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Korea Palace isn't really palatial, but its Lee Dynasty cooking and cheerful service make patrons feel like royalty. As a result, the restaurant draws the top echelons of Korean businesspeople, United Nation types, and even the occasional head of state. Non-Asians are welcomed by waiters who are patient, doting, and fluent in English—unlike many of their Koreatown counterparts. Traditional landscape paintings, hanging lamps, and copper-trimmed exhaust hoods soothe visually; classical background music, aurally. Despite the refinements, the cooking is uncompromised. A scallion pancake bursting with chili-laden kimchi is a good starter, as are lightly pan-fried beef dumplings known as man doo. Extensive sushi and sashimi selections are popular, and Korean barbecue, including beef, pork, chicken, sea bass, and even lobster tails, is available, but the slow-cooked stews are remarkable. Most notable is kalbi jim, featuring well-marbled chunks of sweet, soy sauce-marinated short ribs of beef that literally fall off the bone. For a lighter meal, opt for the neng myun, thin buckwheat noodles served in a refreshingly cold beef broth (or with mustard, chili sauce, and vinegar), fortified with delicate slices of beef, cucumber, hard-boiled egg, and Asian pear. At Korea Palace, it's good to be the king. — Michael Anstendig

Neng myun, $14.55; kalbi jim, $24.99