Restaurant Review: Madangsui Korean B.B.Q.

Madangsui on West 35th Street (by 6th Avenue) in New York City skirts Koreatown and claims to offer the best Korean BBQ in the city. I had such a wonderful Korean dining experience at HanGawi last year that I was willing to try Korean again.

When you walk in the door, you are greeted by this bizarre display of shrink-wrapped plates. Did not look appetizing at all. Pictures would have been enough.

Susan (my boss) and I had bowls of miso soup which were complimentary with our meals. I'm not a miso soup fan but this bowl was delicious! Lots of scallions made it super tasty.

After we had the soup, they put out this amazing array of what I'm guessing are amuse bouches (to use a non-Korean term). Clockwise from top left, kimchi fish shreds, collard greens, kimchi daikon (an Asian type of radish), macaroni salad, marinated tofu and kimchi cabbage.

From left to right: marinated bamboo shoots (I'm guessing) and steamed broccoli. I had a lot of fun trying each option. My favorite was the mysterious bamboo shoots. My least  favorite was the marinated tofu. They were all tasty in their own way.

We shared a fried shrimp dumpling appetizer. Dipped in soy sauce these were the best things I had all evening. Delicious!

I had the Bokeumbob which was essentially a shrimp fried rice dish. I already had Bibimbab recently at a local Asian restaurant in Woburn so I wanted to try something else. It was a mistake. The shrimp and the vegetables were noticeably from a previously frozen package. The shrimp wasn't properly deveined either. While it was relatively tasty, the amount of salt was a bit off-putting. In fact, I find that the Asian cuisine I've been having lately has been the equivalent of a salt lick. Blech. Which is a shame because I love Asian food but want to reduce my sodium intake.

A couple of orange slices helped reduce the taste of salt in my mouth. Overall, it was a mixed experience. Next time I'll try the actual BBQ. The tables are set up for it and it would have been a better experience. Oh well! You live, you learn.