F4tF: Hahm Ji Bach, Authentic Korean in “Eating Alley” Flushing, Queens
One of the things about New York City being one of the great food cities of the world is that if you get OUT of Manhattan and head to different neighborhoods to try the local ethnic foods, you get the real deal! Recently I had the pleasure to meet an old friend from high school who took me to a Korean restaurant in Flushing where the food and service were both outstanding. The place we went to was Hahm Ji Bach. For the record there are two Hahm Ji Bach’s. My friend informed me that there is the original on Northern Boulevard and the one she took me to which is the second one opened by the original owner’s brother. The menus are similar but the one we went to is the much more popular of the two.
On my first visit it was just me and my friend who speaks fluent Korean. As this trip was just her and I, we opted for just some pork and some different types of lettuce leaves for a bo ssam. I was then told there would be a ton of food coming (no matter what we ordered, more on that shortly). I found out from my friend that the goal of the level of service given is to make everyone happy and “at home” within five minutes of arriving. The waitress and my friend had a nice conversation with some great back and forth banter, a few questions and a lot of smiles and laughs. Once they finished talking, all I was told was “we’re all set, hope you brought your appetite.”
One of the things that Hahm Ji Bach does to make you feel “at home” is to send out a lot of small appetizer plates as a courtesy. This was our table:
READ ON for more of this week’s Fridays For the Foodies…
This is the food we ordered:
Pork
The lettuces to wrap it in
The goal is then to take one (or more) types of the lettuce leaves, fill them with some of the pork, some of the different small plate options and wrap it up. There were different types of tofus in different textures that were prepared and presented many different ways such as in a block (on one of the small plates) and a piping hot pot of soft tofu in tomato sauce:
She also ordered a seafood soup which I enjoyed very much
Around a week later, my mom called me and asked if I could bring her and a friend of hers to Hahm Ji Bach since I raved so much about the first trip. I texted my friend, she gladly met us for lunch. Having four people afforded us the opportunity to sample a wider range of their food. This time we ordered pork three ways: Sliced thin, sliced thick and marinated. There was a gas burner in the middle of the table and they placed a convex cast iron pan atop it to cook everything at the table.
This was our table after the small plates arrived:
Once again we got a nice colorful plate of leaves. Many different types, textures and tastes.
Here is the thin and thick cut pork waiting to be cooked
and the marinated pork waiting to be cooked as well
One the pan in the middle table was hot enough, the thin sliced pork went on to get nice and crispy
Followed by the thick cut pork and eventually the marinated pork
All I can say is that the four of us went through everything. At the end I was told we still had to go back again some time to try the beef dishes. Guess I need to make it six people next time.
Oh and the reason that area is called Eating Alley is because there are around two dozen eateries in a four block radius.
Hahm Ji Bach
41-08 149 Pl.
Flushing, NY 11355
718.460.9289
By LIRR: Get off at the Murray Hill stop on the Port Washington ;ine fo the LIRR, the walk is about 2 minutes.
By Subway: Take the 7 to flushing. It is less than a 10 minute walk.
Also right near the end of the 7 line in Flushing is the original Joe’s Shangai, arguably the best soup dumplings around.
Top notch. Top drawer. Top cuisine.
Thank you so much for the great piece, Jon. Always a pleasure.
Man, those fat slabs of pork look so good. That soft tofu stew is tasty too, especially when it’s freezing cold out. I like Seoul Garden in Korea Town for that.
Randy, thanks for the kind wods.
loving these tasty features