Arirang

I was nervous about coming here because frankly, all the Asian restaurants I’ve been to in this area receive big fat F’s in my grade book. I decided to play it safe and stick to the Korean food, and I received a nice surprise. This place is tiny and easy to miss (better signage might help), but the service is good. The seafood pancakes are good. The kimchi stew and the side dishes are good. They serve a kind of tea I don’t think I’ve ever had before (can anyone identify it?) and it too was good. My only complaint? The rice had absolutely no flavor whatsoever. I was glad that I got my carb fix from the pancake beforehand.

My strategy was the polar opposite of James L. I walked in with a craving for Korean food so I homed in on that part of the menu and did not even look at the rest. I had the 9.99 lunch special of bokkum, which is pork strips stir-​fried and drenched in a red pepper sauce (not the super spicy kind, Korean red pepper sauce is silky and more mellow and with a touch of sweetness). Very good. Really hit the spot.
The entrée was accompanied by four panchan – marinated bean sprouts, kim chee (tasted like it came from Kim’s Market), tofu skins and potatoes that had been cooked in a sweet soy base – and miso soup. All was good to very good, the rice was excellent, and I was happy. The only other diner was also eating Korean. The lunch menu has bulgogki, kalbi, bibimpap, all the usual suspects… no need to stray from the Korean section. Go support this place before it goes away!

I forgot to take my aderall for my ADHD and went to Arirang cuz I wanted some Korean. It wasn’t a pretty sight skipping my medication. Noticed the place was pretty small, and as I was sat down, l looked at the small sushi bar and thought «ooh look, a sushi bar. I like sushi» Then I looked at the menu and saw that they had Thai food. «I like pad thai, tom yum kong. Oh they dont have tom yum kong. But I guess I’ll have Thai. Then I saw the Korean dishes and said «Ooh they have mandoo guk I like mandoo guk» For the next 10 minutes I couldnt made a decision. Then I saw «Jja jang myun» I asked the waitress in Korean if the Jja Jang Myun was good. She said it was really good. I smiled and ordered it.
My dish came out, saw the layer of grease in one bowl, and the noodles in another. I started to salivate. Lil cucumber. awww jeah… I poured the bowl into the noodles and started mixing. I took one bite.
Interesting. Not like I remember but… Another bite. hmm let me mix it up some more, maybe get a little beef strip in my mouth this time. I ate another bite and said I cant do this. It was a really really really sweet sauce and all watery. WTF. I think I’ll go back next time with medication and try the Korean.

I went to Arirang (Korean/​Thai/​Japanese) because Blue Spice was packed. I was totally weirded out when there were no customers, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the great food and warmth of the family who owns it. I only had the Thai dishes (spring rolls, salad with ginger dressing, and Spicy Basil Chicken, and my friend had the Red Curry with Chicken), but these were as good as Blue Spice across the street (which is getting all the attention and customers) and as good as any good Thai I have had in all other cities I have visited or lived in (Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, NYC). I want to go back and try the Korean, but unlike the Thai and Japanese (which have great descriptions), there are very limited descriptions of the Korean dishes. So, for us newbies to Korean food, we will have to ask them to describe it. But, I strongly recommend this restaurant and encourage others to go! The family is really nice and friendly too, which adds to the experience.

Well well well… here is a nice little find — FOR Thai food. I do not think I would recommend anything else but the Red Curry or Green Curry. I had the Red with Shrimps. They charge an extra $ 3.00 for shrimp instead of beef, pork or chicken — but for 12 large succulent beasties — I was happy to pay! Warning– this dish is spicy hot!!! I asked them not to go overboard on the hot, and it was till just barely edible for my taste. But Excellent. With perfectly cooked vegis — haricot vert (very skinny string beans), eggplant, red and green peppers, and lots of bamboo shoots — oh, and lovely pieces of fresh basil — all in a tastey coconut broth– served in a huge bowl with a spoon (it is a broth) –amazingly it stays hot for a good 45 minutes! Skip the Gyoza’s — they are fried– at least not greasy though. Fast service. I would like to see this nice family succeed. They need to work on the menu– but next time I crave this particular favorite Thai dish– I am there! ($ 16.95 for red curry with shrimp — well worth it) I have more than enough left over for lunch today!

Before I write anything… this korean restaurant is in Albany! So yeah, even alittle goes a long way and being that if you’re stuck here, anything remotely close to decent home-​style korean cooking will suffice FOR NOW. (can you tell upstate NY has made me desperate for good Asian food?)
The place is a small family joint, maybe around 10 tables. The food can be better, but I think alot of korean restaurants outside of the metropolitan NY area are a bit afraid to go all out with their usual spices b/​c they dont want to scare away people, and this place is the same.
Anyways, their jji-gae’s are decent, nothing spectacular like mom would make, but spicy enough that it’ll still probably make you sweat =)
I would stay away from the bbq and thai dishes b/​c they taste like something you can make out of an instant box… nothing spectacular, especially if you’ve ever had authentic korean and thai food in a more ethnically diverse area.
The korean food is safe as long as you remind yourself that you’re in upstate NY and you should be grateful for any halfway decent korean food at all!

My wife is Korean and we actively seek out new Korean restaurants in the Albany area. Honestly, we were excited to try a new place.
Unfortunately, we were really disappointed.
We started with some edemame. They were anemic and a very small portion. We then had some mondu (dumplings). They weren’t bad, its hard to ruin fried dumplings. Then came the bul-​go-​gi (forgive my spelling), the kimchi-​chige (kimchi soup) and bi-​bim-​bop (rice and things in a hot stone bowl). Granted, they don’t have cooking tables, so the grilling of the beef for the bul-​go-​gi is done in the kitchen and then served. it was oily and over-​saused. Looked like it was done in a wok and not on a grill. The kimchi-​chige was weak and the bi-​bim-​bop was mediocre. One of the best parts of the bi-​bim-​bop is the nu-​ron-​chi (crispy cooked rice bits encrusted onto the stone bowl). the rice was pretty old and there wasn’t any nu-​ron-​chi. Then, the topper! The pan-​chan. Pan-​chan is the myriad of little dishes of delectable treats to accompany your meal. At a regular korean restaurant, you’ll get a full compliment of pan-​chan per entrée. Here, we had 3 pan-​chan. 3 total! Some old kimchi (oh, it was horrible), some chorim potatoes and fried tofu. I actually asked the waitress (who was eating/​socializing with fiends at a nearby table) if «is this all the pan-​chan» and she said «yes». I was floored! It was about 6pm on a Wednesday and we were the only customers. I hate to see a restaurant fail but I have to say, this restaurant failed us. It will be highly unlikely that we will ever go back.
Our search for good Korean food in the Albany area continues.