Korean Delights at Adam Express

Adam Express

3211 Mt. Pleasant St NW

Washingtion, DC 20010 

Nom Nom Nom (3)

Cost Per Person: $10-15 per person

Last night the roommate and I were being lazy and wanted to hide from the cold so we opted for another take-out smorgasbord, but after the lackluster trip to Mayflower, and with the return of winter we also decided to stay close and go with a safe bet. All reasons to go to my usual lazy dinner takeout place, Adam Express! Don't be fooled by that statement "usual lazy dinner takeout place" because among the reasons Mount Pleasant is amazing is that my lazy takeout spot serves absolutely incredible Korean food.

Adam Express is an experience I think everyone who lives in DC, or at least northwest DC should have sometime in their time here. I have heard many friends say that there are very few quality legitimate hole in the wall places in this city. Adam Express shatters that claim. The seating is much more of a waiting area with stools that can seat at most 6 people, but I would suggest dining in there sometime; it's a lively cozy place to people watch.

Speaking of people watching, there are two other reasons that keep me coming back aside from the delicious food. Their names are Bae Hyolyuk and Boo Hyang, the husband and wife (respectively) who own and run the place with only each others help. While occasionally difficult to understand, they are an incredibly cute and kind couple. They seem to genuinely love their jobs and seem to gracefully work together knowing what each other needs and wants often without uttering a word. Even if the food was mediocre, their smiles and laughter would keep me coming back.

But the food, oh the food. I will revisit Adam Express and explore their Chinese and Japanese menus in further detail, but as they are a Korean couple, I tend to stick to their Korean menu. For now that's what this post will focus on. Quick note, though, if you're curious: the sushi in my experience was mediocre so it's only worthwhile if you live nearby and dying for sushi and the Chinese is slightly better than takeout. Higher quality meat, less grease and fresh veggies.

Back to the Korean dishes. I am by far not an expert on anything Korean. You can see their menu here, and if visit them you can also see beautiful pictures of most of their menu to aid you in the decision process. My personal favorite is the Chicken Bul Go Gi which is a very spicy chicken dish mixed with a lot of veggies including broccoli and kimchi. It always leaves my mouth on fire in the best way possible.

For the uninitiated or less adventurous I would suggest the Tang Su Yuk (Korean styled sweet and sour chicken) or the Kan Pung Gi (Korean styled spicy fried boneless chicken). The latter is still really spicy, but both are far more similar to Chinese (or Americanized Chinese) dishes than the rest of the Korean offerings. If you want to go for authentic the Bibim Bap (assorted vegetables, marinated beef, egg, steamed rice and Korean styled hot sauce) and you can find out more by reading the adorable children's book Bee-bim Bop! that usually sits somewhere in the dining/waiting area at Adam Express.

Vegetarians: The menu does contain a few dishes that are vegetarian liked a Korean steamed tofu, but the variety is limited. I have never had a problem asking for a substitution of chicken in place of beef and am positive you could do the same for tofu.

What We Ordered: Wanting to sample as many signature items as possible while also being somewhat adventurous we ordered 4 items: Bibim Bap (of course!), Bul Go Gi (thinly sliced boneless rib eye steak marinated with Adam Express's special sauce), Chap Chae (vermicelli noodles, shredded beef, vegetables sauteed in specially seasoned sauce) and  Kim Chee Gee Gae Soup (kim chee, pork, tofu, green onion and rice).

From left to right: Chap Chae, Bibim Bap, Bul Go Gi
In the back: Kimchi, Kim Chee Gee Gae Soup, rice.

The Bibim Bap was great, a lot of deliciously prepared veggies, tender beef with the nice contrast of the fried egg. If you can tolerate spice you would be missing out by not adding the hot sauce. Don't let friends mistake the hot sauce for ketchup though! It may look similar, but it's far more flavorful and far far far spicier than any ketchup I've ever met.

We opted for the more traditional beef version of Bul Go Gi and while it was satisfying, this may be one of my least favorite dishes. The beef is incredibly tender and moist, but lacks flavor. I had to mix in some of the kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage) to give it the extra kick I wanted.

The meat for the Chap Chae was the same as the Bul Go Gi, but the Chap Chae had a lot more veggies and the vermicelli noodles provide a nice change in texture and is a fantastic carrier of delicious sauce. Vermicelli noodles are made from rice, are incredibly thin and often are clear, but with the Chae Chae sauce they took on a brown color and were incredibly flavorful. I will definitely be ordering this again when I'm in the mood for beef over my standard Chicken Bul Go Gi.

Finally the Kim Chee Gee Gae Soup. Kimchi, in my limited experience, is synonymous with Korean cuisine. Even if an individual dish doesn't come with it, you cannot have Korean food without fermented spicy cabbage and from all reviews I've read Adam Express makes their own. The cabbage retains a nice crunch and even folks like myself who shy from cabbage normally should love it's complex flavors after the fermentation process. The soup uses the incredible earthy, spicy, aromatic flavor of the kimchi to create one of the best broths I've ever had. Think the best vegetable broth, but thicker, stronger and spicier with tofu, pork and rice. I can definitely see this curing any ol' cold and will likely be ordered next time I get the sniffles!

What We Thought: I guess it's obvious by now that Adam Express is a big personal favorite and my roommate is quite a fan as well. Aside from the Bul Go Gi beef lacking some flavor, there is not much I can say negative about this place with two warnings:

1. The wait at Adam Express can be substantial. When you call, normally Bae (the husband) answers the phone. Normally he says 15 minutes, and I give him 30 minutes. If he says more I take that number and multiply it by 1.5. Last night he told us 30 minutes and the food took almost an hour. During slow weekday times he might say 10 minutes and legitimately mean 10 minutes, but otherwise call substantially ahead.
2. As I said, the couple are the only folks who work at Adam Express and they are incredibly sweet, but putting in a phone order can be very frustrating. Know exactly what you want and be very clear about it when you call in an order. If at all possible, attempt the names of the dishes because describing them may not be good enough.

Judgement: Adam Express, unsurprisingly makes me go nom, nom, nom! For the price, I can't think of anything better that I've had in Mount Pleasant (yet). The cute old Korean couple, the cozy hole in the wall restaurant and amazing food are all strong positives. The only thing keeping me from issuing more noms is the long wait and often frustrating ordering process. Many times I've tried getting the Kang Pang Gi, but ended up with the Chicken Bul Go Gi. I still enjoyed my meal and vowed to learn the name of the dishes, but eater beware.

Adam Express is not somewhere to go when you need food fast (Adam Slow, But Amazing is more like it), but if you have the time and want great Southeast Asian food at low prices for DC, you can't go wrong. Now if you excuse me, I have some Chap Chae leftovers to devour.

Stay hungry my friends.