Food Gallery 32 Review

It was lunchtime and I was thinking about what new place I might try (as every meal is an opportunity for good eats). Just then, I conviently espied the new Food Gallery 32 in Koreatown. It had recently opened, so I stopped in to see what this was all about.  

I entered a spacious room hosting several different food stands, essentially a food court with a futuristic feel. I browsed each of the stands — they all sported large screens advertising their menus. But the menus seemed to have so many things listed that it was a bit hard to read through it all without feeling overwhelmed. When I finally settled on the Taiwanese fried pork chop over rice with pork sauce, I stepped up to the stand's counter to order. But it turned out that I couldn't do this. The way this place works: You order from a counter right inside the front doors, receive your buzzer and when it buzzes, you proceed to the appropriate counter to pick up your food. The place needs better signage to make that clear. Midtown Lunch's early assessment also seemed to think they might need to improve the ordering system.

 The ordering station at the front of the food court.

 Bian Dang, the brick and mortar home of the NYC Cravings truck.

There was not much of a line when I went and ordering was simple. But when I ordered my pork rice, I was asked if I wanted it with a tea egg (I said yes and after the fact found out that it was $1 extra). After a very brief wait, I picked up my food at the back of the food court.

For just under $10, I got a plastic container tightly packed with rice topped with a few large, thinly cut pork chops. It was a big portion of food that I didn't finish in one sitting. But I didn't love it. The pork and the pork sauce with some sour greens were both a bit too rich and salty for my taste. The white rice might have helped to offset that a little bit, but unfortunately much of it was soaked in the sauce. While I wasn't crazy about my first experience with the Food Gallery, I'm sure I'll return to try the many other offerings. It's open until midnight and seems like it will, at the very, least be a good addition to K-town and an alternative to Woorijip for quick, relatively cheap food.