Albuquerque - Downtown
Sushi Hana
Mon-Fri: 11am-9pm
Sat: noon-10pm
Sun: 4pm-9pm (hours can change without notice)
A straight-shooting sushi joint with some Korean influences. Small and boldly decked in red and black, you’ll find affordable, familiar rolls in a contemporary atmosphere. Great for a quick lunch or a half-price sushi happy-hour trip (served from 11am to 2pm and 4:30 to 7:30pm weekdays).
Full review: Another fish in the pond? ()
 | | | |  | 4.07 rating (15 votes) |
Albuquerque - Food Truck
Kitsune Food Truck
Mon-Wed Closed
Thu-Sat 3pm-10pm
Sun 12pm-6pm (hours can change without notice)
The creations of the resident food truck of Dialogue Brewing aren’t just tasty, they’re beautiful. Though the tacos are relatively small, we highly recommend the karaage tacos—the kitsune slaw is life itself. (The size of the portions don’t matter as long as you add a side of Thai fries.)
| | | | | 3 rating (2 votes) |
Soo Bak Food Truck
Soo Bak Food Truck’s tagline is “Korean Seoul Food”—an apt description of the innovative fusion of traditional Korean and New Mexican cuisine apparent in the dishes. Get adventurous with the Korean chile cheese fries or stick with classic and deliciously light kimchi and rice. Vegetarians and carnivores alike will be pleased with the fresh mandu (veggie dumplings) or daeji bulgogi (spicy pork) tacos.
| | | | | 4 rating (28 votes) |
Street Food Institute
The Street Food Institute is way more than just a food truck. It’s a non-profit program that fosters young chefs and entrepreneurs by providing them with the resources, education and hands-on training that they need to start their own culinary businesses. A part of that hands-on training involves crafting menus and cooking up food in the SFI truck, which stops at Marble Downtown most Wednesday evenings. Check them out on Instagram (@streetfoodinstitute) to see what their menu of the day is and where they’ll be parked tonight.
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Umami Moto
For example, the Korean Burrito ($9). With bulgogi beef and a house-made kimchi fried rice making up the heft of the burrito, you also have Napa cabbage, carrots and pickled Daikon. To finish it all off, there’s a Korean queso inside. First off, this burrito is big, even by New Mexico standards. It was large enough to make me curse when I first saw it, knowing the state that my appetite was currently in. The rich flavor of the bulgogi beef is the first thing you notice, with the taste of that long marinated beef blossoming on the tongue. That’s closely followed by the sourness of the daikon that turns back to sweetness as your taste buds adjust to the profile, with the final kick of cheesy heat coming from the Korean queso. There’s so much to process and every bite is an exciting trip through these segments of taste, meshed together to create something deeply lovable and excessively filling.
Full review: Umami Moto finds new home in New Mexico ()
Alibi recommends: The yellow curry.
Vibe: Modern food truck with Asian street food flair
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Albuquerque - Nob Hill
Soo Bak Seoul Bowl
Cuisine: Korean
Finally, the bibimbap ($9.95 classic, $11.95 deluxe). Now, if you’re like me, you’ve never heard of this. The easiest way to explain the concept is a bowl of rice, that you just load up with ingredients, mix it up and chow down. Featuring your choice of rice, you get to add a protein of your choice (in our case, it was the Korean BBQ beef, naturally) as well as 3 to 5 toppings, depending on which version you order. They have some staples that are available year round, but they also have a bunch of seasonal choices. Follow that up with your sauce of choice, and you have a loaded-up bowl of tasty. You can, and should, throw a fried egg on top for $1, giving even more texture and flavor to this dish. It was, without a doubt, one of the best meals I’ve ever had. There’s not much more to say about it; besides you absolutely must try it for yourself.
Full review: Soo Bak Seoul Bowl is right at home in their new kitchen ()
Alibi recommends: Fire chicken tacos, and any form of the bibimbap
Vibe: Friendly food in a cool fresh space
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StreetFood Asia
Sun-Thu: 11am-9pm
Fri-Sat: 11am-10pm (hours can change without notice)
On the streets of Asia, vendors often specialize in one dish handed down through generations, preparing quick meals for passersby like hot noodle bowls, exotic sandwiches and spicy skewered satays. StreetFood Asia is a hotbed of cultural diversity serving Vietnamese pho, Korean noodles, Japanese udon, and Malaysian and Chinese stir-fry. StreetFood Asia's menu offers a dizzying array of sauces, toppings, garnishes, meats, seafood and vegetables in dinner portions or small plates in the heart of Nob Hill. Exotic bar drinks and a long list of excellent sakes add sparkle to your meal.
