I've heard Hoban is one of the more authentic Korean joints in MN. I don't know much of anything about Korean food, but the selections looked appetizing. I was especially intrigued to see they had all different kinds of soju on their menu (Korean booze -basically high octane Japaense sake) and a lot of different Korean alcohol I have never seen or tried, so I was excited about that.
Upon entering Hoban, it was quite busy, and the smell was absolutely delicious. It 's a fairly spacious, open restaurant with larger tables in the middle (most were occupied with larger groups) and booths lining the walls. We waited 5 minutes or so, but were then seated by the very friendly host in a booth. At the table, there was a wine and beer list, but no list of all the exotic Korean booze I saw online. When our waitress came around, I asked about the soju and she said all they had was plain or yogurt, and it was $15 a bottle and not by the glass. I was pretty disappointed by this, and I didn't know anything about the other alcohols, so I just ordered sake and left it at that. (of which they serve almost to the brim in a wine glass.)
There was a lot to choose from on the menu. After a LOT of deliberation (and a lot of help from our waitress, who was VERY friendly and informative), we both decided on a Bi Bim Bap - I chose the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap (Sizzling rice topped with an assortment of vegetables and beef. Comes with an egg and a side of fiery hot sauce) and Mr. H chose the Seafood Bi Bim Bap (Sizzling rice topped with an assortment of vegetables and seafood. Seafood includes chopped calamari, shrimp, scallops, and mussels. Comes with a side of fiery hot sauce.) For our appetizer, we got dumplings, which are a staple of mine most any asian place I dine.
After a 10-15 min wait, our dumplings came out. They were probably one of my least favorite dumplings I've had. They were steamed, and not too flavorful. Dumplings are seemingly simple, but deceptive in this manner. It takes a lot to get a dumpling "right" (much like a spaghetti sauce, or any other "simple"recipe) and these were not terrible, but I've had better.
Our Bi Bim Bap came out about 15-20 minutes later; sizzling, smoking and popping in their hot pots, with many tiny bowls of accompanying sides. I am not familiar with korean food, and had to ask about each thing. The people were very nice and didn't make me feel like some dumb white chick about asking. In the sides there are (and I may miss some): peeled carrots, sliced daikon, pickled daikon (which were also flavored strongly with ginger - my favorite side!) kimchee, sprouts, cucumber, sliced ginger, cabbage and other stuff I'm forgetting. I was not sure how to apply these to our meal, but was assured it was ok to add them into our dishes. They also give you hot sauce and soy sauce for flavoring. Kimchee has a reputation for being quite pungent, and let me assure you right now: it is. I like strong flavors, but the fact that it's fermented makes it that much more pungent.
Dolsot
Seafood Bi Bim Bap
Dolsot
Seafood Bi Bim Bap
I decided to try my crackling bowl of BI Bim Bap (so fun to say!) plain first, and found it to be quite bland. I started to add some of the sides (especially loved the ginger daikon) and soy and hot sauce. The hot sauce was nowhere near hot, to my disappointment. The meat in my dish was very sparse and it brought nothing to the dish. One thing I did appreciate were all the components were sliced thinly, and easy to eat with chopsticks and take small bites. My big gripe with some asian places is they have BIG HUGE CHUNKS of stuff (brocolli anyone??) and you are forced to just chew one big hunk of that without eating anything else in that bite.
Regardless of the small slices, I found msyelf to be quite full halfway through my meal, so we packed it up and headed out. Hoban boasts a few karoake rooms in the back, so we checked them out on the way out. They are very impressive. Several different private rooms, decked out with dim fancy lights, swanky lounging and mirrors - the whole karoake 9 yards! I'm not sure of the price to rent these rooms, but it looks like LOADS of fun if you can get a group of people together for a night! I'm not sure what the song selections are, but they look to be mostly asian.
Overall, I liked Hoban and will definitely go back to experience more Korean foods - especially the kimbap, which is Korean sushi!
Greats:
-The smell in there is intoxicatingly delicious
-The staff is VERY friendly and accomodating
-The "do it yourself" aspect to the bibimbop
-The karoake rooms!!
-I'm sure if I ask more, I can find out about the Korean booze.
Not so greats
-The dumplings were just so-so
-The dish was bland on it's own, and the hot sauce..not so hot
-The lack of info on the korean booze!!
-It's far away from us
http://www.hobanrestaurant.com/index.html
I went there last year and found it ho-hum. Not that the food wasn't good, it's just that Korean food isn't my thing I guess.
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