The best ethnic food is often the most difficult to find. So each week we'll spin the globe and search for a new other-worldly spot to expand our eating horizons around the Valley.
This week we go to Korea at Chuhgajib Korean Restaurant.
So many things about Korean dining make it feel like an adventure, like cooking at your table, and all of the interesting side dishes. Korean food usually makes me feel like I am in fact, eating the world.
Chuhgajib Korean Restaurant (or CJG Korean BBQ), located across from ASU West campus, has a full menu of Korean fare (including cook-it-yourself tables) -- plus an impressive list of affordable, quick and easy lunch specials, many under $5.
What to order: When at Korean barbecue -- Korean barbecue is usually a good choice.
Plates of marinated short-ribs, barbecue beef, pork or chicken, shrimp and squid ($9.95 - 14.95) are cooked on the tabletop grill, or if you're not comfy cooking your own meat, they'll prepare it in the kitchen for you.
Either way, this meal is served family-style with rice, lettuce leaves (optional), little side dishes like kimchi, marinated potatoes, and pickled bean sprouts along with some things you might not be able to recognize at first glance.
If giant plates of meat aren't your thing, there are pages of alternative menu items: bibim bap (meat or fish, veggies and rice served in a hot stone pot), stews, soups, and a few more frightening options (Hot & Spicy Intestine Casserole).
Read more after the jump.
The ambience: The interior of Chuhgajib is cozy and attractive.
Tables and seating are made from gnarled hunks of natural wood. Korean and Japanese art hangs from the wall. A giant picture menu hangs on the wall to aid Korean food newbies in ordering. Asian TV plays from a television on the wall.
Vegetarian-friendly: There are a few noodle dishes available sans meat, and most of the side dishes are veggie, but for the most part, Korean fare is a meaty (or at least fishy) endeavor.
Read what the folks at Yelp had to say about it.
Chuhgajib Korean Restaurant is located at 4920 W. Thunderbird Rd. #117
Glendale across from the ASU West campus. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
