Diaspora

Korean isn't exactly the first cuisine that comes to mind when I think of comfort food, but looking around the restaurant tonight, there were plenty of Koreans who seemed pleased as punch to have found Diaspora. I had to look up Diaspora to see why they chose the name and it basically refers to a group of people that have been displaced outside of their traditional homeland. In Diaspora, we were definitely a diaspora. The rest of the patrons seemingly lost their diaspora status the minute they walked in the door. I know, I know...stereotypes. 

We were a small but mighty group tonight - the tried and true Yummers who join for the benefit of group interaction and to broaden our horizons and try new cuisines. The staff of Diaspora was fantastic. They were eager to help us understand what we were about to order and were patient with our indecisiveness and rapid-fire questions. RJ had a citrus-spiked beef dish served with rice that was pretty good. Jessy had a delectable spicy pork dish served with rice that was amazing - and I don't even like pork! Samadu and I had the dolsot bimbimbop which was steamed rice topped with vegetables and an egg, served in a crazy hot stone bowl that cooked the egg and kept the food warm. Some I recognized but most of the vegetables were new to me - cucumber, zucchini, carrot, white radish, mushrooms (blek), bellflower root (weird tuber type thing), as well as spinach, soybean sprouts, and bracken fern stems (these looked like tiny octopus tentacles). CoCo had a bowl that contained nearly two gallons of spicy red broth with noodles, octopus, squid, oysters (or clams?), shrimp (with the eyes and shell) and half a crab. I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw this dish. But if seafood's your thing - this is the dish to get.

The lemon cocktail was delicious (tasted like Sprite and vodka) and came in a bong-type jar with colorful shotglasses. My pals who lived in Korea were disappointed that it wasn't made with Soju which is apparently illegal to sell in Ohio. Not to be confused with Soulja Boy.  

Sam and I each got a "side" with our meal and we searched all over the menu for the sides we could choose from. As it turns out, they bring you a whole tray of sides that compliment whatever entree is ordered. The potatoes soaked in sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar were delicious. The broccoli salad had crab meat so I declined, but everyone loved it. Coco and Jessy were all over the kimchi and I liked the Italian squash. The fish cake wasn't my favorite either and the egg-wrapped seaweed was, um, interesting. 

Diaspora was cool. The interior reminded me a bit of Pinkberry and while the food isn't my favorite, I'm glad I can say I gave it a shot. Maybe we'll have pizza or something tame for the next YUM Club to reward ourselves for being so open-minded and adventurous!

Thanks to Lisa S. for the interior lights photograph from her review on Yelp.com