495-1004 Being fond of ethnic food, especially smitten by Asian fare, and practically in love with the artful cuisines of Japan and Korea, I've wanted to try Arirang for a mighty long time. But it hasn't been easy to find the place, much less to find it open . For a long time, an odd schedule made it difficult to be sure whether the doors would be open on any given day for lunch. And its location on the far side of a huge white warehouse-type building isolated from its Buechel neighbors by the Buechel Bypass and a gigantic auto dealership the size of a small Balkan country made it difficult to spot Arirang on quick passes through the area. Inside, Arirang looks quite a bit more elegant than the industrial-style exterior suggests.
Most tables feature an inset cooking grill used for Korean barbecue at-table cookery at dinner time.
They're furnished with large, comfortable bamboo chairs with big, soft cushions. The dinner menu is similar but offers a much larger selection, and most entree prices are a couple of dollars more. Soup and salads come with lunches. Miso soup is standard-issue, steaming hot and salty with a few tofu dice. Our appetizer was delivered at the same time as the main Korean course, without apology.