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PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

GOOD GRILL. Steve Baek and Sue Yoo are the owner and manager, respectively, of Honey Pig Korean Barbeque in Lakewood. The restaurant serves a variety of raw meats that patrons can cook on grills at each table.

Local restaurant serves up tastes of Korean barbeque

By Meghan Erkkinen

Two years ago, Lakewood chiropractor Steve Baek had a dream of bringing the authentic taste and culture of his native Korea to American people.

“I’ve been to quite a few Korean restaurants, but they’re geared toward Korean people only,” said Baek, who moved to the Tacoma area from Los Angeles five years ago. “We wanted to appeal to mainstream Americans.”

Baek is the owner of Honey Pig Korean Barbeque, in Lakewood’s international district. He purchased the restaurant and tried to make it more appealing to Americans, while still retaining the traditions of Korean barbeque.

The restaurant features 17 tables along with three meeting rooms. Eleven of the tables feature small grills, so patrons can order combinations of raw meat, both marinated and naked, to cook and eat. The combinations come with traditional Korean side dishes, such as kimchi, soup, rice and various dipping sauces. The meat can be dipped and wrapped in a rice wrap with cabbage and a slice of radish, or can be eaten any other way a customer chooses.

Patrons also have the option of having the food cooked for them in the restaurant kitchen, but restaurant manager Sue Yoo recommends they immerse themselves in the full experience.

“Usually it tastes better when you cook on your own,” she said. “You can cook at your own pace, you can slow down.”

Baek decorated the restaurant interior himself to resemble an upscale Los Angeles restaurant, while inserting hints of Korean culture. Korean music and the Food Network set the tone and whet the appetite of patrons.

The interior decoration, Baek said, is just one more way to introduce Americans to a culture he knows and loves.

“This is one place you can come to enjoy an exotic experience,” he said. “I wanted to introduce a new manner, a new etiquette (to eating). I wanted to introduce the quality it has.”

So far, business has been good and the restaurant has seen a lot of American customers, he added.

In addition to Korean barbeque, the restaurant also offers a selection of Korean alcohol including varieties of beer to rice wine.

Individual meals cost anywhere from $8 and $25 per person, and an all-you-can-eat combination of meat and side dishes costs $17.95 per person. Combinations for groups are also available.

Honey Pig Korean Barbeque is located at 9104 South Tacoma Way in Lakewood. It is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information or to reserve a meeting room, call (253) 581-1200.

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