Full review: Too many items, not enough expertise ()
| | | | | 4.07 rating (37 votes) |
Sushi & Sake
Lunch:
Mon-Sat: 11am-2:30pm
Dinner:
Mon-Thu: 5-9:30pm
Fri-Sat: 5-10pm
Sun: 4-9pm (hours can change without notice)
Additionally, there were the Korean BBQ offerings I had to get my hands on. I went with the Chadolbagi ($21.95 for a pound), which was a thinly sliced beef brisket that was generously seasoned and came surrounded by a ton of garlic chunks. The aroma alone would be enough to sell me on the love of this dish, but then you get waves of flavor in every bite, leading to a voracious consumption of meat in an aggressive fashion. For good measure, I also snagged the Donkatsu Don ($14.99) which had panko-breaded and fried pork, rice, a wide spectrum of veggies and eggs. The sauce drizzle they added to the fried pork was something of legend. It had a touch of sweetness that truly opened up some of the more ignored facets of pork flavor, letting it blossom in your mouth. The crunchy panko crust helped hold onto that flavor and gave it the oomph it needed to be spectacular. Add in all that egged-up rice and veggies, and you’ve got a bowl of food that will leave you so full, you won’t be worrying about your next meal for a while.
Full review: Sushi & Sake brings their magic touch to Nob Hill ()
Alibi recommends: Firecracker Sushi, Donkatsu Don, Mochi
Vibe: High energy, meant to be enjoyed with a large group of people
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Albuquerque - Northeast Heights
A-Ri-Rang Oriental Market
Ah, the joys of a good bowl of kimchi and rice. A-Ri-Rang Oriental Market offers exotic groceries, dishes and cool collectibles. The compact lunch counter is also a fine stop for a tasty Korean lunch. Try the barbecued beef, pork or squid, or the seafood pancakes, and then wash it all down with a cup of hot barley tea. Breath mints not included.
Read more: Dish Jockey: Korean soon tofu and African goat meat pepper stew (3/29/2012)
| | | | | 3.46 rating (24 votes) |
Asian Pear
On a Korean kick? This is the best place in town. Not only is the proprietress the absolute nicest person you will ever meet, but her food is heaven. Try the delicious bulgogi (Korean beef) tacos, refreshing udon avocado salad, hearty bi bim bob with Korean bbq chicken, tasty don kasu (crispy pork cutlet with curry) and the savory vegetable pancake. Also, don’t forget to ask for a little cup of the best green tea ice cream you will ever taste.
| | | | | 5 rating (1 vote) |
Fu Yuang
Tue-Thu: 11:am-1:30 pm
5:30pm-8pm
Fri:11am-1:30 pm
4:30 pm-7:30 pm
Sat:11:30 am -1:30 pm
4:30 pm-7:30 pm (hours can change without notice)
Fu Yuang’s menu of soups is utterly soul-satisfying on a cold day. Try the dumpling-packed manduguk. The taegigogi kimchee jiege (pork and kimchee stew) in particular embodies the sour, pungent fermented flavor characteristic of many Korean dishes. The kimchee-dominated broth has an aroma that will strike some as strong—when your face is steaming in it, you might wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into. A moment of slurping the broth’s sour heat should melt away those concerns. The stew is packed with green and yellow onions, kimchee, tofu and pork sirloin thin-sliced to maximizes the absorption of broth.
| | | | | 4.42 rating (31 votes) |
Yummi House
With a name like this, is there any doubt what the dining future holds? It is truly the yummiest of houses with Korean and multiregional Chinese fare like Mongolian pork, oyster beef, almond chicken and green mussels in black bean sauce. Throw in some Mapo tofu and soybean paste noodles and there’s something for every taste. The crispy fried wontons stuffed with crab and cream cheese are well worth a trip to the Heights, and definitely order the “happy family.” It would mean a lot to us.
Full review: I’ve got hai shen in my tummy ()
| | | | | 3.6 rating (20 votes) |
