We first tried Miran Korean Restaurant back in 2005 and enjoyed our meal there. But for some reason, Picky convinced himself that his review was incorrect and he didn't actually like his meal, causing him to avoid it ever since. Messy corrected him a couple weeks ago while we were jonesing for some Korean food and he happily obliged a trip back. He was happily reminded of the deliciousness that is Miran. After sitting down in a mostly empty space (we got there for a late lunch), we were greeted by a bevvy of traditional Korean panchan, complimentary appetizers. Front and center are merruchi, dried anchovies in a sweet and spicy sauce. Oh how Picky loves him some merruchi and it was all for him!
For his entree, Picky opted for his standby at Korean restaurants: dol sot bibimbap, the hot stone bowl of mixed rice topped with a fried egg. The bowl is crazy hot and you mix in the hot pepper paste – he asked for a second plate of it – and the rice gets nice and crispy and the veggies cook down a bit while in contact with the scalding hot stone bowl. This is a shot of the dish before the paste is added.
Messy really wanted the jajang myung, buckwheat noodles in brown sauce with freshly chopped veggies, but they were all out, so she opted for the tofu chige, soft tofu soup in spicy broth. It ended up being a little too spicy for Messy's still-adapting-to-Picky's-heat-tolerance-after-seven-years palate. She added in the bowl of rice to bring down the heat to a more approachable level. Although she found it a little too tofu-heavy, the dish did well to warm her up for the rest of the afternoon of errands about Center City.
Here's a shot of Picky's halfway mixed bibimbap after adding in the hot pepper paste. He gobbled this up quickly and had plenty of room to have about a quarter of Messy's soup.
A shot of the empty restaurant as we were about to leave. By that time, it was when they were getting ready to change over to the early dinner crowd. Usually, there are much more people in there.
Messy ***1/2
Picky ***1/2
The final, final word: Authentic, spicy Korean food at a nice price.
2034 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 569-1200
Mon – Sun 11am – 9pm
For great Korean food, you should also check out the food court at HMart store right at the 69th Street Terminal. Cheap and delicious!
I had jjajang myun for lunch there once, with Craftyangie. It was delicious. I'm sure I looked a mess after I was done, but somehow, I didn't scare Angie away.
I kept thinking I would go back and try their barbecue, but I didn't.
This looks great. I'm going to add this to my list of restos to check out. Beauteous photos as always. I want to reach right into those tofu cubes. BTW, I liked your tofu write-up in GRID.
How funny – I always get some form of bibimbop! I love it. My stepdad always gets either bibimbop or the spicy tofu soup. I lived in the korean part of town for 2 years and ate a ton of it
Looks wonderful….makes me crave some Korean food! I might have to get some tomorrow…! I'm glad you guys tried it again. Yum!
Hey kiddles. Can one tone down the spice? I have no spice tolerance what so over, but I do like the flavors in Korean food. Do you think that would be an option at this place?
One of the benefits of moving to the far away land of Northwest Philly is proximity to all the great Korean spots in Olney and regions north. Miran was my favorite of the handful in center city options though.
The soft tofu stews here (and my homemade versions) sustained me through the winter:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/jong-ka-jib-soft-tofu-restaurant-philadelphia
For some odd reason, I grew up eating a lot of Korean food and credit this with my extremely high tolerance for spicy food.