Restaurant Review - Omi Korean Grill and Bar

Omi God, it's Korean BBQ!

I'm a big fan of Asian cuisine.  I grew up eating things that, to the traditional "American palette," would seem a little out there - goat, raw oysters, rabbit, bone marrow - so I guess authentic Asian food presents a rare opportunity to get me out of my comfort zone.  I also love the traditions and process of eating an Asian meal: the order of the food, the little dishes of this and that, the condiments...the ritual of the whole thing.

I'm also a big fan of dragging co-workers to bizarre restaurants where the menus are written with English subtitles.  So it was on a recent trip to Omi, located in a shopping center anchored by Super H Mart at Old Dention and Highway 190 here in Dallas.  (As an aside, Super H Mart is one of my favorite grocery stores.  I will cover it in a later post.)  Read on for the full scoop.

Joined by two adventurous comrades, I sat down in the ample dining room.  The banquets are high-backed and very comfortable.  Each table has a large gas burner in the center for the "grill your own" all you can eat specials.  We all opted for lunch specials, however, so no pyromania this time.

We decided to share two orders of kalbi (marinated, grilled beef short ribs) and one order of bulgogi (marinated thinly sliced beef).  Service was prompt and crisp.

meh

 Soup: unremarkable.  Some broth, some seaweed, some meat bits.

Banchan - now we're talkin'!

Next came the banchan (little dishes of pickles and salads to use as appetizer and condiment).  Clockwise from the left we have: kimchi (ubiquitous spicy, fermented cabbage), ggakdugi (kimchi but with daikon instead of cabbage), ikan bilis (little dried anchovies with jalapeno), kongnamul (cold bean sprouts with sesame oil), marinated boiled potato, American cole slaw (?!), marinated eggplant, egg custard, scallion omelet, miyeok muchim (seaweed salad), and pickled zucchini.  Most of these were quite good with the notable exception of the little dried minnows.  I apologize to those of Asian descent who may find these things delicious.  It's like eating stale bait to me.  The highlights were the eggplant and the ggakdugi in my book...both very delicious and great with the main dishes.

Kalbi

The kalbi was very, very good.  It had a nice amount of fat and the meat was tender and seasoned perfectly for me.  Sometimes I think Korean restaurants can marinate these too long and you can't taste the meat.  Omi did an excellent job on their kalbi, really letting the marinate compliment the rich short ribs.  The onions soaked up the drippings as well...mmmmmmmm.

Say it with me: bull-go-key

The bulgogi was good, but not up to the kalbi.  I would have liked some more caramelization on the meat; it was a little flat tasting to me, and my fellow diners agreed.

The price: each dish was $8.99 on the lunch special and we were all stuffed.  I'd say that's a decent value by today's standards.  The banchan is all-you-can-eat, too.  My only issue with their pricing was the $1.99 for a soda...in a can.  As in ONE can of soda for two bucks.

Final Vedict:  Reccomended.  I'll be back for kalbi and a glass of water.