Young Vin Express on Montwood

Young Vin was one of the oldest (if not the oldest) Korean restaurants in the city, but the original restaurant on Dyer Street no longer exists. In its place, though, is the recently opened Young Vin Express in far eastern El Paso. I only know of it through information on the Internet, but I believe this is an important development in El Paso’s restaurant scene. Rather than saying that one of the the city’s most well known restaurants is gone, I can instead say that it has merely adapted and moved to a location that is more convenient for a large segment of the city.

My review of Young Vin on the okgourmet.com web site is available for viewing, and reflects my years of dining experience there. For most of these years I had no thought about reviewing the restaurant or trying to analyze the food–I simply went because I enjoyed it. My first experience with Korean food was at Young Vin, and I kept going back for more, as well as visiting the other Korean restaurants in the city.

As the review indicates, the Korean barbecue has always been the main draw of the restaurant. Over time I came to enjoy the side dishes as much or more, but in any case there was plenty to bring me to the restaurant.

I do not know how Young Vin Express is set up, but I am sure that much of the food remains the same. It sounds as if it is now a fast food restaurant, and would not provide the same experience of having an overabundance meat and side dishes to the point that they did not expect anyone to eat all of it. Still, with food this good, it would be difficult not to have a good experience with it even if the portions are smaller.

Recommendations
At Young Vin I always enjoyed the food, but my main issues were with questions such as what you got for your money. The Express restaurant seems to be informal and low priced, so I think this is a good way for people to try Korean food that may not be very familiar with it. In my opinion the barbecue beef is usually a good place to start in experiencing Korean cuisine, and the one here was never disappointing.