Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Good Eats on Bedford Park's 204th Street

Da Do Hae Restaurant on 204th Street

Bedford Park's 204th Street west of the Mosholu Parkway is often outshined by its more booming sister commercial strip on the other side of the Mosh in Norwood. 204th Street in Norwood has a ton of different retail and food options...Foodtown, dry cleaners, a pet store, banks, pizza places, Mexican food, and 99 cent stores can all be found there.

However, Bedford Park's 204th Street (between the Grand Concourse and E. Mosholu Parkway S.), which has a heavy Korean presence, has some interesting spots worth checking out. We had an awesome meal recently at Da Do Hae Restaurant, which specializes in Korean BBQ. This is the second time we've eaten there, and it was just as delish as the first. Lou treated himself to the BBQ spareribs (at $23.99 they are pricey for sure, but they are soooo worth it...the meat is so tender and flavorful) and I got adventurous with the Beef Bi Bim Bop ($10.95), which is a rice dish with veggies and beef with a whole fried egg served on top.

My favorite thing about this spot is how nice the servers are. I'm one of those goofy white girls who has no idea (and no desire to learn) how to eat with chopsticks, so I always have to be annoying and request a fork. I've been in places where I can almost feel the servers rolling their eyes at me, but not here. The server was also quite gracious when she brought my dish over asking if I knew how to eat it. I said I had no idea! She expertly cracked the fried egg and mixed everything together for me and added some spicy sauce. We also got the dumplings for an appetizer which are probably my favorite thing on the menu. These are basically little fried pieces of heaven - warning: the portion size on these is HUGE, so definitely just get one for the table. Don't expect anything too fancy at Da Do Hae. There's a Korean specialty store attached to the space, and they offer a lunch buffet that makes the place look a little cafeteria-like. It you have little ones, BYOBS (bring your booster seat)!

On our walk home, we discovered that a new restaurant has set up shop where Rose's Luncheon used to be. Although it's quite sad that Rose's is no longer there, we're really pleased to see the space not sitting vacant. The new place is called El Rinconcito Del Sabor and they have a pretty extensive menu for dining in or take out. I'm particularly excited to try their sandwiches (Cuban, steak, chicken, tuna, ham & cheese, or veggie), which range in price from $3 to $6.

These two dining spots are great options on this little strip. There's also a relatively new wine/liquor store (that's not shady looking!), a serviceable little coffee shop, a decent 99 cent store, and a Korean bodega/fresh veggie spot. Now if only we could bulldoze the C-Town and get a grocery store over there that offers foods and produce that aren't expired...now that would be heaven.

~ErLu

2 comments:

farani said...

They changed their awning. I'm glad to see new restaurants are popping up. It looked dead the last time I was there.

Elizabeth Quaranta said...

Though I love to see that there is a Bronx blog that keeps up to date with the area, I would like to see a more up to date area.

Small business are welcoming but do we need more beauty salons and non-for profit churches on one block.

It's really not fair to the small business owner as well who has to compete with 2 other similar ones.

As far as the existing new business...let's bring that "eye candy" to the front of the store...let's see some detailed awnings and flower window boxes, etc...things that make you go "ahh" in other up and coming city villages.
The Korean cafe could use a large window box right under the window and maybe 2 or 3 bistro chairs with a permit. A little cafe curtain.

The new Spanish place looks like its NOT finished on the outside.

C-Town NEEDS to be updated!!!!

Let's start bringing this side of the Bronx to a higher level.

Let's get an internet cafe with evening live music.
Let's get a gift shop that multi-functions as a magazine/book place.
Let's get a bakery with outside seating of some kind.
Let's get an antique place (not a dump place)

Let's advertise on Craigslist to new business owners in Manhattan and request they open business here in this area.
Let's get a flower shop and multifunctions as an Edible arrangement franchise as well.
Let's get a hardware store.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
What am I doing? I'm volunteering this year in planting Vinca Minor Evergreen plants on Mosholu Parkway on this side so that it doesn't look so BAREN, brown and ugly as well as help the ground get back it's strength. It's no wonder we have so many FALLEN trees when there is bad weather.