Gastronomical Korean Cuisine? Amazing experience at Andrew Ahn's Ssam in Beijing

A few nights ago I tried Ssam, Andrew Ahn's gastronomical Korean restaurant in Beijing's Soho Towers (Note: building complexes in Beijing are named for geographical features in New York: Soho, Central Park, The Village). 

It really was probably the most creative and enjoyable Korean dining I've ever had (though Kogi BBQ and Chilantro, I love your Mexican-Korean creations too!). If you are in Beijing, I would definitely recommend stopping by, though it's a nightmare to find in the confusing and half-empty Soho towers whose numbering system is confusing and non-linear. (Instructions: Go down the outdoor escalators, keep walking along the glass walls and turn left. It faces outdoors).

I've been waiting for Korean food to break into the American mainstream. It's the only major Asian cuisine yet to do so: Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese ...and even Malaysian. And it seemed like from the street food side, the Korean taco trucks were really making inroads. My theory was that it was a combo of the kim chee, and the names were somewhat intimidating. And if you are Korean immigrant and just wanted to open up a restaurant you would just open up a Chinese or Japanese one, where you didn't have to fight to educate the public.

And now there is Ssam and Andrew Ahn (watch him on video). If only this were in New York City! It would make quite a splash. Reviews in The Beijinger, City Weekend and Time Out Beijing have generally been glowing, with some quibbles.

Ahn takes the heart and soul of Korean cuisine and lays it out in delicate configurations laced new ingredients. It's bibimbap, but configured as a flat cake (instead of in the stone bowl), topped with quail egg. Yook hwe (Korean beef carpaccioThis is not fusion cuisine, as Ahn says. It's modern Korean cuisine. Everything that came out was delightful in some way. We ordered the mixed plates of ssam (wrapped rolls), jeon (pancakes), 

And it's not snooty in its breadth of Korean cuisine. One of the dishes on the menu was budaejigae, or army stew, a Korean classic which is filled with baked beans, sliced cheese, sausage and macaroni. It's a nod to Korea's not-too-long ago impoverished past when they scraped together meals with the U.S. Army consignment leftovers. Ahn takes the favorite and reinterprets in a fancier way.

There were three of us (A Googler, an LATimes reporter and me). We just kept ordering everything that delighted us on the menu, taking the tasting menu as a guide. We  thought it was going to be superexpensive when the check came but turned out to be around US$40 a piece, including wine and watermelon juice (my favorite drink). We would have ordered dessert, but we were stuffed.

So that's my plug. Definitely recommend if you are in Beijing.

English address B1-238, Tower 2, Sanlitun SOHO, Gongrentiyuchang Bei Lu, Chaoyang district

Chinese address 朝阳区工人体育场北路三里屯SOHO二座B1-238 (Again, hard to find. Go down the outdoor escalators, follow the wall, turn left)