Restaurant review: Bulgogi House in Denton

by Dominique Beck of North Texas Daily , Jillian Daniels of North Texas Daily

"I'll try one if you try one," Jillian said, looking at Dominique.

They each held a tiny fish in front of their mouths and, on the count of three, dropped them in. The misplaced music of Michael Bublé playing in the background at Bulgogi House intensified the moment.

At first glance, Jillian perceived the tiny slivers of silver-somethings piled into a small square bowl to be onions or some foreign vegetable, but upon closer inspection she jumped back and shuddered. The bowl was filled with fish, nearly one inch-long, with eyes staring back at her.

The texture was that of beef jerky, with the flavor of shrimp - which brings us to hard shrimp with faces. Jillian decided to stick to the real deal served in her shrimp fried rice.

A heaping serving of shrimp fried rice filled her plate, piled in a mountain of rice, shrimp, broccoli, eggs, carrots, peas, corn, green beans and onions. The individual flavors were not lost in the rice, but no single flavor overpowered the dish. Bits of corn occasionally provided a sweet alternative taste to the otherwise salty soy sauce she added. The dish was so fulfilling that by the time the last grain of rice left her plate she had forgotten all about her little fish friends that had been served to the side.

Dominique ordered the Bulgogi roll, figuring since it had the restaurant's namesake it had to be one of its specialties. The dish consisted of one sushi roll cut into 10 pieces filled with rice, laver (seaweed), tuna, ham and vegetables. A hot, steamy soup with chives and a small serving of wasabi came on the side. The Bulgogi roll itself had a surprising variety of different flavors. The different meats were coated in a brown sauce, making it difficult for her to distinguish between them by sight, but she could definitely taste them all in the roll. The soup tasted of wonton soup with a hint of chicken broth. As for the wasabi, Dominique had learned from experience to just say "no." She was not a fan of its strong, radish-like taste. Overall, she very much enjoyed her meal.

The menu ranged from $7 to $14, which was a bit high for a small campus restaurant. The lunch and dinner prices vary by about a dollar.

Bulgogi House offered entrees including spicy fried calamari, ginseng chicken soup and a variety of sushi and fried rice dishes.

Although Bulgogi did not lack in food quality, it did lack in atmosphere. Boxes and storage refrigerators lined one of the walls - objects not normally present in a restaurant dining room.

To save you some confusion, when finished dining in Bulgogi House, return your tray to the tray receptacle in the corner.

Bulgogi House serves lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.