I found a variety of authentic restaurants in Ann Arbor to try out. Since my friend was willing to have a go at it, we went to Seoul Garden. When we walked in, I noticed many Koreans eating there. They appeared to be college students. There was also a Caucasian couple who were seated near us. I was quite pleased when I saw the menu. Prices are affordable in Ann Arbor. Given how expensive Korean food is in Los Angeles, I appreciated the price break that I saw in Ann Arbor. We ordered the Barbeque Combination with Lobster Special which included big scallops, several shrimp, and a couple of lobster tails. They did not skimp on the seafood.

As we were grilling our seafood on the tabletop grill, the couple near us peeked over to inquire about what we were eating. They noticed how much food was coming out. They were obviously new to Korean food, since they were not acquainted with the banchan or side dishes that accompany the main course. To use an analogy, banchan is basically the fries that go with a hamburger. Typical banchan you would see is kimchee (spicy pickled cabbage), seasoned soybean sprouts, an egg salad, or spicy pickled cucumbers (another type of kimchee). Banchan can be cooked, processed, or seasoned raw vegetables. The dish we ordered is eaten with sangchoo, or lettuce that you use to wrap your food. You basically use the big lettuce leaves as you would a Mexican tortilla and fill it with rice and a variety of meat and banchan, then eat it like a taco.

My friend was familiar with Korean food, but had never eaten sangchoo, which is more of a home-style meal. I was extremely pleased with this place. The service was excellent. Our server Dave made sure that we had everything we needed. Those unfamiliar with Korean cuisine will receive a lot of help from the waitstaff. My only disappointment with this place was that we were not given a complimentary after-dinner snack like fresh orange slices or a sweet drink, either shikae, a sweet rice drink, or a cinnamon-spiced persimmon drink called soo-jong-gya. That would have topped the whole experience off. Still, considering how much bang for the buck that I got, I’m not going to complain at all.

Our meal cost about $40 before tax and tip. We ate until we were stuffed, then took the meal home. We only got through half our meal. That's some serious bang for your buck.