meddle
Once again, I went to have lunch with a friend in Shin-Okubo, and this time we chose a Korean restaurant that had caught my eye before, called "Kurumu". It's about a 5-minute walk from Shin-Okubo Station, and it's almost directly across the street from "Pungm" which I visited recently. The restaurant is on the second floor, with a cosmetics store on the first floor, and there is also a related store in the basement. Lunch cannot be reserved, and I had heard that it is a very popular place, so we decided to go around 10:30 am when they open at 11 am, and we were already 12th in line. More customers arrived later, and by opening time, there were nearly 30 groups waiting in line. Looking at the people waiting in line, there were overwhelmingly more women, and it felt a bit out of place. At 11 am, the staff started guiding the first group of 8 to enter. Similar to Pungm, the staff take care of serving the dishes, so it seemed like they couldn't accommodate too many customers at once. After a while, another group of about 8 was guided in as the second group, and that's when we were able to enter. Even after entering, we were asked to wait a bit before ordering, but we were able to take our time looking at the menu inside and since it was still before 11 am, being 12th in line turned out to be fine. As for the lunch menu, it's a set menu consisting of a main dish + staple food + vegetable dish, priced at \2,508 (tax included) and up. The biggest attraction is the vegetable dish, which comes with a large serving of fresh vegetables that you can have refills of. You can also order the main dish separately, so we chose Samgyeopsal and Bossam (+\330), the staple food was Cheese Kimchi Jeon (+\110), and we went with cold noodles. There were kimchi, green onions, radish, and onions on the table from the start, and we enjoyed them while waiting for our dishes. First, the vegetable dish arrived, and it was indeed huge, with a mountain of lettuce, Sunny lettuce, perilla leaves, watercress, sprouts, tomatoes, pumpkins, and more. It was a challenging amount for two people to finish, and even though they said refills were allowed, it seemed like hardly anyone would go for seconds. The Samgyeopsal was grilled on a special iron plate with holes, allowing the excess fat to drain off. It came with kimchi, and the pork fat made it fragrant. The Bossam was steamed pork belly, which wasn't as fragrant but was easy to eat. The grilled or steamed meat is placed on a leaf, rolled with green onions and kimchi, and eaten. With the large amount of vegetables, you don't really notice the fat content. The Jeon was filled with kimchi and topped with a lot of cheese, making it undeniably delicious. I forgot to take a picture of the cold noodles, but they were refreshing and perfect for changing the taste. Even after finishing the meal, we had about 1/4 of the vegetables left, but the staff made a smoothie out of them for us. They must have added pear because it had a sweet taste and was easy to drink. The price is on the higher side, but considering the large amount of vegetables, it's not a bad deal, and all the dishes tasted great. The staff's service was just right and created a pleasant atmosphere, so I could understand why it's so popular. Next time, I want to go with someone who enjoys eating a lot of vegetables and challenge the refills of the vegetable dish.