I haven’t been satisfied with the Korean food in Manhattan lately (as you can see from my reviews of Pocha 32 and Arirang) so I asked my Korean friend Scott to help me out. I needed to rectify this situation! Similarly to how I feel about Chinese food, Scott feels about Korean food: the good stuff has left Manhattan. With the growing Korean population in the Little Neck/Great Neck area, it’s not that surprising to end up there, at San & Deul Restaurant 251-05 Northern Boulevard, Little Neck, NY 11363. With the golf range nearby and free parking behind the building, this place fills up with Korean men, can get quite smoky, and isn’t fancy in any way. It’s just the best Korean food Lon or I have ever tasted. (We don’t use “best” often.)
As soon as you sit, every inch of the table is covered in panchan (small side plates) and condiments. They were all good but the most memorable were marinated spinach, garlicky bok choy, and great kimchi. For me, kimchi can make or break a meal. I like to eat it with most bites of the barbecue meat and in between everything else, so it can add a freshness and happy kick to the whole meal, or drag a meal into a musty low. Here they offer a richly flavored kimchi and a lighter and sweeter un-fermented kimchi. Both are great!
The raw cured crab (also a panchan offering) is so interesting, with a similar texture to cured salmon/lox. It becomes soft, slightly sticky, and gelatinous, totally unlike flaky cooked crab meat.
One major difference you’ll notice immediately is that they cook the meat over a wood burning grill embedded in your table. Next, you’ll see the most beautifully marbled kalbi (beef short rib), making it extra tender. Everyone eats it a little differently but my favorite is rolling the red rice, kalbi, and kimchi into lettuce. You can’t help but keep going and going. Good thing we had two orders.
The Fried Mandoo is filled more than most. (I generally think Korean dumplings seem kind of empty.)
The Clam soup is so purely clam, a refreshing simplicity in a mostly strongly flavored meal.
Despite not needing any more food, Scott and Angie wanted us to try the pork belly with kimchi. They changed the set-up to a different grill pan and start the pork belly first.
After the pork fat starts melting, they cut up the pork and add the un-fermented kimchi. The pork gets crisped brown spots while the flavorful fat seeps into the kimchi.
Little dishes of sesame oil with salt and pepper are given to dip the pork into.
As we slowed down, we all realized how full we were, but couldn’t resist trying to stuff a few more bites in. It was so delicious and deeply satisfying. Meals here will be about $25 per person, stuffed beyond normal gorging, and well worth a trip out of the city. Who’s coming with me next time?
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Everything you showed here looked so good. The Korean community is growing quite fast where I live. Hopefully, good Korean restaurants are coming around too.
Lots of great joint on Northern Blvd. There’s another BBQ place on near Union Street, but yea, the smell can really stink your clothes. 😛
That looks pretty good. I’m on it!
Me me me! I am totally up for a trip to get some good Korean food. I must never have had the really good stuff because I’ve only ever eaten it in Korea-Town! After reading this. I really need to change that!
Let’s plan a trip for late March?
Your photos are so tempting! There are so many advantages to living in NYC….eating is one of them!
I wish I could!
Great find and great review! I’ve become sort of a Korean food snob since some of my closest friends are Korean and I’ve been eating Korean food for nearly two decades. Wood coals is the only way to go with Korean BBQ. We’ll go with you next time 🙂
Steve, we’ll prob need to eat out more while the new kitchen is being built so let’s make some dinner plans!