Korea – Korean BBQ Restaurant – BBQ Beef

Restaurant: Korean BBQ Restaurant – BBQ Beef
Cuisine: Korean/BBQ
Last visited: April 9, 2010
Location: Seoul, Korea
Address: n/a
Price Range: $50+

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 4
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Located in the “pricier” area of Seoul
• Popular for business meetings
• Gourmet Korean BBQ
• Authentic
• Very busy
• Famous for high quality beef
• Korean fine dining
• Lunch and dinner
• Private rooms available

**Recommendations: Korean beef ribs, Kimchi Cold Buckwheat Noodles

This was one of the restaurants in Korea where I over ate! By a lot! Everything was delicious except for the kimchi which wasn’t fermented long enough… and the raw cow’s intestine. This is seriously the best Korean barbeque I have ever had. Mind you, I don’t have much to compare to being in Vancouver, but according to the Korean locals this place is definitely famous for Korean BBQ.

This restaurant is busy and since it’s located in the business district of Seoul it’s a very popular place for lunch and dinner business affairs. There’s plenty of seating though so I’m sure the line-ups (if any) move fast.

This is what you see as soon as you walk into the restaurant. It’s more or less the chef’s display table featuring all the beef they serve.

The price depends on the cut and grade of beef you choose. I think all the beef is imported from the Eastern part of Korea which is famous for having the best beef in all of Korea. You select which basket you want and then they bring it to your table for you to barbeque yourself.

On the table:

I was overwhelmed with everything on the table. I didn’t even know where to start or what sauce to dip my beef into.

The dish on the left is the standard sauce you dip your beef into. It’s pretty much a light soy sauce with tons of raw onions and green onions. It’s savoury and sweet at the same time. The smaller dish is a mixture of white pepper, salt and other seasonings.

Complimentary Appetizers/Side Dishes/Condiments (left to right)

• These are some traditional Korean appetizers served with the Korean BBQ. It’s all communal so not everyone gets their own.
• Kimchi “Soup” (left) – This is more or less kimchi soup. It’s served cold as an appetizer and it’s delicious! I’ve never had it in Vancouver before. It’s salty, slightly spicy and really refreshing. For me, it was very “different” to have a communal soup… everyone uses their own spoon and shares from the same bowl.
• Sweet onions and veggies (middle) – These onions and green peppers were marinated in a sweet soy sauce. These were delicious too.
• Korean “cole slaw” (right) – I don’t know the name of it but it reminded me of a Korean version of cole slaw. It was shredded carrots, onions, cabbage and celery marinated in a sesame oil, soy sauce and chili dressing. It was nice and crunchy and great with the barbeque.

• In Korea it is very common to be served a plate of lettuce at every meal where they serve meat or even seafood. They eat so much meat in Korea they need a balance.
• They seriously make lettuce wraps out of everything! See my sashimi lettuce wrap I had at the Korean Fish Market.
• They usually serve romaine or red leaf/green leaf lettuce.
• The pretty green leaves you see above are soy bean leaves. I wasn’t a fan of the flavour. It was too herby and strong for me to the point of being slightly bitter.

Soy Bean Soup – 3.5/6

• This is an appetizer and it’s communal again. So one small bowl goes in the middle of the table and everyone uses their own spoon to drink from it.
• It’s a very acquired taste and most Westerners do not like it at all. I liked it though!
• It has a very bold, rich and pungent flavour.
• The broth is quick thick and because it’s made from soy bean and fermented soy bean paste the flavour can be too much for most people.
• It’s not like Miso soup or a bean soup… it’s a pungent soy bean soup.

Raw Cow’s Intestine – 1/6

• This was an appetizer. Yes I tried it. No, I did not like it.
• I ate the LIVE octopus which is a Korean delicacy, so this wasn’t too bad. It kind of caught me off guard because I wasn’t expecting it though.
• It was almost like eating rough jelly fish. It wasn’t slimy but it had a bumpy texture.
• It was like eating thin strips of dry, bumpy and crunchy chicken fat similar to elastic bands.

This is pretty much a full spread on the table. There was so much going on and everything was delicious!

**Beef Short Ribs – 6/6

• These are the most delicious Korean beef ribs I’ve ever had in my life.
• The fat was so tender and even though it’s not that marbleized it wasn’t chewy at all!
• It’s the highest quality of Korean beef imported from the Eastern part of Korea which is famous for producing the best beef.
• Traditional Korean BBQ does not serve marinated beef – it’s put on the grill as is and dipped in sauces upon eating.

If you barbeque the beef to well done (I don’t know why anyone would), you’ll disappoint the entire Korean nation. Such a waste! Don’t do that, it’s almost considered rude and unappreciative since it’s so expensive.

Cold Buckwheat Noodles – 3.5/6

• These noodles are served at the very end of the meal.
• As full as you are it’s important to order a bowl because it helps you digest the super fatty and greasy barbeque you just had.
• Buckwheat has been medically proved to aid in the digestion so it’s not only tradition but also healthy to have a bowl afterward.
• The noodles are thin and almost stretchy. They’re similar to vermicelli but chewier. It’s served cold in a sour vinaigrette like broth.
• It tastes like the Japanese Sunomono. It’s very refreshing especially after the barbecue.

**Kimchi Cold Buckwheat Noodles – 5/6

• This is the kimchi version. I liked it much better!
• It was spicy, salty and heavier than the original version.
• It was more savoury rather than tangy.