Find savory bites at Pharr’s Seoul Asian Market

PHARR — Crowded places are usually a good omen when picking a restaurant, but for years we ignored this place because it’s too pharr. Well, just far from sight.

The original place we planned to visit suffered from the same problem. A popular church just outside its doorstep all but insured we wouldn’t get in that Sunday afternoon. Starved and looking outside of our usual McAllen-Edinburg options, we landed in the back part of the stripmall that faces Interstate 2.

We were welcomed into Seoul Asian Market & Cafe with a stern greeting and immediate notice that no outside food or drinks were allowed. I had to throw out my recently purchased cold brew. I had just bought it. I don’t make the rules, but that’s an immediate deduction in my rating of this establishment.

The dining area of Seoul Asian Market & Cafe is located to the right as soon as you walk in. To place an order for food, it must be made at one of the registers to the left. (Francisco E. Jimenez | The Monitor)

My girlfriend and I like to do our grocery shopping on Sundays, and that seems to be a popular decision judging by the large number of patrons walking the aisles filled with Korean snacks and drinks.

Sunday shopping chaos and mid-day hunger collided in the buzzing market/restaurant. As first-timers, we did a walk-thru first to get our bearings and found that the dining area is located to the right when you walk into the store, but to place an order, one must get in line with the other customers waiting to pay for their groceries to the left of the store.

When it was our turn, we approached one of the registers where we were given a copy of the menu to look over. The cashier patiently waited as we studied the laminated menu filled with popular Korean dishes.

My girlfriend ordered the stone pot bibimbap, and I decided to go with the spicy pork bulgogi. The stone pot bibimbap came with a warning: “STONE BOWL AND PLATE ARE VERY HOT. HANDLE WITH CARE AND AWAY FROM CHILDREN.” Listen to this sign.

Drink options were essentially whatever you bought in the market. They had a lot to offer in the large beverage coolers by the registers, but pressured by the growing queue behind us we panicked. There was a large selection of drinks I’d never heard of, aside from the cans of Red Bull and bottled water, which we both chose.

When an order is ready, a tiny buzzer will alert the customer that the meal is ready to be picked up at the window by the kitchen. (Francisco E. Jimenez | The Monitor)

We sat at the first empty table we could find in a corner near a large tray rack with a sign that read, “DEAR CUSTOMERS PLEASE DO NOT KEEP THE DISHES/ BOWLS.”

“Damn,” I thought, thwarted again in my attempt to steal restaurant dishes.

K-pop music played from a TV above the tray rack as we waited for the tiny buzzer to vibrate informing us that our meals were ready. When it finally buzzed, I went to the pick up area, which is a wall with an opening giving way to the kitchen. I traded the buzzer for our trays of food and returned to our table to begin fully appreciating the display of meats and sauces and kimchi.

The spicy pork bulgogi is thinly-sliced pork barbecued Korean style in a spicy sauce and served on a bed of sauteed onions on a steaming-hot cast iron tray. (Francisco E. Jimenez | The Monitor)

The spicy pork bulgogi is thinly-sliced pork barbecued Korean-style in a spicy sauce and served on a bed of sauteed onions on a steaming-hot cast iron tray. The dish came with a small bowl of rice, kimchi, some lettuce leaves, a sweet and spicy red paste, and a few other sides that I was unfamiliar with.

I was not exactly sure how to attack my meal with its different sides and sauces. I decided to load some meat and sauteed onions into one of the lettuce leaves, along with some kimchi and some of the red, pasty sauce. I have no idea if I was doing this correctly, and I suddenly felt remorse for every non-Hispanic person I ever laughed at for taking a bite of a tamale with the husk still on.

The meat was tender, sweet and savory with a bit of heat that seemed to sneak up on me after each bite. With the onions and kimchi, as well as the crunch from the lettuce, each bite created a unique, yet delicious and satisfying (and a bit messy) meal experience.

The stone pot bibimbap was served sizzling hot with fresh carrots, bean sprouts, radish, fern and spinach as well as marinated meat, starchy rice and crispy, fried egg on top. (Francisco E. Jimenez | The Monitor)

As warned, the stone pot was sizzling hot. And it wasn’t just for show. The pot’s hissing played like a subliminal message throughout the entire meal. Fresh carrots, bean sprouts, radish, fern and spinach provided some good fiber to the protein in the marinated meat, starchy rice and crispy, fried egg. It came with a red spicy sauce that my girlfriend said you could feel in your sinuses, instead of your throat like you do with Mexican salsas.

But in the end, I won. She kept sneaking bits of my spicy steak and admitted I chose the better of the two. I know how to pick them.

Seoul Asian Market & Cafe is located at 500 N. Jackson Road, Suite M, behind the Academy Sports + Outdoors. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. The kitchen is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Monday, and closed Tuesday.

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