On the northern outskirts of Watertown, there's a little Korean restaurant tucked away in a small strip mall on Route 283 near Fort Drum.

It doesn't look like much from the outside. Corrugated metal siding and roofing don't exactly draw you in from the road. The inside is basic, clean and compact, with four booths and six tables.

There was a pretty good crowd when I arrived at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday.

Hyuna greeted me, and when I told her we had a table of six arriving shortly, she immediately began putting tables together to accommodate us.

Single-handedly, she was seating customers, waiting tables, clearing tables, answering the phone and taking care of takeout customers.

With the WDT Reviewing Team now in place, Hyuna was ready to take our order.

Thankfully, the menu contains color pictures of most of the dishes, and Hyuna capably answered any questions we had. And believe me, there were quite a few.

While the menu says right at the top "Korean-Chinese-American," there's no way we're ordering egg rolls or chicken wings for appetizers. Bring on the yakimandu, kimbob and steamed mandu.

Everyone received a small bowl of dipping sauce made with soy sauce, fish sauce, green onion, sesame seed, sesame oil and something to provide a bit of heat. It was salty, but not overly spicy.

Steamed mandu ($5.95) are little dumplings, wonton-wrapped purses of seasoned pork, gently cooked in a bamboo steamer. These are easily picked up with your chopsticks and dunked in the dipping sauce.

Kimbob ($6) resembles a California roll (popular with Japanese cuisine): nori (dried seaweed) wrapped around rice, strips of beef and egg and carrot, daikon radish and sturdy wilted greens (most likely kale or beet greens), making for interesting textures.

Yakimandu ($4.95) is a wontonlike wrap filled with seasoned ground pork and green onion, folded in the shape of a triangle and deep-fried. These were too big to handle with chopsticks, so we just picked them up with our fingers and dipped them in the dipping sauce

All the appetizers were nicely presented and tasted great. Ample portions, too — three appetizers were enough for the six of us.

Our entrées were about to arrive, heralded by the side dishes that Hyuna brought to our table for all to pick at.

Traditional kimchi is bok choy (Asian cabbage) that has been fermented for several months. Red pepper flakes made it a little spicy, but not too hot.

Cucumber kimchi was made with similar ingredients, and was definitely hotter.

To cool and cleanse the palate, fresh bean sprouts and thin slices of daikon radishes are served, touched with a very light vinaigrette.

Chabche bob ($8.95) is a nicely spiced beef dish. Grilled, marinated strips of beef are served mixed with rice noodles, flavorful vegetables and steamed white rice.

Ja jong myon ($8.95) is made with thinly sliced pork, zucchini, onion, cucumber and mushrooms in a "special Korean sauce," served over rice noodles. We started picking at the components with our chopsticks until helpful Hyuna came by and said, "You mix it all up, then eat."

Hyuna warned us that the sauce might not appeal to us, that it was hard to describe and is an "acquired taste." Our adventurous palates found it to be a taste easily and quickly acquired. We'd say it was like cooked-down soybean, deep brown in color, thick and rich yet mild.

I ordered o jing uh bokeum ($10.95), spicy squid with vegetables. I ordered it mild, but it came out REALLY hot, at least for me. Fortunately, Hyuna had just filled our water glasses or the top of my head might have blown off. I thought the squid was a little on the tough side — it looked different from the squid I'm used to.

Maybe some kind of huge, deep-sea variety?

The most impressive presentation was bi bim bob ($9.95), a large bowl filled with rice, beef and vegetables fanned out on the top with a sunny-side-up fried egg in the center. We were again instructed to not pick at the individual components, but rather mix it all up and then eat it.

At one point during our meal, we were the only customers left in the place. Suddenly, people began pouring in — a second wave — many of them families who may have been coming from sports practice. And once again, the solo waitress was slammed.

If there was dessert, we didn't bother ordering. Hyuna was too busy to even clear our table. We did get to-go containers and the check, written in Korean, with the dollar amount being $84 for six of us.

The atmosphere is, well, virtually nonexistent. But the food certainly makes up for it. The recipes at Koreana are slightly Americanized and not overly spicy, but it's still Korean and it's cooked right there, to order.

And while many Asian restaurants have succumbed to the buffet style of serving their cuisine, Koreana has been around for 20 years, doing it "the old fashioned way." And I have to say, it was a pleasure to sit down and be served, and Hyuna was a gem of a server.

If you're shy about eating Korean cuisine (but you really shouldn't be), there are plenty of Chinese favorites on the menu like sweet and sour chicken, shrimp and broccoli, pork lo mein and beef teriyaki.

You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Koreana

26216 Outer Pearl St. (Route 283)

Watertown

786-7830

A compact little restaurant serving Korean, Chinese and American cuisine.

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Delivery 5 to 9 p.m.

The food is good, and fun to say, too.

APPETIZER PICKS: Kimbob (nori-wrapped rice and vegetables), steamed mandu (dumpling-like wontons filled with seasoned pork).

ENTRÉE PICKS: Chabche bob (grilled beef strips with vegetables and rice noodles), bi bim bob (rice, beef and vegetables topped with fried egg).

RATING: 3 and one-half forks