"My cousin texted me this morning: 'Seoul Hot Pot is open again,' and I drove in from Concord, Lake County," said diner Kevin Rice, polishing off a pan-fried seafood pancake and bubbling tofu stew.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When Jin and Bok Hu made the difficult decision to close their popular Seoul Hot Pot Korean restaurant in April 2012, they didn't know if they would reopen, or if customers would remember them if they did.
Tuesday afternoon, their second day back in business after his hip surgery and a 2 1/2-year hiatus, they realized they needn't have worried.
"My cousin texted me this morning: 'Seoul Hot Pot is open again,' and I drove in from Concord, Lake County," said diner Kevin Rice, polishing off a haemulpajun pan-fried seafood pancake and bubbling soontofu tofu stew. He said he was a regular at the restaurant before it closed, and that his two daughters share their birthdays with the owners.
Familiar faces poked their heads in to the brightly lit interior at 3709 Payne Ave., recognized the owners, and hurried over to clasp their hands in welcome.
A takeout order of bulgogi, marinated and stir-fried strips of beef topped with scallions and carrots, with a side of rice, from Seoul Hot Pot Korean restaurant in Cleveland. The lunchtime crowd streamed in as soon as the doors opened at 11:30 a.m., and lingered over their thinly sliced grilled beef in lettuce wraps well past 3 p.m.
Jin Hu pauses between handing out menus and collecting checks to chat with customers and explain the banchan (side dishes). About half of the diners chatted away in Korean, several commenting on how much brighter and cleaner the place looks now.
Jin Hu said it took about three months to scrub down and renovate the place. He tore out the old rugs and replaced them with hardwood floors, installed a spotless white ceiling and glass globe fixtures, and topped the tables with sheets of glass.
He was able to salvage some things from the old restaurant, but much of it is new, he said. The menu is also a bit smaller and more streamlined than before, and the place still has its liquor license.
Seoul Hot Pot Korean restaurant in Cleveland is named after dolsot bibimbop, or mixed rice topped with beef, vegetables, fried egg, and a generous squirt of hot sauce, served in a sizzling stone pot. They kept most of the comfort foods, from kalbi (marinated beef spare ribs) and sottukungkooyi (pork belly slices diners can grill at their tables), to yukgaejang (spicy beef soup with vegetables) and sulungtang (beef bone soup).
The Hu's, who emigrated from Seoul with their three children in 1983, moved to Cleveland to join Jin Hu's sister's family.
They opened their restaurant -- then called DeAngelo's Pizza -- in April 1985. "They called me 'DeAngelo,'" Jin Hu said, chuckling. They didn't serve Korean food at first, but customers clamored for Bok Hu's native dishes more than their pizza and subs, and so they switched menus.
Bok Hu still oversees all the cooking and in-house food preparation, while her husband takes orders, works the register, and refills plastic mugs with chilled Korean tea.
Working from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. six days a week, the Hu's are hoping to hire a server. They say the person doesn't have to know how to speak Korean, although that would be a bonus.
On Tuesday, Carlos Munguia drove from Strongsville with his parents, Jose and Maria. His Korean brother-in-law taught them all to love Korean food, Munguia explained. His parents, both mid-bite, nodded their heads and smiled.
How did Munguia know the restaurant had reopened? "I drove past and saw the sign," he said.