Seoul Food (1 cent)

It wasn't planned, but we had dinner at the Gah-Rham Korean/Japanese restaurant in Beltsville. Why? Two reasons. We were in Beltsville. And it was dinner time.

Actually, we were going to Ikea and kept on going north on Route 1 looking for some place to eat. (Our original thought was to eat at the restaurant at Ikea, but we changed our minds, for no apparent reason whatsoever).

Driving up Route 1 in that no-man's territory south of Laurel, we passed every possible fast food restaurant, a couple of restaurants that looked less than hospitable, and then a small shopping center, with a Korean restaurant with a very odd name. We went in.

Surprise! It is quite a place. Large, very attractive, with polished pine tables and fish tanks, light and cheery. And with a very friendly staff.

There were other customers. They were all Korean. While we were there, other customers arrived. They were all Korean.

We may have been the first Caucasians ever at Gah-Rham. Certainly, they never had Jewish customers before.

There were three of us. We ordered (1) salmon terriyaki, (2) a vegetable rice hot pot, and (3) a seafood hot pot.

While we were waiting they brought us small plates of kimchi, bean sprout salad, sesame greens, seaweed salad, potato salad, mushroom salad and more. We ate them all (thinking as we looked around that maybe these were condiments to eat with the meal, rather than appetizers).

Then the main courses. They were delicious, and were served with a dish of shirred eggs, and miso soup.

We obviously must not have known how to eat, because the staff was very attentive. They poured sauce on our food, they made sure we mixed it up (the two hot pots had sticky rice, and they wanted to make sure we didn't just eat the add-ons), they served us the eggs.

They looked like they were having a good time as did everyone there - all of whom were eating delicious looking meals.

The cost for 3? $39.

Can't beat it. 5027 Garrett Ave. Beltsville. 301 595 4122.