E-Mo

I don’t oftentimes get the opportunity to venture out too far for lunch, but I was getting a check-up earlier this week and found myself very close to Koreatown. My coworker, Joon, introduced me Kim Bab, a popular dish that resembles Japanese sushi – rice and lots of veggies or proteins wrapped in seaweed. Joon brought back kim bab with squid one day and said that the best place to buy it in Koreatown E-Mo. He also mentioned that the place was incredibly tiny and was only good for to-go (basically, standing room only). I got my act together on Sunday and managed to head all the way up to Koreatown, only to find out they weren’t open on Sundays. When I found out my check-up was near K-town, my first thought was to schedule it close enough to lunch so I could make my way over to E-mo and buy some kim bab after my appointment. The store is near Mandoo Bar (where I ended up the Sunday I tried to get E-Mo):

E-Mo is literally run by a husband and wife team; when I arrived, the wife was preparing for the lunchtime rush by cooking rice, setting up the vegetables, and making sure everything was ready for the assembly line while her husband was in the storage area picking up more materials:

There are ten different types of kim bab you can order:

I was very pleased with the squid kim bab Joon gave me the last time I had E-mo, so I ordered one serving of squid kim bab. The owner immediately began putting together my kim bab:

The squid is marinated in the traditional Korean red sauce and is placed with vegetables, including pickled radishes and shiso leaves. The roll is squirted with a little sesame oil and then expertly cut up into twelve pieces and placed into a to-go container:

An individual piece:

The squid kim bab is absolutely amazing; there are a lot of different textures and tastes in one bite since the squid is slightly chewy, some of the vegetables are fresh, and some of the veggies are pickled. Everything is quickly made to order and is definitely an awesome place to get Korean for lunch. One roll is only $6 and is definitely enough to feed a person at lunchtime (I was satisfied but not stuffed after one roll). E-Mo is one of my favorite restaurants on 32nd Street and is definitely worth a visit!