I have been seeing Seoul Tofu House photos for about a year now, and I finally got to try it! My friend and I went on a Thursday evening at around 6:00, and we were seated immediately. The overall experience was very sanitary and I felt safe eating there. There are multiple hand sanitizing stations both outside and inside of their automatic-door entry way. When our server guided us inside, we saw that not only were all the tables 6 feet apart, but there were tall dividers in between the 6 feet of space! I was honestly a little apprehensive to eat in Waikiki since COVID began, but it was reassuring to see the precautions that Seoul Tofu House was taking to ensure the safety of their guests. Not only that, but they are having a promotion to park at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki hotel for 1 hr. validation for free.
Now let’s get to the FOOD! Their menu is vast ranging from multiple varieties of soondubu (Korean spicy stew), jeon, noodles, and different sizzling hot plates. My friend and I were in the mood to try their soondubu, and let me tell you.. We were so excited! I got the pork soondubu with mild spice and cheese, and my friend got the beef soondubu with regular spice also with cheese. When the trays appeared in front of us, we were amazed by the presentation of the tray. The variety of banchan (Korean vegetable side dishes) looked fresh and even tasted like they made it all in-house. The vegetables were still crunchy, and had so much flavor. We weren’t quite sure how to eat the nori (seaweed), but we ended up wrapping it around rice and eating it with the soondubu.
The soondubu came out bubbling and steaming hot, which definitely made us even more excited. There are large chunks of tofu, the protein that you chose, an egg, and vegetables, all bubbling around in the stew – so you know that this is a hearty meal. We quickly snapped our pictures (for the ‘gram’ of course!), and sprinkled our cheese on top before we dug in. The soondubu was perfectly seasoned, spicy enough for my liking, and had so much depth in flavor. It’s hard to describe how complex – yet comforting each bite was. When my mouth would get heated from the spice, the ban chan and rice came in handy. The cheese melted perfectly on top, and it added a bit of creaminess to cut through the spicy flavors. Overall, it was an amazing dish! Each tray of soondubu is priced at $13.99 (cheese is an additional $2.00), so it doesn’t hurt your wallet.
We left the restaurant feeling full and happy – the only way one should leave a restaurant. I will definitely go to Seoul Tofu Waikiki again and eat their delicious soondubu. Hopefully I’ll have room to try their jeon, which also sounded amazing. Maybe I’ll even go back sometime this weekend!
Leave a Reply