Hagawon on Richmond at Kirkwood is the latest addition to our fast-growing Korean tofu and barbecue-restaurant category. The interior is bright and shiny with wacky Korean graphics. I love the poster about making tofu by hand "like god intended." I ordered the $8.95 bulgogi lunch special there the other day. The lunch comes with all those little dishes of kimchee and tofu and pickles on the side, so it's a pretty good deal. But it took me a quite a while to get the Korean waitress to understand that I wanted Romaine lettuce leaves on the side so I could make lettuce leaf tacos with my bulgogi instead of eating it on a big pile of rice -- eventually, I got the lettuce.
My lunchmate got the $6.95 tofu soup lunch special. The soup also comes with the side dishes plus a raw egg and a bowl of rice. My companion ordered the soup extra-spicy. The broth was bright-orange from all the chiles and insanely hot. I called her Hot Lips for the rest of the afternoon.
