Korean-German fare at Biergarten in Koreatown

I’ve had my share of Korean food and I’ve had some German food but for the first time in my life, I had Korean-German food. Where? Biergarten in Koreatown. I thought there would be an outdoor beer drinking area like most biergartens but this one happens to be all indoors. But don’t be too disappointed because it’s pretty swanky inside – it has that “we just opened” kind of feel with the flat screen TVs and the clean spacious dining area.

I met some people at Biergarten for the Happy Hour drinks but we couldn’t help ourselves from the food menu. Immediately, I was won over by their fresh potato chips and a horseradish type dip.

The chips were hot, crispy, and well-seasoned. I love my potato chips but sometimes I’m not a huge fan of fresh potato chips because the potato slices could be a little too thick and absorb too much oil, making the chip soggy — not this kind. This one had a great light crunch when you took a bite.

Next up, we ordered the sweet potato strings… don’t expect french fries. This is an entangled ball of thinly sheared sweet potato. You take a big glob and eat it — there’s a great CRUNCH! sound that makes you want to get seconds.

I saw deep fried artichoke hearts on the menu and I was curious to taste this. I had high expectations for this one but it missed with me. The other two fried dishes had the right texture and flavor but the artichoke hearts seemed a bit bland to me on its own. I admit when I drenched a piece in the dipping sauce, it was good but it’s too bad that it didn’t taste good on its own. Perhaps, it’s best kept in a salad.
Speaking of salads, we did order one! This is the green bean salad and I think it was one of my favorite dishes – it was fresh, light, and flavorful. The green beans were accompanied by tangerines, hazelnuts, frisée, and a truffled honey vinaigrette. I would definitely order this again.

I have a weakness for short-rib and grilled cheese sandwiches. So when I saw that Biergarten served up a short-rib grilled cheese sandwich, I knew I had to have a bite (at least).

The sandwich was served on sourdough bread with fontana cheese and a onion type of marmalade. It was sweet and savory and the bread was nicely grilled to give you that hearty crunch when you bite into it.

And of course, the Biergarten stays true and serves brats! You get your choice of bockwurst, bratwurst, kolbasa, or knackwurst.

And if i didn’t mention it before – they have 25 types of beer, sake, soju, and they even serve alcoholic cider (which is what I got). I could have blogged about the beer but I found the food to be pleasantly surprising and it wasn’t the normal biergarten fare one would see.

NOTE: The prices are moderate and I suggest going in a group (like many small plate places) so you can get your fair share of the various dishes.