As a new correspondent for Smile Politely, I would like to (re)acquaint you with one of my local favorites, Spoon House Korean Kitchen. Opened in 2010, Spoon House is one of the mainstays on Green Street in Champaign. I know, I know, dear reader, you are saying it’s on campus! But let me tell you: it’s worth the trip.
Upon walking into the establishment, there was an ordering kiosk, and further into the space, a counter for ordering directly with restaurant staff. The space was decorated with pictures of the dishes on the walls. Notably, the kiosk ordering did not include descriptions of the items, so diners who do not know what they would like may wish to order at the counter. The staff can also provide recommendations based on diners’ likes and dislikes. There are over 40 options to choose from traditional Korean and Mexican-Korean fusion dishes to multiple flavors of triangle kimbap, frozen sweet desserts, sweet bites, and savory snacks.
Upon ordering, we located a table for dine-in and waited for our number to be called. When the food was ready, our number was called, we picked up our food, and we were ready to dig in! There are a number of items that are our standard order (the quesadilla with beef bulgogi or sweet and spicy chicken, the ramen and kimbap combo, the tonkatsu, or the crispy chicken), but for this visit, we chose only one of our favorites and then went with some new (to us) items.
For this review, we ordered kimbap ($8.95), a dish that generally includes a mix of vegetables both pickled and raw, proteins, and rice all rolled in a seaweed sheet and sliced. The kimbap came as a full roll, sliced into pieces. This kimbap included egg, cucumber, fish cake, pickled carrot, pickled radish, crab, and rice. The rice was flavored with a bit of vinegar. Overall, the dish had good flavor with lots of interesting textures. I cannot come to Spoon House without ordering this item!
We also ordered the tteuk-bok-gi ($12.95) The tteuk-bok-gi dish consisted of stir-fried rice cakes with fish cakes and vegetables in a mildly spicy sauce. This came with two fried pork dumplings on top. The cakes and vegetables were enrobed in a slightly sweet and spicy sauce. The fish cake portion was not too fishy tasting. The vegetables were onions and carrots, which added an interesting texture to the dish. We enjoyed this dish greatly with the chewy texture of the rice cake and the crunch of the vegetables.
We also had the dup bap over rice ($11.95). When ordering the dish, there is a selection from a number of stir-fried protein options served over rice with a soft-fried egg on top. We opted for chicken. The dish also came with a healthy pile of seaweed on top of the rice. The egg had a runny yolk to mix throughout the dish, but that could be removed whole for those squeamish about raw egg. The chicken stir-fry included a good mix of vegetables, and our mix included carrots, corn, peas, and zucchini. Sriracha to taste was available, but it was not needed. It was a flavorful dish and not too saucy. The chicken was a bit dry, so we would not order chicken as the protein for this in the future.
Lastly, we had the gamja tang ($12.95), a pork bone stew in a spicy, savory broth with potatoes and napa cabbage. This was an impressive dish, as it came bubbling in a stone bowl with a separate bowl of rice and an empty bowl for the discarded pork bones. It was quite hot in both temperature and spice level, so beware when ordering this. The picture showed a darker broth, but upon arrival, it was quite a bit more orange instead. The broth had a heavy kimchi flavor which was spicy, vinegary, and sour at the same time. The pork was very tender and flavorful but not spicy. There seemed to be a good amount of pork on the bones. The potato was well cooked in the stew and helped to alleviate the spiciness of the broth. The napa cabbage was quite large pieces and difficult to eat; it would have benefited from a rough chop. We found that mixing the rice with the broth added another pleasing texture and flavor to the dish. Overall, it was a good dish but too spicy for our palates.
Once complete with the meal, diners bus their own tables to racks near the order counter. Takeout containers are available at the counter should you have the need for them. Open daily for dine in plus online ordering pick-up, Spoon House restaurant has parking available in the parking garage off of Healey Street or on the street with metered parking.
What I liked was that each dish came with a good amount of food and was well presented. I encourage everyone to try Spoon House if you have not!
Spoon House Korean Kitchen
616 E Green St
Champaign
10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily