Best of
the Twin Cities
Best Korean
Sole Cafe
Korean flavors like gochujang and kimchee are popping up on menus across the Twin Cities lately, everywhere from your local diner to the supermarket sandwich counter. Yet for a complete taste of true Korean cooking, you’ll have to head to Sole Korean, a homestyle place that was there long before hip kids got ahold of “rice bowls” and started plying them with barbecued meats and soft-cooked eggs. Proprietor and chef Kimberly Firnstahl is known for her no-nonsense style and attendant glee when it comes to burning the living hell out of glib diners’ mouths. Just when they think they can handle her spice levels: “I’m going to kill them!” she’ll declare. Consider yourself warned, then get a taste of her Midas touch with kimchee soup with bobbing pillows of tofu; yugaejang, with the fluttering lace of egg playing garnish to beef stock and brisket; and broiled mackerel in a sauce the color of fiery red hell. But this food is heaven — if you die of capsaicin overload, you’ll at least die happy.
Readers’ Choice: The Rabbit Hole
