Tokyo Seoul vs. the Sludge Bowl

Tokyo Seoul - 3180 Erie Blvd. East, Dewitt, NY

To be perfectly frank, Tokyo Seoul is an uneven experience.  Walking in we were greeted by a very friendly octogenarian asian man, very concerned with our happiness.  This started our experience off as friendly and warm.  Our host gave us the option of a regular table or hibachi grill seating.  Habachis (a large stainless steel grill with seating around it) aren't typically vegetarian friendly so we opted for a table.  We were seated in a comfortable and somewhat romantic sunken dining room with a lovely view of the parking lot.  To be fair, every window seat in every restaurant on Erie blvd. looks out onto a parking lot or other decaying suburban landscape.

The menu has an impressively large selection of Japanese and Korean foods.  As vegetarians our options became quickly limited.  From the vegi friendly selection we did discover some interesting choices.  The vegetarian bento box seemed promising with vegetable tempura, a vegetarian sushi roll and two inari sushi pockets.  Priced about $20 and not including any protein like tofu, this kept us from ordering.  

J ordered the Ja Jang Myun ($9.95).  Its a combination of stir fried black bean sauce with noodles & vegetables.  (Available with choice of meats or tofu.)  We of course ordered it with tofu.  The dish was preceded by an absolutely delightful array of small Korean side dishes or Kimchi:  Spicy cabbage, marinated radish, marinated bean sprouts, spicy marinated cucumbers, seaweed and in lieu of fish cake they brought us a different kind of marinated radish.  K ordered the Tofu Teriyaki ($15) which came with a bowl of miso soup.  We also shared an appetizer of vegetable tempura and a vegetarian roll.  

First the appetizers.  Sampling the various kimchis felt adventurous and satisfying.  The vegetable tempura included two delicious sweet potatoes, one acorn squash, one zucchini, and one potato.  They were lightly fried to perfection with a flavorful dipping sauce.  The miso soup was lacking in seaweed, but had a nice flavor.  The sushi, filled with red leaf lettuce, avocado, and cucumber, was fresh and tasty, but the last piece of the roll contained only lettuce. If we had just eaten the appetizers we would have had a 4.5 star experience. 

When J's Ja Jang Myun appeared he was instantly taken aback by a bowl of plain wet soba noodles.  Accompanying this was a sludge bowl of black tar-like glop with pieces of tofu and unidentifiable diced squash.  There was no flavor to either the overcooked noodles or the sludge cup.  When the waitress came back J requested hot sauce.  She seemed put out by the request.  J added most of the dish of hot sauce to bring any flavor whatsoever to the Ja Jang Myun.  

K's tofu teriyaki was considerably better.  Battered and fried, the tofu had a light and crispy outer texture and hot firm but not rubbery inner texture.  The teriyaki sauce covered the bottom of the plate and was drizzled over the tofu.  It was slightly sticky with a subtle salty sweetness.  A side of cold noodle salad was bland, but the ball of sticky rice was pleasant.

At a hibachi grill across the room we were entertained by a group of college girls shooting sake bombs and marveling at the hibachi chef's acrobatic use of cooking oil, fire and a knife.

Our waitress seemed overworked or uninterested or both.  Her inattentiveness was irritating and put a damper on our dining experience.  At the end of the meal our check came with fun little boxes of Japanese chewing gum.  Our total came to just under $40 before tip.

J did not enjoy his entree and but was so moved by the kimchi experience he confessed he wanted a jumpsuit made entirely of marinated seaweed. He gave the meal a 4 out of 7.  K was fairly pleased with everything she ordered but could barely look at the sludge bowl J was trying to eat.  She gives it a 4.5.