It is true that even on a Tuesday it is advised to arrive at To Sok Jip a full 60 minutes before the official start of the lunch hour to secure a table. That means skipping breakfast, which means, of course, ordering all the things. Embrace the onslaught of banchan, the small dishes of kimchi in various forms and cucumbers and sprouts and broccoli. But then the kitchen keeps producing, and suddenly there’s a seafood pancake (haemul pajeon) the size of a throw pillow packed with squid and scallops and chilies. It is doughy and also crisp, and then the simple broiled mackerel arrives, and its savoriness and subtlety will block out the noise and crowd because this tiny shack is now filled. Every table is occupied; the line has formed. Then, the showstopper arrives: a punch bowl of stew, boodae jeongol, bright red, sitting over a gas burner, and bobbing in the bubbling broth are rice cakes and hot dogs and tofu and noodles, and it could take days to eat this whole thing. But the quarters are tight, and the line extends out the door, and it’s time to give up the seat to someone else until it’s 11 o’clock on another morning and it’s time to return. • 7211 Columbia Pike, Annandale; 703-333-2861
(April 2017 Best Asian Restaurants)
