LOCAL Houston | The City Guide September 2016 | Page 19

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE

Kalbi with Ban Chan

SOJU 101

By Tim Moloney

DRINK KOREAN!
The lively bar scene at Republic Diner + Sojubang is primarily fueled by soju and its many artfully infused variations
– from pineapple to cucumber-mint and beyond – created
exclusively by the staff. Soju is like the Korean version of
Japanese sake.
•It’s a distilled, vodka-like, rice liquor with a high
potency and that is often flavored.
•Soju is smooth and clean in taste, which makes it
easy to drink in combination with various Korean
dishes.
•The main ingredient of soju is rice, almost always in
combination with other ingredients such as wheat,
barley or sweet potatoes.
•Soju is clear-colored and typically varies in alcohol
content from 10% to 25% proof.
•It was first known to have been distilled around
1300 A.D.

I just had to order the Korean fried chicken wings.
Double fried so that the skin was crispy, they were sticky,
sweet, spicy, crunchy, so hot they practically burned your
fingers when you picked them up, and completely amazing.
Our entrées hit the counter next – a beautiful, hot stone
bowl of Dolsot Bibimbap Korean rice topped with a colorful assortment of carrots, spinach, mushroom, bulgogi
(Korean marinated ribeye) and a raw egg. We let it sit
for a while so that the skin would crisp up before we
broke the yolk and mixed everything together. Delicious.
Also delicious – and my fave for the night – were the
tasty Japchae sweet potato noodles and the sizzling hot
plate called Wang Galbi, marinated short ribs served
with an assortment of banchan, or Korean side dishes.
Made in-house using recipes by the owner’s Korean
mom, the banchan proved that there’s a new place in
town to get your Korean fix, and the cool thing about it?
It’s conveniently located right in the Heights.

Dolsot Bibimbap

REPUBLIC DINER+
SOJUBANG

1221 W. 11th St. | Houston, TX 77008 | 832.649.3601 | www.republicdiner.com
Sun–Thurs, 11am–11pm; Fri and Sat, 11am–12am; KITCHEN: Sun–Thurs, 11am–10pm; Fri and Sat, 11am–11pm
september 16 |

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