Korean food vendor @Lotte Supermarket (2011.02.14)

After taking Mom to the doctor's for a checkup on her arthritis, we stopped to buy groceries and grab brunch. I've no clue what either of these dishes were called, but I'll give a short description of the ingredients.

Shredded Beef with plenty of spring onions and vermicelli in a spicy broth soup.

This dish was recommended by the cashier because the other dish we wanted was out of order. The dish was bland and there was too many spring onions!

Spicy seafood tofu hot pot with a raw egg (in the middle)

The seafood tofu hot pot could not be compared to the tofu hot pots from Vit Goel. This hot pot was similar to the spicy ramen soup we often eat at home.

In Korean grocery stores they typically have a few food vendors, each with their own unique dishes and are fast food versions of Korean food. Although this experience wasn't the most impressive, past experiences at other locations have been much better!

Lighthouse Tofu - Vit Goel (2011.02.05)

I like simple menus. Light House Tofu definitely fits the bill for that! As pictured below, they only have 17 dishes, with a few varieties of Korean Pancake on the other side of the menu.

It was our (my siblings and I) first time eating here and we wanted to get a taste of their famous tofu hot pots. As with all Korean food, several plates of pickled veggies were served along with 2 raw eggs and 3 bowls of mysterious cold "soup" (bottom left corner). (Not really sure if we were supposed to drink that or mix it with food or what, they were left untouched for the most part
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Korean Pickled Veggies

Seafood Pancake (small order)Seafood Beef Tofu Hot Pot and Steak Bulgolgi - 2011.02.05

(Beef & Pork Tofu Hot Pot was not pictured)

If you notice the top of the menu, there's a "Spicy" listing from "White" to "Spicy Spicy" - we chose "Spicy" for all our dishes but none of them even compared to the some of the Pickled Veggies in terms of spicy-ness. We decided we would get "Spicy Spicy Spicy" if we ever came back!

The Tofu Hot Pots are great for a cold rainy day and they warm you to your core. It was very good but I would never venture here on a sunny 90 degree day. The Bulgolgi was not very special and more watery than it should be. The hot plate made it look interesting but I wasn't impressed. I've had tofu hot pot at other places and there was nothing special about this one, except for the raw egg you put in and watched it cook itself. It's a fun touch for Americans but I wasn't too impressed.

The food was fresh and they replenished the Preserved Veggies as we ate (unlike most places that just give you one round) and their method of giving us rice was interesting. It came in a hot pot and the server scooped it out into 3 small bowls. Then she poured enough wheat tea into the hotpot to soak the remaining rice that was stuck on the hot pot. She didn't explain the point for doing so but we assumed it was so it would be easier to get the remaining rice. There wasn't a whole lot left but we ended up finishing it off so it wouldn't go to waste.

Total Price: $50 (includes tax and tip)