at the Vons shopping center near Telegraph and the 805...
We first noticed this new Korean eatery back in October but hadn't gotten around to trying it until today. It is located in the spot vacated by Craw Island (a Crab Hut wannabe) that kind of went downhill over the past few years.
There are still remnants of the former nautical decor. The tables and chairs are the same (after comparing this photo with my Craw Island post). Even the life preserver in the back is still there. I guess Korean Kitchen didn't want to shell out for new furniture.
There were three plasma screens, one with CNN or some news station, one with sports and the last one (closest to the window) playing an endless loop of K-Pop videos...
A lot of the videos consisted of extremely cute doe eyed girls in heavy eye makeup and cute outfits dancing about, or featured lovesick male teen idols mooning over some girl in high school. Lots of smouldering and simpering looks by males and females alike in these videos. Some of these were like mini movies with elaborate (and confusing) story lines such as this school girl who took a key from the piano and while this boy she liked played it, screwed up his audition and didn't the cut. Later on, she feels bad because he ends up feeling dejected. Mostly we were wondering how they came up with these story lines. The songs were mostly "pleasant" (cough) and bland ballads. No hard rock or heavy metal K-Pop videos though. That would have been cool to see.
The video below was more on the "cute" side and had an intro featuring Psy (the "Gangnam Style" rapper) eating an ice cream cone.
We weren't sure what to get...
but we decided to get their bentos instead of a full fledged main entree.
The lunch specials ranged from $7 - $8! Not bad. If you wanted a bowl, it was $5.
There was only one panchan, the kimchi and soup...
A very thin beef broth with scallions and what was either a really bland radish or potato. I'm leaning towards radish. The kimchi had some heat to it, but since we're not kimchi fans, this went mainly untouched.
TC wanted noodles so we ordered the Jabchae ($8) which I normally spell as Chapchae. Very light on the meat, but chock full of vegetables. Not enough spinach though.
Our bento boxes were quite generous. Mostly filler if you ask me. That was a huge bowl of rice in the corner. Waaay too much . A tiny scoop of potato salad with a few pieces of broccoli and a salad that was drowned in dressing. If I go here again, I need to remind myself to ask them to leave my salad plain. Underneath all that iceberg were some generous cucumber slices.
The box also included chapchai, two fried dumplings, and a few pieces of fried zucchini. Bert's protein of choice was the Beef Bulgogi. TC found it easy to "gum" (haha), while I found it a bit too fatty. Bert liked it very much and would not hesitate to get this again. Of course, he didn't finish all this food. It was waay too much for one person to eat in one sitting.
As for me, same type of bento, but with a chicken cutlet (Katsu)...If I'd have known that chapchae was part of the bento, we might not have ordered the chapchae. We shared our rice and salad with TC. My chicken was a bit too challenging to eat so she stuck with the soup, rice, and the thin beef.
For $7, this was a good deal. I just wish they had non fried options for the bentos as well as a seafood option.
Up next was dessert a few doors down.
Once known as Pure Yogurt, it has since become Nuyo and has another location in Eastlake (which is much bigger).
Bert was bummed that the peanut butter was out of commission that day. He was about ready to pull out his hair, just kidding. He always gets PB no matter what. I always get mini chocolate chips and chopped almonds no matter what. I'm predictable like that. Bert and I shared a chocolate, red velvet, root beer float (ugh, this was not a good combination), and toasted marshmallow (because vanilla was also out of order too, WTH man!).
TC had some several types of fruit flavored yogurt with cherries and mochi bites. Alas, no more gummy bears for her since she got her braces. She better not. Those damn braces cost a small #$%@ fortune. I told her "Don't even think of eating hard candy or chewing gum anymore!"
This parking lot really sucks. No matter what time of day, it's always busy no thanks to the Cox offices and Triple AAA!
On our way out we saw the new Cotija's owned taco shop, Burros & Fries, which I also have a coupon to use in the near future
Korean Kitchen
509 Telegraph Canyon Rd. (in the Vons shopping center)
Chula Vista, CA 91910
(619) 216-8882
They don't have a website but here's the mixed bag o' reviews from yelp.
Nuyo Yogurt
555 Telegraph Canyon Rd...
Blah blah, blah blah
(619) 591-5837
www.nuyofrozenyogurt.com
Korean Kitchen is all right if you want quick Korean in Chula Vista, but it would probably be waaaay better to go to your Korean friend's house (if you have any) and have a homecooked meal. If not, then make the drive up to Convoy and hit up the places there or at Buga near the 805 and the Clairemont exit. Glad we stopped by there and we will try something else one of these days...
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