A barbecue-and-banchan feast at Shin Chon.
Think of the DC area’s “Koreatown” and you might picture the veteran bulgogi houses of Annandale or the burgeoning scene in Centreville. Together, they make up one of the great Korean food destinations this side of Seoul or SoCal.
But our region has a
nother Koreatown, too: a constellation of strip-mall businesses along a stretch of Route 40 in Ellicott City.
Soo Park, a print-shop owner and well-connected local businessman, says Koreans—some of whom had first made their living as shop owners in Baltimore—began moving to the Howard County town more than 25 years ago in search of better schools and affordable homes. A Korean business district began to coalesce around a Lotte Plaza Korean supermarket and spread westward. The neighborhood was recognized officially as Maryland’s Koreatown by governor Larry Hogan in 2021.
On Route 40, you’ll find humble, fluorescent-lit mom-and-pop diners that serve burbling kimchi stews and rustic slices of housemade kimbap. There are sleek barbecue halls that leave your shirt smelling like short-rib smoke for the rest of the night. Ellicott City even has sceney, dimly lit Seoul-themed “pocha” bars—such as Micky’s Soju House (8540 Baltimore National Pike)—with K-pop on the stereo and pub food washed down with soju and ice-cold beer.
Here’s how to get the most out of Ellicott City’s Koreatown in one marathon day trip:
Start at Kim Bob Na Ra (9339 Baltimore National Pike), a deli-like space where the first thing that lands on your table is a small plate of pickled radish and jalapeños. Resist the urge to order noodle soups and spicy rice cakes—there’s plenty more eating to do. Kimbap is the shop’s specialty, and it’s often compared to sushi. But the sesame-oil-slicked nori wraps here look more like bulging seaweed burritos. Grab a cross-section of kimbap and you’ll find nubs of cooked spinach, carrots, egg omelet, pickled radish, and imitation crab, along with sweet bulgogi or simple tuna. Other filling options include kimchi, veggie, spicy anchovy, and cheese. The Yoo family’s other restaurant, Ugane (10045 Baltimore National Pike), has an additional snack specialty: jumeokbap rice balls, rolled in nori and filled with what seems like the whole Korean pantry.
Head here for Korean-Chinese food.
It’s time to get familiar with junghwa yori: Korean-Chinese food. Han Joong Kwan (9338 Baltimore National Pike), just across the road from Kim Bob Na Ra, is one of the neighborhood stalwarts—the walls are pinned with children’s drawings, and the welcome by your server will be friendly. Its cooking is largely from the hybrid cuisine developed by ethnic Chinese living in Korea. The heavy hitters are jajangmyeon (black-bean-sauce noodles), jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup), and tansuyuk (crispy sweet-and-sour pork). Order a combo and you can split any two of the three, neatly sectioned in a bento-like bowl. Wrinkly steamed dumplings, their fillings spiked with a burning-hot kimchi, are another highlight from the exhaustive menu.
Chosun Hwaro is the top spot for K-BBQ.
Owner Sean Kim’s slick bi-level galbi house, Chosun Hwaro (9446 Baltimore National Pike), is the strip’s preeminent Korean barbecue emporium, with a walk-in fridge full of A5 Wagyu and Black Angus, plus photos of minor celebrities adorning the walls of its spacious foyer. Order one of the house combos and your server will immediately spark up the grill and begin laying down slices of short rib, brisket, pork belly, or whatever else you’ve selected. But take the time to savor the especially tasty banchan (side dishes) and the doenjang jjigae (soybean-paste stew) that comes with every combo.
Strawberry-topped shaved ice.
For Koreans homesick for a certain kind of fare less commonly found in the US, there’s Siroo Juk Story (10176 Baltimore National Pike), tucked into the back corner of a strip mall on the western frontier of Koreatown. The name comes from its two-barreled approach: First, there was Siroo, a specialist in festive rice cakes with another location in Annandale. Its owners, Serena Kim and Sung Lee, then tacked on a US franchise of Juk Story, a popular South Korean porridge chain, so you can find the hearty gruel topped with wild combinations, including mushroom and perilla seed; bulgogi and octopus; or pollack and bean sprouts. If you don’t have room for juk, stop in anyway for a bowl of fluffy, snowy shaved ice, topped with red bean, thin-sliced strawberries, or corn flakes.
If you have any appetite left—or if this whole tour seems like a bit much and you have time for only one Korean meal in Ellicott City—visit Shin Chon (8801 Baltimore National Pike), which has occupied the same strip mall for more than 20 years. The banchan here are numerous and wonderful. The little plates might come bearing cabbage kimchi, crimson-colored radish salad, sesame-dressed steamed broccoli, soy-drizzled fish cakes, a nest of seaweed salad, or sweet-and-spicy slow-braised potatoes. Barbecue is the most popular way to eat here—order samgyupsal (pork belly) and a server will sauté unsliced kimchi leaves to eat with it in a single juicy, lettuce-leaf-wrapped bite. But the menu runs deep: Braised cod and monkfish stews, sizzling meaty “casseroles,” and fried seafood pancakes are just as worthy of your attention.
RelatedThe Best Korean Barbecue Restaurants in the DC Area
This article appears in the March 2025 issue of Washingtonian.
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