JCD, an abbreviated acronym for Jang Choong Dong Wang Jok Bal, provides a clue to the restaurant’s must-order: Jok bal is sliced soy-braised pig’s feet served ssam-style with lettuce wraps. JCD is also one of the few restaurants serving soondae, sausage made from pig’s blood and cellophane noodles, bound with glutinous rice. Here, the springy dark brown slices are served simply as an appetizer and in a spicy stir-fry mixed with vegetables. JCD is open for takeout only.

Nak Won is one of the more popular Korean restaurants in Beaverton, possibly thanks to its playful English-friendly menu item names like “Saving Private Canned Goods” a.k.a. military stew a.k.a. budae jjigae, or “Ice Ice Babe,” the summer-only dish of cold buckwheat noodle soup with beef, sliced radish, and cucumber. Silly names aside, the food is serious, especially the many-named stew filled with instant ramen noodles, sliced up hot dog wieners, spam batons, bacon, and tofu. Nak Won is open for takeout.

This hidden restaurant overlooking the aisles of G Mart (no, not H Mart) might seem like a well-kept secret, but the weekend wait makes it clear everyone else is already in on it. Blazing hot soups — both in temperature and spice level — are the thing to order. Variations on sundubu-jjigae, the fiery stew in cast-iron cauldrons teeming with soft chunks of tofu, is likely the move any day of the week. Spring is open for takeout and delivery.

The opening of the Cartside pod food cart Ko Sisters is exciting news for those seeking some of South Korea’s famous street foods, like its crispy half-fried-mozzarella-stick, half-corn dogs, or the skewers of glossy gochujang-glazed rice cakes, seaweed rolls, and sausage. For dessert, it’s hard to go wrong with the cinnamon hotteok, chewy sweet pancakes. Ko Sisters is open for takeout and delivery.

This NE MLK Korean restaurant serves as the hub for the buzzy Park the Carts food cart pod, which can occasionally distract from the straight-up Korean comfort foods inside. From the restaurant’s sticky-sweet yangnyum fried chicken to the cheesy buldak, K-Pub has become a go-to for Northeast Portlanders craving some of the greatest hits. K-Pub is open for takeout and delivery.

Chef and owner Peter Cho’s semi-hidden Korean restaurant is a choose-your-own adventure of modern Korean cuisine: the a la carte route includes options like fried chicken and pork belly ssam, plus a rotating roster of non-traditional and seasonal banchan and an array of dumplings and hand-pulled noodles. Han Oak is open for takeout, including weekend brunch boxes. Look out for soon-to-open Toki from the Han Oak team, providing some much-needed Korean food on the west side of Portland proper.

In a tiny stall within the Zipper food hall, Sari specializes in ramyun, a Korean style of ramen often packing some serious heat. The restaurant offers a number of ramyun, bulgogi variants, and rice bowls, but the move here is to order the restaurant’s Korean fried chicken with gochujang glaze. Sari is open for takeout and delivery.

Belmont Street might not be the first place to look for Korean food in the city, but thanks to H Mart, inner Southeast now has a Korean grocery store to rival any in Beaverton or off 82nd Ave. If prepared kimbap and rice bowls don’t appeal, shoppers can also let someone else do the cooking for them at K-Town, the fast casual counter-service stand that’s located right near the entrance. For takeout, it serves classics like bibimbap, as well as fried chicken from BBQ Chicken, a popular Korean chain.

Honestly, there might be flashier or more esoteric Korean barbecue restaurants in the city, but it would be remiss not to mention the most centrally located one. Toji’s entry level all-you-can-eat deal with six choices of meat starts at a reasonable $23.95, but those who want galbi and skirt steak will need to pitch in $5 to upgrade to the next level. Toji is open for takeout and delivery.

Despite the name, this strip mall restaurant next to a takeout Pizza Hut is fusion-free. It also features a solid roster of Korean hot pots and stews, plus cheese buldak, a spicy chicken dish smothered in melted cheese. Due to COVID-19, Chungdam is no longer a late-night hang with a special menu (goodbye, silkworm pupae and sea snail salad) but it is open for takeout and delivery.

This long-standing cafe-meets-diner near the airport may look like it only serves pancakes and monte cristos, but Korean dishes hide throughout the menu, from beef kimchi stew and “soldier soup” (better known as budae jjigae) among the soups to mung bean pancakes under the traditional flapjacks. Breakfast is where things get wild: Sue Gee’s fusion pancake is loaded with rice, vegetables and topped with cheese, and specials like kimchi hash and kimchi omelets stuffed with bulgogi, crab, or shrimp, almost always please. Cameo Cafe is open for takeout and delivery.