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Best Places to Eat in Utah Thread

You've been stalking me for 10 years? I don't know, I'm a creature of habit. I've only been back in Utah recently and the restaurants haven't changed that much. A bunch of them are pretty meh by San Francisco standards I'm used to.

It was like 2-3 pages back in this thread. Although still not on par with SF, there are a lot of new things out here that are worth trying. It's up to you though.

@ Everybody else

I've been here twice in the last 5 days:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/one-more-noodle-house-south-salt-lake-5

They serve authentic style Chinese noodle bowls. I brought my coworkers out to try and they all loved it. Try the numbing spicy beef or pork if you're into that (I am). If not, the braised beef or pork are great too. They have noodle options for each; the correct answer is "house noodles" 100% of the time. Don't bother getting fancy because the house-made noodles are what set this place apart.

Next,

Does anybody want to try something new? Well here you go:

짜장면.jpg
짬봉1.jpg 탕수육.jpg

This is Korean-Chinese food.

Top to bottom

#1 Jjajangmyun - Noodles in a savory and umami-rich black bean sauce.
#2 Jjambbong - Spicy seafood noodle soup
#3 Tangsooyook - Fried pork in a sour-sweet sauce. Or they're basically sweet and sour pork, but still kinda different from what you're used to.

There are more dishes that belong to this cuisine but these are the standard-bearers and are super ubiquitous in Korea but fairly unknown, in my experience, even among Korean food lovers in the states. All three are super delicious and worth a try.

If you want to try them, They're available in Utah and two places actually specialize in them in the SL valley:

Baek Ri Hyang in the Chinatown strip mall on state street is the first one.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/baek-ri-hyang-south-salt-lake

Pretty pricey tbh, It's really not bad as far as quality goes. I usually get the Jaengban Jjajang. Since it was so pricey I was hoping that another place would open up to offer some competition and I got my wish:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/hong-kong-banjum-west-valley-city Just had their grand opening yesterday.

Fun Story: the Cupbob owner's (I know them) older sister, through obvious connections, obtained the rights to open this chain that is well regarded in SK and places like LA and NYC. It's significantly cheaper and although I haven't been able to go yet, I'm willing to bet that its at least as good and probably tastier than Baek Ri Hyang. My two daughters did get a bowl of Jjajangmyun from here yesterday without me tho and the reviews were four tiny thumbs up.

TLDR 1 Chinese & 2 korean-chinese is good, new food you haven't tried yet. Go try.
 
It was like 2-3 pages back in this thread. Although still not on par with SF, there are a lot of new things out here that are worth trying. It's up to you though.

@ Everybody else

I've been here twice in the last 5 days:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/one-more-noodle-house-south-salt-lake-5

They serve authentic style Chinese noodle bowls. I brought my coworkers out to try and they all loved it. Try the numbing spicy beef or pork if you're into that (I am). If not, the braised beef or pork are great too. They have noodle options for each; the correct answer is "house noodles" 100% of the time. Don't bother getting fancy because the house-made noodles are what set this place apart.

Next,

Does anybody want to try something new? Well here you go:

View attachment 9491
View attachment 9492 View attachment 9493

This is Korean-Chinese food.

Top to bottom

#1 Jjajangmyun - Noodles in a savory and umami-rich black bean sauce.
#2 Jjambbong - Spicy seafood noodle soup
#3 Tangsooyook - Fried pork in a sour-sweet sauce. Or they're basically sweet and sour pork, but still kinda different from what you're used to.

There are more dishes that belong to this cuisine but these are the standard-bearers and are super ubiquitous in Korea but fairly unknown, in my experience, even among Korean food lovers in the states. All three are super delicious and worth a try.

If you want to try them, They're available in Utah and two places actually specialize in them in the SL valley:

Baek Ri Hyang in the Chinatown strip mall on state street is the first one.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/baek-ri-hyang-south-salt-lake

Pretty pricey tbh, It's really not bad as far as quality goes. I usually get the Jaengban Jjajang. Since it was so pricey I was hoping that another place would open up to offer some competition and I got my wish:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/hong-kong-banjum-west-valley-city Just had their grand opening yesterday.

Fun Story: the Cupbob owner's (I know them) older sister, through obvious connections, obtained the rights to open this chain that is well regarded in SK and places like LA and NYC. It's significantly cheaper and although I haven't been able to go yet, I'm willing to bet that its at least as good and probably tastier than Baek Ri Hyang. My two daughters did get a bowl of Jjajangmyun from here yesterday without me tho and the reviews were four tiny thumbs up.

TLDR 1 Chinese & 2 korean-chinese is good, new food you haven't tried yet. Go try.
I don't know if I mentioned One More Noodle House in this thread but that is one of my absolute most loved places in the Salt Lake Valley. And Yeah, it's the Numbing Spicy Beef Noodle for me!

Beak Ri Hyang is also one of my wife's (and mine) favorite places. Their hospitality is off the charts! Their food is also amazing.

P.S. you're posting links to yelp for these places and I have reviewed both (haven't been to the third place you listed yet). My yelp name is Jared Y. If you have a yelp account send me a friend request.
 
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Another place that my wife and I like is Tonkotsu Ramen Bar.
http://www.tonkotsu.us/
I haven't been there for ramen, but I've been to the Shabu Shabu place connected to it. For similar prices and better food and experience I'd go to Mr. Shabu (AYCE) over that particular Shabu Shabu place, but that's not to say that it's bad.

A new ramen place opened somewhat recently in Sugarhouse, Ramen Legend, which is a really good choice. This is one Ramen place where if you ask for the extra spicy option it's legit spicy.

My wife took me to Jinya, which is a chain, and it was fine but they have community seating at raised tables with fixed chairs so I had to rub against the random guy next to me to get in and out of my seat. That alone is enough for me to seek out other options.

It was years ago but I've been to Tosh's Ramen a few times and it's very good. I'd say it's simple but elegant. The food, not the location. The location is in a run down strip mall and their chairs, last time I was there, are plastic.
 
Wow I lived out there from 79-89 the burgers and ice cream in SLC was top notch.
I would make a small sacrifice to have Crown or Apollo Burgers in driving distance again. Snelgroves? Trust me location matters with food! lol
 
Wow I lived out there from 79-89 the burgers and ice cream in SLC was top notch.
I would make a small sacrifice to have Crown or Apollo Burgers in driving distance again. Snelgroves? Trust me location matters with food! lol
Utah has had it good with burgers for a long time due to a relatively large Greek population that for some reason got into the fire grilled burger game big time and put pastrami and fry sauce on top. But my personal opinion is that Apollo has gone way down hill while at the same time expanding like crazy. I don't know but I'd guess some investment firm bought them out. Astro Burger and Crown Burger are still pretty legit.
 
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