Category: Charleston Eats

843 Korean BBQ & Sushi House has been open for a little bit under a year now, and today we got around to trying it out.

There was a bit of a wait to get into the Korean BBQ side of the restaurant, but not too long.

This was the first Korean restaurant I’ve seen in the Charleston area with grills in the table since Kim’s in West Ashley (although by the time I had started going there in the early-mid 2000s, they weren’t being used anymore).

Having a grill in the table and cooking your own food there is definitely an experience.

They offer an all-you-can-eat option which comes out just marginally less expensive than ordering off the menu. Everyone at the table has to order it though and there ends up being a whole lot of food. Something to consider if you’re in a group with big appetites.

The japchae came out first, Delicious combination of rice noodles, zucchini, carrots, green onions flavoured nicely with sesame oil. Very tasty.

Then the Korean BBQ came out all at once: bulgogi, chicken, pork belly, and the banchan

The waiter fired up the grill for us, and we placed the meat onto the hot surface. Everything is thinly sliced, so the cooking only takes a couple of minutes on each side. You can make lettuce wraps with everything if you choose, or just eat. The bulgogi was the winner for both of us.

Banchan was yummy, with several different kinds of kimchi and this odd dish of peanuts and small fish.

Wasn’t a big fan of this one.

Overall, 843 Korean is definitely worth a visit. Can be a bit on the spendy side, but very delicious and fun. Definitely will be going back again.

We made a stop at Swig & Swine for lunch today. Between the two of us, the 2-meat platters let us sample almost all of their smoked meat offerings. If you can, sit toward the back at their “meat counter” where you can watch the guys pulling and slicing slabs of meat to fill orders. Fun place to sit and watch.

While we were waiting, the guy slicing meats was nice enough to give us a sample of the pork belly. So delicious.

Soon after came our platters: Pulled pork/house made sausage with cheddar grits and pickled vegetables, and smoked turkey/brisket with brunswick stew and beans with brisket.

For dessert, we split a chocolate pecan pie.

Be hungry when you go. You’ll probably leave with leftovers.

Stopped in to check out the relatively new Korean/Japanese restaurant that opened up on Johns Island in what used to be a fried chicken joint. It’s a very unassuming place and doesn’t look like much. The food was very good though. The bibimbop bowl was hot and very tasty with a spicy red hot sauce you can have on the dish or on the side.

The beef bulgogi was pretty good, flavourful but a little bit on the dry side and lacking a bit in colour. 

The usual side dishes that accompany many Korean side dishes (banchan) were very good as well.

Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area, and nice to see a little more diversity coming to the Johns Island eating scene.