Arikei

Review

A quick trip to Korea

Photo: Heribert Corn Soo Yeon Lee doesn't like to talk about the Arisu. Seven years ago, she opened her small restaurant with friends in the Korea Kulturhaus am Irissee in Donaupark, where she tried to combine Korean cuisine with modern Western culinary culture. Somehow there was a divergence, however, and unfortunately there is no Korean restaurant there today. Instead, Mrs. Mhi Hee Lee asked if she would like to take over her restaurant EN. After 18 years, she and her husband, one of the best sushi makers in Vienna, wanted to retire. Soo Yeon Lee hesitated and finally took it. And turned it into a really pretty daytime restaurant in which the old, beautiful wooden beams of the EN blend in well with the modern furniture. The patterns behind the glass cabinets are inspired by old Korean textiles, she says, very beautiful, very subtle. But you shouldn't just go to Arikei because it looks good, but also because it tastes very good. And because it's incredibly quick. And because it costs very little money. The procedures are a little unusual, as you choose what you want to eat right at the front counter - the small size of the menu, four starters and six main courses, makes this easy - get an order number and can choose a table. The Korean tradition of putting everything on the table at the same time has been abandoned for the sake of local eating habits, which is almost a shame, but since the main courses are served with a range of side dishes, salads and small bites, the impression of opulence remains at least a little.
The mandus - Korea's answer to gyoza and jiaozi - were already great at Arisu and are just as great here, tender, deliciously filled and crispy fried, they are available with both "normal" vegetables and with a kimchi filling (€ 4.50), but the tofu blocks wrapped in wafer-thin batter with a delicious vinegar, soy, garlic and cornstarch marinade are also not to be missed (€ 4.50).
They come in a small version with the main courses anyway, but it doesn't matter, you can easily eat them twice. There is also a pleasant little sprout salad, a radish kimchi that is quite tolerable in its spiciness, a more western-style green salad with a sesame marinade and purple "Heukmi" rice. It's hard to choose between classic beef bulgogi and spicy pork bulgogi, both are great, but the belly meat with the garlic, onions and chili is really extraordinarily delicious. Chicken stew and the beef broth are quickly finished, the eggplant - filled with either beef or tofu - unfortunately falls a little short. But no matter, great, new, good food, after eating which you just smell a little of garlic. Summary: Korean cuisine that is ordered quickly and served quickly, but is therefore far from being fast food. Arikei 1st, Werdertorg. 8, Tel. 0664/990 50 058, Mon-Fri 11.30-14.30,

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