You either love or hate the idea of Korean + Mexican, and apparently you either love or hate the new Korean taqueria here in Atlanta, Hankook Taqueria. I fall firmly in the love category with the former, but perhaps somewhere in the 'like but don't love' category with the latter.
Korean tacos seem to be all the rage these days. I first read about them last year in Gourmet, and since then I've heard little snippets here and there about how good they are and what an amazing fusion Korean and Mexican is. And, I love that they started from a little taco truck in LA. Ever since living in New Haven, Connecticut, I’ve had a very fond place in my heart for taco (and other food) trucks. It is therefore not a surprise that I was very excited to discover a Korean taqueria in Atlanta (although in actual restaurant and not in truck format, I was still excited).
Korean tacos seem to be all the rage these days. I first read about them last year in Gourmet, and since then I've heard little snippets here and there about how good they are and what an amazing fusion Korean and Mexican is. And, I love that they started from a little taco truck in LA. Ever since living in New Haven, Connecticut, I’ve had a very fond place in my heart for taco (and other food) trucks. It is therefore not a surprise that I was very excited to discover a Korean taqueria in Atlanta (although in actual restaurant and not in truck format, I was still excited).
My boss suggested a lunch outing to try out Hankook Taqueria this week. Of course I went, and enthusiastically. While I liked the place overall, I may perhaps like the concept a bit more than the food, and while it's not something I'm going to crave, I probably will go back with others in tow to give it another try. In my estimation, Hankook has a lot of potential, but hasn't quite lived up to that potential yet.
As shown in the poor quality photo above (ah, cell phones and bad lighting), I ordered a fish taco (panko crusted tilapia with hoisin tartar sauce) and a beef taco (bul gogi marinated in korean bbq sauce). All of the tacos come with lettuce, green onion, green cabbage tossed in soy sesame vinaigrette, onions, cilantro, lime, and jack cheese (I took a copy of the take-out menu, in case you are wondering how I could so easily recite this entire list). There were six of us at lunch, so I also sampled several of the 'Street Foods', including the vegetable pancake, the dumplings, and the tempura fried sweet potatoes.
While I liked both tacos, I didn't feel they were distinctly different enough from one another. I think that with so many add-ons common to all of the tacos, in the end they just seemed a bit like the same thing. Both the fish and the beef were quite good (and the fish didn't taste nearly as much like prepared fish sticks as the photo above implies). But I was left wanting more. More differentiation. More Korean. More 'something'. As for the sides, they were good as well, albeit a bit greasy, especially the sweet potatoes, which I probably wouldn't order again.
Always a fan of the hole-in-the-wall, I didn't have any problems with the decor, or lack thereof. True, the tablecloths were kind of cheap, but so was the food ($4.86 for two tacos and a glass of water). What I didn't like was the sticky, greasy smell in the air. And my boss was a bit saddened that the server at a Korean taqueria didn't understand an order placed in Korean.
Complaints aside, I'll probably go back to Hankook, and sooner rather than later. I'm still curious to try the other tacos (pork, tofu, chicken), and to see if the Kimchee fried rice is as good as I've heard it is. I still love the idea of Korean + Mexican fusion. Hankook fills a unique niche among Atlanta's already diverse ethnic food dining scene, and with a few tweaks here and there, I think I could be pushed into the love category for Hankook, too.
While I liked both tacos, I didn't feel they were distinctly different enough from one another. I think that with so many add-ons common to all of the tacos, in the end they just seemed a bit like the same thing. Both the fish and the beef were quite good (and the fish didn't taste nearly as much like prepared fish sticks as the photo above implies). But I was left wanting more. More differentiation. More Korean. More 'something'. As for the sides, they were good as well, albeit a bit greasy, especially the sweet potatoes, which I probably wouldn't order again.
Always a fan of the hole-in-the-wall, I didn't have any problems with the decor, or lack thereof. True, the tablecloths were kind of cheap, but so was the food ($4.86 for two tacos and a glass of water). What I didn't like was the sticky, greasy smell in the air. And my boss was a bit saddened that the server at a Korean taqueria didn't understand an order placed in Korean.
Complaints aside, I'll probably go back to Hankook, and sooner rather than later. I'm still curious to try the other tacos (pork, tofu, chicken), and to see if the Kimchee fried rice is as good as I've heard it is. I still love the idea of Korean + Mexican fusion. Hankook fills a unique niche among Atlanta's already diverse ethnic food dining scene, and with a few tweaks here and there, I think I could be pushed into the love category for Hankook, too.
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