Ahn Joo Korean vittles outdoors in Glendale

You don't often expect to find anything all that special in a mall, well, at least not until you hit Wet Seal. For special eats that actually reside in that same place that houses fun, flirty lady fashions, check out Ahn Joo.

Opening on Thursday at Glendale's Americana At Brand, Ahn Joo's an upscale Korean counter from the same Next Food Network Star finalist that brought you the Poutine Truck, with an emphasis on snack food that's mostly bite-sized, but not byte-sized, as they don't serve Macintoshes. Actual foodstuffs range from bulgogi sliders w/ caramelized onions, aged Gouda & kimchi aioli, to Korean nachos w/ soy-braised pork & smoky chile queso over deep-fried rice cakes, to potstickers, also what they give out in Amsterdam elementary schools when you get an A in cultivating. They've also got a sweet selection of robata skewers, w/ options including salmon & scallion, bacon-wrapped rice w/ jalapeno ponzu, and spicy chicken w/ Korean peppers, all of which come with pickled cucumbers and the bean paste known as ssamjang, which is ddelicious.

If you're all, "where are the big-ass rice bowls", they've got 'em with protein and veggies on top, and if you're all, "fine, but where are the sweets", they've got an Asian bread pudding and a Fuji egg roll topped with a mascarpone made from ginger, though if that's also the color of your hair, not even the fashion mavens at Wet Seal can help you avoid being called "special".