Soju — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Not at all traditional Korean; however, it takes Hawaiian and Korean inspired dishes to make ridiculously good food and drinks. If you like Filipino food, even if it isn't, you'll love this place since the flavor profile of the meats match the Filipino palette. Garfield is usually always overrated but this restaurant deserves its praise. The serving is incredibly small, but the flavor is great.

The poke I ate here is easily the best in Pittsburgh. It's fresh and is very Hawaiian traditional. No frills: just sushi rice with rice vinegar, with fresh tuna cubes.

On another day, I ordered the BBQ Combination platter which has galbi, steak-like (thick-ish) beef bulgogi, and a light but sweet pork bulgogi. The galbi is traditional and tastes FANTASTIC. The other two are honestly closer to Filipino tocino: heavy, fatty, and amazingly sweet meat. The galbi is red on the outside but very chewy, juicy, and flavorfully sweet. The pork is much lighter (unlike tocino) but very much sweet and chewy, too. No one else in Pittsburgh can match the sweet meat flavor profile better than Soju.

Drinks are insanely good, making it the main attraction for visitors. I like them sour, so they were able to accomodate my request and sour up my cocktail.

Almost forgot to mention the main chef is a standout dude and very nice.

The restaurant isn't cheap but I'd come back here in a heartbeat. Lots of people go here for the drinks, but if you're looking for a taste close to Filipino BBQ, Korean and Hawaiian inspired food, or the most traditional poke in Pittsburgh, no one...

The TLDR is: Go to Soju

But, I think it is worth detailing my experience and I hope you thing it is worth reading.

We ended up going to Soju on a whim. One of the three in our group was an older guy who'd spent time in Korea and was craving a style of food he hadn't had in years. Our server (who turned out to be the co-manager and seeming bartender) patiently answered questions about the different dishes and dishes he recalled eating in Korea. She recommended different apps for us to share, which were all delicious.

Most important to our experience was that she checked in regularly but allowed us breathing room to make our way through drinks and apps before landing on our entrees. She was patient and very accommodating of our pace. While people were constantly shuffling in and out, some not even getting tables, we were allowed to make our way through dinner at our own speed with no pressure to turn over the table.

The tofu and gimbap were a delicious start to the meal. The Kalbi was like butter; It melted in your mouth and we all couldn't praise it enough. All of the mixed drinks at the table were great and emptied quickly.

When we got to the end of the meal Rachel, our server, brought over her co-manager (and best friend) to share a drink with us. Then the chef/owner came over to check in and humor me with a discussion about the amazing Kalbi.

Overall, it was an incredible experience. So, whether you are going for the food, the drinks, or the people, it is worth the trip. My only regret is not grabbing a picture of our drink together...

I happened upon this listing when seeing what restaurants were open near me at like 9:15pm, and was excited to find a new restaurant had just opened up!

The menu is a bit limited, but covers a lot of the basics. I was dining by myself, so I didn't get to try the Kimchijeon, which was still enticing. It has a couple vegetarian main options (japchae and bibimbap), and they were happy to add tofu for $1. The bibimbap was pretty tasty, though I was disappointed that it wasn't served in a hot stone bowl - which is something I really love. So, I didn't get to cook the egg yolk with the rice, stir it all around with a spoon (uh, there were no spoons at the table?) and eat it with a spoon (which, my understanding, is the traditional utensil for this dish).

Sadly, unlike most Korean restaurants I've been to, the main didn't come accompanied with a selection of tiny banchan side dish appetizers which I usually really love.

I had decided it was a non-drinking day already, so I didn't get try any of their interesting Soju cocktails or very enticing craft beers on draft!

Traditional Korean - this place is not. It definitely has the Brooklyn hipster industrial bar-restaurant metal+wood+edison bulb atmosphere going on. It was pretty quiet when I was there. I don't think I saw a single Korean person working there - though I didn't go to the kitchen.

Overall, the food I did order tasted good. It's a bit expensive for what you get, though, and not as good as, say, Nak Won Garden. But, hey, they have a full bar and are nicely located...