Natural Tofu: Queens

This is Natural Tofu restuarant in Queens, a restaurant I heard about from Time Out New York.  Taylor and I were in Queens checking out Jonathan Horowitz's show at PS1.  It was a good excuse to also check out this hole in the wall Korean gem.  We were the only white people in the joint - always a good sign.  The menu was printed on the placemat and consisted of 18 items.

Prices ranged from $7-$18 per dish.  Everything looked phenomenal but we narrowed it down to three items.  The outstanding, extensive ban chan should have indicated to us that we'd only need two items, but we were too excited. We decided we'd try to make room for endless ban chan as well as three dishes.

My most favorite dish is Dolsot Bibimbap.  It's a sizzling bowl of rice topped with veggies and a raw egg.  The rice burns on the bottom of the pot as the diner mixes in a spicy sauce and breaks up the vegetables.

While the rice sizzled in the pot, another piping hot specialty arrived - Soon Du Bu.  This is a hearty stew of tofu and very spicy brothe.  The dish comes bubbling to the table and diners must first crack an egg into the bowl.  After breaking the yolk and stirring the egg around a bit, the entire stew transforms into a creamy, enriched casserole.

Rice is a must with every dish and in the case of this one, there is fresh rice on hand - a waiter rolls a rice cart throughout the restaurant.  Bowls upon bowls are filled with cooking rice.  When a bowl is cooked, he descends upon a table in need of a re-up.  He spoons some rice into a smaller bowl and continues his rounds.

Last but not least, we really could not resist the seafood pancake.

We could have solely ordered this and been plenty full. Ahh well, we'll know for next time... and bring more people.