Gosu

I like to eat out (as can obviously be inferred by this blog) but sometimes, I forget places that are relatively close to where I live, especially if I don't ride by them every day.  About three years ago, a Japanese/Korean restaurant called Gosu opened up and while I was interested, it wasn't a place I immediately thought about when I wanted to go out for dinner.  The word Gosu is a Korean word that means someone of exceptional skill.  This is something that you would hope when you go to a restaurant of any kind and it was something that I hoped was true when I went there.  I recently had a craving for Korean food so I decided that it was a good time to try it out. The restaurant has a modern Asian look and as it was approaching Christmas, there was also a lot of lights and Christmas decorations.  There are a couple of semi-private booths on either side of the door, a banquette on the right side of the front of the restaurant with several 4 top tables filling the space.  Beyond the banquette is a half-round sushi bar with a set of tables on the left side of the dining room filling the space.  The color scheme was pastel with a lot of pink and light blue.  I was seated at the banquette near the sushi bar.  I ordered an appetizer, entree, and dessert, but as I was eating in a Korean Restaurant, I was also served a salad and soup.  The salad was a rather standard house salad with lettuce, radishes, onions and a soy dressing.  There really was nothing special about the salad but as it was part of the meal, I include it for completeness.

The soup was a little better.  It was a Miso soup with Tofu and Green Onions.  Miso is generally a salty broth (made from soy) that is generally pretty simple.  The green onions did provide a little crunch and an oniony flavor when they were bitten into.  The tofu was a nice surprise.  Tofu generally doesn't have a taste of it's own and will take the flavor of what it's cooked with.  With the miso soup, it intensified the miso flavor and added a textural element.

I ordered my appetizer simply for the name.  There was a slight description so I knew that it wasn't actually what it was called, but the name was too much to pass up.  The dish was called "Monkey Brain" and it was about the right size and interior color.  It was a Deep Fried Avocado filled with Spicy Tuna, Crab, and Spicy Mayo.  It was really good!  Frying the avocado made a crunchy crust while leaving the avocado creamy.  The crab and tuna were fresh and flavorful and the spicy mayo added some good spiciness.

For my entree, I got Bi-bim-bap, a Korean dish which literally translates to mixed rice.  It is a dish of cooked rice topped with mixed vegetables which usually include carrots, radishes, spinach, and onions, beef, and a fried egg.  It is also served with a pepper sauce like Sriracha on the side so you can add as little or as much as you would like.  It is usually is cooked and served in a stone bowl (as was this).  The ingredients are separate when served in the dish but are generally mixed together before eating.  This was served with three Kimchis, the standard fermented cabbage, fermented daikon radish, and spicy pickles.  It was all very good and because the hot sauce was served on the side, I was able to give it the right spiciness.

My dessert was not a standard Asian dessert as such but it was something that I have seen in several Asian restaurants and I am not a huge fan of the standard, Japanese dessert, Mochi.  I had a Ginger Lemon Cheesecake, which while it is not really Asian, it does have Asian flavors and it was pretty good.

I really liked Gosu and can see that they do have a chef of exceptional ability.  Now that I have been here, I will remember it when I have a craving for Korean food, this place will definitely fit the bill.