Danji

A's last day at his job was back in January. We wanted to celebrate the event with a nice lunch so we decided to go to Danji. We've both wanted to go to Danji for years, but every time we've thought about it or passed by, there was always a line since it's such a small spot. We're not big fans of waiting in line so we always figured we'd go another time. We thought it might be a little emptier for lunch and we were happy to be right.

We started out with a couple of their appetizers. One that we knew we wanted was the bulgogi sliders, but we debated a bit on the other since so many things sounded delicious. A was in the mood for wings, though, and since this was a celebration of him, wings it was. Spicy 'K.F.C.' Korean Fire Chicken Wings are their version of Korean fried chicken. They're smothered in a sauce made with honey, garlic, and four different types of chilies. Both of us were very happy that A had a craving for wings as these were phenomenal. The sauce had a beautiful blend of sweet, salty, and spicy. Even with the 4 chili blend, the heat wasn't so overpowering that you couldn't taste anything else. The honey was very subtle, but it balanced out the flavors so nicely with just that hint of sweetness. What we both agreed was that, due to decorum, neither of us should pick up the plate and lick up the remaining sauce. We certainly both wanted to, though.

As for the bulgogi sliders, M had one back in 2011, and ever since then she's been wanting more. The sliders come topped with a spicy pickled cucumber and scallion salsa. What they don't mention is that the buns are butter griddled which makes them AWESOME. This was the best thing we ate during this meal (although there was some serious competition). The buttery bun combined with the sweet and salty beef paired with the sour and spicy cucumber and mild sharpness of the scallion salsa to create one of the most wondrous flavor combinations either of us has ever had. A totally understood why M kept raving about these sliders for so long.

For the entree, M opted for Danji's version of the croque madame. They called it the croque ajuma (Korean for aunt) which amused us both. This sandwich was, beyond a doubt, a complete gut bomb. That doesn't mean it was bad; far from it. But it was huge and really rich and heavy. So what was in the croque ajuma? The croque ajushi (monsieur) was two thick cut slices of country bread with kimchi, bacon, gruyere, and bechamel. The ajuma added to the ajushi an egg on top and some truffle oil.

The sandwich was really good, but it was pretty large, much bigger than we thought it would be. We were so full by the end of this that we ended up taking a piece home for dinner. The egg was done perfectly, and the cheese and bechamel were broiled on top the way a croque madame should be. M didn't really taste much truffle oil, but A tasted a little bit here and there. The combination of kimchi, bacon, and cheese is always a good one, which we've known ever since we made kimchi grilled cheese at home (and didn't post about it), so we were pretty happy with the taste of this sandwich. We would get it again, but maybe not get any other entrees with it since it was so large!

A got the spicy pork bibim-bap and made it a set which added their trio of kimchi and a bowl of their daikon beef soup. At first glance the odd thing about this bibim-bap was that the rice and egg came in the bowl, but the vegetables - greens, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, and bean sprouts - and protein all came separately. Neither of us had ever seen that type of presentation before.

The bibim-bap was tasty. The pork had a nice sweet and spicy flavor to it, and the vegetables were light and fresh. The only downside was that we both prefer the hot stone bowls to crisp up the rice, but this wasn't that type of bibim-bap. Overall the dish was good but not that different from bibim-bap at other Korean restaurants, except for high ingredient quality. The kimchi trio was tasty and fresh. The cucumber and cabbage versions had a good acidity to pair with the salty and spicy flavors. The mushroom was less spicy, but they also had a really nice mild sweetness. The soup was delicious. It was warming, had good richness from the beef and bone broth, and was perfect for the cold day.

At the end of the day we were both very happy to have made it out to Danji for lunch. There have been so few weekdays off for the both of us so we really wanted to take advantage of A's last day. We really loved this meal, and hope that in the future we'll have a chance to make it back for either lunch or dinner.