I was sad to hear that the former tenant at 905-A Keeaumoku St., Orine Sarang Chae, had closed. It was a hidden gem of a restaurant under a tree in the back of all the small restaurants lining Keeaumoku, and an alley away from Keeaumoku Supermarket.

Let’s hope diners find their way to its replacement, Yakiniku Don-Day. Although some might feel uncomfortable with the parking lot setting, the tree is important, providing a grounding presence important in Korean culture as a place to relax and entertain.

Recent rain put a damper on open-air dining, forcing diners indoors, but you can bet that as it gets warmer you’ll see dozens congregating around the tree, where all the smoke from the yakiniku grills is allowed to dissipate so that the scents of dinner don’t cling so much to your clothes and hair.

The quickest route to satiety is to opt for one of three BBQ Combo dinners. The higher the price, the more meat is delivered to your table. For two, the $49.95 Combo A amounts to a feast, with its offering of beef brisket, beef tongue, option of fresh pork belly or herb wine pork belly, two pieces of mandoo or seafood soybean pot (most people prefer the mandoo to the soybean pot that essentially serves as a sauce for the grilled meat).

If you want to try the seafood soybean pot anyway, you can order a plate of eight generously sized crisp, golden mandoo for $10.95.

Factor in all the complimentary namul, the lettuce for wrapping and a tossed green salad that comes with the meal, and chances are you’ll leave stuffed without ordering any additional dishes. (Rice lovers might note that this is the one thing that must be purchased a la carte, and rather than plain white rice, kim chee fried rice is a specialty here.)

If you’re averse to beef tongue, it’s best that you opt for a la carte. Each combo includes the tongue ($23.95 a la carte) and it’s intense beefy, gamey flavor. Cook it till crisp and you might forget what part of the animal you’re eating.

The herb wine pork belly ($23.95 a la carte) seemed too tempting to pass up, but next time, I think I’ll stick with the unadorned pork ($23.95 a la carte). The herb of choice is oregano, and while I like the combination with pork, the flavor registered as Italian. Nothing wrong with that, but I’d come for Korean flavor. Who knows? Maybe in a couple more generations, oregano will be embraced as a Korean fusion ingredient.

Other meat selections are prime sirloin ($25.95), prime beef brisket ($22.95), shrimp ($22.95) and premium kalbi ($25.95).

What’s nice is that when the place isn’t busy, the servers will come around and not only place the meat on the grill, but cut up the meat for you in nice bite-size pieces, ready to layer with red miso paste, sesame oil, grilled garlic and onions in your lettuce leaf wrap. All you have to do is pull the pieces off at your leisure, though when cut up so small, they cook up faster than you have room for on the small dinner plates.

They’ll also add kim chee to the grill, which turns out to be even more delicious than the uncooked cabbage.

If traveling with a pack, you can round out a meal with a seafood-and-vegetable pancake ($16.95) that’s best eaten hot, and one of the soups or hot pots, from the basic tofu soondobu ($9.95) to braised oxtail soup ($22.95) or spicy sausage hot pot ($28.95).

Another highlight is the black cod ($23.95), which many of us associate with Japanese menus. Done up Korean style, it’s served over a bed of boiled turnip slices in a sauce of shoyu, kochujang, chilies, sugar, green onions and sesame seeds, with an intense salty flavor that’s addicting. The only thing that’ll prevent you from devouring the fish at once are the many fine bones. If you like the flavor, the turnip soaks up much of the sauce.

This is one place you’ll want to bring as many friends as possible to help you eat.

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Nadine Kam‘s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.