Lotte Plaza: A Hidden Spot for Korean Food

If there is one thing that Ellicott City is known for, its the Korean community and the businesses that they operate along Baltimore National Pike.  There are many Korean owned eating establishments, like restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores.  One of these markets is Lotte Plaza, a nationwide chain that began in Silver Spring, MD.

This post is not about the supermarket; its about the food court inside the market.  This place is really a hidden gem when you consider that most people only know about the barbecue joint Honey Pig, which isn't all that great in my opinion.  This is an excellent place to get good food made with ingredients from  the market at affordable prices.

There are four main stalls here, serving a variety of Korean and Japanese fare, and a bakery.

Ikkyu

Basic Japanese fare is served here.  Curry rice, tonkatsu, soba, and tempura are just some of the offerings available.

Au Rang Sushi

As the name suggests, this place serves sushi rolls.  They can be purchased individually or as part of a bento box.  There is also a variety of spicy seafood soups available.

Seoul Soondae

Also as the name suggests, this place serves soondae, Korean style blood sausage with rice.  This is the more adventurous stall here.  The signature dish is the soondae platter with boiled pig's blood, tongue, and intestines.  They also have something called jukbal, which is broiled pig's feet that is served sliced.

Manna

This is my go-to place when I'm in the market.  Manna has stall has two parts: A main stall and a satellite stall.  The main stall serves traditional Korean soups, noodles,  and ramen.  The 20+ variety of soups here show how Koreans are absolute soupholics.  The cost will be around $6-$11.  My favorite is the soondooboo, which is a spicy tofu soup with clam, shrimp, and baby octopus.  The satellite stall serves Korean snack foods like mandu (dumplings), fried rice, and dok bokki (spicy rice cakes).

SB Bakery

This is a typical East Asian bakery serving a variety of breads.  There's a variety of sweet breads, breads with fillings, and cookies.  My personal favorites are the butter cream and sweet cream buns.