Surprise Lunch

During our travels along Vermont Street towards downtown (near Olympic) in the middle of Korea Town, came across a Korean Restaurant called YongSuSan, so decided to stop and try it.  Wow - what a surprise.  Apparently there are a total of eight, one being in LA. 

We were not sure what to order, so decided on the lunch special so we could taste lots of little dishes. 

Even the porridge to start wasn't too bad (I did ask if we could change for something else on the menu but....).  The dishes didn't come out in the same order as the menu which made it hard to figure out which was which (and although the very courteous waitresses did tell us as they served the dish, the language barrier made it difficult to fully comprehend, particularly when several dishes came out at once).  However, all were really deliciously light and unusual - particularly the cold dishes like the one below -  jellyfish salad with cucumber and radish.  Also a salad with shrimp and thousand year old egg.

Another cold dish was the Kaesun Style Steamed Pork which is pieces of perfectly cooked pork belly (served with soft skin), some spicy crunchy radish and steamed cabbage (like Kim Chi) with a salty shrimp sauce - all served on the same plate.  You take a piece of cabbage, some of the 'pickles', dip the pork in the sauce and roll up.

I particularly enjoyed the Mung Bean pancakes with a Tempura coated Zucchini Slice, the Skewered Sea Scallops - and the King Prawns which were fabulous - sitting in a really light omelette. 

 The Braised Short Ribs were the standout, so tender and the sauce was very tasty.

The Kaesung Style Wrapped Kim Chi was the best I have ever had.  You open the top and eat from the middle.

We were given a choice of our final dish, but we could not understand and even the menu didn't help clarify.  So we opted for the Scorched Rice - which is actually almost burnt rice with hot water on top - not great and rather tasteless.  Should have known when she said 'good for digestion'!  But it came with Soybean Paste w Tofu which was lovely albeit very salty, and some finely sliced fish cake shaped like a triangle - which we added to the crunchy rice for flavour.  The waitress did remark after we failed to finish the rice 'it is very Korean'.

We finished with a Persimmon Punch with Ginger, Cinnamon and Honey.  Full on - but a perfect end.

7.5 - probably more for the surprise!