Hiro and May of Yakko-san graciously invited us to eat at Gabose (gah-boh-say) which is their favorite local Korean restaurant. That recommendation alone had me excited to experience it. We are not as fortunate as other US cities to have a Chinatown or Koreatown (we're more like Cuban town, etc.), so finding a place like this is like gold. I know that restaurant dinner 'recaps' are not the focus of this blog, but I just wanted to share some photos from our experience. The restaurant is a bit of a trek for the Miami crowd (all the way out to 4991 N. University in Lauderhill), but it's a great excursion for a group... besides, food at this volume is best enjoyed with a small crowd. The tables in back are equipped with inserts and exhaust systems for coal burning bbq grills. This was just great traditional food with an interactive element.
Gabose does not advertise (yet the place was packed). There are no take-out menus or websites, so I will refrain from attempting to give the Korean names of these dishes. (I would recommend calling ahead of time if you wish to get a 'grill' table.)
a starter salad of pork shank and lettuces
a seafood pancake packed with squid, oyster, and green onion
lightly fried oysters
clear sweet potato noodles with beef
we were told this was Korean scrambled eggs (obviously diluted with broth or other liquid because the texture was silky soft and came out bubbling at the sides)
crispy fried fish packed with roe
Susan (the owner's daughter and a very creative chef in her own right... her most popular dessert creation is a popcorn ice cream which unfortunately we were too full to sample afterwards)... here she is cutting up some black pork belly which we cooked on a table top flat grill.
May Shigetomi flips the black pork while Hiro-san flakes off pieces of fish with his most excellent chopstick master skills.
sliced beef tongue and shrimp over the charcoals
eating the bbq'd shortrib in Hiro-san's recommended method... wrapped up in fresh sesame leaves with miso and kimchee
Thanks to our generous hosts for the great food and company and the free-flowing 32oz
Hite's. We will be returning. Susan did mention that they are aiming to open another restaurant in South Beach, but there is no set location yet... this may be quite far off in the future. However, we did coax her into a possible Paradigm dinner in the near future... that could be a great learning experience for all of us, but don't expect us to set a white hot pot of flaming charcoals in the middle of our dining room. I don't think the Donald's insurance covers that.
