Babbi Babbi Korean Kitchen wasn’t exactly what I was expecting it to be. In fact, I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed when I walked into the new eatery at Phillips Crossing and discovered it was a quick-serve (order at the counter) operation. Even more annoyed to discover that the classic dish Bibimbap was offered as an assemblage item, with the diner tasked with choosing type of rice, which meat and what toppings to enhance or possibly ruin this traditional rice dish.

But I found plenty of other dishes on the menu that didn’t require me to act as an inexperienced chef, and I soon learned that even though one orders the food at the counter, service is supplied throughout the meal. And even better, the food was quite good.

I’m not really big on places where the customers are expected to cook their own meals. I call that home. When I go out to eat, I want someone else to do the cooking.

I’m apparently in the minority with this thought. At least I was the first time I visited Bulgogi House, a Korean restaurant on West Colonial Drive between downtown and College Park. Each table has a grill set into it, and most of the tables were occupied with people happily turning over meats and vegetables as they sizzled in front of them.

Menus don’t get much more succinct – succincter? – than the one at Chi-Kin, a new quick-server in the Mills 50 district.

It’s basically chicken, as you probably phonetically guessed, and Korean fried chicken to be more precise. (Preciser?)

Go to Danketsu if it’s in your neighborhood and you have a hankering for Japanese, sushi, Korean or just about any other Asian cuisine. But I wouldn’t drive across town just to go there.

Doshi’s Michelin recognition is deserved. The restaurant, from brothers Jimmy Tung and Johnny Tung of the Bento Group, grew from of a ghost-kitchen operation called Doshibox that worked out of the Collab Kitchen on Curry Ford Road. Doshi occupies a small space in an outparcel in front of Nordstrom Rack at the intersection of Lee Road and Orlando Avenue in Winter Park.

This is undoubtedly the largest sushi restaurant I’ve ever seen. Izziban Sushi & BBQ occupies a warehouse sized building on the shore of Lake Barton, which lies between Semoran Boulevard and Orlando Executive Airport. There have been a few failed businesses here, including a gay bar.

There is an immense indoor dining area and a couple of very large sushi bars, including one that is shaped like the bow of a big boat. There is also a large covered patio, screened in but with nice views of the lake and planes taking off from the airport. Its rusticity is more suitable for the type of fried foods you’d find at fish camps, but it isn’t inappropriate for sushi to be associated with a waterfront locale.

And sushi isn’t all that is done here. The kitchen food menu is also rather sizable, and if you so choose, your table can be the kitchen, as most of them have built-in griddles and devices that can be used for grilling meats or hot-pot cooking. The cuisines range from Japanese to Korean.

No one is going to accuse the folks at Kimchi Korean restaurant of being too warm and fuzzy. The first time I tried to visit the Oviedo restaurant I stood at the front door for several minutes without an acknowledgement from the staff. I finally just left and went to a nearby lunch spot.

The second time I entered, alone, it was made clear to me that I could sit at the bar area, overlooking the unkemptness of scattered papers and a couple of wine bottles (this was not a working bar, apparently), or nowhere. The empty tables would not be wasted on a solo diner.

The attitude isn’t keeping people away, however. The place seems to do a brisk business.

I opted for one of the lunch specials, a spicy pork bulgogi box. It featured sliced pork sauteed with onions and peppery seasoning, but it wasn’t nearly spicy enough to be called spicy pork. It was accompanied by a ball of white rice, some soggy tempura, a surprisingly meager serving of kimchi, and a pretty good fresh salad with peanut dressing.

I found it all fairly unremarkable, but when I was leaving I noticed the people sitting next to me were being served more traditional Korean dishes from the main menu and it all looked much more enticing.

So I guess if I were to go back I would eschew the bulgogi box lunches and stick to the main menu.

But unless I know that I would be more welcomed, that isn’t likely to happen. You go; let me know how it is.

Now in its 27th year, Korea House is not only the oldest Korean restaurant in the area it’s one of the oldest of any cuisine. When it was the only Korean game in town, KH modified its menu to offer some Chinese dishes for Americans unfamiliar with Korean food who might think there was no difference between the two Asian styles. But as more Korean restaurants started opening — and as the local dining public became more sophisticated — Korea House revamped its menu to be truer to its cuisine. Still doing what it does best, serving fine Korean favorites with kimchi on the side.

The original Korea House, in Longwood, was the area’s first all Korean restaurant (and is still its oldest). With this new location, Korea House brings its well done cuisine closer to downtown Orlando. Tabletop cooking is a big draw here.

Gogi occupies a building on an outparcel in the Marketplace at Dr. Phillips. It’s a lovely space with a modern decor. Tables are wired for those wishing to cook their own meats and the comfy chairs – and plates and napkins and just about everything else in the restaurant are emblazoned with the restaurant’s name, which is Korean for meat.