Saturday, July 25, 2009

cham korean bistro

thanks to brigham yen, i found out about the "grand tasting" of a soon-to-open korean restaurant in pasadena called 'cham'. i was especially curious because it would be filling the vacated location of seoul bros. - a restaurant i had really enjoyed and was sad it had to close.

so i got on the guest list and went over on thursday to sample their creations. i ordered the spicy pork bulgogi ssam platter (awesome!), three different tofu pockets (arugula and red radish, marinated fresh crab, and spicy tuna with pea shoots)(amazing!), and a hibiscus flower lemonade (wha..? incredible!) to top it all off.

oh my - i haven't been that satisfied with a free meal in a long time.


the enviornment was welcoming and communal with a very friendly staff. the manager and owner personally introduced themselves and asked my opinions on the different food items. i gushed over the flavor combinations and the subtle balanced nuances of each item. i'm pretty sure i could eat about a thousand of those tofu pockets with their tasty fillings.

the total for my meal would have been aproaching $20, which seems to be a little on the expensive side, however i was stuffed and wouldn't have ordered quite so much had i been paying for it out of my own pocket. that being said, it doesn't strike me as a place to go for huge savings on lunch or dinner. i was impressed that the owners are planning to donate proceeds to overseas poverty development projects - if they push this aspect of their business they could really do well.


all in all, i can't wait until it actually opens in august and i can return once again with an empty belly ready to sample more korean treasures.

did anyone else in pasadena get a chance to go to the grand tasting?

3 comments:

Cafe Pasadena said...

Seoul Bros was ok.
I noticed the new Cham also. I thought it had already opened, but you say sometime in August? Is this Korean owned?

How does this compare to the soul brothers? This new place sounds like it's doing some smart things. They may last longer than the seoul bros.

Sally said...

The food looks fabulous. I wnet to a couple of Korean restaurants in Sydney in the late 1970s, but not since.

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ben wideman said...

I like it a lot - similar in some ways to Seoul Bros, but I'm not sure that their prices will be as competitive.