Kim Jong Grillin — Restaurant in Portland

Just wow.

I live nearby so I drive past it all the time. I was really excited to be in the neighborhood at lunch time.

I had the bulgogi bibim box. My Korean pretty much ends at "bulgogi" and "kimchi" and this appealed because it had two things I didn't recognize, plus a fried egg. They turned out to be a house made hot sauce and a noodle made from a starchy root. It was also billed as the "ultimate hangover cure." The chef/owner was all to happy to tell me all about the ingredients and was really excited about his daikon, which he admitted most people wouldn't be excited about.

I got it to go, but he instructed me to mix it all together when I got where I was going, so that's what I did. It looked incredible before I did.

Even after being thoroughly tossed (the yolk was nice and runny), it seemed like every bite was different and delicious. The heat was on point and I didn't even realize it was getting spicy until about half way through when my nose started to run.

I would eat here again and again.

It is a little pricey for lunch at $13, but the quality of the ingredients was...

This place?... Yeah, this place can tickle my taste buds ANY day! This is the kind of place that I refer to as a "Super Trooper", in that if it hollered "WHO WANTS A MUSTACHE RIDE!?" I would jump up and down saying OH, I DO I DO!

That visual aside this place is solid. Tasty flavors and thoughtful combinations. Great simple short menu... seriously, as you know a short well thought out menu wins me over every time. They win on that front. I had the ribs, fatty and flavorful. My boo had the chicken, a touch of red kick sauce, yeeee haw!

All in all, great portion size. Great food in your mouth. Nice little covered deck. Friendly helpful service and food that actually takes a little time to prepare... cuz you know, it's real!

Make a trek down to SE Division if it's not your hood, take a blanket and go picnic up on tabor with the city view. Pro Tip: I highly recommend grabbing this for dinner but stopping off at the best old school Dairy Queen in the city just up the street for PREssert before heading up to Tabor for your picnic dinner :)

Go get...

Don't let the North Koreans know -- or the South Koreans, for that matter -- that Kim Jong-un has escaped his despot regime and is now serving up some mean Korean barbecue in Southeast Portland. Who knew that he could put out eats like this? His father and grandfather may have missed their true callings.

Han Ly Hwang has been serving up great food for a while. If you don't know the story, he won the Judges Award at the 2011 Eat Mobile festival. Hours later, his food cart went up in flames. There have been some bumps along the way, but Kim Jong Grillin still stands.

I ordered the kalbi short ribs, served with kimchi, glass noodles, sesame sprouts, daikon kimchee and rice. Oh, with a soft egg thrown on top for good measure.

The food was excellent. Some of the best Korean food I've tasted. Although a food cart, there's several picnic tables underneath a covered awning.

All in all, a great...