Tidy packets burst with bold flavors

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Thank Q Pocha and its menu of contemporary Korean fare. Red Stand also offers contemporary Korean fare, minus the alcohol component of the pocha, or bar.

In fact, this is about as far removed from a bar as you can get. Dining here is like being fed by your mom, starting with the tidy bentos packed to go — sending you off to a day at school or work — to tableside service by staffers, currently all women, who carefully stir dishes of tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and stews so you don’t go splattering red kochu­jang sauce all over yourselves.

There is a definite feminine vibe to the room that is cozy, clean and appointed with floral touches and Teddy bears dressed in Red Stand logo shirts. The bears are gifts to customers who spend a minimum of $50.

Enter by day and you will find an array of grab-and-go fare, such as Spam musubi ($1.90) and its Korean equivalent, samgak kimbap, triangular musubi packed with such ingredients as kim chee and tuna, beef bulgogi, spicy pork, and spicy squid, at $2.25 each.

And the gluten-free demographic may appreciate the rice burgers, with white rice “buns” standing in for the usual wheat. The combination of rice, with a center of kalbi ($3.95), beef bulgogi, spicy chicken or spicy pork ($3.75 per burger), amounts to eating a giant musubi or a hand-held plate lunch.

Mini set bentos can be prepared for those looking for a quick, simple and inexpensive breakfast or lunch. The smallest is a combo of Spam musubi and scrambled egg, accompanied by choice of kim chee, miso or corn soup, for $4.50. There’s nothing particularly exciting about it, but it’s polished and comforting.

If you’re a diehard meat eater, this probably won’t be the place for you. You won’t find the heaps of grilled chicken, kalbi or other meats associated with old-school Korean take-out spots. In their place you’ll find more carbs in the form of fried rice, tteokbokki and K-ramen (read: instant, which is what’s popular in Korea, where they have yet to embrace the notion of artisan noodles) and stews that serve two or three, cooked over a hot plate.

In spite of the instant status of the noodles, the broth, like most of what’s served here, is cooked from scratch and the ramen is beautifully presented in a covered pot. Seafood ramen ($7.95) is topped with shrimp, squid and negi. Other ramen options are topped with spicy beansprouts ($5.95), cheese ($5.95), kim chee ($6.95) and ham ($5.95).

MANY WHO dine here gravitate toward the tteokbokki, also known by the more Western-user friendly name topokki. Since I’m not a big fan of carbs, I generally steer clear of these thick, tubular rice cakes. At most places they’re reconstituted from dry form with a tendency to be hard and chewy. No thanks. But Red Stand makes its rice cakes from scratch, so they’re much softer and pillowy. One order of tteokbokki, at $9.95 to $18.95, generally serves two. A large serving will serve three to four, at $15.95 to $27.95.

The seafood version ($18.95/$27.95) features shrimp, mussels, clams and thin sheets of fishcake, with cabbage, carrots and negi. To these ingredients you can add such extras as ramen ($3) added to the broth at the end of the meal, hard-boiled egg ($1 each), cheese ($2) or fried mandoo ($2.50). The mandoo features a housemade wrap, so it looks more like an uneven griddle cake, with a filling that’s milder than usual, without as much of the oil and salt of typical dumplings.

Billed elsewhere as a military stew, the spicy sausage stew ($27) might be considered a Hawaiian lunch meat special because of the array of processed meat in it: Portuguese sausage, Spam, Vienna sausage, ham, and one of my friends swears he tasted a slice of bologna, beautifully arranged before it’s tossed with tofu, negi, cabbage, bean sprouts, onion, cabbage and beans. It might be considered a Korean version of pork and beans, just with more vegetables.

Those who crave bibimbap might want to try the noodle version served here as kim chee bibim noodle ($9.95).

But what I crave most is the fried rice. Kim chee fried rice ($9.95) is the obvious choice, but explore further and you may find Red Stand’s shrimp fried rice ($11.50) a new favorite, flavored with seafood broth to give it beautiful depth.

Finish a meal, or simply stop in for dessert of bing soo, or Korean shave ice ($7.25), with green tea, strawberry or red bean granite topped with pastel mochi, slivered almonds, dried cranberries and fresh fruit. It’s one more way to cool off this summer.

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

BITE SIZE

Light, cool dishes fill summer menu

Taormina Sicilian Cuisine has added a handful of midsummer dishes to its menu to take some of the heat out of 90-degree days.

The offerings begin with a refreshing peach bellini ($21) of champagne and peach puree, followed by chef Hiroyuki Mimura’s light, chilled summer spaghettini ($19, pictured) that won’t weigh you down. The pasta is tossed with a light tomato sauce, avocado, arugula, tomatoes and dill.

A peach compote ($12) over orange granite is a fantastic meal ender that won’t leave you in need of a siesta.

If you can stomach heavier dishes, a truffle-topped carbonara ($48) and tender slow-baked chicken with brown butter-caper sauce ($24) are not to be missed.

Taormina is at Waikiki Beach Walk, 227 Lewers St. Call 926-5050.

More photos are at honolulupulse.com/takeabite.