I tried these spots around the intersection of Lee Rd and Edgewater Dr on Saturday at lunch. The first is on Edgewater. One block north of Lee in what may be the longest running worst strip mall in the area. The second is at the intersection on the far left if coming from I-4. The last is back towards I-4 on the south side in a strip mall next to Mee Thai. I should say that none of these was Plan A. And FYI - A place on Lee called Cookies is just a head shop.
K-Jumak - It is Korean. Internet has them as Korean Jumak too. They opened three weeks ago. Still in soft opening. Menu was small. Not sure if that is the trial menu. They had two apps. Dduk Bok Gi (they said it was a fried rice cake) at $15 and Soondae (beef small intestine) at $18. Love apps that cost more than mains. Two bops. Bi Bim Bop at $15 and a Stone Pot one at $16. Seven soups from $16 to $18. I'm only listing them in English - ox bone, beef innare/lean meat, beef intestine, blood pudding, pork back bone, beef fern and collard green beef rib. One Galbi Tang (Collard Green Beef Rib Stew) at $45. I had the Yuk Gae Jang (beef fern soup) for $16. Because I've never tried it before and have rarely tried fiddlehead fern (which is what I think it really is). It was good. Not too spicy, red broth. Like a minestrone. Beef broth. Stewed down onions, scallions, long stringy sprouts and something that looked like a non-spicy jalapeno (sliced and halved). The beef was in long strands. Tender. I was shocked. Scrambled eggs. And the ferns? They looked like dark green, skinny string beans. No circular tops. They tossed in a side of properly steamed white rice. Also, four bonchon (sesame oil bean sprouts, kim chi and two spicy roots (burdock and daikon?). The place is a blank, white square. Maybe eight tables. I mean it is good that something (anything) is coming to this area. I'm not sure you have to make it a bucket list item. But, it is fine if you are in the neighborhood. Not a ton of (or any) Korean places around. Like I said, the soup was tasty and they did have some more adventurous items. Open for lunch and dinner. Not sure if they take a day off. I had a great topical joke around the similarity with their name and the Big Mac, but, I will probably get shadow banned again if I tell it. Not that I am probably still banned anyway.
Southern Style BBQ - Wednesday through Saturday. Open for two years (but I swear some entity has been in this spot for a long time). A food truck with grills on the road. You can smell it in the air. I didn't inspect the heat source. Parking is tough. I tried a 1/4 chicken plate (two sides) for $8 and rib tips for $7. Both portions were huge. The chicken was smallish and had that weird pink look and rubbery texture you get with smoking. Still ok. Lots of potato salad and mac and cheese. I think the potato salad was store bought. It had that vinegar-y taste. The mac may have been home made. It tasted of bad American cheese. Never had that brand before if it was store bought. Mac was cooked properly though. I had a mix of Gold and another sweet bbq sauce on the chicken. I had hot bbq sauce on the tips. Good. Almost boneless. He also offered up sausage and hamburger (they looked fat and juicy) plates. Same price. Wings starting at 10 for $10. He said fried. I saw some on the grill too. Ribs starting at $18. Slab was $34. Sandwich was $13. Pulled pork sandwich at $8. Other sides - collards, beans and cole slaw. Sirloin sometimes. As I've said before, these set ups usually are more grill than smoke to my mind. It gives a different flavor/texture. I prefer low and slow. But, this is one of the better "grills" I've come across in town. That and the reasonable prices and large portions may tempt you too.
Over Rice - A Hawaiian/Filipino brick and mortar for a food truck you may have seen. Open for a year. I, stupidly, got talked into a "pork belly" banh mi special for $13. I should have stuck with the $3.50 spam musubi alone. That was ok. Good rice. Freshly made. Thin spam slice though. The banh mi should have been an embarrassment to serve. 95% of the "belly" (seemed like stew meat) was inedible. And I mean you could not eat it. It was like hard rubber. It could not be chewed. And the sad thing was that I had to wait for it. One cook. And I was first in line. The baguette seemed made by a multi-national. Those little, industrial ping marks on the bottom. Little veg. Ok aioli. They also sell two versions of kulua pork or hali hali chicken or one other thing (beef?) for $16. Moco loco and sisig (but not real sisig). Lumpia (fried spring rolls). Salmon on rice. It's small. A few tables. Some Hawaiian decor. Based on the disrespect that banh mi represented, I obviously can not recommend them. And I've had some of these dishes in Hawaii for nearly half the cost.
*Travel Notes - Mexico (Cancun): I used a $150 voucher I got from Frontier (Mid AM flights) and the ticket cost $26. They had few non-stops other than this. I hadn't been in here twenty years. We got delayed after landing both ways. You come in and out at Terminal 4. Odd fact - these jerks have to give you a free boarding pass on international flights. That helps when their god damn web site gets hung up checking you in and they charge $25 for a physical check in. I consulted the tourist booth. Used a HSBC atm at the exit. I took the Ado bus (they have a few ticket counters on the way out) from the airport to downtown for 130P. The exchange rate was down to around 17. These Ado buses also go to places like Tulum and Mayan Riviera. They were fine. Stopped at Terminal 3 for a bit of a delay. The taxis seemed like too much negotiating and the shared buses seemed like a pain. No offices at the airport and a couple I tried online (ahead of time) wanted the full bus fare ($250 - not pesos!) to take you. I grabbed some food at Soriano across from the bus station. Took a R1 (also R2) bus to my hotel on the north part of the lagoon for 12P. Cancun is like a square around this lagoon. You can stay on the top or right side (east) of it. I thought it might be cheaper on the transportation cost if I stayed closer to DT. Nope. One price. I also thought the south road was closed to traffic to and from the airport. Nope. I actually think I cost myself more money taking a taxi (750P) back to the airport because he took the long way anyway. It was a flat fare. Internet said it should be 700P. My hotel probably screwed me out of 50P. I'm not sure if it the same from every hotel. My hotel was called the Real Inn (Expedia 7.8 and VIP). I originally booked it for $110 a night (4). They wouldn't honor the room upgrade and the street side was so noisy as to be uninhabitable. I paid an extra $10 a night for a lagoon view. Best money ever spent. Night and day. Quiet (except for the ice machine and room service/maid trolleys). Good view. They gave you water and daily maid service. Most other hotels under $100 looked like shit in real life. Glad I didn't chintz. I didn't do much except "explore". Found a public beach across the street. Went there every morning. Swam in the pool. Read. Walked to downtown and beyond (Playa Chac-Mool+) one day. Farther (Playa Ballenas) on the bus and back another day. Went to the La Isla mall+ (ferris wheel there for $15). No fridge at hotel. I mostly ate tuna fish (with mayo and mustard I took from ZaZa at the airport) and chips and tortillas. And peanut butter "cups" I swiped from other hotels in the past. You can get these past TSA. Had these pretty good tacos at the OXXO market at their grill called O'Sabor a few times. Chicken Tinga, Machaca con Huevos and Poc Chuc (grilled, marinated pork and onions). Only 24P. I wasn't really excited about going. But, it turned out alright. If I go back, I will take the bus back to the airport. I just didn't want a hassle this time. And stay on the east side. Maybe bundle in the Mayan Riviera. FYI - I had already done Chichen Itza and all those things. It was a little cool for scuba. Didn't think the ferries to Isla Mujeres and Xcaret seemed worth it.
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