36 MARCH 9 - MARCH 15, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
DINING OUT
Korean BBQ, American-style
BY HELEN KLEIN
HKLEIN@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Helen
Klein
The Buddha Cup with tofu,
kale, roasted corn and
Okinawan yam.
4/5/18
Born as a single food truck during
the economic downturn, Korilla
BBQ is now arguably a fledgling
culinary empire, its fourth storefront
having just debuted in Brooklyn’s
MetroTech.
The MetroTech location, by far
Korilla’s largest at 700 square feet,
according to founder Eddie Song, is
its first Brooklyn eatery, serving up
ravishing Korean barbecue in four
varieties — beef, chicken, pork and
tofu — since it opened on February 19.
Song — who graduated from Columbia
in 2008 — decided to launch
his food truck because other job
options were limited at that point. “I
didn’t have any fear of failing, because
the entire world was failing,” Song
confided.
Failure, however, never appeared
to be part of the equation for this economics
math major, whose only prior
food business-related experience was
opening a frozen yogurt store with
his college roommate in Kansas City.
While they sold the business after the
latter got into law school, Song said, “It
gave me the spark.”
That spark became a veritable
ember when the original Korilla BBQ
truck launched on October 24, 2010
at 55th Street and Lexington Avenue
in Manhattan. “I happened to be very
fortunate in that I was doing the right
thing at the right time, selling Korean
tacos,” he went on.
The result — a long line the first day
that was a harbinger of things to come
for Song, who said, once he realized
that non-Koreans had little idea of the
gustatory delights represented by his
native cuisine, “I took it upon myself
to be the new face of Korean barbecue.
I wanted to bring Korean food to the
masses.”
Fast-forward seven and a half years,
and Korean tacos are no longer on
Korilla BBQ’s menu, which features its
four proteins, along with a seasonal selection
of vegetables, a pair of kimchis,
and a selection of flavor-packed sauces
for topping, in bowls with a choice of
rice or greens as a base, or as filling for
a burrito.
I sampled the full repertoire and
found the options both flavorful and
filling, as well as reasonably priced
with the Pork Slap, Buddha Cup and
Sweet Chix costing just $9.64 with
three veggies, and the Ribeye of the
Tiger Bulgogi costing $10.10 including
sides.
Everything was good, but I was
particularly taken with the bulgogi,
with its notes of sweet and savory
as well as the extremely tasty tofu,
which wonderfully absorbed the mix
of sweet, savory and spicy flavors.
Among the veggies, the sweet-sauced
kale, smoky sweet corn and intoxicatingly
fermented cucumber kimchi
were favorites as was the spicy and
herbaceous Green Crack sauce with its
notes of cilantro and charred jalapeno.
Of course, food that tastes good isn’t
always good for you. But, says Song,
this is, because it focuses on food for
people who are “interested in eating
healthily and locally.
“We have a seasonal rotation of
vegetables from locally sourced purveyors,”
he stressed, adding that the
kimchi, one of Korea’s most prominent
contributions to the culinary world,
is, as the menu says, “rich with live
cultures, meaning we’ve got living
organisms working hard for your
well-being.”
It all adds up, says Song, to “authentic
Korean barbecue but in a very
American way.”
And, as Korilla BBQ continues to
grow, “We hope,” he adds, “to continue
to pioneer the way people eat.”
KORILLA BBQ
2 MetroTech
Brooklyn, NY 11201
1-844-KOR-ILLA
Korillabbq.com