anthony: a few blocks over, the iconic filipino fast food chain, jollibee s. laugh all you want, but ask any filipino. they love this drive-through mutation for specialties like this fried spam sandwich thing. but it s the desserts where it gets really crazy. anthony: decisions, decisions. roy choi: here we go. uh, we ll take one aloha burger and then one spam little big bite. cashier: all right. anything else? roy choi: uh, let s do a halo halo, and that s it. all right. anthony: oh, look at that. what is, what, what is that? roy choi: that s a halo halo. anthony: oh, yeah, halo halo. dig deep and you hit delicious stratas of red beans, white beans, and chickpeas, cubes of red and green jell-o, young white coconut, shaved ice and, is that flan? it makes no goddamn sense at all. i love it. roy choi: part of every pinoy filipino s life, halo halo. anthony: nutsy, man. i got to take a picture of that. it s oddly beautiful.
this is what we re known it s thinly sliced rib-eye, marbled rib-eye. anthony: oh, it s beautiful. roast gui. thin-sliced rib-eye. and bulgogi. thinly-sliced, fat-marbled beef, barbecued table-side. roy choi: for us koreans, it s kind of funny that barbecue has become the gateway to our food, though. anthony: hey, it could be worse, i mean roy choi: it could be worse, yeah. anthony: at least it s delicious. roy choi: it s delicious and we re like, okay, this is the, this is the portal. we re cool with that. anthony: then there s kimchi bulgogi bokkeumbap. basically kimchi fried rice. but it fries into the pan like paella. so many great rice dishes where that outer layer of crispy stuff is just the best. roy choi: the tableside cooking, i think people overlook that a lot. you know, this is like crepes suzette, filleting a dover sole. anthony: oh man, that s just ridiculously delicious. will you be doing this in 20 years? roy kim: it won t change. if we did chan
roy kim: uh, no. roy choi: yeah. [ laughter ] roy kim: well, he still controls the restaurant. roy choi: you just do the work. roy kim: i just do the work. [ laughter ] as a korean, he knows. anthony: we start with bonchon, all those delicious little freebie plates of pickles, preserves, kimchi, a spicy squid snack or two. no bonchon? no meal. roy choi: and you know what this restaurant has that a lot of restaurants are going away from? is the, um, is the chair-less rooms. anthony: you don t do the, the feet under? knees forward, feet under? roy choi: oh the, the tea ceremonies. anthony: straight ahead? oh, no can do. roy choi: the seating, yeah. that was punishment for koreans. roy kim: yeah. roy choi: that s, that s a punishment. roy kim: and with the book over your head. roy choi: for hours. anthony: what would a crime be? what got you into that, uh, position? roy choi: yeah, i mean, it could be as, as minimal as a 94 on the test. anthony: korean
there s no reason to congratulate you, because this is like what we do. anthony: that sounds awful, honestly. that sounds, like totally joy roy choi: that s my life, man. anthony: totally joyless. roy choi: yeah. anthony: uh, what did your parents want you to be when you grew up? roy choi: for me, a doctor or lawyer. anthony: right. you re obviously not a doctor or a lawyer. did you finish college? roy choi: i finished college and i went to one year of law school and i walked out. anthony: right. so, you re a bad korean. roy choi: i m a bad korean. if i was a mediocre accountant, it d be better than being a top chef. anthony: according to who? roy choi: according to korean culture. anthony: right. roy choi: according to korean uncles and aunts. and it s just, it doesn t register that that is a profession. you know? i wouldn t have to explain myself if i just said i was a cpa. anthony: right. roy choi: never. you know, that s, that s, that s weird
samosas, tandoori chicken. oh, yeah, and this lahori fish curry, with no small amount of chilies. anthony: it s such fragrant, aromatic, delicious food. roy choi: this is really good. anthony: what good food are you likely to find within the confines of koreatown? roy choi: we have el salvadoran and guatemalan all around. koreans all throughout. pakistani and bangladesh food. yeah, oaxaca takes over all of eighth street. anthony: why oaxaca? just that s the way it worked out? roy choi: mm-hm. you know how it goes. anthony: yeah. roy choi: probably one guy showed up. anthony: yeah. roy choi: filipino fast food just behind us. anthony: mm-hm. roy choi: and then a bunch of riff-raffs in between. anthony: filipinos ought to be very proud of their food. roy choi: mm-hm. anthony: underrepresented. roy choi: i think they re going through kind of what we went through, where the glass hasn t been broken yet to, to translate it but still keep the core and soul o