Midtown Lunch

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a new player in the Korean taco game. A couple of weeks ago, when I visied Yogi BBQ, I was certain that this would be the end of the Korean taco craze. But lo and behold, commenter “locondcoco” tipped us off to yet another: Seoul Food.

The menu has the typical protein offerings of bulgogi, “sweet and spicy pork”, kalbi short rib, and chicken, with the addition of portabella mushrooms for the vegetarians. You can order these in taco ($3.25 each, 3 for $8.95), burrito ($8.50), bibimbap ($9.95), banh-mi ($8.50), rice platter ($8.50), or slider (pork or bulgogi only, $3.25 each or 2 for $5.95) form. In order to try the most different meats, I once again went with three tacos, one each of kalbi, bulgogi, and pork. I had also seen on Twitter that day that if you said a secret keyword, you’d receive a free order of fries. There are actually a number of ways to score a free side, so freeloaders, take note.

The tacos come wrapped in foil with cute little stickers to indicate which protein is inside. This is great in theory and I appreciated the touch, but one of my beef tacos ended up getting confused the the pork one, so the labels were basically useless in my case.

Three tacos and a side of fries was definitely plenty of food for a full meal. The fries were nice and thick, but could’ve been crispier, although I may have sacrificed some crispiness during the walk back to my office. The tacos come with a generous portion of meat, dressed with kimchi, lettuce, raw onion, and spicy mayo. The bulgogi was sweet, fatty, and tender, just as it should be. It was delicious, but since I’ve been a little bulgogi-ed out lately it wasn’t my favorite of the three. I appreciated the fact that the sweet and spicy pork was actually spicy (and sweet!) and very tender. However, next time, I’d choose one or the other between this and bulgogi as towards the end I was getting a little overwhelmed with all the sweetness.

My favorite of the three was the kalbi. It was a little gristly, but it was pleasantly beefy tasting and not overpowered by the marinade.

If I’m going to be honest, I’m getting a little bit jaded by all of this Korean taco madness, but Seoul Food will definitely satisfy your lunchtime Asian fusion cravings. They have a pretty good variety of menu items, so they’ll probably get another visit or two out of me. If this craze keeps up much longer, we may need to do a Korean Taco Palooza this year to settle on the best Kortaco, once and for all!

Seoul Food appears to be parking on 51st btw. Park and Madison a few days a week, but as always, check the Twitter Tracker before heading out.

Seoul Food, 51st btw. Park + Mad, 212-612-3070