I enjoy fine dining as much as the next fancy pants, but it’s the hole in the walls that I really gravitate towards. The places where the chairs might not match and there are paper placemats and cheap plastic water glasses. Nondescript little nothing places where you are the ambiance. Together Restaurant fits the bill with the decor consists of some whimsy, some ugly, and thin walls that let you hear the Mexican karaoke next door. It’s in a kind of rundown location, quite far from my South Austin digs…and damn, I’m just crazy about this place.

The love affair began when Mr. Betty and I joined some foodie friends for a night of Korean BBQ and drinking. It was so much fun that we decided to make it a monthly endeavor. We don’t make it there quite that often, but it’s become enough of a regular thing that we have a routine with a core group of friends and usually order the same things. The extended cast of characters always changes a bit, with new faces and friends joining us for each dinner. These are some of my favorite nights!

Typically, my friend MJ orders everything in Korean and bustles around manning several grills and feeding us all like we are guests in her home. In between bites of crisp pork belly—Samgyupsal—wrapped in lettuce, she urges us to take another shot of soju, another sip of makgeolli from our bowls. Both the soju (spirits made from rice) and the makgeolli (a lightly carbonated, malted rice drink) are relatively low in alcohol. It’s socializing the Korean way and we always play a drinking game or two at the table. Sometimes we’ll get a few Hite beers and they are served with a full bowl of peanuts.

The banchan keeps us busy between grillings, which goes on for a couple hours. The small dishes vary and it’s always exciting to see what we end up getting and who likes what. Michelle loves the potatoes, Mr. Betty is crazy for bean sprouts, I’m a fan of the broccoli, Peter likes the fish cakes, and so on. There are always about ten little dishes to nibble on.

We’ll all jump up and take some turns grilling. In addition to pork belly they have beef ribs (bulgogi) and tender baby octopus (jjukkumi). We always skip the rice to save room for more of the good stuff, preferring to linger over several courses and not fill up too quickly.

Unlike some other Korean BBQ joints I’ve been to, it never gets too smoky at Together. Still, it’s wise not to dress up as we all end up with little splatters on ourselves from cooking at the table. Like the decor, it’s 100% casual and anything goes.

In addition to the BBQ, we always get a seafood pancake and another meat dish, either pork or beef.

The night ends with what might be my very favorite dish, an enormous bubbling hot bowl of kimchi dumpling soup. It’s not just hot, it’s as spicy as it looks and it’s the thing I dream about when the temperatures in Austin fall below 70. Look at how magnificent that is, bursting with thick noodles and dumplings, layers of kimchi underneath. It’s a fragrant bowl of nirvana:

Our per person average on these nights is about $20 to $35, depending on how many bottles of soju we order. It’s a great value for the amount of food consumed, laughs laughed, and memories made.

Do you have a favorite hole in the wall? Leave a comment and tell me about it.

Together Restaurant

9200 N. Lamar, Ste 101, Austin, TX 78754

Open everyday 4 pm-2 am