Seafood is abundant and flavorful at Kyung’s

Kyung Cha thought she was ready to retire when she sold her Keeaumoku Street seafood business. But, thankfully for her fans, retirement didn’t last long.

She found a more accessible spot on King Street between Piikoi and Keeaumoku streets, sharing a building with Mediterraneo restaurant, and opened Kyung’s Seafood, continuing to specialize in ahi sashimi and poke. Diners will find there’s so much more than seafood to enjoy at this Korean restaurant.

I was a little nervous to see a long line in the vicinity recently, but around tax time it was simply a line for last-minute filers at a tax prep shop across the street.

Kyung’s does fill up, though, and because it’s a small operation, service can be slow. If you’re ordering a lot of food or are part of a large party, you may see your dishes arriving in circuits as the person in the kitchen moves from station to station: first the cold foods, next the grill, then the deep-fry items.

Some may be kept waiting while others chomp away, but it’s well worth the wait for something like a fried hamachi plate ($12.95), pan-seared so it’s lightly crisped on the outside, juicy on the inside. Simple and delicious, and if you happen to be ordering mandoo ($9.95), even better with a dip into the mandoo sauce. Hamachi prepared this simply was far better than the salmon ($10.95) prepared the same way.

Here, happy hour starts early, at 11 a.m., and runs through 7 p.m. For the most part, though, it’s better to dine in the evening, when you’re more likely to find what you want. During the day the restaurant is just starting to mix fresh batches of poke, so it can be hit or miss, though Cha does her best to accommodate requests.

"Hot" poke really is spicy; Cha favors local chili peppers that only burn the mouth, versus Korean peppers that she says will put a fire in your belly.

Kyung’s does standard shoyu and onion, and hot masago poke (market prices) very well. I also tried the abalone poke but found that a salty mix of limu, roe and onions buried the flavor of the shellfish. I’d stick with the more robust ahi or tako.

There is also a sashimi salad ($13.95) of lettuce and cabbage topped with a few pieces of salmon and ahi and served with gochujang sauce. I’d skip it. With the sauce you couldn’t taste the fish, and I just longed for some shoyu and wasabi, though that’s a different cuisine.

As for hot dishes, laulau poke ($13.95) sounded intriguing, but it’s just laulau combined with your choice of poke. The laulau comes from another kitchen, as Cha freely admits, "I don’t know how to make laulau."

Kalbi ($13.95) is cut thick and is amazing hot off the grill, as is the barbecue chicken served in combination with kale ($12.95), meat jun ($12.95) or mandoo ($8.95). Portions are generous and, for women, chances are you’ll have leftovers.

Also on the plus side, spicy garlic shrimp ($14.95) that arrives on a sizzling cast-iron platter. The server bringing it to our table had a coughing fit when she arrived, but I didn’t put two and two together until the smoke from the shrimp wafted into my nose, the peppers causing me to sneeze and cough as well. It was well worth a fleeting moment of discomfort. 

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