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Best Korean

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Creative Loafing has been presenting Atlanta's Best People, Places and Events since 1972. These are some of the past winners for this category:

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2019
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Yet Tuh (Where to Eat Recommendation)

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2019
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Gaja Korean Bar (Where to Eat Recommendation)

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2018
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Char Korean Bar & Grill

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2018
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Gaja Korean Bar (Where to Eat Recommendation)
It's not just the best Korean restaurant in Atlanta - Gaja is just one of the coolest, best service, all around awesome places to eat and drink and enjoy life. You're going to want to get everything on the menu. I suggest bringing a crew and doing exactly that.

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2017
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Gaja Korean Bar (Where to Eat Recommendation)
0418ed Acg Gaja Magnum

Business

Previously operated as a pop-up at Mother, Gaja is chef Allen Suh's Korean restaurant in East Atlanta Village. The menu, composed of items all less than $15, features appetizers, soups, ssam wraps, and main courses. | more...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2016
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Gaja Korean Bar (Where to Eat Recommendation)

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2015
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Sobban Restaurant - PERMANENTLY CLOSED (Permanently Closed)

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2015
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Sobban Restaurant - PERMANENTLY CLOSED (Permanently Closed)

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2014
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Sobban Restaurant - PERMANENTLY CLOSED (Permanently Closed)

Best Korean comfort food BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Stone Bowl House (Woo Nam Jeong)

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Honey Pig

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2012
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hankook Taqueria

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2011
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hankook Taqueria

Best all-around Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2011
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Myung Ga Won (Featured)
Korean restaurants are tricky. You pretty much need to go somewhere different for every specific craving. Myung Ga Won is one of the few Korean joints in town that covers all the bases, and covers them remarkably well. The marinade on the barbecued meats achieves that perfect salty sweetness. Goat stewmore...
Korean restaurants are tricky. You pretty much need to go somewhere different for every specific craving. Myung Ga Won is one of the few Korean joints in town that covers all the bases, and covers them remarkably well. The marinade on the barbecued meats achieves that perfect salty sweetness. Goat stew cooked tableside swells with gratifying umami funk. More basic items like dolsot bibimbap (rice, vegetables and beef) cooked in a sizzling cast-iron bowl are an easy sell for kids as "fried rice," but exceptional enough for connoisseurs seeking crispy rice slathered in spicy sauce. The banchan is all made fresh in house and is crisp, murky and wonderfully mysterious. The drive may be murder but sometimes you have to sacrifice a little gas money for the good stuff. 1960 Day Drive, Suite 100, Duluth. 770-622-1300. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2010
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae BBQ

Runner-up: Honey Pig


3473 Old Norcross Road, Duluth, 770-476-9292, www.honeypigatl.com

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2009
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae BBQ

And other metro Atlanta locations.


Runner-up
Honey Pig
3473 Old Norcross Road, Duluth, 770-476-9292

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Hae Woon Dae

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2009
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Honey Pig
For many years, Atlantans equated Korean barbecue with beef and only beef. But HONEY PIG changed everything. This Duluth restaurant is all about the pork — especially the belly. The prices may seem high, but don't fret. That price includes a gluttonous amount of food. Instead of a regular grillmore...
For many years, Atlantans equated Korean barbecue with beef and only beef. But HONEY PIG changed everything. This Duluth restaurant is all about the pork — especially the belly. The prices may seem high, but don't fret. That price includes a gluttonous amount of food. Instead of a regular grill grate, the servers cook the meat on a sizzling-hot cast iron dome with butter. The meat — which comes with a load of side dishes and wrappers — is followed by bean sprouts tossed with chili paste, mushrooms and fermented cabbage. At the end of the meal, a long piece of octopus is curled around the tip of the dome, and snipped to pieces before being tossed with a large bowl of rice and the remaining bits of meat and vegetables. Best. Fried. Rice. Ever. 3473 Old Norcross Road, Duluth. 770-476-9292. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Honey Pig

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2008
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae BBQ

