Danji-- 346 west 52 st, NY

My family and I recently went to an awesome spot in midtown west, Danji.  It is a very small restaurant, but constantly packed with a long line outside.  You have to get there early and put your name on a list if you ever want to get a seat.  We sat down in the back near the kitchen, where delicious smells taunted my nose.  The menus were inside shallow drawers under the table, which I thought was creative.  There were two sides to the menu-- traditional and modern, and we did mostly modern.  All the dishes at Danji are only a couple bites, so you get to taste a lot of different things.  They come one at a time.  We started with the spicy yellowtail sashimi which was bundled around crunchy, spicy slaw of cabbage and jalapeno.  Then we had the KFC (korean fire chicken, don't get it confused with the fast food place...) wings.  OMG.  It had a huge kick and put my mouth on fire, but at the same time the skin was crispy, and the inside wasn't dry like most wings; it was perfectly tender and juicy.  I still have that sweet, spicy and tangy sensation in my mouth right now.  Then we had the bulgogi beef sliders with spicy pickled cucumber and spicy scallion salsa.  AWESOME!!!  The bun was toasted perfectly and the cucumber and scallion salsa contributed lots of extra flavors.  I have to admit, the pulled beef was a bit too stringy.  After that, the crispy calamari with wasabi mayo.  The calamari was perfectly done.  It wasn't too fried that it was too greasy, and the calamari wasn't rubbery.  The wasabi mayo was creamy and kicky. Then we had the spicy scallion pancakes, which I thought were amazing.  They were very crispy and you could really taste all the little ingredients so vividly!  And finally (drum roll...) we ordered the kimchi bacon chorizo 'paella!' Spanish food Korean style.  Basically, it was bibimbop inside a paella pot.  The rice was crispy at the bottom, and all the different vegetables and meats mixed together into a wonderful burst of flavor inside your mouth!  What a delicious dinner!  The only bad thing was that when we asked them to slow the dishes down a bit, they over dramatized and we waited 20 minutes for the paella.  I give Danji 4.9999999 pineapples. See you next time! -tdg