Korean Grill Offers 'Genuine' Charcoal Barbecue In East Northport

NORTHPORT, NY — Husband and wife Richard and Kimberly Sim opened Korean Grill in East Northport in March.

Immigrants of South Korea, the Sims aim to provide authentic Korean barbecue at their 2074 Jericho Turnpike digs. Korean Grill uses charcoal to cook its food.

"There was a lack of Korean food on Long Island," Kimberly Sim told Patch. "There are different types of food with every country, but the major food when you say Korea is charcoal barbecue. In South Korea, when we go out to eat for barbecue, we look for charcoal. There was none on Long Island."

The motto of Korean Grill is "From Seoul to your plate." Its menu offers meats served over rice, in a rice bowl called bibimbap, tofu stew called soondubu, ramen, soups, and barbecue entrees. Main dishes feature angus beef, pork, chicken, shrimp and more.

Korean food involves lots of vegetables and little frying, Kimberly said.

"We stay close to the genuine flavor. We make everything from scratch. We have a lot of fermentation. A lot of food is fermented, so it has a lot of probiotics. When we eat meat, unlike steak and potatoes, when we eat meat, we tend to eat a lot of vegetables with it."

Richard Sim has long been in the food business. He previously had a deli in New York City and wanted to open up a charcoal grilling restaurant. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Sims closed up shop in the Big Apple. The Dix Hills residents instead looked to start a business closer to home.

Getting the charcoal permit was not easy, Kimberly said.

"I wanted to make it work, because if we couldn’t do charcoal, we wouldn’t have opened up a restaurant," she said.

The couple needed an independent building — a mall would have made obtaining a charcoal permit near impossible, according to Kimberly.

Richard came to the U.S. in his late 20s, while Kimberly was 12 when she came over.

Kimberly said she wants to capitalize on the current trend of K-Pop, or music originating in South Korea, and bring in customers from across Long Island.

"A lot more people are finding out about the food and the culture, so we want to serve the customers in the area, locally as well as all over Long Island," she said. "We’re the only specialty on Long Island. We’re the only charcoal-permitted Korean barbecue restaurant. Hopefully we will serve customers who are looking for an authentic, traditional Korean cuisine."

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