THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Korean B.B.Q. House

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Korean B.B.Q. House Restaurant Review:

Korean B.B.Q. House is another of the marriage-of-cultures restaurants so often seen in San Antonio---but unlike the fusion-confusion variety, this one is literal: American husband, Korean wife, he's up front, she's in the kitchen---the result is perhaps one of the city's purest expressions of Asian cuisine. Considered from the exterior, the wary might be excused for thinking twice. The interior is reassuring: clean, well-lighted and generically Asian. But once the courageous open a menu, the lights really come on: there are dishes seen nowhere else in town, and they are executed at a level to make converts to Korean cuisine---not one usually known for its subtlety and finesse. The oyster and spring onion pancake, almost frittata-like but made with rice flour, is a superb appetizer; there's also a more exotic version with more seafood and vegetables. Sam kyop sal gui is labeled the bacon feast for 2, but, done in a brazier at your table, it's not at all like the pile of crispy strips you may be thinking. Bulgogi is a standard Korean item, consisting of strips of rib-eye flame-cooked with a sweet sauce; there's stir-fried octopus, and mandu soup takes the cuisine's version of pot stickers and adds them to a broth with additional vegetables. But the star of the show might well be the largely house-made accessories, small plates that include the ubiquitous kimchi, daikon, threads of dried squid, vinegary cucumber and preserved lotus root---the temptation is to make a meal of them. Resist, the main courses are simply too good. Bring your own beer, the beverage of choice; there's no liquor license.