Seoul Korean BBQ & Hot Pot

Located within the Havana Business Improvement District - On Havana Street in Aurora, Seoul Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, was voted Asian Avenue’s Best Korean Soup last year. Favorite soups include kimchi jjigae and galbi tang. In 2020, Asian Avenue readers voted the restaurant for not only Best Korean Soup, but also Best Hot Pot. As a local favorite, the restaurant provides authentic Korean cuisine served fresh and even cooked right at your table.

“Seoul BBQ has been around for 16 years as a family-oriented restaurant,” said Rose Lee, manager of Seoul BBQ. “We always try to offer the best and something new, so we never stop challenging ourselves to satisfy our loyal customers.”

Offering both BBQ and hot pot, diners face the hard choice during each visit—should I eat hot pot or partake in BBQ? With lots of interaction no matter what you choose, cooking your meal at the table is a fun and interactive dining experience.

Location

Located in a strip mall with the international grocery market, MMart, as its anchor, the restaurant offers plenty of parking. However, during dinner times from Thursday to Sunday, the restaurant is usually packed and so is the parking lot. The restaurant is divided into two sides: one for hot pot and the other is set up for Korean-style BBQ with table grills.

Atmosphere

Seoul BBQ is the perfect restaurant for large family gatherings or special celebrations with private rooms available for parties spending a minimum of $180. With a bustling atmosphere, restaurant staff are constantly bringing out dishes and drinks, as they attend to customers.

Food

On the KBBQ side, the pork with white fish, chicken bulgogi, and beef bulgogi are diners’ favorites. If you want a quick bite, dok bok-gi (rice cakes) and mandu (dumplings) are on the appetizer menu. The kimchi pancakes tickle all the taste buds of sweet, sour, spicy, and savory.

Lee, who started at the restaurant 14 years ago as a hostess, shared that the KBBQ combos are popular, which include: bulgogi beef and galbi short ribs along with more specialized cuts like pork jowl, beef tongue, and pork collar with octopus, all arriving with a plethora of banchan sides.

On the hot pot side, the all-you-caneat meal allows customers to choose their broth, make their own sauce, select ingredients, order meats, and then cook everything to their liking.

Service

With up to 75 employees, the staffers know the menu and can easily give recommendations, instruct how to cook the various meats, and help increase or decrease the temperature of the grill or hot pot.

Customers can push a button at their tables that notify the staff when you need to order or if you need any assistance.

Info

Open daily from 11AM to 10PM, lunch and dinner service are available. Reservations can be made on their website seoulkoreanbbq. com or by calling (303) 632-7576. Follow them on Instagram or Facebook at @seoulkoreanbbq.

By Mary Jeneverre Schultz

For more than three years, Jennie Pho: House of Noodle, Grill, & Bubble Tea has offered a menu of Vietnamese cuisine in Broomfield and the surrounding areas. For the last two years, the restaurant was named the best Asian restaurant and the best vegetarian restaurant in Westminster.

Owner, John Nguyen Trinh, created a family-owned restaurant for his wife as the main chef and creator of the southeast flavors.

“My wife’s passion is cooking healthy delicious Vietnamese foods,” said Trinh, who wanted to build a family business, adding that his favorite dish is pho with bone marrow, also known as Phozilla

About Jennie Pho

The restaurant offers take-out, online ordering, catering, delivery, and dine-in options, and packed with large families and big groups on Fridays and Saturdays. Sitting in a strip mall allows the restaurant to offer ample parking spaces. Trinh confessed the family purchased the site after the grocery store anchor departed from the strip mall and five months before the pandemic. He disclosed the city has purchased the abandoned building and plans to create an incubator space for upcoming enterprises.

The restaurant is closed on Sundays for Trinh’s family of five to spend time together and attend Sunday services.

Immigrant Journey

Born in Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh), Trinh left Vietnam when he was only 12 years old. His father served as a soldier for the US in the south. He met his wife in Philadelphia but settled in Colorado because his parents had resided in Colorado for 30 years.

The restaurant business was not his first choice. He attended CU Boulder to finish an electrical engineering major. But he decided to leave the industry when his job took him away on travels from his family of three girls. Currently, he is a financial consultant for his start-up and manages the administration of the restaurant.

What’s on the Menu?

Phozilla | Chef Jennie created a dish to celebrate the national dish of Vietnam --- Phozilla. In a ginormous bowl, this pho dish filled with white, rice noodles, flavorful broth, Wagyu steak, brisket, flank, tendon, tripe, and marrow bone. Plus, the pho is gluten free. It’s guaranteed the diners will bring leftovers for about two days’ worth of eating.

Vietnamese Sandwich | Served with cucumber, carrot, jalapenos, and cilantro, the sandwich comes with choices between grilled beef, grilled pork, grilled chicken, fried tofu, or just vegan meatball. For adventurous diners, ask for Jennie’s Sandwich --- it is served with a sunny side up egg and special sandwich sauce.

Grilled Green Mussels | If you are craving for some seafood, this chef’s special platter offers a generous quantity of the shellfish topped with onions, peanuts, and lime juices.

Spring Rolls | Served with fresh and healthy ingredients, this appetizer bite is the perfect way to start lunch or dinner. The sauce is made in-house.

Fried Crab Cheese Wontons | This appetizer filled with crab cheese is another diners’ favorite. This dish goes fast when placed between a large group of people who want to snack on quick bites.

Vietnamese Coffee | Produced with dark roast ground coffee, it is served with condensed milk or vegan milk, available upon request. This beverage will keep you awake.

Don’t forget to check out the selection of boba teas and smoothies. The website offers specials, too. For example, kids under five tears old eat free with a paid adult meal.

Bridging Hope in Vietnam

Giving back is important to Trinh and his family. They partner with a local organization called Bridging Hope. The nonprofit aids disadvantaged and disabled women and children in Vietnam. Last April, the restaurant sold upscale wine and whiskeys through an online auction to raise funds for the Colorado organization (bridging-hope.org).