Last week I found myself in K-Town after work where I noticed some interested signage outside Shilla. Looks like they are running several specials right now. One for regular lunchers, one for students, and a morning special for people who can read Korean. More signage pics after the jump.

When compared to the $6 Shilla lunch specials of years past, it’s hard to get super excited about $7.95 on price alone. But, you have to remember that the $6 specials were three years ago and the prices of a lot of things have gone up. It looks like with the $7.95 specials that there’s more variety–multiple things to choose from each day instead of just one dish and $7.95 is still cheaper than their typical lunch prices. The menu is all over rice-specials (somewhere a downtown lunch reader is laughing at us with $7.95 over-rice specials) but if you’re a fan of Fried Chicken, Fried Beef, Chicken Teriyaki, Beef Teriyaki, Pork Teriyaki or Seafood with Fried Rice, this might be worth checking out.

If you happen to be a student, Shilla has some specials for you (if you show your student ID and dine in) for $6.95.

Lastly, if you can read Korean (or if you read Midtown Lunch) there are some pre-11am specials. Chris H. was kind enough to translate the sign for me as follows (the text in parenthesis are from Chris):
“Breakfast Special $6.95: sullung tang (the white beef bone soup), haejang guk (hangover soup), dda roh guk bap (soup of the day served w rice), dwenjang jjigae (bean paste soup), soondubu. Nurungji (which is the burnt rice where you add water) is next to the $4.95 price.

The hangover soup might be worth checking out for the Happy Hour crowd… It was nighttime when I walked by so no chance at trying the specials, but I hope to check them out soon. Early adopters, let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Shilla Korean Barbecue House, 37 West 32nd Street. (btw. B’way+5th)

Thanks to Midtownlunch’s May 18th contest, I am able to bring to you my first ever food review. Shilla Korean Barbecue House is located in the middle of K-Town, otherwise known as 32nd Street. The restaurant has three floors, and we were invited to eat on the third floor. We started off with the complimentary side dishes typically served in a Korean BBQ Restaurant – Kim Chee, Potato Salad, Egg food omelette, etc.

Our first appetizer was a seafood scallion pancake or HaeMool PaJon ((S) $10.95). The seafood scallion pancake here was one of the better pancakes I’ve eaten at a Korean restaurant and especially enjoyed its chewy texture.

We were also served vegetable dumplings, which were good but nothing memorable.

Our first entrée was Soon Tofu Jjigae (Spicy soft tofu stew with seafood) – solid, but again nothing special.

Next came the Bi Bim Bap (Mixed vegetables over rice w/ beef & egg). I would probably pass on this particular dish if I were to eat here again. It was not terrible, but it tasted as if it was lacking a key flavor or ingredient.

The entrée that was most memorable was the Kalbi (Marinated Short Ribs). The well seasoned short ribs were cooked on the table in front of you and served with Korean bbq sauce, rice and lettuce upon request. You can either eat the tender and flavorful Kalbi by itself or wrapped with rice in lettuce.

We were not offered any dessert, though to be honest, I’ve never had dessert at a Korean restaurant before. Maybe Korean restaurants do not serve dessert ? All in all, Shilla is a solid place. The service was excellent (though we were invited by Shilla thru midtownlunch.com, so …) and dinner prices seemed quite standard. Most of the food was good, but nothing memorable. If I were to return to Shilla, I would definitely stick to ordering the seafood scallion pancake and the Kalbi.

Shilla Korean Barbecue House, 37 West 32nd Street. (btw. B’way+5th)

Related:
Your First Look at Shilla’s $6 Lunch Special

Photo courtesy of Ultraclay

Danny from Food in Mouth hit up Shilla (on 32nd btw. 5+B’way) last week, and was nice enough to report back. They are still running their lunch special, where $6 gets you a different soup or stew each day- plus a ton of banchan (the little dishes you get at the beginning of a Korean meal.) For take out they charge you $1 more. Here’s the daily lineup:

Mon – Kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew)
Tues – Sul lu Tang (beef knuckle soup)
Wed – Dwenjang jjigae (Korean bean paste stew)
Thur – Soon doo boo jjigae (spicy soft tofu soup)
Fri – Haejang guk (tradition Korean beef soup)

Danny went on Thursday, and got the Soon doo boo. You can check out his report here>>

Related:
Choong Moo Ro Introduces new $3 Lunch Special
Shilla Offers $5 May Lunch Special… If You Can Read Korean

I guess TGI Friday’s isn’t the only one following Subway into the $5 lunch game. Midtown Lunch flickr friend Pabo76 just posted about the new $5 lunch special being offered through the end of May at Shilla (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th). Unfortunately, the special menu is only in Korean- so you may want to check out his post, which translates the whole thing (and includes photos.) The stews and soups being offered don’t look gigantic, but banchan is included for your $5- so it sounds like a good amount of food for the price (and looks pretty damn tasty.) [The Pabo Page]