Carrollton has become something of a foodie destination, and one hot spot is the Asian shopping center at the George Bush and Old Denton Road. That’s where you’ll find Todamgol Tofu Kitchen, a chic stone-lined Korean restaurant that serves a superb soondubu, aka tofu stew. Customers wait an hour on weekends to slurp up this exotic, fiery, satisfying dish. There’s more to it than tofu. The stew can be ordered with seafood, beef, pork, or mushrooms and, like any Korean meal, comes with an array of sides called banchan. The server lays them out, small dishes holding sprouts, kimchi (fermented cabbage), sesame spinach, and crunchy pickled zucchini. Another server wheels over a cart from which he scoops moist, steaming rice into small silver bowls. Then comes the stew, and it’s the proverbial bubbling cauldron: a black ceramic bowl holding a boiling broth, neon red from hot pepper paste, filled with chunks of white tofu, soft as custard. You’re given a raw egg to crack open, right into the stew, where you can watch it firm up as it poaches, adding richness. You have to take it slow, but as it cools down, you acclimate to the spiciness, which you can temper with bites of rice. Todamgol has other excellent Korean classics, including tangy leek pancakes and the marinated beef dish known as bulgogi. But for culinary thrills, it’s hard to beat soondubu.
Get contact information for Todamgol.
