Nak Won Review

NakWon Overall Review

 

Restaurant #2 in our Dive Series is Nak Won.  This is a Korean BBQ restaurant in Northern Baltimore City.  The atmosphere at Nak Won can be described as homely and stark.  It was reminiscent of an elementary school cafeteria.  There were no memorable decorations and lonely tables and chairs sat on a very slanted floor.  The food was mediocre and the service sucked!  There is street parking and a small lot next to the restaurant.  While dining you can check on your car by viewing the parking lot on the closed circuit TV which we recommend that you do because of the unsafe neighborhood.  Usually we would take this opportunity to recommend who should dine here, however we do NOT recommend that you dine here.   It sits adjacent to another Korean BBQ restaurant that we recommend you try instead of this one.  (Melissa has actually tried the other one and liked it much better.)  Overall we give Nak Won ♪ and a half note.

12 West 20th Street Baltimore (410) 244-5501

Seafood Pancake

Imagine a potato pancake fritter with spring onions and assorted seafood.  This pancake was not greasy and had a nice crunch.  The onions gave it a nice earthy flavor.  We did wish that there were a larger variety of seafood included in this pancake.  

 Assorted Kimchi's

There was a kimchi with large flat noodles that were gummy and slightly fishy.  There was a bean sprout kimchi, which was mild and lightly fermented.  Next was the imitation crab and shredded cucumber kimchi, which was in a sauce that looked like mayo but tasted like mustard.  The bok choy and carrot kimchi was lightly marinated with sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds.  It too had a light and delicate flavor.  The cucumber kimchi was light and spicy.  It did not have a real taste, but was just spicy.  Next there was the traditional cabbage kimchi which was spicy, vinegary and had a nice kick.  Lastly there was the octopus kimchi.  This was by far the most exciting of the bunch.  The octopus was gummy (in a good way), sweet and spicy hot.  

Bulgogi... Aka Korean BBQ

This should have been a wonderfully BBQ'ed beef cooked over an open flame, instead it was a sweet, sauteed beef that was extremely boring and way too over done. 

Iced Noodle Bowl (this is our name for this strange dish)

Lets see...imagine rice noodles covered in a less spicy red sriracha sauce with eggs and bean sprouts.  The dish was then garnished with ICE CHIPS!...Yes that's right ICE CHIPS!  You figure it out.  The taste was bland and unremarkable.  It can be best described as cold noodles and spice.

Rice Punch

This was by far the highlight of the evening.  This cold rice concoction was sweet and delightful.  Its hard to describe but imagine a sweet rice water.  We really like this little treat. 

Angela's Review

Now I have never been to a Korean restaurant before, but ever since Melissa first made me her version of Korean BBQ short-ribs, I have wanted to try one. Honestly, I can say I think I prefer Melissa’s Korean BBQ to what I had at Nak Won. Don’t get me wrong, the food at Nak Won was tasty and interesting. The ingredients were fresh, the meats tender and the sauces tasty. The food was just missing that WOW factor and the service was only adequate. I say this because we (and by we, I mean Melissa) specifically asked about the Korean BBQ because unlike some Korean Restaurants, there was no grill set into the table, and was told that they bring the grill out to prepare the BBQ. Unfortunately, when the BBQ came out it was already cooked, and we were told this was because we only ordered one order and they only bring out the grill for orders of two or more, because it is too much work for just one order. Of course, anyone who eats out regularly appreciates this sort of information before it is too late to do anything about it. Oh well <sigh>. Two things I did really enjoy about the experience were the Barley tea with which we started, a staple of which I had never heard, and the rice punch with which we ended our meal (this was a really lovely touch). All in all, I give Nak Won ♪♪.

Melissa's Review

I have to admit that I love Korean food and specifically Korean BBQ.  Between Janet’s mama’s amazing home cooking and some great Korean restaurants I feel I have a decent handle on what’s good and what’s not so good.  The food and the service at Nak Won was not so good.  To begin, I made it clear when we were seated that Angela and I wanted BBQ cooked table side.  The waitress said ok.  We ordered our food and when it arrived the BBQ had been cooked in the kitchen.  I asked the waitress why it had been cooked in the kitchen after I made it clear that we wanted to cook our own beef at the table.  She not so nicely, let me know that it was too much work for her to bring out the cooking apparatus and cook our BBQ tableside.   Keep in mind it was not too much work for her to bring that same apparatus to the table of Korean gentlemen sitting right next to us.   Humm…  Thank God for the Holy Spirit because that poor waitress almost got a beat down.  The BBQ had a nice flavor but it was over cooked.  I am not a fan of well done beef and this beef was past well done.  It did not have a char to it and it was clear that it had been sautéed not barbequed.  I will admit the seafood potato pancake was rather tasty.  It was not greasy at all.  I did wish however that it had a larger variety of seafood.  The poor customer service and lack of giving me exactly what I ordered the way I ordered it leaves me no other choice but to give Nak Won ♪.