At On Dal 2, owner Kihoa Kim serves fried rice with spicy crab sauce to diners at the table. Kim’s wife, Hyo-Sook, is chef at the restaurant, which specializes in spicy crab hot pots. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
A diner eats spicy crab. Three types of seafood -- crab, monkfish and mixed seafood -- can each be ordered either as a soupy hot pot or a sautéed dish with broth served on the side. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
A hot pot of steamed crab with spicy soup is served on a burner built into the table. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
At On Dal 2, after diners have begun to eat a crab hot pot, a server replenishes the broth in the hot pot, then adds pieces of fresh pasta dough into the broth to cook. Here, a server kneads a piece of dough that will go into the pot. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
Advertisement
A server uses kitchen shears to cut open a crab for diners. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
Steamed crab with spicy soup is garnished with herbs and straw mushrooms. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
Assorted panchan (side dishes) are served with a hot pot: raw sweet potato, top left, which cools down the palate after a bit of spicy crab; squid with spicy sauce, top right; cucumber kimchi with raw fish, center. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
Diners at On Dal 2 tuck into hot pots and assorted panchan, which might include vegetable pancake, chile-marinated pickles, a whole grilled pike, a wedge of omelet, raw sweet potato, squid with spicy sauce, cucumber kimchi with raw fish and kaejiang -- a ceviche-like baby crab cured in red-hot bean paste. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)