From sizzling barbecue feasts to mouthwatering marinated cuts, these Korean restaurants from our 50 Best Restaurants list deliver bold flavors and unforgettable dining experiences that will make your taste buds dance.
By Alice Levitt, Olga Boikess, Dawn Klavon, and Alyssa Langer
Price Key: Entrées = $ 15 and under | $$ 16–25 | $$$ 26–40 | $$$$ 41 and over | * = prix fixe only
Honest Grill
Centreville | Korean | $$$$
Henry VIII’s vast kingdom never included Goryeo — now known as Korea — but he would have felt right at home with the excess of a Korean barbecue feast.
Honest Grill, with its aged meats and walls lined with wine bottles, is a kingly alternative to the all-you-can-eat menus and low-quality options that define many KBBQ restaurants. Still, you can expect to leave stuffed.
Here, set menus called “guides” include everything from funky dry-aged Angus rib-eye to blanket-soft, thin slices of Duroc pork galbi.
For the best variety, order the pork and beef guide with its roster of tender cuts, both fresh and marinated. And don’t miss the legend-worthy stretch of the corn cheese, which is flavored with crispy bacon. King Henry would have accepted nothing less. Neither should you.
Eat This:
Pan-fried veggie dumplings, pork and beef guide, corn cheese with bacon
Ingle Korean Steakhouse
Vienna | Korean | $$$$
Remember Clara Peller? She gained fame in the 1980s for demanding, “Where’s the beef?” in Wendy’s commercials. If only she’d lived to experience this temple of bovine goodness.
If you’re not craving wagyu cooked to its ideal, dine elsewhere. The immaculately trained staff here doesn’t fire up the grill for any old meat. In fact, diners can also order gift boxes of the coddled cattle. Beef even appears in starters and sides such as steak tartare and fried rice.
The prix fixe features four heavenly cuts, including a marinated zabuton (“little pillow,” from the chuck primal) that could be called nothing less than meat candy. Everything from the rugged tri-tip to the marbled galbi is a gustatory delight. Here’s the beef we’ve all been waiting for.
Eat This:
Corn cheese, hwe moo-chim, wagyu cuts of the day
Meokja Meokja
Fairfax | Korean | $$
You’re the type of diner who knows that the best things in life can come at the end of a lengthy line. The hustle and bustle at this energetic bulgogi slinger has your name on it. But you might not have to wait. Reservations for Meokja Meokja are available on OpenTable — they’re hard to get but worth it to avoid an hour or more walking around the parking lot.
Once at your table, festooned with banchan such as gingery salad, funky kimchi, and toothsome fish cakes, the best bet is Combo 2. It includes brisket, pork belly, bulgogi, and galbi, plus gooey corn cheese, a bubbling steamed egg, and tofu soup, all for $64 for two diners.
Yes, you’ll have to wait until the end of the meal for the sweet surrender of the marinated galbi. Think of it as your reward for skipping the line.
Eat This:
Sliced brisket, marinated beef short rib galbi, corn cheese
Feature image of Honest Grill by Rey Lopez
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
