Bowl'd

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Bowl'd is the buzzy new Korean restaurant near Santa Fe we've been hearing about and anxious to try.

(Aside: still not clear whether or not Shik Do Rok is out of business now or simply remodeling.)

We went, just (again) Lady Steed, and Little Lord Steed and I. First, the place is expensive. Not for a restaurant, really, but compared to how expensive my soul believes Korean food should be. The idea of paying twelve bucks for kimchi chigae is highly unsettling.

On the other hand, this was genuinely fabulous kimchi chigae. I loved it. It was delicious, served at just the right temperature (still boiling), and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I had it with beef, but you could get it with pork or no meat at all.

Lady Steed had a bibimbop (basically, tons of tasty ingredients in a hot bowl that cooks them up as you stir) and enjoyed it plenty. I had a taste and I'm glad I didn't order it. Bibimpops are great and all --- I often recommend them to Korean-food neophytes --- but there's something about them that makes me sick of them after about three bites. I don't know what it is. But there's so much else Korean food that I love that I just don't think about it anymore.

For LLS, we got some japchae, those clear noodles that are probably the single easiest Korean food for an American to love. He enjoyed it, but didn't really eat much. 'Tsokay. More for me and the lady.

One last note: the barley tea. Just as it should be. Although I should really ask if they keep any at room temperature or chilled because I always wait for it to cool anyway and I hate waiting.

In the end, Bowl'd is, as rumored, excellent Korean food. If it cost about 20% less I would want to go there all the time. As it is, once you add in the tip, this meal cost us over forty bucks which is too much for poor us. A shame. Because I'm anxious to return.