Korean in Detroit

Master sushi chef, Elmer Bionson, serves authentic sushi and Japanese cuisine at Azumi's Garden in Auburn Hills. Drawing on culinary influences of the Far East, Mr. Bionson tastefully pulls together the finest dishes from Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, and Vietnam. Azumi's primary focus is moderately-priced take-out for the time being with soft drinks and bottled water.

The congee, the soup, the kimchi and other bangan (side dishes), can be brought to you in a small semiprivate room with light wooden tables and chairs. Many of the dishes are brought unordered, as a matter of course. Next come four small white bowls of bangan: orange kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), dark green seaweed, ivory bean sprouts, and another orange vegetable. These are eaten with good-looking stainless steel jeotgarak (chopsticks) that seem much more sensible and distinctive than throwaway wooden or bamboo ones (much less plastic). The next course, appetizers (these you have to pay for), includes wonderful fried dumplings, their insides tasty if a bit gray and indiscriminate, their outsides just slightly crispy — melt in your mouth. We ordered an $8 seafood-scallion pancake, and after two people had picked at it a bit, it still provided leftovers for days. This is a hearty, lightly fried, mostly soft but somewhat crisp comfort food. Their bi bim bap is a heap of rice in a stone pot surrounded by a tangle of carrots, zucchini and spicy ground beef. Or try the less intimidating jab chae, a mammoth serving of dark potato noodles with beef, red and green peppers, carrots, a few sesame seeds and a musky flavor. BG is closed Wednesdays, but open till 2:30 a.m. six days a week.

With four tables and four booths, this narrow eatery can handle around 30 customers at one time. Although the setting is diner-plain, the Korean cuisine is authentic, making few compromises for the American palate. Garlic is a key ingredient in at least half of the aromatic dishes from Hankuk’s kitchen. More than half of the menu items are either soups or preparations in broth. For example, duk-mandoo-guk is beef broth overflowing with scores of dumplings, rice cakes, beef, bits of egg yolk, green onion and garlic. The Korean fish stew is composed of large chunks of fish, small crab legs and squid, along with vegetables, red-pepper paste and garlic. Soybean-paste soup, buckwheat vermicelli in cold soup, and Japanese-style noodle soup all are available in their pure vegetarian state.

Sushi and authentic Japanese and Korean dishes.

The historic Northville downtown finally has it's own Japanese Restaurant. Enjoy the signature dish: a spicy "Downtown Roll." Sushi is the specialty.

The basics of Korean cooking are garlic and sesame. The bicultural selection ranges from broiled eel to tempura and sushi, spicy hot to coolly elegant. Try a raw fish dish or have marinated sirloin (bulgogi) barbecued at your table. A horizon-broadening selection of ten side dishes in wee white bowls accompanies every dinner. Alcohol is served.****

Wasabi's bibimbab is best served in a dolsot, a heated stone bowl. Chef Seonghun Kim tops a big pile of white rice with little piles of julienned beef and vegetables, mostly cold, and a fried egg. Squeeze on the gochujang, a chili-based hot sauce, and mix it all together. It’s huge and infinitely satisfying on a cold night. The other famous-to-Americans Korean dish is bulgogi, which here is marinated rib eye. The marinade includes not only sake, ginger and various fruits but Sprite! Salmon teriyaki overdoes the sweet sauce, but beef, pork or chicken katsu are great, breaded and fried and served with a mixture of ketchup, butter, sugar, chicken broth, tempura mix and bottled tonkatsu sauce. Sushi in all the usual varieties is offered, artfully done and of excellent quality. Some entrées are served with a heap of fresh fruit, and all come with a small carrot or cucumber salad and a heartier-than-average miso soup, with seaweed. For dessert, Japanese ice cream is the best bet, especially green tea flavor.