Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Best Affordable Korean in Flushing

Myeongdong Kalbi or Shila. Or just Korean BBQ. It really isn't clear what the name of this restaurant officially is--it all depends on whether you read the English or the Korean (or the credit card receipt for that matter). But this restaurant is located in the Union St. H-Mart shopping center (you'll see the big bull cartoon picture). There's free parking on the inside of the shopping center. I've been meaning to write about this spot for a while now. I had been so into it, hitting it up for lunch at least weekly, all the while thinking the fantastically attractive menu was just a "lunch special," but it turns out its the regular, everyday, all the time menu! I gotta tell you, since I realized that, I've been going even more frequently.

There's a huge selection and it seems everything is delicious, but the amazing thing is that a good chunk, if not the majority of the dishes are under $10! This is the best--should I say it?--"recession special" in Flushing at the moment.

I'll post pics of food soon--but in the meantime, go for it. I pretty much love everything on the menu: the hwaedopbap is massive (bowl of sashimi over rice, greens and veggies to be mixed together with spicy kochujang sauce), the soondubu is excellent (thick & spicy tofu stew), good haejanguk (a hangover favorite), and lately I have been hooked on the daengjang stew & mackerel fillet combo ($7.99). Both varieties of naengmyun (cold noodles) are pretty good, although I find their
mul-naenmyun a bit tart for my liking (it's just a personal preference).

I haven't experimented with the BBQ yet, as I'm ever so frugal to keep it all in the budget, but over at Yelp, the sole entry for Shila Korean Restaurant by reviewer and critic Sal S., says the BBQ is pretty tasty (although she only gives the restaurant one star). I think she would have liked it better if she'd tried the other dishes. She mentions that the service was terrible--but I've only had the opposite, though I know how that can change quickly when places extremely busy.


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2922 Union Street
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 445-3155

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