Café Korea -- Revisit

Thanks to my friend @AngieSix being more on top of things than me, she noticed that @indianapolisamy had posted about Café Korea and had talked about how much she liked the dumplings there—knowing that I have been on a dumpling quest, Angie suggested we go.  I have been a couple of times before, but had never had the dumplings ($4.99).

Of course, that is what we started with, and they were delicious! There were five, and they were a good size—at least two bites each. They were also smokin’ hot. They were filled with minced meat—pork I am guessing? They were seasoned nicely with some veggies and ginger and were lightly pan-fried. I liked the soy and vinegar based dipping sauce to add further variation in flavor and additional moisture (and heck, just to cool them off a little bit!). I would totally get these again.

I also had the lunch version of dol sot bi bim bop ($8.99). I had this the first time I came here (and the first time I reviewed this place) and enjoyed it, but I don’t know, this time it just didn’t get me going. Even with squeezing a fair amount of the hot sauce they served along with it, the dish just didn’t seem to have a of of flavor. The dish is composed of rice on the bottom topped with various shredded veggies, beef and a sunny side up egg. I still like the way the rice crusts up a bit on the bottom because the stoneware bowl is so hot, and the way it sort of turns into fried rice when you mix the egg in there. But it just needs something else. I put some of the lightly fermented bean sprouts from the banchan, or side dishes, which helped a bit, but I still wanted more. I ended up drizzling a bit of the dumpling sauce in there just for a bit of saltiness. Either my tastes are changing or they’ve changed the dish.

They do give you a fair amount of food between the main dish and the banchan and a little salad with a ginger dressing as well (pretty good but standard). And the service is pleasant. I would like to go back and get the dumplings and maybe experiment with the menu a bit more. What else have you guys had that you really liked?

Café Korea

7262 Fishers Crossing Drive

Fishers, IN 46038

317/578-1987

www.cafekoreaindy.com

Café Korea

Yay! Another good ethnic place a little closer to home for me!  I finally dragged the BFF out to Café Korea the other day (we have a really bad tendency to end up at the same places together a lot); it has been on my list ever since I noticed it when I reviewed the Dragon House Chinese restaurant next door.

We were greeted by an exceptionally friendly woman who told us to sit wherever we wanted.  We looked over the menu, and I have to say there are several things that look quite good.  But when the same lady came back to take our order, I decided to ask her advice. I loved the way she looked out the window to see what the weather was like, and then told us we should order the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap because it was a nice hot dish that would warm us up.  We ordered that, as well as an order of beef Bulgogi and decided we would share.

The Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap ($8.99) was great—I really liked it.  It was a sizzling hot earthenware pot with white rice on the bottom, and topped with shredded veggies (carrots, cucumbers, sprouts, and zucchini I believe) and beef as well as a beautiful sunny side up egg.  Just before eating, you stir it all together, which cooks the egg just a bit more and gives you bits of the caramelized rice that has been a bit burnt on the bottom of the pot.  Our server made sure we knew to mix it all up before we started, but explained it in a helpful and not condescending way, which I appreciated.  It was served with a bottle of special hot sauce, which was a nice addition to give it a little heat.  I loved all those slightly crunchy browned bits of rice with the rich egg and the slightly cooked, but very thinly sliced or julienned veggies.  I would get this again in a second.

The Bulgogi ($7.99) was also quite good, but not quite as good as the first dish.  It was nice to have a bit more beef though, because there isn’t a lot of meat to the bi bim bap, and the bulgogi dish was pretty much all thinly sliced and marinated beef that was grilled—there were a few green onions, mushrooms and bits of cabbage in there as well.  The meat was nicely flavored with what tasted like a slightly sweet soy marinade, although there were a few pieces that had a little too much fat to them for my taste, but they were easily trimmed away.  I was surprised that there was no rice served alongside (and I think it was an oversight because it is listed on the menu as coming with steamed rice and a house salad for lunch, but we were fine with the rice in the other dish).  It was actually a great combo of things for two people to share, because it gave you a little more protein. 

As mentioned, they both came with house salads as well beforehand, which were your typical iceberg lettuce in a cup with a bit of a gingery dressing.  As far as these go, this one wasn’t bad and had the right amount of dressing.  Alongside your entrées, you also receive the traditional Korean side dishes, or banchan.  My favorites were the pickled bean sprouts and the wilted spinach.  The other things (one was turnip I believe and cucumbers the other) were the spicier additions. They were all nice to add a bit of acidity and heat.

But one of the things, as I have sort of already mentioned, that I liked about this place was how friendly and accommodating our server was.  She actually seemed to care about what she told us to order, and she cared about us getting the maximum enjoyment out of the food, which was quite tasty.  This is a place that I, as well as the BFF, will be back to.  She was already telling me how she wanted to take the rest of her family and was going to recommend it to her Dad, who is a fan of Korean food.

Café Korea

7262 Fishers Crossing Drive

Fishers, IN 46038

317/578-1987

www.cafekoreaindy.com