Korean food in Mexico City

As I’ve mentioned before, Mexico City’s Korean neighborhood sits just a few blocks from my house. A few weeks ago, we finally made it out to a restaurant there, courtesy of my friend Hugh.

He’d raved about this certain Korean restaurant in an email, saying he didn’t know the name, but it was at Oxford and Hamburgo in the Zona Rosa, “the spot next to the strip club, with the suits of armor out front.”

A big group of us agreed to meet there on a Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. We walked up and sure enough, there were two suits of armor. (Great landmark, Hugh!) The restaurant ended up being a narrow, two-story building next door, with a terrace overflowing with balloons. A back room on the first floor held one table just big enough for the 11 of us.

While we waited for the staff to clean it, a group of Korean kids, maybe nine or 10 years old, stared in awe at our friend John, who happens to be really tall. One kid walked up to John and jumped up and down, eager to see what life might look like in John’s orbit. It was adorable.

The Mexican waiter brought us thick menus, and I felt a little panicked. I’ve eaten Korean food a few times before, and loved it, but it’s kind of overwhelming to stare at five pages items, and you’re not entirely sure what they are. We all agreed to share everything family style, so I ordered soup with merluza (hake), egg and vegetables, and we got several orders of grill-and-your-table ribs and skirt steak, and bibimbap, more soups, and dumplings.

Just a few minutes after we ordered, the waiter brought out dozens of small dishes: kimchi, plates of what looked like glass noodles, a type of mayonnaise salad with apples, tempura shrimp….

We nibbled. And then the meat came out. We turned on tabletop grill, and designated Joy’s friend H. as grillmaster.

When the meat was done, H. showed us how to make these lettuce-wrap packets, by grabbing a lettuce leaf, slathering it with spicy red sauce, adding garlic, a piece of meat, and then a jalapeño. Of course I had to add two jalapeños, because I’m hard like that. Then my eyes started watering and I had to take a break.

The food was great, though. I loved the communal aspect of the meal — passing the small dishes, the lettuce leaves, holding up our plates to the grillmaster, and waiting for our little gift. And it was amazing how many flavors and textures were represented — anything from the mild mayonnaise salad with apples, to the starchy, eyewateringly-hot bibimbap, to the garlicky kimchi.

After we’d paid the bill — and by the way, Korean food is expensive for Mexico City — the owner came out and introduced himself, and shook all of our hands.

I think we rolled ourselves out the door, but it was worth it. I’d go back again in a second. (As long as I haven’t eaten much that day. This is a huge meal, people.)

GO THERE
The Unnamed Korean Restaurant*
(*unnamed to us; it does have a Korean sign, if you speak the language)
Located on Oxford Street, just north of Hamburgo, next to the black building with the suits of armor out front
Avg cost per person, including drinks: $30-$40 USD
Note: To drink, they offered Mexican beers and Korean soju, a distilled beverage typically made from rice. I haven’t seen soju yet here, so this was an interesting find.