I haven't seen my good friend, Will, in over a year and suggested we meet up at The Coop. His exact words were "Are you willing to shell out a lot just for food?". I didn't even hesitate and said yes. Let's just say I shelled out way over my budget, but it was still worth it in the end.
The Coop is a very trendy Korean restaurant. It's very geared towards a younger crowd. I got there around 5pm and waited for Will to arrive. Like before, it had the same dark lighting. The candles at the tables were being lit as I sat down. While I sat, I took a long look at the menu. There was a lot to choose from and I did have some dishes in mind that I wanted to try. Will arrived about twenty minutes later and we took some more time to agree on menu items. We got the 20 piece batch of the Coop wings (half spicy and half soy garlic), a gratin, and jjusam. For drinks, we decided to go for a small pitcher of lemon and yuzu hongcho soju. Will got himself half a dozen oysters. They were $1 each as part of the happy hour special. For myself I got a bottle of Hitachino which I kinda regretted later.
The Coop wings are always the best. The crunchy surface and thoroughly marinated meat below is a big welcome for the taste buds. I am reminded that I can't handle spicy, but still made through the entire batch, albeit lots of water and alcohol. The thing I like about wings is that it's dark meat. The overnight marinade and fresh chicken contributed to the moist texture, not dry and stringy like overcooked turkey. The spiciness comes from the red peppers used in the marinade. The soy garlic is a soy sauce and garlic marinade as the name suggests. Ten out of ten would order the soy garlic again.
The gratin comes with a choice of kimchi or bulgogi. We picked the bulgogi gratin because I didn't want to have spicy for all dishes. The dish comes in a shallow earthenware. On the bottom is a moist fried rice and shredded bulgogi. It is then topped with a layer of mozzarella and drizzled with a soy sauce reduction. The dish is more sweet than savory which I ranked as my least favorite out of all dishes we had that night. I never really liked bulgogi that much to begin with. I used gratin as a way to reduce the spice in my mouth.
Jjusam is a spicy baby octopus dish cooked with pork belly pieces, onions and cabbage with freshly chopped perilla as garnish. Octopus is among one of my favorite seafoods to eat. It is easy to cook and I like the chewy texture. The pork belly had a nice layer of jellied fat from the rind. Jjusam is a mixture of sweet and spicy taking the spicy from gochujang and the sweet from syrup. I would order this dish again.
I asked Will about his oysters and he said he liked them a lot. When we counted, it was actually 7 oysters instead of 6. They gave an extra oyster to make up for one of the smaller ones.
Down to the alcohol. One of the reasons why Will pushed to order gratin was because he wanted to get soju. "You have to get soju at a Korean place!" So I agreed and decided to get a beer anyways. It turned out to be a bad idea because I didn't realize what the effects of soju were going to be. After downing my own bottle, I started sipping the soju. After the first two cups, I felt nothing at all. All I was thinking at the time was how smooth Hitachino white ale was. I was even thinking that the small pitcher looked awfully small for two people. After four cups or so, I was beginning to feel it. All the alcohol had sunken at the bottom of the pitcher and I had been drinking juice concentrate. I guess I know why people down so much soju in one sitting. The alcohol creeps up on you like a phantom. Before you know it, the loud music at the Coop became fainter and the lights felt a bit more brighter.
I did learn by the end of that night that I couldn't stop pouring myself cups of soju even when I keep saying this will be my last cup. Again somehow the pitcher was empty at the very end. I remember paying around $60 knowing that it'll be my last time paying that much for a meal with friends. Next time, I'll hit up K-town instead.
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