"Koreatown, it's just where we grew
up, and really, think about it:
Everybody is moving out, you know, if you
look around the area it's kind of random.
There's not many Korean
restaurants left over here. We wanted to
create a space that anybody could come
and grab what they want, if they want sashimi
they can grab sashimi, if they want to grab
bulgogi they could grab bulgogi. We have
like over 130 things on the menu and the
reason is because we're not like New
York and LA where you can
specialize in just like one thing, you know.
If I could explain anything about
Koreatown, that's what Koreatown here
is." Philly used to have a thriving
Koreatown within the city proper, but as
the community got more established they
spread out into the surrounding suburbs
Seorabol is the oldest Korean
restaurant in Philly and it is thriving
under the stewardship of the original
founder's son Chris Cho. So how many
Korean restaurants were here like at its
high point? "So highest point, the whole
5th Street, the whole strip was just
all Koreans. Just like Korean
restaurants, Korean barbecue, Korean shops.
Right now, the generation changed. I don't
think the next generation want their
kids to walk around 5th Street.
I think back in the days,
in like the 90s, they were tougher,
they're like, 'Oh it's kind of little
hood but deal with it,
you're an immigrant.' But now it's like we
want to raise our kids better."
How did
you get into this business and
get into this food? "So my father's been a
chef for about 42 years and the
sushi, the sushi chef is actually
my uncle, he's been a chef for 31 years, so
I'm actually 31, so ever since
I was born they were already chefs and I
was like, when he grabbed a sword from the
rock, you know in King Arthur? That was
me! I grabbed that $#!%, I was like, 'Oh $#!% I'm a chef.'"
That's like my heaven, I
want that swim to me. One of the
specialties you're doing is like Korean
sushi. "It's sashimi, we don't eat too
much sushi, never eat rolls, it's like a
filler." More fish
less rice. "Exactly. Gotta do the little
tornado."
Cheers.
So this flounder, he's saying, this
is the first cut that he gave us. We can
have the founder with the soy sauce and
wasabi, or we can also have it with their
special sauce and a little bit of raw
onion for extra kick. It's got a little
bit more firmness, the flavor itself
is just clean. This salmon looks
super good, I love salmon.
Usually you just have soy sauce and
wasabi but Koreans, we're we're mixing it
up a little bit, so we got a bunch of
different sauces. It just makes it more
fun. We got to mix up this gochujang. This
is like one of the more traditional
things that you would dip the fish in,
which has some peppers and is this
garlic? "Yeah." Wow this is gonna be
powerful. Okay we're gonna get some squid.
The squid is very nice, spicy but
it's contrasted with the clean
tenderness actually of the squid,
which usually squid is not. I mean I'm
gonna go for the sea bass, fermented
soybean paste, with some garlic.
When you have sushi, it's great, but it's very
individualized. You get your piece.
Here, this your kind of like
picking off the same plate, and it's more
of a party. This is one of my favorites
right here. So this is flounder and
he actually a fried it. I mean we're only
like halfway through. Are you a big uni fan?
Yeah. Very rich.
When you're drinking, when somebody's
older, you kind of look away and drink.
It just show that hey, this is a respect
I have. I just learned it. When I
didn't do it, people get mad, so I was
like, 'Okay I shouldn't be doing that.' We
got some toro here, tuna. And we're
supposed to eat this with fresh wasabi.
It's rich but it's not like super
unctuous or whatever. Fresh abalone and
wasabi is recommended. This is screwed up.
It's a little difficult to eat, I mean
that the flavor is good. I'm gonna go for
the sea squirt. I'm kind of scared, man.
This stuff is freaking briny, dude. This
is now the second time I'm eating sea squirt.
Oh oh my god. Yeah it just gushed
my mouth. Eel time! I need to take that
sea squirt flavor out, because it's
strong. I still have it in my mouth.
It's so good, got
this white tuna rolled up with seaweed
and some sprouts. I just love how the
fish is. You get that nuttiness from
the sesame seed oil and salt.
You get that
edge of like ice crystals in there,
that's intentional. If you guys like what
you saw here and you want to see more of
my Korean videos on Youtube, click right
here.