-zl. 80. The dessert list was short, with two entries: seasonal fruit (zl. 9) and rice cake with red sweet bean (zl. 8).
Once again, we called for assistance on the Korean dishes and our cheery waitress responded by recommending the bulgogi, (zl. 40), marinated beef grilled with Korean sauce. She said she is a vegetarian but knows the dish is really good because the customers tell her so and her boyfriend loves it. Her second recommendation was the haemul pazon (zl. 40), described as a seafood-flavored pancake. We asked for some white rice (zl. 5) and kim chi, and were told it comes with what we ordered.
The sushi arrived quickly, accompanied by three salads. The first was a cabbage salad topped with carrot, sesame and trace elements of cucumber in a vinegar dressing light and pleasing but nothing to write home about. Salad number two consisted of sprouts and shredded carrots in a light oil, and excited neither of us. The kim chi was wonderful and hot enough to pass Capitalist Comrade's test for authenticity. Recalling a 1986 dinner party at the palace of the esteemed Kim Il Sung, she said: "It really tastes like some I ate in Korea."
Obeying tradition, we used the metal Korean chopsticks on the salads and the wooden Japanese chopsticks on the fish. The sushi was as good as can be hoped for in a land-locked city. It did not have the swimming-in-the-bay-this-morning taste but also did not seem as if it had been sitting around too long. Hidden bits of wasabi between the fish and rice spiced up the combo. It tasted so good to us, we wished we had ordered more.
The waitress brought rice in metal bowls with lids. We marveled for a while and decided they were Korean because neither of us had seen them before with Japanese food. "But I cannot imagine these now in Korea," Capitalist Comrade said. "They've probably all been melted down for missiles."
"Fireworks for the Sea of Japan," I added.
Then the haemul pazon arrived. It was a light, sweet omelet with seafood and chives. We switched chopsticks again and my comrade took the first piece, dipping it in the sauce. Her response was almost Japanese in its simplicity: "Hey, that's really good." The accompanying sauce was a deliciously thick blend of soy sauce, grated garlic, green onion, ginger, chili pepper, sugar and salt. It was fantastic and throughout the rest of the meal we were dipping anything we could into it. The waitress said the restaurant also serves a kind of pierogi in the same sauce.
The bulgogi came with a show. The waitress brought a gas burner to the table and put a metal ring on the flame. Then she placed some marinated beef on the metal and as it sizzled, added onions, mushrooms and the remaining marinade. The room filled with a spicy odor, and soon, tender chunks of beef and vegetable were on our plates. Both dishes the waitress recommended were excellent.
Before returning to Poland, we took one more Asian trip for some Japanese green tea (zl. 6). This too was a wonderful surprise. It was delivered in a four-piece service, with a saucer, lid and built-in strainer. When the tea had steeped and the strainer was lifted, fresh green tea leaves steamed in the strainer. It was a very smooth cup of the bitter tea.
Dinner for two with sake and tea came to zl. 279 ($62). No discussion of a Japanese/Korean eatery can omit a comparison with Las, one of my favorite Warsaw restaurants. The food at Ohh! Sushi Seoul Garden was not as delicate and the atmosphere not nearly as refined. But the food was quite delicious and more adapted to a Western palate. The service is far friendlier than the often-distant service at Las. Ohh! Sushi's garden will also be a nice place to enjoy outdoor summertime dining.
