A sign of a great neighborhood is a neighborhood joint—a laid-back gathering place for food and drink, a stone’s throw from your house.
Christen Clemins
Sara Nelson and Joseph Plunket, owners of Duke’s in Five Points, together with their friends Tim and Danny Song, co-owners of Gaja in Atlanta, had been looking for the right location to launch a neighborhood Korean-focused pub. As the saying goes, ‘one door closes, another opens.’ So it was with the closure of Pied Piper Eatery at the corner of Riverside Drive and Porter Road, which provided their opportunity. After months of renovation, the group opened Babo Korean Bar last November.
Babo, in Korean, means fool, pinhead, dummy. Take that in the right spirit—it’s used in playful teasing between friends. Step inside, you’ll immediately feel welcomed. The interior combines hip industrial and Asian minimal elements; the centerpiece is a marvelous mural of a tiger—a revered animal in Korean culture. Sidle up to the bar, which offers full service, or order from the open kitchen window and take a table.
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Christen Clemins
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Christen Clemins
Foremost a Korean bar, Babo offers local and Japanese brews on tap, bottles of Hite, the pale lager brewed in Seoul, Soju by the shot (Gun-bae!) or mixed with Hite to make Somaek—a Korean kind of Boilermaker, and cans of TokTok, sparkling Soju in peach and pineapple flavors. There are three specialty cocktails, too: Pink Flag is a tart and luscious meld of Hayman’s Old Tom gin, lemon, honey, and butterfly pea powder, which gives the drink a delightful shock of pink color.
The menu is concise but replete with staples of Korean cuisine.
Get started with an order of Banchan, a rotating quartet of small side dishes to spark your palate, compelling bites of kimchi cabbage, daikon radish, spicy broccoli, and a tangle of shredded purple cabbage. (Note: Unlike traditional Korean restaurants, which Babo does not purport to be, the banchan is not complimentary.) The crispy scallion pancake, layered with buttered leeks and served with sweet soy dipping sauce, is also a must.
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Christen Clemins
Fried gochujang and soy garlic chicken
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Christen Clemins
Banchan and Kimchi
Yes, there’s Bibimbap, the classic comfort food. The bowl of rice, arranged with stir-fried vegetables and soft-cooked egg, is available with either marinated beef or tofu. We recommend getting a side of heat to punch up the favors: either gochujang (a.k.a. Korean ketchup—but fiery!) or the house Sriracha-like hot sauce. The kimchi fried rice needs no doctoring.
Meat-lovers have a tough decision: which of the two kinds of bulgogi? Marinated shaved steak with enoki mushrooms or carved pork loin in gochujang with sweet onion? Both are tender, deeply flavored, and sure to satisfy. Get a side of green leaf to accompany as a wrap for the meat, adding cooling crunch.
It’s not unusual for a bar to be open until 1 a.m., but rare that its kitchen to be open until midnight. But, Babo is neighborly like that.
As the menu states, “Have your rice with your vice.”
Babo Korean Bar, 1601 A Riverside Dr., 615-750-5847; @babo_nashville