Young Bin Kwan Restaurant is in the corner of a large shopping center on the corner of Midlothian and Turner Rd in Richmond, Virginia. It has a Marshall’s and a Burlington Coat outlet… stores like that. Kind of a so-so place. But if you go back into the very corner of that V, you will find one of the absolute best kept secrets in Richmond.
Walking into Young Bin Kwan is like travelling to another country. It’s all very Korean in style. Windows and light wall paper with various ethnic items on the wall. You can even get a newspaper which is printed in Korean by the hostess stand.
There are tables in the middle of this smallish dining room, but we were drawn to the booths lining the wall to the right. They had a square thingy in the center. My friend grinned at my perplexity and sat us there. Turns out that thingy is a small grill. I would come to love this grill. I had never had Korean food before that first visit.
The menu here is written in both Korean and English. They have various dishes such as Sul Long Tang (stewed beef with rice) for $7.95 and Doen Jang Chige (bean paste casserole) for $7.95 also. We didn’t go there. No. We went with the exotic (to me anyway) Bul Go Ki and Jei Yuk Gui, for $14.95 each. The first is sliced beef sirloin with a delicate sauce; the second is sliced pork broiled with a delicate sauce. You might be forewarned that ‘delicate’ may not have the same meaning here that you’re use to…
First we were brought like 8 small little saucer/bowls of things like seaweed, bean sprouts, kimchi, radish sticks, sticky rice, and I forget what all. It was quite a bit though, and quite good. Oh, there was one with this little sesame encrusted cake type thing.. that was heaven so I asked what it was exactly.. turned out to be tofu! Man, I may become a vegetarian. That stuff rocked hard. I also really liked Kimchi. It’s a cabbage based dish.. kind of the Korean version of Sauerkraut. HOT! but oh so yummy.
Don’t eat all the food in those little dishes.. save some for the main course… this came out as two plates of raw meat in sauces. The waitress put the beef on the grill thingy and watched it for awhile, then let us take care of ti. After the beef was about gone she came back and loaded up the pork to cook. This all comes with this special kind of lettuce and damn me I cannot recall the type. What you do is take a peice of the lettuce and load it up with the meat, rice, and whatever else you want on it. Kind of a lettuce taco.
I liked the beef real well. It was very flavorful, spicy and did not resemble anything I’d tasted prior.. but that pork.. oh that pork has me drooling as I type this. That was so incredibly delicious that I ate til I thought I was going to have to be rolled to the car. Magnificent!
Now, my dinner companion spent 7 years in the Army and several of those years was in Korea. He did say that although this was not the absolute best ever he’s had, it is pretty damn close. I can’t imagine it getting any better than this. I’ve found a new favorite spot, that’s a fact. I am a Korean food convert.
One rule of thumb though.. culturally, it is not good to eat absolutely everything. That makes them think they didn’t give you enough. You have to leave something so they feel they’ve fed you right. All those little side items are refilled to your heart’s desire so there is no reason not to make them happy.
The service was top notch here too. Not obtrusive in any way, but drinks were kept filled. One thing about drinks though.. if you order a soda, it comes in the can with a glass of ice. The menu says Pepsi, but they gave me a can of Coke. This is not an issue with me at all, but it may be with some folks. She said they do usually have Pepsi, but they ran out that day..
There are several items on the menu that would likely please the majority of Vegetarians, but not as a separate part of the menu. Please do leave the kids at home.
One thing we did not partake in is the Karaoke they offer in the other room. That room is the Sushi bar and is completely walled off from the main dining area, but there is a window in the wall if you want to watch from there.
I absolutely recommend Young Bin Kwan Restaurant when in the Richmond area. If you are like me and shying away from it because it seems so different, don’t. This food is some of the best I’ve ever eaten.. I’ve been back numerous times since that first time and have always left with a huge smile and a full happy belly.
7437 Midlothian Tpke # B,
Richmond, VA 23225
804-675-0511
