Last night Vikki and I actually managed to sneak away for a date night, and at her suggestion we headed for New Seoul Garden in Beaverton.  Very tasty.  We hadn't been there in a while, and I'd almost forgotten how good their food is.  We opted for a BBQ table, meaning a table with a gas powered iron grill set into the middle.  We got some marinated ribs and sliced beef which come to the table raw for us to grill ourselves.  To go with the meat, you get a bowl of raw sliced garlic, some chili-bean paste, and a bunch of romaine lettuce leaves.  The trick is to wrap up pieces of grilled meat in the lettuce with garlic and bean paste, then eat like a little burrito-from-on-high.  Fantastic.  You can get about 10 different cuts of meat to grill, including pork, chicken, beef, goat or lamb. 

I also ordered a bowl of what is one of my favorite soups, called kimchee jige (or chige or cheege depending on how it's transliterated).  It's a soups of cabbage kimchee with tofu and sliced pork.  Very spicy, and just the thing for a cold winter evening.  The also serve a version with big chunks of black cod, which is also very tasty. 

The crowning glory of the restaurant, however, is the kimchee bar.  Kimchee is one of those things (like saurkraut) that you either love or hate, and luckily Vikki and I are both lovers.  New Seoul Garden used to bring you a platter with different kinds of kimchee on it, but at some point in the last few years they switched over to a help-yourself, all the kimchee you can handle bar.  Depending on when you go, you'll get your choice of 10-12 different kinds of kimchee, some spicy some not.  Last night our very favorite was some pea shoots (baby pea plants) with sesame oil dressing.  Crunchy, bright green and very flavorful.  There were also some really good, very spicy pickles that seemed like baby bok choy, only very tiny.  There was also some traditional spicy cabbage and radish kimchees, and some mildly flavored radishes and black beans. 

Best of all, there was enough of the soup left over for breakfast this morning.