Good Food and Pretty Flowers = Yay!

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The Austinist is always looking for new restaurants to try, because we love food. Like, looooove it. Have we mentioned this before? Anyway, when a friend told us about a newish place downtown that serves healthy, Asian-style comfort food, we said, “What time will you meet us there?”

Koriente is a family owned and operated Korean café that has a small but delicious looking selection of entrees, rice rolls, and side dishes. They happily boast that all of their dishes are made from scratch and prepared daily without the use of MSG, microwaves, frozen or processed foods, or a deep fryer. Koriente offers a variety of vegan options, but don’t let that deter you if you like meat. Because they have that, too.

We tried the Tomato Mushroom Chicken with brown rice. The veggies and chicken were simmered in a very light, flavorful burgundy sauce that we really enjoyed – not spectacular, but definitely enjoyable. We also ordered the summer rolls, which contain avocados (yum), spring greens, and red bell peppers. Very crisp and fresh – especially tasty with a few drops of soy sauce. Our friend sampled the Bulgogi (Korean BBQ) plate with a side of Bulgogi Noodles. He described his meal as “bulgogilicious,” which we guess is a positive thing. The noodles looked like long, transparent worms, but he said they tasted just fine.

The café is small, sparse, and clean – not much dining space, but the food is perfect for take-out, and they offer free delivery downtown. Everything is reasonably priced, and there is even free parking behind the restaurant. But one thing we really loved about Koriente had nothing to do with the food. The friendly owner and his parents have worked hard sprucing up the surrounding area along Sabine Street by planting lovely, colorful flowerbeds, which are visible as you eat in the café. It really is quite pleasant, and a great example of Austin business owners doing their best to give back to the community.

Koriente
621 E. 7th St.
512-275-0852 (free downtown delivery!)
11am – 10pm Monday thru Friday
11am – 3am Friday thru Saturday
Closed Sunday

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By Bre in Food on July 19, 2005 3:18 PM 0 Comments

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shannon

I love the decorations in Koriente. They now have a semi-nude giant Barbie-like doll which greets visitors at the door with a sign that says "Tea tea?" across her crotch. Although many people for some reason don't notice her, I don't think there's a better way to draw attention to their selection of teas. They also have a wall next to the cash register which is completely covered by an enormous abstract painting of the famous picture of John Lennon in bed with Yoko Ono. Nifty.