Hey guys
A little too close?
As you know, I travel between New York and South California A LOT
mainly for food
and I've mentioned this before
but there are certain food groups that are way better here
in LA, in SoCal, than in New York
for example, Vietnamese food
Japanese Food
and Korean food
more specifically, Korean barbecue
even more specifically: All you can eat Korean BBQ
I mean right now there's a couple good all you can eat Korean BBQ restaurants
that just opened up in New York, New Jersey area
But before that, we really had nothing
But LA was the land of all-you-can-eat Korean BBQs
So I've always wanted to do a video
Going to a bunch of them, trying them out, letting you guys know what I think
Of course I can't fit all of them in this one video
But, we'll do what we can
Let's go eat some barbecue
Hey guys it's Mike Chen
not the Mike Chen from this video
Anyway, before you go watch this video
I just want to clear some stuff up
A lot of you noticed that I published a video
and about 6, 7 hours later I took it down
In this video I was in the Greater Los Angeles area
and I was trying out Korean BBQs
specifically all you can eat Korean BBQs
and I found this really interesting place
I went in, it was a beautiful restaurant
They had 3 different pricing options
The most expensive being around 50 dollars which included steak
Dry-aged steak
Anyway knowing me, I probably heard the words 'dry-aged steak'
and my brain just completely shut off
because the restaurant really only offers one steak and one short rib -- whatever the premium products are
only ONE of each per person
But in my head for some reason I just thought everything was included in the all-you-can-eat for 50 bucks
And the restaurant was just being really nice, so they just kept giving it to me because I think they saw me filming
and in the end I was like, 'Wow that's not a bad deal for all-you-can-eat dry-aged ribeye for 50 bucks'
And that didn't even seem strange to me because I've had all-you-can-eat wagyu in Japan for about 60-70 bucks
So then hours after posting the video, I got a message from the manager of the restaurant saying
'Hey we only offer one steak per person'
I was like 'Whaaat??"
I really thought everything was all-you-can-eat
And that's why, right away, I took the video down
Wrote an explanation to you guys
Because, like I said, if somebody told me something I love was all you can eat and it wasn't
I'd be pretty upset
So if you were one of the people who saw the previous video
and went to the restaurant and you didn't get to eat all the steaks you want
I know that feeling, I hate that feeling
and I'm truly sorry about that
So I basically was gonna just purge this video
but then in the comments so many of you guys wanted to see this video
with a disclaimer like this in the beginning
So here is the video with some edits, ESPECIALLY at the end
because now I've got to re-review this place
because it's not all-you-can-eat steak
Anyway, here you go
This is definitely the pinkest Korean barbecue place I've been to
Whoa
Metroid Man/Transformer lookalike guy
Aged meat right inside the entrance
This is really interesting, as soon as you walk in
Arcade games
Kind of like a retro, comic book store kinda vibe in the entrance
Oh I just found out, this is Taekwon, that dude right there
He's like a Korean anime character during the 1970s
So the restaurant's theme is based on this superhero right here
Maybe he'll really like Korean BBQ
And as soon as you walk in from the entrance
The bar is over here
and over here there's like a sitting area
and almost like a library/living room kind of setting
Wow
That's a pretty setting
They're slicing meat over there
in Taekwondo uniforms
So this place, they just started serving all you can eat
and that's the only korean barbecue I go to
because for me, if I don't do all you can eat
I end up spending like a hundred dollars
so this place is really unique, check this out
This is what they offer
Himalayan Salt
Dry Aged Black Angus
45 days Dry Aged
Premium Kurobuta
and everything's cooked on a cast iron pan
They offer three different tiers of all you can eat
The first tier is lunch, which is 22.99 USD
Second tier is Gold, which is 29.99 USD
And the third tier, this is really interesting, is Diamond BBQ tier
and this includes dry aged ribeye steak, which like I said, they age for 45 days
and was hanging out at the front of their store
The cast iron grill
You get this with the Diamond meal
Diamond, of course, can be way more expensive
47.99 USD
And you're really paying for the dry-aged ribeye steak
Also with the Diamond, you get all the side dishes here
So they told me to get the cheese fondue,
the 'Shake it Bomb'
and I got some cold noodles, because I gotta have cold noodles with my korean BBQ
This is the 'Shake it Bomb'
little bit of kimchi, seaweed, overeasy eggs, spam, rice, and a tin lunchbox
Wow
And that's why it's called a 'Shake it Bomb'
This piece of fat is being used instead of butter or oil
So this whole thing is going to have a fantastic beefy flavor
That is the dry-aged ribeye
So that was quite a show
and this is the ultimate dry-aged ribeye
this, all you need is a little bit of salt
Whoa, what is this
Dry-aged
Oh my, it's smoked?