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2008
Picked By » Critics
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Hanil Kwan Authentic Korean BBQ
Korean food - especially barbecue - has become one of our city's most prevalent cuisines, but where do you go when the choices are so copious? HANIL KWAN leads the pack with its bright and spotless digs, friendly English-speaking servers, well-marinated meats and the preferred use of glowing charcoalmore...
Korean food - especially barbecue - has become one of our city's most prevalent cuisines, but where do you go when the choices are so copious? HANIL KWAN leads the pack with its bright and spotless digs, friendly English-speaking servers, well-marinated meats and the preferred use of glowing charcoal instead of gas cooking. Another thing that sets the restaurant apart is its large menu of other Korean specialties such as a sizzling dolsot bibimbap (a bowl of rice topped with vegetables, tofu, meat, spicy chili paste and an egg) served in a large, shallow stone pot. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Hae Woon Dae
5805 Buford Highway NE #5 770-458-6999 There are plenty of other Korean restaurants in Atlanta, including those that specialize in tofu and soups, but HAE WOON DAE still soars to the top. Hae Woon Dae specializes - around the clock - in meats grilled at your table. Soon after you order bulgogi or anymore...
5805 Buford Highway NE #5 770-458-6999 There are plenty of other Korean restaurants in Atlanta, including those that specialize in tofu and soups, but HAE WOON DAE still soars to the top. Hae Woon Dae specializes - around the clock - in meats grilled at your table. Soon after you order bulgogi or any other of the many meat dishes, an employee arrives with a bucket of thermonuclear-hot coals that he dumps in the grill in the middle of your table. Meanwhile, you're noshing on a vast array of complimentary pickled goodies and eyeballing the zillion athletic trophies decorating the restaurant. Sound surreal? Try it at 3 a.m. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Hae Woon Dae

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Hae Woon Dae BBQ
There are plenty of other Korean restaurants in Atlanta, including those that specialize in tofu and soups, but HAE WOON DAE still soars to the top. Hae Woon Dae specializes — around the clock — in meats grilled at your table. Soon after you order bulgogi or any other of the many meatmore...
There are plenty of other Korean restaurants in Atlanta, including those that specialize in tofu and soups, but HAE WOON DAE still soars to the top. Hae Woon Dae specializes — around the clock — in meats grilled at your table. Soon after you order bulgogi or any other of the many meat dishes, an employee arrives with a bucket of thermonuclear-hot coals that he dumps in the grill in the middle of your table. Meanwhile, you’re noshing on a vast array of complimentary pickled goodies and eyeballing the zillion athletic trophies decorating the restaurant. Sound surreal? Try it at 3 a.m. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae BBQ

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae BBQ

Best Korean and Best Late-Night Dining BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Hae Woon Dae
You’re up at 4 a.m. and looking for something more than a Waffle House? In the mood to do some grilling? Go to HAE WOON DAE, a Korean barbecue restaurant that stays open late every night except Wednesday. You can sit on the floor or you can sit in a booth. Most tables have a built-in grill firedmore...
You’re up at 4 a.m. and looking for something more than a Waffle House? In the mood to do some grilling? Go to HAE WOON DAE, a Korean barbecue restaurant that stays open late every night except Wednesday. You can sit on the floor or you can sit in a booth. Most tables have a built-in grill fired by super-hot charcoal. You’ll receive the usual complimentary, huge assortment of noshes at your meal’s beginning. And then you get to do the cooking with the help of the wonderful staff. Any of the pork or beef dishes, including classic bulgogi, are recommended. Although barbecue is the specialty, you should also sample the bibimbap, that comforting Korean dish of rice, vegetables and meat. The cooking-over-hot-coals entertainment factor makes Hae Woon Dae a great place for groups, kids and out-of-town guests. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2005
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Hae Woon Dae BBQ
Several terrific Korean soup shops exist around town, but when we crave Korean barbecue, we head to HAE WOON DAE. Located in a shopping center that includes the city’s only porn theater, this restaurant stays open later than any other in town — until 6 a.m. You cook your selected meatmore...
Several terrific Korean soup shops exist around town, but when we crave Korean barbecue, we head to HAE WOON DAE. Located in a shopping center that includes the city’s only porn theater, this restaurant stays open later than any other in town — until 6 a.m. You cook your selected meat — everything from highly seasoned tripe and mackerel to chicken, short ribs and classic bulgogi beef — at your table, over a grill in which an attendant dumps red-hot charcoal. Take friends. It’s a great place for a party. less...

