Pittsburgh City-Paper: "[T]he opening of Nak Won Garden marks the full-fledged arrival of Korean cuisine in Pittsburgh."

The March 11 issue of the Pittsburgh City-Paper contains a review of Nak Won Garden, which opened in Shadyside in November. Food critics Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth write of it:

But there is a difference, we think, in the way that smaller, tighter communities like ours adopt foreign cuisines. Instead of becoming fluent in them through full immersion, we tend to hold dear one or two iconic, gateway dishes, like Mexican tacos, Japanese sushi and Vietnamese pho. Once these have become established, often after several years, we are primed to explore and embrace a broader, more authentic menu.

If this theory holds, then the opening of Nak Won Garden marks the full-fledged arrival of Korean cuisine in Pittsburgh after a decade or more of enthusiasm for Korean barbecue. Open since November on busy Centre Avenue, at the seam of Shadyside and Bloomfield, Nak Won Garden is Pittsburgh's most ambitious Korean restaurant to date.