shin toe bul yi

Shin Toe Bul Yi
2001 Taraval St.

For the most part, pretty much everyone enjoys Korean food. Sure some things smell weird and definitely don’t look as though they should be eaten, but it’s pretty amazing. People don’t always love all of it, but surely don’t mind most of it. As for me, I grew up eating Korean food, so I love everything about it. Fortunately living in such a diverse city, I had no trouble finding a Korean place with those dishes I often crave. Catching on to the rumor that the Sunset has legit Asian cuisine, I checked out Shin Toe Bul Yi on Taraval Street. I went in thinking there was no way this would be in the same league as my mama’s cooking. Boy was I wrong. This is the perfect place to go for hearty homestyle Korean cooking. Their menu is quite extensive. There wasn’t anything I wanted that wasn’t on the menu. Me and about four of my good friends decided this would be the place for our once-a-month “family” dinner. Since most of them had never tried Korean, I went a little crazy and ordered a feast.

When we finally settled our little bottoms in the bustling room of clicking shot glasses and sizzling pans, we were ready to start. Like most typical sit-down places, our meal started with assorted banchan (tiny dishes of kimchee, spinach, and other veggies) and delicious hot tea. Because I was with so many people I pretty much ordered main staple dishes. I ordered: pageon with scallions (Korean seafood pancake, or commonly known as Korean pizza), dolsot bibimbap, soondooboo (soft tofu soup), kalbi, and the greatest fried chicken I’ve EVER had. My boyfriend even went as far as saying it’s better than Roscoe’s in Los Angeles. I’ve never been to Roscoe’s, but I’m gonna say that’s a big deal. Everything was nothing less than amazing. I also ordered two dishes of meat to cook yakiniku style, so on a table grill. I got my favorites, samyeopsal (pork belly) and chadolbaegi (beef brisket). They were just as yummy here compared to the times I’ve had it before. Since we ordered so much we got a free dish of broiled mackerel. It was SO GOOD. Just like my mama used to make. The things I would suggest passing on would probably be the pageon and bibimbap. It was alright… You’ve gotta try the kalbi. It tastes much better when I came here for dinner than when I got a plate for lunch. It’s served on the traditional sizzling stone plates. YUM.

If you’ve only experienced Korean food from your mall’s food court, venture out and find that banging yakiniku or soondooboo place near you. Shin Toe Bul Yi is a great place to experience real Korean cooking, the way it’s supposed to be. I’d suggest wearing something warm if you’re going for dinner because they usually always have a wait and there are only two chairs in the waiting area. Also don’t try to go after the crowd on weekends, you probably won’t be able to sit down until they start closing. Heading over around 5 or 6pm would probably be best. Lastly, if you aren’t heading there for some fried chicken, I suggest you quickly change your agenda and try it. You’ll never think KFC is good again.