Dear Food Diary:
Sik Gaek is a place you bring all your friends, actually ONLY the adventurous ones. Drink lots of soju, preferably the one in a whole watermelon. And “party” all night to crazy loud Korean Pop. Yes, it’s a bit surreal. Specially when most of the food move, yep, all the seafood is so fresh, it’s live. I tasted their live octopus, raw for the first time…

To start off we got free fried eggs and sweet/spicy rice cakes, I had them on the streets of Seoul and these took me back in time.

Other freebies included a spicy tofu soup and an egg custard, very familiar thus far.

Their Pajeon aka Seafood Pancake was loaded with fresh scallions and seafood. Nice crust and crunch.

We needed some non-moving dishes to start, the Pork Belly had a nice balance of fatty and lean.

I was totally looking forward to their Grilled Pork Skin, but it wasn’t the crunchy kind a la chicharron style I was expecting. Instead it was chewy, really really chewy and sticking to my teeth. It had a nice coating of spicy sweetness and chard flavor, but I couldn’t eat it. Wish the waiter had warned us.

Now the moment we’ve all been waiting for… LIVE OCTOPUS

As you can see, though it was cut to more edible size pieces, they were very much alive!

The boys were scared, so I had to be the brave one to start us off. It actually tasted great. Nice and sweet, the hot sauce and sesame oil were great enhancement. Tender and not as chewy as I imagined.

Our Grilling Seafood Platter was ginormous. It could feed and army. Not only were the portion big, all the clams were giant too, not in an appetizing way though.

I think the size really got to us and the moving didn’t help… The moving Abalone was a bit much to watch, it seemed like it was screaming for help. After cooking it this way, it beacame quite tough. I like the traditional Chinese braised style better.

We didn’t do so great finishing everything and it wasn’t cheap, but it was an experience for sure. Nothing was left to the imagination and it’s definitely not for the faint of heart or tummy. The Seafood in Soup Pot also offers everything that’s still squirms, at its freshest. Because everything was cooked at the table and sans preparation in most cases, it felt like I could probably make it myself, though I wouldn’t dare eat live octopus  at home, nor would I want to.

This was a really unique dinner for sure. Do make reservations, it gets really crowded. I went to the Flushing location, there’s a second one in Woodside, Queens as well.

P.S. Chubby’s Rating:
www.sikgaekusa.com
161-29 Crocheron Ave
Flushing, NY 11358
718.321.7770