Over the years, I've learned that many people who discover a gem of a restaurant are loath to talk about it, happy to keep it all to themselves, wary of crowds any kind word might bring.

I've never felt that way. Restaurants are so numerous here, they're like flowers in a field, and I'm like the bee sampling the nectar of each, happy to hover for a while and move on to the next.

But I admit to feeling a twinge of possessiveness about Orine Sarang Chae, a hidden gem of a restaurant that I'd like to keep to myself a while longer. For one thing, its discovery was hard won. I'd been traipsing around the vicinity, visiting other restaurants since it opened in January, but never knew it was there, nearly walled off by a fence at the end of a parking lot. Who looks for restaurants in parking lots?

Well, it turns out the restaurant's owner, Irene Woo, has a thing for parking lots. Her other restaurant, Ducky's, started in the parking lot of a Manoa gas station.

And always, there is the grounding presence of a tree.

“;Orine”; stands for “;duck”; (the fowl, not the act of seeking cover), which connects the restaurant to Ducky's. “;Sarang chae”; translates, roughly, as “;the tree near the house where one relaxes.”; On the menu it's described as the husband's space in a traditional Korean home, where he can “;forget terrible things”; and entertain guests.

“;Ah, the man cave?”; I suggested, but the staffers didn't understand that. Their version is more inclusive.

In spite of a recent spate of chilly, windy weather, most of those who arrive at the restaurant do indeed choose to sit outside in the little oasis under the rubber tree. And the Korean menu is well suited for hot or cold weather. The chilies in the dishes have a cooling effect during summer; the hot pots and grill warm bellies and hands during cooler months. And as implied in the restaurant's name, stress easily melts away at the sight of one of the hot pots, roiling with promise.

A first glance at the menu's prices can be frightening as you'll be confronted by a range of about $55 to $170 meals. Don't worry, those on the first page are intended for groups of six or more and cover an array of appetizers to grilled meat options.

The second page shows grilled meat options ranging from shrimp ($16.50) to beef tongue ($22.95). Most are $21.95. If you order only one of these items, it will be cooked for you and brought out with no frills, just a dipping sauce of sesame oil and salt.

This is where it pays to come with a big appetite or a group of friends. A minimum of two grilled meat specialties comes with a jackpot of a basket of lettuce and sesame leaves for wraps, plus raw garlic and jalapenos for tossing on the grill, and red bean paste in addition to sesame oil, for flavoring your wrap. The result is a feast, for just about $40. Rib eye is fantastic, as is the fatty black pig pork belly ($21.95). If you want to do a taste test, you could complement that order with regular pork belly ($17.95) to see whether you can discern the $4 difference.

With a big group, you could also add the Korean hot pot, big enough to serve six. Surveying the other pots being carried out to the tables, many of the patrons were having the spicy pollock hot pot ($29.50), the broth flavored with red bean paste, so that's what we ordered. This is only for the most avid fish fan, because you'll end up picking tiny bones out of your mouth the entire time. It would be far easier to go with the spicy seafood hot pot ($42.50) filled with more manageable shrimp, clams and squid. Or, if paying $42.50 is not an option, go with the single-serve spicy soft tofu stew with seafood, which two can share for $8.95.

That's the beauty of this place. You can splurge when you can, but even if you can't there are many affordable dishes of equal quality and consistency.

The same menu is offered at lunch time, but there is an additional menu of familiar plate lunches of rice topped with the likes of spicy pork ($8.59), barbecue chicken ($7.95) and kalbi ($8.95).

In the evening a mung bean or kim chee pancake appetizer is $4.99, but by day it's $2.50. And soups/stews by day are about $3.99 to $6.25.

Of course, the 10 a.m.-to-3 p.m. lunch period might be too late for kalbi hangover soup ($5.99 day/$9.75 evening). It might be considered the Korean equivalent of oxtail soup, the oxtails replaced by two large pieces of short ribs on the bone, in a clear vegetable broth filled with won bok.

I tend to get tired of eating the same foods one day to the next, but this is one place where I always leave anxious to return.

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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. E-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).