Generally the smallest order of the kkote geh tang, or brothy stew, serves three to four, and considering that Christine and I had just had dinner with my grandparents a few hours earlier, we decided to share the three-crab order for the four of us (Liz and her boyfriend George joined us).
A prolific spread of banchan, or side dishes, came with our meal (as expected). Notable ones were the raw slices of sweet potato (straight-up from the motherland) and the pickled root to the right. There's also some octopus.
One of the better banchan that comes is gweh jjang, which is raw crab pieces mixed with a spicy chili pepper sauce. I didn't eat too much of those because I was distracted by the stew.
However, I wasn't distracted by this ggong-chi gui grilled mackerel pike, a Korean picnic classic that's rich in flavor and very healthy for you. I used to down these suckers by the half-dozen.
This little pajun was forgettable, too gummy and not very flavorful. One weak point of the meal.
The first part of our meal was the stew with stuffed crab shells. Mushrooms and bitter greens added flavor while the spicy broth was absolutely delicious. That said, this was just stage one.
One of the workers prepares the crab pieces for us. Pretty much all of the cooking, while done on the tabletop, was done by the staff, who were very timely and professional.
They then stir in kong-nah-mul or young bean sprouts, which soak up the broth and get to a transluscent tender in just a few minutes of simmering in the broth.
Three whole crabs won't feed an army, but the flavor is excellent - succulent and flavorful.
The next stage of the stew is the soo-jae-bee, or the pieces of dough pulled apart by hand and placed gently in the broth to be cooked like pieces of pasta. Think of fat gangly pieces of dough mainly reserved for noodles floating in a superb seafood brodo.
We kept thinking they were going to get overcooked, but the staff knows just when they're done - when the starches have released to create a velvety broth and the pasta has been given a gentle, shiny complexion.
Possibly the best version I've had of this usually homemade dish. Fantastic texture that just soaked up the flavors.
For the last part, using mainly the broth and other solid ingredients of the stew, the staff creates a delicious fried rice or bokeumbap, the best way to savor every last bit of flavor from the soup. Kimchi is added while additional broth is ladled in to keep it moist. Meanwhile, we finish off the rest of the crab pieces that were floating around and removed from the stew. The rice starts to get crispy on the bottom. This crispy bottom is a gourmand's delight (ask any paella-lover).
This is Korean comfort food heaven. Note also the dong-chimi in the background, icy-cold pickled water from kimchi water that was a delicious foil to the hot, spicy, gently burnt rice. The staff advised to drink the water in between bites of the rice, which was just about perfect.
To finish, we get a serving of literally ice-cold shik-hwe, which was extremely refreshing. It was so good I drank up Liz's since she was so full she wouldn't have any.
Overall the meal is very good, though perhaps a larger order should be had for groups of 4. Every part of the meal was a wonderful iteration of the flower crab's flavors, which was fresh, pristine, spicy, and rich. Cost is around $20 a person, which is reasonable, though not particularly a bargain for Koreatown. Still, for a once-in-a-while treat (and culinary adventure), you couldn't do much better than Ondal 2.
Ondal 2
4566 W Washington Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016
(323) 933-3228
