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Serving: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday; Dinner, 5-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 5-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Cuisine: Korean Prices: Dinner entrees in the $15-$20 range. Scoring: Our Gourmet and The Dining Companion each grade a restaurant in six categories, for a combined total score of up to 100 points. Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
The Dining Companion: Hanover Street has many little places to eat before or after a show at the Palace Theatre or the Verizon Center. The Korean Place is just the latest one we decided to try.
Ambiance 6.5/10
OG: There’s really not much to The Korean Place’s interior space. It looks as if it was at one time a city lunch counter, which gives it a kind of metro feel. There are only a few booths, but they’re comfortable enough. 3.
TDC: The Korean Place is a small, but quaint downtown place with an interesting and unusual menu that has a few uncommon items to pick from. Nothing fancy, but I have had some of my best meals in little places like these, so I was hoping for the best. 3.5
Appetizer 18/20
OG: As we perused the menu, I munched on some kimchi, a kind of pickled spicy cabbage that is a staple of the Korean table. It was so good, that before I knew it, it was gone.
When I have Japanese food I always try to have the miso soup, a favorite of mine, so when I saw the spicy miso stew for one ($6.95), I had to see what The Korean Place’s take on it was. I was glad I did. The miso was heartier than its Japanese cousin, with a broth that was just a little bit thicker than the usual miso I have had in the past, perhaps because of the daen jang jigae, a kind of soy bean paste. It had white miso, tofu, vegetables and chili. It was not very spicy, but was deliciously savory. 9
TDC: I decided to also go Japanese and ordered the grilled unagi ($11.95), which was five slices of broiled freshwater eel finished with a Korean barbecue sauce and sesame seeds. Unagi is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking and is rich in protein, calcium, vitamin A and E, and it’s said to give people stamina. I loved the delicate taste and the sauce gave it a nice sweet punch. The serving was a bit small for the price, but I enjoyed it immensely. 9
Entrée 16.5/20
OG: I decided to go the vegetarian route after my tasty stew and ordered the tofu in chili pepper sauce ($15.95). You can also get it with chicken, but I was in the mood for tofu. The tofu was bokum, or pan-fried, with a nice crispy outside and none of the watery inside that I find so often with fried tofu. It was served with vegetables and Korean chili peppers over noodles. The sauce was slightly spicy and a little sweet — a very nice combination. 8
TDC: I decided to have the seafood in a spicy bean sauce ($18.95), which was served ja-jang style, which is the simple peasant style of all the items — in this case shrimp, calamari, scallops, vegetables, black bean, chilies and garlic — served with a simple spicy bean sauce over a bed of noodles. I opted to swap the noodles for sticky rice. The dish was well prepared with the seafood cooked to perfection. My only complaint is it was a bit over-sauced and the black bean sauce can be a little overpowering if applied with a heavy hand. 8.5
Dessert 17/20
OG: There is no dessert on the menu, but we were served a free lemon custard that our waitress said was a kind of panna cotta. It was a tiny serving, but it was a refreshing and delicious end to the meal, without being filling. Tough to rate this one, so I’ll give it an 8.
TDC: My complaint here is the lemon panna cotta (not exactly what I’d expect in a Korean restaurant) was not enough. It was so delicious that I would have loved to have a full-size desert instead of a palate cleanser. Just two bites, but it was free. 9
Service 9/10
OG: Our waitress was very nice and very accommodating. She was the only server and was waiting on four or five table at any given time, but she was calm and efficient the whole time. 4.5
TDC: The restaurant seemed to be a two- person operation this night, and the woman who served us also greeted us at the door. She was very professional and well organized, and kept checking in on us. 4.5
Value 18/20
OG: We had a nice, relaxed meal and left both happy and full. Both meals and a couple glasses of wine in the $60 range? That’s a good value. 9
TDC: This is definitely not a family joint, but is the perfect place for a romantic dinner for two or with another couple before or after a show, or just because. It is reasonably priced and something a little different from the typical fare in Manchester, which earns it my good value and should-dine-at rating. 9
Note: The Korean Place only takes cash. No credit cards are accepted.
Total: 85/100
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