We headed out on our new dining experience on Tuesday night. Word to those who have not been: make a reservation if you are going on a weekend. I might even suggest making one any night of the week, just to be on the safe side. This place packs itself out, and diners tend to stay long and fully enjoy their meals.
No dinner is truly complete for us without a good beverage, so we ordered up a pitcher of Sapporo to get the party started.
They knock the full order out right at the beginning, and just start bringing the food out as it's ready. Nothing wrong with that!! First, they brought out this massive display of side dishes. At first sight, we didn't know what to do with this array of goodies. It was slightly overwhelming to the newcomers! There was everything pickled, spiced, smoked...eggs, fish, cabbage, broccoli, fish cakes. If you like kimchi type foods, try it all! It's free of charge at Genwa, in lieu of bread. Such a treat!
We started with the vegetable mandu -- steamed vegetable dumplings. They were huge, and came out on a platter. The portions here are definitely geared toward sharing. The dumplings were really good with their sesame soy sauce that they had brought out. I would suggest 3+ diners to not let any of these babies go to waste.
Our shared meals came out simultaneously, the galbi ramen noodles in a spicy beef broth with short ribs, and the sizzling bimbimbap, a crispy rice dish with vegetables and beef brought out to the table scorching hot in a steel bowl. They mix the seasoning and chili sauces in right at the table to customize it to each diner and then let it sit in the hot steel plate to get the rice nice and crispy before serving. Along with our two main dishes, we were brought a salty egg souffle as another free side. I loved the egg souffle in the ramen to give it some extra salt (I'm a total sodium whore). Both dishes were unbelievable, and left the two of us totally stuffed.
We were a bit jealous watching our fellow diners cook their own meats and vegetables in the boiling water pots centered at each table. We definitely know we have to take our Korean BBQ skills to the next level upon our next trip to Genwa.
As we were leaving, we were brought another treat (on the house) of a cinnamon and ginger soju shot with pine nuts. They said it was good for digestion, and to shoot the drink whole (note: Koreans don't sip on anything). We were ecstatic with our service and our dining experience, and chatted up with the staff for a while before they doled out some more soju shots with fresh squeezed lemon. Both of us left with full bellies and a warm fuzzy feeling. One couldn't really ask for more when going out to eat.
Genwa, you have our hearts.
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