Best Korean (Tie) BOA Award Winner

Hae Woon Dae

Best Korean (Tie) BOA Award Winner

Year » 2005
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae

Best Korean (Tie) BOA Award Winner

Year » 2005
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Mirror of Korea

Best Korean (Tie) BOA Award Winner

Mirror of Korea

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2004
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2004
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Hae Woon Dae
Closed just seven hours each night, HAE WOON DAE is Atlanta's premier, rock-around-the-clock celebration to the glory of Korean barbecued meats. Sweet, sticky bulgogi (sliced rib eye); tender squid so spicy your taste buds will scream, and meaty, satisfying kalbi (short ribs) sputtering and sizzlingmore...
Closed just seven hours each night, HAE WOON DAE is Atlanta's premier, rock-around-the-clock celebration to the glory of Korean barbecued meats. Sweet, sticky bulgogi (sliced rib eye); tender squid so spicy your taste buds will scream, and meaty, satisfying kalbi (short ribs) sputtering and sizzling on the tabletop grill bring diners together on a cold winter's night better than a log fire at camp. A fascinating spread of pickles, sparkling with vinegary pucker and mellowed with sesame oil, accompany and complement the meat-centric feast. "5805 Buford Highway. 770-458-6999." less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2003
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Hae Woon Dae
We considered giving HAE WOON DAE the award for best late-night dining. The restaurant is open until 6 a.m.! You might find better Korean tofu dishes around town but this is absolutely the best for Korean barbecue. Hot coals are brought to your table and dumped into the tabletop grill. Then a servermore...
We considered giving HAE WOON DAE the award for best late-night dining. The restaurant is open until 6 a.m.! You might find better Korean tofu dishes around town but this is absolutely the best for Korean barbecue. Hot coals are brought to your table and dumped into the tabletop grill. Then a server scissors the meat of your choice into pieces and it's up to you to cook it. You can choose mild bulgogi or meats in fiery-hot marinades. You'll also find most classics, including pancakes filled with seafood, bibimbap and the array of delicious noshes that precedes every Korean meal. Take your drunk friends there at 3 in the morning and eat at the table that requires you sit on the floor. You can catch a flick at the adjacent porn theater later. Par-tay. "5805 Buford Highway, Doraville, 770-458-6999." less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2003
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2002
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Hae Woon Dae

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2002
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Hae Woon Dae
It's hard for us to rave enough about Korean barbecue spot HAE WOON DAE, hidden in a shopping center anchored by an adult cinema. Hot live coals are carried to your table and dumped in the tabletop grill. Your waitress then cooks the meat for you - classic bulgogi or marinated pork or delicious ribs,more...
It's hard for us to rave enough about Korean barbecue spot HAE WOON DAE, hidden in a shopping center anchored by an adult cinema. Hot live coals are carried to your table and dumped in the tabletop grill. Your waitress then cooks the meat for you - classic bulgogi or marinated pork or delicious ribs, whose meat is clipped from the bone. The collection of tastes at the meal's start - contained in a dozen or more little bowls - is among the best in the city. We also love the pancakes filled with seafood. "5805 Buford Highway, Doraville. 770-458-6999." less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Hae Woon Dae
5805 Buford Highway, Doraville 770-458-6999 In a nondescript strip mall on Buford Highway just outside I-285, Hae Woon Dae demonstrates the appeal of Korean cuisine in both its flavors and its approach to cooking. Order the bulgogi (beef) or kaldi (short ribs) and you'll grill the meat (under servermore...
5805 Buford Highway, Doraville 770-458-6999 In a nondescript strip mall on Buford Highway just outside I-285, Hae Woon Dae demonstrates the appeal of Korean cuisine in both its flavors and its approach to cooking. Order the bulgogi (beef) or kaldi (short ribs) and you'll grill the meat (under server supervision) over small charcoal cauldrons in the recessed center of your table. Eaten wrapped in a lettuce leaf with sauce, the grilled items are uniquely delicious. The kimchee, or pickled vegetable side dishes, come in such a dizzying selection of tastes and colors you could unexpectedly become a kimchee junkie. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Mirror of Korea

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2000
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Readers
Mirror of Korea (Permanently Closed)
Many less expensive Korean restaurants line the Buford Highway corridor, but Mirror of Korea remains the favorite. It probably doesn't hurt that it has a memorable location on the same block as the Lefont Plaza Theatre and the Majestic Diner and that it's been around for more than 20 years. But nonemore...
Many less expensive Korean restaurants line the Buford Highway corridor, but Mirror of Korea remains the favorite. It probably doesn't hurt that it has a memorable location on the same block as the Lefont Plaza Theatre and the Majestic Diner and that it's been around for more than 20 years. But none of that would matter without the chefs' sure hands at Korean cuisine. The Mirror's "Seoul food," from its sushi to its kimchi to its grilled entrees, keeps diners coming back. less...

Best Korean BOA Award Winner

Year » 2000
Type of Award » Oral Pleasures
Picked By » Critics
Hae Woon Dae BBQ
Hidden in a strip mall that includes a theater that seems to alternate porn with Indian cinema and a Mexican restaurant catering to the Chinese, Hae Woon Dae is the sine qua non of Asian BBQ. A man stops by and shovels live charcoal from a bucket into the grill on your table. Then you or your servermore...
Hidden in a strip mall that includes a theater that seems to alternate porn with Indian cinema and a Mexican restaurant catering to the Chinese, Hae Woon Dae is the sine qua non of Asian BBQ. A man stops by and shovels live charcoal from a bucket into the grill on your table. Then you or your server cook deliciously seasoned meats and seafood that you roll into lettuce leaves with all manner of condiments. The kitchen will also prepare bi bim bap and other classics and will even grill your meat for you if you don't want to expend the energy. less...

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