The Fashionably-Forward Foodie: Shillawon Korean Restaurant

Now I know you will see more than your fair share of Japanese restaurants and eats on here, so it was only right to do a post on a Korean restaurant! It was only a matter of time, people!

Shillawon Korean Restaurant was recommended to me by my friend, David. He has a lot of Korean friends that take him out to eat, so I figure he knows what he's talking about. Well, he (and his friends) were right! This place is definitely authentic and good for the price. But first, let me talk to you about parking. This is a major consideration for me. If parking is scarce or you have to find street parking, I most likely will not go...or I'll try it once. On the other hand, if parking is in abundance, I'm more likely to go often if I like the place. So, Shillawon. Yes, you can park on the street, but in the downstairs structure, there are about 10-12 numbered stalls that you can park in. Before driving in, look at the sign, it says something like "Korean Restaurant Stalls 51-58 and 63-69" or something like that. It's also FREE.

Location- In a business building located minutes away from Don Quijote. I had to GPS it.

Now, the food. The great thing about this restaurant is that for $25.99 ($23.99 until 3pm) you can either get All you can eat Shabu Shabu or All you can eat Korean BBQ. The only catch? We thought we were being sly by asking if we could get one order of the All you can eat BBQ and one order of the All you can eat Shabu, but apparently, you can only get one or the other for you and whoever you are eating with. They charge the $25.99 per person. Also, another catch (and I've seen this before), if you waste meat, you will be charged a $3.00 fee. I've seen this at BBQ/Yakiniku and also All you can eat Sushi places.

Anyway, the food was fantastic. Some meat was frozen, but it all tasted great. Meat included Bulgogi, Brisket, Kalbi, Chicken, Ribeye, Pork Belly, etc. We didn't leave one bit of meat and even ordered a plate of Brisket at the end. When you do order the meat, they bring you a variety of the meats they have, and I'm sure you can minus a few things and add more of a type of meat you like. We definitely didn't order the tongue!!!

The Banchan (Korean side dishes) were pretty decent as well. Of course there was Kimchi which looked extra spicy (David said not so, but the kimchi was bright red!), soybean sprouts, salad with a spicy kimchi sauce (I loved this), cabbage and soybean paste soup, sesame zucchini (one of my faves), hot tofu soup (spicy, but so addicting), Potato Salad, Eggplant and garlic, and blocks of brown gelatin made from beans aka Mook? Correct me if I'm wrong. We both had no idea what the gelatin was, but didn't ask, because I liked it so much.

Rice was plentiful and you could always ask for more. Sauces were also plentiful. We got seconds of the two sauces- one was an oil/salt/pepper sauce that David liked, and I like the second one. Tasted like a Korean Ponzu sauce with Sesame oil and a bit of spice, of course!

Lastly, this place is CLEAN. I was very impressed by how clean and neat this place was. They also managed to wipe down our grill top 2-3 times throughout our meal.

Bonus- they leave you with cold Cinnamon Tea as dessert. I wish they sold this at Starbucks or something! This would be a BIG hit. It's basically just water, cinnamon, ginger, sugar and probably some other secret ingredients that they simmer overnight. Tastes like Gingerbread in the form of liquid. AMAZING.

One last thought- Why can't you stop yourself from eating spicy food when you're mouth is on fire? It's just that addicting.

Shorts and beautifully beaded Cardigan from Bamboo Sky, Shoes from VS.
Cardi gifted to me from Summer for my Bday. First seen here.
Thanks Summer, it's beautiful!

Great lunch deals!

Banchan dishes

Sauces- oil/salt/pepper to L, Spicy "ponzu sauce" to R

They also bring you lettuce so that you can wrap your cooked meat in it with raw cloves of garlic, miso and any of the veggies from the Banchan dishes.