Kogen’s brings the heat with Asian soups, sauces
For more than 10 years, Kogen’s has been a staple for sushi and other Asian fare in the Powell area.
And the list of dishes has grown since Marie Kang bought the restaurant six years ago.
Among the choices is beef pho ($11), the popular Vietnamese dish with thin slices of steak, rice noodles and slender cuts of white onion in a hearty broth.
Keeping with tradition, Kogen’s serves the soup with jalapeno pepper slices, lime, bean sprouts, basil, culantro and two sauces for flavoring the stock.
“A lot of people like it in the wintertime,” Kang said.
Vietnamese rolls ($6 for two) offer an alternative to fried egg rolls. Shrimp, crabstick, field greens and noodles are wrapped in translucent rice paper, with a peanut dipping sauce served on the side.
A Korean classic, the bulgogi bibimbap ($15) offers cuts of rib-eye steak and layers of vegetables — bean sprouts, carrots, white and green onion among them — and topped with a sunnyside-up egg and a spicy The hot stone bibimbap at Kogen’s What: Kogen’s Where: 9711 Sawmill Parkway Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 11:30 to 9 p.m. Sundays Contact: 614-798-8882
red-pepper sauce.
It’s served in a sizzling stone bowl so customers can mix everything together and scrape the crunchy rice off of the bottom.
The restaurant has a full menu of sushi plus specialty rolls, including the Ohio 750 ($14), which combines spicy tuna, cucumber, avocado and spicy crab salad topped with tempura crumbs and a spicy mayo.
Another option is the
“super crunch” ($14), a panko-breaded deepfried roll with white tuna, red snapper, crabstick, avocado, asparagus, spicy tuna and a drizzle of four sauces — spicy mayo, wasabi mayo, Sriracha and eel sauce.
The tom yum soup ($4.50) — containing shrimp, mushrooms and sliced onions — is a way to start a meal on a spicy note, as the tangy broth is seasoned with chile paste for heat.
One of King’s personal favorites is the pan-fried noodles ($15), with chicken, shrimp, scallops and vegetables in a light sauce nested in thin, crispy egg noodles. The noodles at the bottom soak up the sauce to create a softer texture.