Spicy Hot Korean Dishes Served in Hidden Gem

This pleasant, round-the-corner sushi joint offers a little variety, but at a price.

Seoul House is cozy and clean with speedy and friendly service.

The restaurant offers a lunch buffet for $13.95 that includes sushi from 11:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. on weekdays. A similar buffet is offered on Sundays for $15.95.

The six-page menu offers Korean barbecue for as little as $16.95. Entrees start at about $10.95 for a noodle dish with beef to $14.95 for broiled salmon. Lunch-sized portions served on weekdays run about $7.95. The restaurant also offers beer and wine.

I tried the tuna sushi ($5.50 for two pieces), the eel sushi ($5.95 for two pieces), and the salmon sushi ($4.50 for two pieces). The restaurant was out of yellowtail–my favorite. The sushi was fresh and buttery, but the slices were about half what you would get in a similar restaurant. Small portions make for a pricey dinner or lunch.

With my order I received a bowl of hot, miso soup–which was as good as any I have ever had–and seven side dishes including kim chee, Korean potato salad, and spinach with sesame.

I also ordered the O-Jing O Dup Bap, a dish of sautéed squid, onion, carrot and red pepper and served with rice in a stoneware pot. It arrived sizzling, fragrant and an exciting I'm-going-to-hurt-you hue of red.

When I ordered the dish, the server told me it was spicy and said she would ask the kitchen to crank the heat down a notch. As I peered into the dish, I was glad she did.

The squid was as tender and, as the server promised, the spice was just right. My only complaint was that the clay pot continued to cook the food after it was served, so the stew became a little dry, and the rice formed a crispy shell where it met the hot clay.