205 S. 13th St. (near Locust)
Ooh. I just found my favorite Korean restaurant in Philadelphia. I didn’t have very high expectations after our disappointing experience at Miran, but luckily Pastoral was an excellent dining experience (although not cheap, $22 each, but we had a lot of food, no drinks). This one comes much more highly recommended than Miran (by my friends from Korea!) as well.*photo from kimcheedepot.com
We had reservations for a Friday night, but it didn’t matter because luckily it wasn’t very full (strange, when Miran was so crowded yet had such bad food). We had a big group, which was great, because we got to try everything.
Started with the banchan: kim chee, cucumber kim chee, beansprouts, cold tofu, fishcake, and turnip. They were all excellent.
Then we moved onto the mains: steamed dumplings, yuk gae jang, bi bim bap, jap chae, bulgogi, and kalbi. Everything was awesome. They grilled the meats for us as well, which is always a bonus in my book (although I know some people like to grill themselves).
2 comments:
I totally have to disagree about your rating of Pastoral. I have given it a chance several times, and each time I have found the food to be bland, low quality and Americanized. For really good Korean you need to step out of Center City. There's two great ones in North Philly and a great one in Upper Darby.
I agree with the anonymous person. I've also given Pastoral a few chances, and they were just as this person says: bland and low quality. Their menu says they have samgyupsal, which they don't, so we tried their bulgogi, which was unidentifiable as such: a watery mess more like soup. The only good thing I could say about them is that they they have soju, which made the meal a little more bearable. Kim's, Pandolne, Seorabol, and "Every Day Happy House" in Olney/East Oak Lane, and Pocha in Upper Darby all put this place to shame.
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