Color Restaurant Review - Korean Food and Fun Decor

Colors Restaurant in Allston is a perfect place to stop by for a quick casual dinner on a week night. The food served is home cooked and the prices are relatively cheap for Korean food.

The decor here appeals to my inner tackiness *cough* with lots of cutesy colors. Look how nice the different shades turn out in the photos! You have to admit the colors are bound to cheer you up, unless you have a migraine hehe:




While I haven't been to Korea, I always feel like I'm in the country when eating at Color. You know, Korean pop music playing, eating steaming soups from stone pots etc. Hey all the Korean movies I've watched make me a good judge OK :)

I ordered a seafood tofu chigae and P got a beef bulgogi. The restaurant also serves complimentary iced tea (corn?) and Dum Dums instead of mints. Seriously, who can resist Dum Dums?



Chomp Meter:
3.5 Chomps! A great place for a casual homey Korean meal. Definitely try their special chicken wing appetizer too. It is fried and smothered in chilli sauce. Don't make the mistake we made however, the portion is large so have at least 3 or 4 people to share. The first piece was delicious, second piece ok, third ....

Color Restaurant - Korean
166 Harvard Ave
(between Brighton Ave & Glenville Ave)
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 787-5656

John's Market - A Korean Supermarket in Allston

Who would have known by it's name eh? After reading about John's Market on Foodie Mommy's blog, I decided to stop by the next time I was in the area.

John's Market is rather cool since it sells all sorts of Korean snacks, groceries, prepared meats, and panchans (banchan) that aren't really seen in other Asian grocery stores in the Allston area. You know like Super 88. There's a couple in the Cambridge area near MIT but I don't venture out that way as often.



Look at all the home made banchans and tupperwares full of kimchee!


You can see a photo of the meat case here. They do all kinds of marinated prepared meats like Galbi, Pork Belly, Bulgogi etc. You can then cook or bbq them at home yourself!

We got a couple bottles of Japanese lemonade (Ramune), some banchan: garlic stems, mini crabs, sprouts. Also picked up some cookies, a box of strawberry french pie and a hazelnut wafer thing (very yummy!). I found photos of the boxes online. The hazelnut wafer thing actually came in a purple box and the filling is whitish in color:


(Photos courtesy of Koamart and BiscuitVan)

While randomly surfing I also found a photo of this Korean cookie (Couque Dasse) I've tried before but haven't found in Boston. It is absolutely delicious, so try it if you ever find it:


(Photo from kgrocer.com)

I've uploaded a copy of the take out/ prepared foods menu here. If you can read Korean, please tell me what it says on the menu? :)



John's Market (Korean)
75 Linden St
Allston, MA 02134
617 202 3791



Chomp Meter:
Another great addition to the Allston area. It's almost like having a Korean room mate whose mom sends yummy homemade food every weekend. :) I'll be back to try the prepared meats at this Korean grocer next time and perhaps hunt down the Couque Dasse! The prices of the snacks are very reasonable too. Each box was less than $3 which is much cheaper than the Japanese snacks you get at Kotobukiya.

Min Sok - Take 2

There's been a bit of buzz lately about Min Sok. This Korean restaurant recently moved from its original location on Comm Ave to Brookline. They've also expanded their menu to include sashimi which has been quite popular with the Boston Korean expats/students.

Yesterday was our 3rd time there in the past month or so. On our first visit, we were armed with recommendations from a friend. This included the "Sashimi Set" from the Korean menu (you have to ask for it). The set runs $85 for a 3 course feast and feeds 2-4 people depending on your appetite. The meal starts with side dishes, a huge sashimi course, and ends with a spicy fish stew. What's really interesting however is that the sushi includes sea squirt and sea cucumber sashimi which I've never had before. Both are considered delicacies (aka expensive).

Now how the sea squirt and sea cucumber tastes is where it gets interesting. The sea cucumber was very crunchy (think of the coconut jelly you get in your bubble tea), salty with a strange bitter sweet flavor. I didn't love it but it was edible. The sea squirt on the other hand was quite a challenge the first time round. Of our group of 4, only 2 of us were managed to swallow the squirt. Besides looking rather scary, it tasted horrid too. We were rather traumatized after eating this. For those interested, the squirt has the consistency of an oyster and a weird liquorish aftertaste.

So why were we there again yesterday? Well P wanted to try the sea squirt again. He claims that it's an acquired taste and that it will taste better the second time round ... hrmm? I obliged since I forgot to bring my camera the first time and now I get to take photos! So anyway to conclude, the sea squirt really didn't taste so bad the second time. Sea squirt, I apologise, maybe I'll even like you after a few more tries. :)

But now, the most interesting part: the photos!

The side dishes started with shrimp rice porridge, spicy tuna maki, 4 grilled shrimp, seaweed salad, little sea snails (?), calamari, and a couple more I don't remember.



The mountain of sashimi you see here is the second course. The stuff at the base is the sea cucumber.


A close up of the sea squirt!

Min Sok
92 Harvard St
Brookline 02446
617-783-8702

Chomp Meter:
We've been back 3x. Enough said. For the faint hearted, the Kalbi Jin is excellent! The broth is really sweet and rich and the meat is tender. YUM. I don't think I've had this at any other Korean restaurant in town.

Buk Kyung II

It's so true that ordering the right dishes at a restaurant make or break the experience. I first went to Buk Kyung II in Allston several months ago but wasn't impressed. I got the unexciting bibimbap and decided it was cheaper to eat at the Super 88 food court.

Last weekend however, the friends changed my mind about the place. We went back armed with tips on what to get. Apparently Buk Kyung really means Beijing in korean, and the place is famous for it's korean-chinese food. Duh ... looks like I got all the wrong dishes the last time.

We ordered the Ja Jiang Myun (house specialty), the Naeng Myun (since it's majorly hot out) and the Sachun Tangsooyuk (a fried pork dish with chilli sauce). In fact, I spied the Koreans dining there having the same couple dishes so I felt pretty good about the choices =)

The first dish out was the Sachun Tangsooyuk. It was delicious! The pork was nicely fried and then covered in a spicey sweet sauce. Kind of similar to sweet and sour sauce but way better!

Oh it was so good ... comes highly recommended in my book:


Here's the ja jang myun. A refreshing variation of the chinese ja jiang mian. The bean paste sauce included potatoes which was interesting. Delicious!


Finally, the naeng myun. It was pretty good. I especially liked that the noodles were 'al dente' and kinda springy!


And that's all for today folks! Let me know if you have other recommended dishes!

See Buk Kyung II and other foodie finds on a map on Chompster.com

Buk Kyung II
151 Brighton Ave.
Allston, MA
617-254-2775




Chomp Meter:
Authentic fare! Will definitely be back if I am craving ja jang myun or the sachun tangsooyuk. Mmmm who can resist fried bite-sized meat! I don't think there are any korean places in Boston that specialize in korean-chinese food.