DC | SHIA

Here to support my fellow alumni, with Violet Pride! 💜 First, the news: I tried the new menu. The previous tuna bowl has been removed, and the choice between fish and beef is now gone. Prices have also quietly increased by $20. 🕒 Scallop and Fried Oyster Ssam The perilla leaves add a refreshing touch—I love it! 🍃 七星 Black Sesame Guksu For the amount of uni and caviar in this dish, it’s honestly not necessary to include them. 🦐 Mul Hwe Fish Soup The fish used here is kanpachi (I wonder if it’s the usual choice for spicy seafood soup). Doenjang Pork Belly Fermented Soybean Paste Pork Belly Wait, what’s underneath this dish? It’s a seven-treasure porridge—almost like an Asian version of risotto. I thought it was fancy, but it feels a bit underwhelming. Also, the broth could be added at the table to avoid spills during service. 🍲 Seared Halibut Pan-Seared Halibut Are the cabbage leaves in this dish intentionally undercooked, or was it an accident? 🥬 Roseda Kalbi-Braised Short Rib Braised Short Rib "Nurungji" (Korean for "crispy rice") Rice | Laver | Persimmon | Boricha Ice Cream | Plum Extract 🍧 The table spacing is quite tight; the next table is practically within arm’s reach. Although the restaurant can’t control the volume of guests’ conversations, it wasn’t until the table behind us left that we realized there was background music playing. 🎶 The restaurant doesn’t seem to have a service to confirm guests’ dietary restrictions in advance. My companion is pregnant, so I had to leave a message on OpenTable the day before and call the restaurant to confirm there would be no raw food. It seems the restaurant doesn’t have a backup plan either; in the second course, the uni and caviar were simply omitted, and in the third course, the fish was replaced with plain tofu without any adjustments. 🍲 Overall, my favorite dishes were the Doenjang Pork Belly and the "Nurungji." Chef Lee, our NYU literature alumnus, has already shown remarkable storytelling skills at his other restaurant, Edward Lee. I suggest incorporating more of this storytelling tradition into the new restaurant and building an East Asian culinary community in Washington, D.C., sooner rather than later. 🌟 #dmvfood #DMVfood #DMVeats #dmveats #dmvexploration #washingtondc #washingtondcfood #dceats #EdwardLee #blackandwhitechef