PePeRo
I love great Korean food, so I’ve been asking around in Charlotte for recommendations, and everyone I ask names PePeRo. It’s a small Asian grocery store that has a tiny restaurant in the back.
Extremely unassuming
From the outside, PepeRo looks like a dive. You honestly question if you should walk in or not. The front has a stone façade; however, the rest of the building looks almost like a large metal shed with a green awning. The inside doesn’t look much better…
Should I stay, or should I go?
When you walk in, the grocery store is to the left. You’ll see a few aisles of super-crowded shelves and boxes weirdly piled on the floor. Unorganized? Absolutely. Along the perimeter are frozen and refrigerated food cases where you can pick up dumplings, short rib, tofu, and other key staples in Asian cuisine. On the right are two small rooms filled with wooden booths and fluorescent lighting. If I didn’t trust the people who recommended PePeRo to me, I would surely have walked out at this point. I moved past the decor, though.
An impressive menu
The menu is expansive, given the size of the restaurant. It covers all the key staples of Korean cuisine: kimchi pancakes, Kalbi, bulgogi, and many soups. Everything is very reasonably priced. In fact, I’d say it’s downright cheap.
How’s the food?
Here’s what my friend and I ordered:
Steamed Mandoo. Think of this like steamed veggie dumpling-meets-bun. It was good, but I think it would be better to order the fried version (yakimandoo).
Bulgogi. Korean BBQ marinated beef. This dish is meant for two people. It’s sweet and delicious, served with white rice on the side. The flavor is very authentic — it’s one of the more flavorful bulgogi dishes I’ve had.
Jab Chae. The best Jab Chae I’ve had! Stir-fried clear noodles with assorted vegetables — and I ordered the beef. There’s so much flavor in this little dish.
Yaki Udon. HOLY YUM! The best things are often unexpected; this was my favorite dish. Udon noodles are stir-fried with hard-boiled egg, crab meat, fish cakes, and mixed veggies. Again, it had so much flavor — it was utterly delicious, slightly peppery, and had the tastiest sauce.
My verdict?
Next time I need to get the Kalbi (short rib). Given how good everything I order was, I’m sure these would be no exception. But I know I need to branch out… I ordered what I’m most familiar with; next time, I want to ask what the best dishes they make are. So, I give it a 7/10. While the atmosphere is severely lacking, the food more than makes up for it. It’s excellent, home-cooked Korean food that will keep you craving more. I already can’t wait to
