Mark on the Shore

Mark’s Score   9.0

I’ve been to South Korea many times. In fact, South Korea is one of my favorite places and I have come to appreciate its cuisine. So Last summer I was delighted to learn that a Korean barbeque restaurant was being built in my neighborhood. I agonized over the slow construction progress. Month after month passed and it seemed like the restaurant was going to be forever under construction. Finally, after waiting nine months, Smoking Monster opened its doors last week

Smoking Monster is Nicole and Jackie Liu’s third restaurant.  They also own Manna Asian Cuisine in Salisbury and Kaiju Sushi and Ramen Bar in Berlin. Though all three of their restaurants serve Japanese sushi, Smoking Monster highlights the cuisine of Korea.  The restaurant offers classic Korean dishes such as, Korean BBQ (which you cook on a grill right at your table), Bibimbap, Kimchi Jigae, Bulgogi, Ganja Tang, and Japchae. 

Though I usually give new restaurants a little time to work out the kinks before I give them a try, after waiting for them to open for so long, I couldn’t wait any longer and went there for lunch the other day. 

During the construction the place was wrapped as tightly as a Christmas present under the tree. The location was previously a mattress store and I have been anxiously waiting to see the makeover. The décor could best be described as modern sleek Asian. I was especially curious to see how they would accommodate barbeque pits in a former mattress store. The black table topped pits with sleek chrome plated exhaust pipes make for a surprisingly warm and inviting atmosphere. They built an earth-toned, brick wall in the center of the room and covered it with TV screens playing Korean K-pop videos, giving the room a hip Gangnam vibe. As an added delight they have a whimsical robotic waiter that delivers the food right to your table. As anyone who has visited East Asia can tell you, the heavy reliance on the latest technology makes the atmosphere authentically Asian. 

So, what about the food? I decided to go easy on them and order a classic, Bibimbap. Bibimbap is a simple homestyle dish made with beef, sprouts, bok choy, carrots, pickled sprouts, mushrooms, over white rice and topped with a fried egg. After dozens of visits to Korea over the years, I know a good Bibimbap from a bad one. To me Korean cuisine is all about simple hearty food that offers a burst of flavors and textures and is always satisfyingly filling.  Smoking Monster’s Bibimbap was as good as any I have had in Seoul. 

I do not know how this has come about or why, but Salisbury has become a hotspot of Asian cuisines. Smoking Monster brings a little bit of Seoul to the heart of Salisbury. I urge you to give it a try, it is a worthy and welcome addition to Salisbury’s Asian culinary scene.