The Korean scene in the metro is smaller than the Vietnamese one but has its own anchors. A two-block stretch of Snelling Avenue in St. Paul’s Hamline-Midway is essentially a small Koreatown, and there is a proper tabletop-grilling room in Uptown. Bring a group.
Tabletop grills, a long list of marinated meats, and a generous spread of banchan. The room runs late, which has made it a regular stop for the after-work and pre-show crowds.
Tucked in the back of a Korean grocery store, this counter turns out some of the most direct Korean cooking in the metro. Soups, stews, and stone-bowl bibimbap, all priced like a neighborhood lunch.
A second-generation spot on Snelling with a long menu and a small, warm room. Bibimbap, soondubu, and bulgogi are the easy orders, and the banchan rotation is always interesting.
Steps from Mirror of Korea in St. Paul’s small Koreatown stretch. Dolsot bibimbap, jjigae, and kimbap, made with care and served in a quiet sit-down room.
A south-metro destination for tabletop grilling, popular with groups. The all-you-can-eat menu is the move, and the marinated short rib is what people come back for.