Counter Culture

by Robert Sietsema

Not Quite Utopia

Choose Le Park Sa from Northern Boulevard's glittering Korean array. (photo: Tania Savayan)

A glance at the glittering profusion of Korean restaurants arrayed along Northern Boulevard induces despair. Which one to choose? There are dozens between Union Street and Utopia Parkway, all similarly convivial and festooned with strings of tiny white lights and neon Korean characters. I've tried several, and they fall roughly into four categories: the sprawling 24-hour complexes offering multipage compendia of Korean dishes; the smaller specialty places, sometimes featuring Chinese or Japanese food modified for Korean tastes; the neighborhood bars providing finger foods like raw pork belly and shucked oysters to line the stomachs of their hard-drinking patrons; and the tiny snack shops or bakeries. continued...