Hodori Restaurant

Galbi BiBimBop

There is a sign in the window of Hodori that says, "Ring bell, then run away really fast. Hodori (baby tiger) needs exercise." A sense of humor at a Korean restaurant? Yes, and on top of that, they are open 24 hours a day everyday; this is one of those options after clubbing or partying that actually serves decent food.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, many Korean places give non-Koreans a hostile attitude or very bad service, but Hodori is a fair and equal treatment kind of place no matter your heritage or nationality (this means that they are slow to everyone, not just non-Asians). Another plus is the bright pictures of food above the counter to help you decide what you want, and they even have an abbreviated English description below the Korean menu descriptions to let you know what your dish will include.

As in all Korean restaurants, there are sides that come with every dish, and here that means a nice seaweed soup, slightly sweet kim chee, spicy pickled radish, gelatinous rice flour, bean sprouts, potato salad, and steamed rice. Most dishes are between $7-14, and very generous, so you won't have to break your piggy bank to feed yourself here.

We had the thinly pounded and nicely crunchy fried pork cutlet, served with a shredded cabbage salad, the tender and medium rare Galbi, served over raw onions, and the pictured, sizzling hot, vegetable laden, Galbi BiBimBop. Everything was good, (nothing was great) but the place was clean, the choices varied, and although the service was very slow and a bit lackadaisical, it was nice and never rude.

Rather than a 3am early morning breakfast at one of those chains that serve greasy eggs, why not try Hodori for some good Korean food instead?