In March, On Havana Street celebrates Small Businesses along the corridor and will be featuring small businesses all month long. The District is proud to be home to so many small businesses and partnered with Asian Avenue Magazine to highlight Shin Myung Gwan Korean BBQ. This Korean BBQ restaurant has been serving the diverse community for over 25 years and is truly a destination restaurant On Havana Street, Korea Town Aurora, and in the Denver metro area. Shin Myung Gwan is a community favorite and Asian Avenue Magazine did an incredible job highlighting Hannah Cho and her family.
Asian Avenue Magazine feature of On Havana Street’s Shin Myung Gwan and Hannah Cho
Read Full Article Here: https://issuu.com/asianavemag/docs/march2023/19
Full Page PDF Version Here
By Mary Jeneverre Schultz
With an army of nine female sous chefs and chefs, Shin Myung Gwan Korean BBQ creates food from South Korea with authenticity and a flair for family-style dishes.
Tucked in a corner of a strip mall on Yale Avenue at 2680 S. Havana Street in Aurora, this unassuming, modest restaurant offers a lot of parking spaces, huge tables for large gatherings, and generous portions of entrees.
Owner and restaurateur Hannah Cho enjoys sharing her love for Korean food to Aurora because “it’s such an amazing, diverse city,” she said.
History
Cho purchased the restaurant site six years ago. Since 1998, the restaurant was offering Korean cuisine. Buying the restaurant allowed Cho to continue the restaurant operations.
Food
Diners’ favorites include marinated beef short rib, monkfish, marinated beef bulgogi and cheesy ribs. Most entrees are served in clay pots. With infused Korean spices, seasonings are perfect, especially for cold temperature during the winter months.
Cho, 44, recommends the braised monkfish, a popular dish in Korea. The white flesh of the fish is tender to the bite with complements of crunchy soybean sprouts and an explosion of robust flavors. Served in generous portion, this is the dish most diners will take home as leftovers.
“We offer authentic Korean foods,” said Cho, who left South Korea to attend college in Colorado.
Dipping sauces of sesame oil and salt mix plus fermented soybean paste accompany the meat entrees. If you like spicy food, this cuisine is perfect. But if you prefer lower heat levels in spice, make sure you inform the staff.
In fact, the owner purchases the hard-to-source spices from Korean markets in Los Angeles and/or small towns from Korea. Diners from the Korean community vouch for its authenticity in home-style Korean cuisine.
In addition to the entrees, Korean side dishes, set up as a feast in small plates, are included as part of dining at the restaurant. Depending on season and availability, the Korean side dishes include:
Picky about rice, this restaurant knows how to cook it well, according to numerous Yelp reviewers. Most diners commented on how the rice was perfect in every way.
Atmosphere
This hidden jewel is not open during lunch hours. With an attentive wait staff, the restaurant opens its doors at 4 pm and stays open until midnight. Some of the tables show a grill sitting in the middle of the tables. Large tables, without the grills, accommodate huge parties of six and more.
For service, the restaurant offers a button on the wall or table, so diners can push it when service is needed to call wait staff. For those who prefer to use take-out, the restaurant offers curbside pickup. The busy season for the restaurant is spring and summer, especially during the weekends, according to Cho.
Korean music is playing the background. In addition, a television at the back of the restaurant, is showing Korean dramas or music videos.
There is no wait, but that may change as the restaurant is rated as top five Korean restaurant in Denver/Aurora area, according to Westword, a local publication.
Price point
Price points range from $9 to $12 from the appetizer selection. House specials can start from as low as $16.99 to $34.99, while combos can range from $110 to $195. The BBQ combo set includes a selection of stew and a bottle of soju or soft drink. Visit the menu for more information.
“We proudly serve authentic Korean foods. We do our best to get high-quality seasoning and ingredients,” said Cho. “It is very challenging due to inflation, but I do believe that top-quality seasoning and ingredients make a huge difference.”
Follow Shin Myung Gwan BBQ Korean on Instagram @Shinmyunggwan. To order food online, visit its website at https://www.ordershinmyungbbq.com.