yeah it's smoked
I haven't put a single piece of food in my mouth
but i'm already really liking it
Like I was saying, this meat just needs a little bit of salt
Don't ruin it
Oh that's a good piece of steak
This is just a big ol' chunk of fat right here
I love pieces like this
Again, just a little bit of salt
And when it feels like the meat's getting a bit too much,
chase it with some kimchi
It's tender -- not as tender as I would've thought
But really intense beef flavor
Starting my second round of meat
and I'm gonna try this smoked ribeye
just to see what the difference is
and the grilled cheese as well
Alright everyone let's try the smoky ribeye just to see if there's a difference
If I can taste the smoke
Mmm You could cut that smoke with a knife
This piece was actually more tender than the last piece
I'm not gonna expect it to be butter like A5 wagyu
But that's a solid piece of ribeye
Very very flavorful ribeye
This is the grilled cheese
I really like this
Crispy exterior, really milky
Make sure you get some of that cheese
I'm going to try a piece of that short rib
One of my favorite cuts at a korean bbq
Wow, this is the most tender cut of meat
More tender than a sirloin itself
and it's just so buttery
and they cooked the steak
for being a korean barbecue and utilising a blowtorch
this is cooked pretty well
Bite of steak
Bite of cheese
Chasing with the kimchi
Oh, I totally forgot
I was so distracted by the steak
--which happens a lot in my life
I totally forgot about my cold noodles
Take a piece of steak, little bit of salt
mummify that with some cold noodles
oh that was a good korean bbq experience
Don't go crazy on the cold noodles
This is gonna fill you up
Focus on the meat
This is the 'shake it box' bomb
I ordered this because I wanted to see what it was
but this is probably not the best thing to get if you want to maximize your value here
this is essentially just a tray of rice
that is yummy though
a little creamy because of the eggs
there's kimchi, and little strips of squid
The cheese is bubbling
This is the cheese fondue
and what you do is you take a piece of steak
and dip it in there
oh yeah
oh that is sooo sexy
Tender beef, melty cheese
What's not to love about that?
and now we've got a change of grills
so we can get some of that charcoal flavor in there
and this is the marinated short rib
Tender, juicy, just a slight bit of char
Wow
The marinated short rib
that thing is just exploding with flavor
and the short rib is probably the most tender, the meltiest piece of meat you can find in korean bbqs
and when you chew, that thing is just all butter
also what they have here, in terms of dipping sauce
it's a little wasabi, and the key to eating more steak, more fatty meat
is to be able to counteract that greasiness, that fattiness, with a bit of acid
a bit of spice, and a little bit of wasabi is really gonna make your steak sing
The wasabi really helps to just cut through the fat
It's really able to make the flavor of the beef stand out more
It's kind of like making a 2D movie 3D without giving you the headache
I tried the dry-aged ribeye steak
The prime ribeye steak
and the boneless short ribs so far
Out of those three-- Those are the top items in the Diamond tier
I would say stay away from the prime ribeye steak
It's okay, but it's not gonna be as tender or as flavorful as the aged steak
Also I feel like the short rib
I like that even more than the aged ribeye
It's just more tender and more flavorful for me
But the ribeye definitely has the bigger beefy flavor
Something else I gotta get
and I do this at every korean barbecue because I love it so much
The thinly sliced beef belly
This thing, usually I like to dip it in some sesame oil with some salt
Here I'm just gonna do a little salt
There is a lot of smoke
I think for the steak the skillet is more able to cook it to the perfect doneness
but the grills really amp up that smoky flavor
I think I'm going to stop the onslaught of meat here
But they got one more thing I gotta get
This is like a rice cracker ice cream
Essentially a little ice cream sandwich
So strawberry ice cream, a little syrup, between two rice crackers
and there's also a red bean paste on the bottom as well
The restaurant here makes a really good bun because it's super crumbly
and it's so airy that when you bite it, it kind of disintegrates
and melts in your mouth with the ice cream
A fitting conclusion to this pretty fantastic meal
Let's go talk outside
So overall impression:
I love that place
Also what kept popping into my head was that
East Coast all you can eat korean bbqs is just
not even close to what's being offered here
but let's break it down more
In terms of quality, this place is solid
Hey it's me again, just gonna cut in here on this guy
Anyway, like he probably said
this is a quality restaurant
all the meats we got were really good cuts
the customer service, the waitstaff so attentive and amazing
and everything tasted really good
even the side dishes, even that shake it box and the cold noodles were great
but in the previous review I said the steaks were good,
they weren't A5 wagyu quality but they were good especially for the price
all you can eat for the steaks
that's not a bad deal for steak lovers
it wasn't as tender as I would've liked
but the flavor is good
I think my favorite cut is the short ribs
which, of course, is limited to one per person
so at least for me, the extra money I was paying for the diamond level
I could have done without the steaks
I mean, the short ribs were excellent, the best cut there
But I don't know if that's worth the extra 25 or so dollars
So if I was to go back there again I'm pretty sure I will
because it is a great restaurant
and probably one of the top all you can eat korean restaurants I've been to in the US
I would not pay the extra money for the steak
Anyway, that's my revised review
now back to this guy
I mean, everything aside is just from my feeling going in
the whole dining experience and then coming out
My heart and my tastebuds are telling me 'That's a fantastic place'
and the original plan for this video was to go to 2 or maybe 3 all you can eat korean bbq restaurants to try them out
but a last minute collab has been scheduled for my last day here
So unfortunately that's going to have to wait until I come back
but trust me, I will get the job done
Anyway guys as always, the location for this place is listed for you in the description box below
Thank you all so much for watching
Until we eat again, I'll see you later