OB Lager from Oriental Brewing Company

By Don

My family and I made a recent visit to New York City.  My wife had done some research online about some good vegan restaurants in the city (she's a vegan).  She had a suggestion about a Korean restaurant called HanGawi.  I'm always up for something new so we made our way from Times Square to Koreatown.

As soon as we found it, I was immediately impressed by the hand carved wood doors.  We stepped inside and gave our name and were asked to remove our shoes.  First time I've ever eaten in a restaurant in my socks!

We were escorted back to our table.  The set-up was very interesting featuring sunken tables that gave the feeling of sitting on the floor, but your feet could rest comfortably underneath.  We all sat on pillows.

I checked out the beer list -- only 3.  Hite, Beck's Non-Alcoholic and OB.  Of course, the Beck's was out.  So, I thought I'd choose between the 2 Korean offerings and went with the OB.

For my meal, I chose the Mushroom & Garlic Medley with brown rice.  It was "medley" of various mushrooms in a garlic sauce.  Very good.  The garlic sauce wasn't overwhelming -- just right.

The OB arrived with a small 7 oz. beer glass with the OB logo.  As I researched OB, I see that it is a subsidiary of InBev although it is brewed by the Oriental Brewing Company of Seoul, South Korea.  That seemed to make sense because after my first taste I was thinking ... "Budweiser-esque."

This is a pale lager.  I would describe the taste as "crisp."  This would be a good hot summer day, just finished mowing the lawn type of beer.  It was an easy drink and a good pairing with spicy Asian cuisine.  It's just 4.5% ABV.  Not much of a head and it dissipated quickly.  This isn't a beer that's going to compete with your food.  So, if you're looking for something that's refreshing and an easy drink, OB would be a good choice.

As far as HanGawi goes, I would enthusiastically recommend it.  Great atmosphere.  Great service.  Excellent food.  Sorry for the dark picture of my OB bottle and glass.  You pretty much eat by candlelight at HanGawi! :-)

Cheers!