Wow, that's quite a name, isn't it. Starting from the end and going backwards, DolSot = the big piping hot stone bowls they serve your entree in, usually you can get a BiBimBap served in this, rice topped with vegetables, beef, and a fried egg, with the rice at the bottom and sides of the pot getting crispy. (And this place does the best DolSot BiBimBop ever. The rice gets crispy, then you mix it around, and ANOTHER layer of crispy rice forms! Mmm-mmm-good.) YoungYang = some sort of healthy preparation with ginseng, jujubes, and other herbs and berries like that. Together, "YoungYang DolSot" is their specialty (which I actually haven't tried yet) - it's a broiled mackerel served with a DolSot of rice, ginseng, jujube, oysters, and other deliciousness. Perhaps next time! Finally, I don't know what CheonJoo is, so I'm just guessing it's the name of the restaurant or owners or something.
My apologies for the only picture being the front of the restaurant and no food. I didn't realize I was going to write a review of this place, so I didn't take pictures. Next time! In any case I hope my descriptions will dazzle you. Anyway, the very nice Korean waitress greeted me and said "long time no see!" I think it's been just over a month since I've been there, but it probably is the longest gap without going there, at least since I discovered the restaurant. And this includes when I was still living in SF. I have a long history with this place. Well not really, more like seven months, but still, considering I've just been in San Jose for about two and a half, that's long. Next to my favorite supermarket (Galleria), this place looked pretty promising so I went in. I had to ask the dreaded question, "is there MSG?" The waitress (the same one mentioned earlier in this paragraph, who's been there every time since) assured me, "no. Don't worry!" Awesome. Even more awesome was I saw on the menu they have "whole grain brown rice," although it's $1 more, I don't mind because it really is 100% whole grain and legumes. Not a mix of brown rice and white rice. As avoiding unnecessary refined carbs is very important to me (it should be for you, too!) this place gets extra points for that. They have a pretty big menu and everything I've ordered has been good. Not knock-your-socks-off-fancy-restaurant-good, but definitely better-than-average-good and at extremely reasonable prices, everything is $7.99-$13.99. (Except for the 2+ people casserole dishes.) I've brought Mom and Dad here a few times, and they liked it too!
So anyway, I was really craving dogani tang. Tang = soup, but what is dogani? In a nutshell, cartilage. Yep, ox knee cartilage soup. So I ordered that and, of course, brown rice. At $13.99, it's one of their more expensive dishes, but this dish ain't exactly cheap anywhere and it stuffs you. Soon, they brought me seven small plates of deliciousness - the side dishes! At CheonJoo they rotate them up, and it can be hit-or-miss depending on my preference, but this time it was hit after hit after hit! They had two of my favorite three - the rape flower (broccoli florets), and, of course, straight-up napa cabbage kimchi that they make in house. (The third is shiitake mushrooms. Maybe they'll have it next time!) Soooo good! Others were bean sprouts, soynuts, spicy daikon, daikon in soy sauce, and one other which I forget. The only one I wasn't bowled over by was the spicy daikon, but I fnished it anyway. Then she brought my brown rice and...
DOGANI DISH! (Their version of dogani tang.) It's not exactly a soup like the standard preparation is, but it's rather just thick tender slices of ox knee and feet cartilage in a shallow broth, topped with chopped up fresh jalapenos. And it hit the spot. The dogani was the most tender I've had anywhere, barely chewy it almost melts in your mouth. It's chock-full of minerals like magnesium and zinc. Anyway, here's a picture of dogani tang I found on the web:
Which I believe does it quite justice. There are restaurants in Korea and LA (and in Santa Clara too, for that matter) that specialize in this. Although, I say the version at CheonJoo is as good as any of them. Second time I've ordered it and not the last. Come visit me in San Jose, and I'll take you to eat Dogani!
DNA
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