I was at this very tasty KBBQ place a while back with one of my usual groups. The inside is casual,…read moreand our waitress, Jane, was extremely friendly and helpful from refilling banchan to cooking meats and otherwise. A couple of us shared a $13 bottle of the green grape flavor of Chum Churum, a soju. In terms of banchan, there was a bunch. Everyone got a cold and refreshing cabbage soup as well as a very tasty version of Braised Tofu/Dubu-jorim/두부조림. Once we ordered, we also got a bunch of other banchan, including cabbage, radish, and cucumber Kimchi, broccoli and cauliflower Namul, Marinated Mushrooms/Beoseot Bokkeum/버섯볶음, Anchovies With Peanuts/Myeolchi Bokkeum/멸치볶음, and Potato/Gamja Salad/감자샐러드. One of the other things brought out was a pretty tasty version of Raw Soy Sauce Marinated Crab/Ganjang-Gejang/간장게장. Most of these were refillable.
The first actual thing that arrived was something that I can't eat, the $22.99 Seafood Pancake/Haemul Pajeon/해물파전. I have a cephalopod allergy, or in other words, anything with tentacles, so I avoid squid and octopus, and seafood pancakes always contain one of those two. Everyone else enjoyed it, though. The pajeon I could eat was the Kimchi Jeon/김치전 for a dollar less. It was pretty tasty, though I prefer other spots that had a bit more of a crisp.
Next was one of their signatures, the grilled duck. Going from online reviews, we went with the non-spicy version, as people prefer it, as the spicier marinade overpowers the duck. This was the $29.99 Sang Ori Gui/생오리구이. The sliced duck was on a hot, sizzling plate, with there also being a lot of grilled onions and scallions. The duck had a mix of pieces, ranging from fatty to less so, and had a nice mix of textures. This was easily one of my favorites, though I liked it even more when paired with the ssamjang that arrived with the BBQ, as the sauce balanced the light fattiness.
Arriving at a similar time was the last thing I couldn't eat, the Spicy Stir-Fried Baby Octopus on Iron Plate/Jjukkumi Cheolpan Bokkeu/철판쭈꾸비볶음, for $30.99. I couldn't try the octopus, but the portion was plentiful, and I had a bit of the noodles on the bottom after making sure there were no tentacles, as well as trying the sauce. The sauce was tasty, spicy, and very flavorful.
We went with two of the Korean BBQ meats, one beef and one pork. My preference of the two was surprisingly the $49.99 Charcoal Grilled Marinated Beef Ribs/Yangnyeom Galbi/양념갈비. This also came with two veggies: kabocha squash and asparagus. The beef was extremely tender, had the perfect mix of fat and meat, and had only a light sweetness from the marinade. This was absolutely delicious and very much worth the price point.
Also tasty was the Grilled Pork Belly/Samgyeopsal/삼겹살, for $36.95. This also came with a few things, including cabbage and a large mushroom. The pork belly was delicious, being just fatty enough and very tender as well, with a mild chew. The BBQ came with a few extra side dishes. This included a tasty steamed egg/Gyeran-jjim/계란찜, greens, an onion salad, ssamjang, salt, and a small boiling pot of soybean stew/doenjang jjigae. They were all tasty, though nothing particularly notable outside of the portions being generous. Also, at the end of the meal, they gave us some sujeonggwa.
Not much for me to complain about this place. The food was very tasty overall, and the service was wonderful. I would go back and order a full beef BBQ set.