Tucked in a strip mall across from Ranch 99 Market is Hosoonyi Korean Restaurant.
While other Korean restaurants in the county specialize in tofu soup or barbecue, Hosoonyi hits the mark with a variety of home-style dishes.
It’s a bright spot with friendly staff.
Half the restaurant is designed with tatami mats covering the floor and tables where diners sit on the floor. The rest of the restaurant is a typical Western-style store front.
The restaurant’s website says the business opened at the current location in 1996 and has been thriving since.
The kitchen staff make their own soy sauces from a combination of aged and fermented soy paste. It gives the food bolder, stronger and more long-lasting characteristics, the owners said.
Hosoonyi’s owners also claim that their soybean paste has special qualities that help the body fight diseases. I’m not so sure about that, but it all tasted delicious.
When a friend and I visited recently on a Friday night, the place was full and the food was fresh and tasty.
The menu is conveniently separated into the various delicacies that form the foundation of Korean cuisine.
There’s soft tofu soup, Korean barbecue and a variety of house specialties.
Knowing that each entree comes with a variety of side dishes, we skipped the appetizers and went right for the main dishes.
Before our dinners arrived, the waiter brought an assortment of about a half-dozen small plates. They included spicy, pickled cabbage called kim chi; a similar sauce on pickled radish; bean sprouts tossed gently with a hint of sesame; tofu with a pinch of red pepper flakes on top; and flattened fish cakes.
It’s always fun to taste each one, and it seems each Korean restaurant has its own variety.
For dinner, I ordered dwa-jee-gal-bee, or Korean style barbecued pork in a special chili sauce ($19.95).
The sizzling hot cast-iron plate came piled high with succulent, tender meat.
My friend ordered job-chae ($15.95). Hosoonyi is one of the few Korean restaurants I’ve ever visited (and I’ve been to plenty) that agreed to make the dish with chicken instead of beef.
It’s a combination of vegetables, mushrooms and the chicken tossed with potato noodles in a sesame sauce. The noodles are translucent and firm to the bite. Like the gal-bee, there was enough food to feed three people.
Although we brought home lots of leftovers, they didn’t keep very well. I’d recommend going to Hosoonyi with a group of friends and bringing a big appetite.
The restaurant serves a selection of soft drinks. We split a large bottle of Korean beer.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3447; jholtz@heraldnet.com.
Hosoonyi Korean Restaurant
23830 Highway 99, Edmonds; 425-775-8196; www.hosoonyitofu.us
Specialty: Korean
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Alcohol: Beer and wine
Vegetarian options: Many
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