Seoul BBQ Restaurant

Before Buga, there was Boo Cho, and before Boo Cho, there was Seoul BBQ:

Nowadays, I mostly go to Seoul BBQ for the lunch specials, which range from $6.99 - $13.99. Seoul BBQ went through a major renovation about a year or two ago, which has made the interior alot more appealing and comfortable. And of course there are those two plasma televisions going:

Seoul BBQ is also home of something else; the infamous "dump and duck". That is several times I've had the Waitress show up take my order, "dump" my food, deliver my check while I'm eating, and totally disappear! Well attempting to go against odds I dropped in for lunch and had the Combination Kalbi/Naengmyun ($13.99). Things go as usual, water is dropped off, my order taken and the panchan delivered without a word:

The panchan was average, the Baechu(Nappa Cabbage) was better than the radish or the namul.

Soon the Naengmyun and vinegar is dropped off without a word:

Truly unremarkable, and fairly bland, I needed to add a ton of vinegar. The portion was rather large, but overall, not the refreshing dish I was anticipating.The Kalbi was also dropped off at the same time, along with the check, and the Waitress was never to be seen again, not that I would've recognized her......

For lunch cross-cut ribs are used for the Kalbi, for dinner the more traditional cut is served. Many people I know, enjoy the Kalbi at Seoul, probably because it's more on the "sweeter" side than most other places. The Kalbi was nice and tender, cooked perfectly. In all there were 6 "bones", the equivalent of two pieces. I really didn't think this lunch was worth $13.99, and the "dump and duck" was in fine form on this day. I never even got a water refill!

So just to push my luck, I found myself at Seoul again. Yes, a true glutton for punishment, or perhaps just a martyr to the devotees of the "dump and duck"! On this day I just decided on the Bulgogi lunch special ($7.99), first up, water and my order, then soup was delivered to my table as well as the two tables in front of me - bang, bang, bang!

The soup was a mild beef soup with miso(!!!) and spinach. This was actually a pretty nice combination, though the bitterness of the spinach was amplified. Oh, and the Waitress; well she made me crack up. As she delivered the soup, she said "You're Welcome". The only thing was I didn't even have a chance to say "Thank You", I guess she was just being proactive.....going down the aisle repeating "you're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome" as she dropped soup on each table.

The "Bento" style box along with the ubiquitous metal bowl of rice was delivered in no time.

In this "box" were four types of panchan; the baechu and fishcake were decent, the spinach and cucumber were terrible. The "namasu-like" pickles were very, very sour; and I must've made quite a face. The Waitress just "happened" to show up when I ate this. In my conspiracy filed paranoiac thoughts, I actually think she did this on purpose. A single drumette was provided, it had me thinking Chicken Alice, but in reality, it was more like Chicken Al. Not quite tasty enough.

4 pieces of Tempura and some dipping sauce were served. The eggplant and potato were very bland and the dipping sauce really did not do anything to help. The shrimp was pretty good, though the batter on it was a bit soggy, but the piece of squid was very tasty, in a oceany, briney kind of way.

The Bulgogi was soft, but could have used more flavor. It tasted under marinated, but overall was fine. I thought when taking into consideration the amount of food provided, that this lunch was worth the $7.99 price. Next time though, I'll order the Daeji Bulgogi, it looked really tasty. As I was eating our checks were delivered, all in a row again, "bam-bam-bam". And our Waitress even made an additional pass, going right down the row "You ok? You ok? You ok?" That's when I got it! Today was "Flight Attendant" day! I must've looked strange, sitting there with a stupid grin on my face. But suddenly I understood it all. As I left, I must have looked like a very satisfied customer, with that stupid smile on my face. Two of the Waitresses walked me to the door, and told me "Thank you, come again", though I was expecting "Have a nice trip......" But no "dump and duck" today, so I guess your mileage may vary!

To be fair and honest, one of the servers spent alot of time with a very indecisive couple, and really helped them out. Seoul BBQ is a very popular dinner destination with some of my Ex-Pat Kama'aina friends, they like the sweeter taste of the Kalbi and (Dak)Bulgogi. During dinner hours Seoul reverts back to the typical Korean gas-brazier type  Korean BBQ, it seems that the quality is better during the evening as well. Seoul BBQ's new menu is almost like an instructional booklet, with pages on "What is Korean BBQ?" and "What is Kim Chee?" for the uninitiated. I don't quite know what to make of that.

Seoul BBQ Restaurant
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Rachel]

yaay first to the posting line!!

hmmm looks like you have a few mixed feelings about seoul bbq restaurant. It looks like a place you can get a quick cheap-ish feed but nothing spectacular or satisfying.

For the record, Singapore also has a restaurant by the same name but its quite different as the bbq is hot plates at your own table, heated with char coals that the waiter changes once your food is taking too long to cook. The raw, marinated stuff is mostly bulgogi marinated pork, beef, ox tongue etc in a buffet style cool serving table and you take as much as you like and cook it at your own table. They also have some desserts and rice, so thats pretty good value for money! unfortunately most of the stuff there tastes similar. Not the *Real* korean food :) Aus is pretty similar to the US it seems, more ala carte dishes.

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - Retrospectively, Seoul makes a decent lunch for a decent price. Thanks for reminding me that Dinner is a "usual" Korean BBQ, and the quality of the offerings is much better, I've amended my post, to hopefully clarify, not a buffet though!

[Pam]

Oooh yeaaaah. Uhhh Huh. The good ol' dump and duck.

Isaac, my fiance, refuses to go to Dump and Ducks specifically because they do the Dump and Duck...he's kinda anal retentive about service. So there's a few places that I actually crave sometimes (only for the food not the service!) but that I have to drag a friend to because he refuses to go! Oh well, I guess you gotta make some sacrifices sometimes!

[elmomonster]

Hilarious! "You OK? You OK? You OK?" "You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome." Are they androids?

If anyone is to employ the Dump and Duck method, they should at least just leave a pitcher of iced water.

But I can't do without refills on the panchan.

BTW, it didn't look like there was a good variety of panchan there either.

[Kirk]

Hi Pam - You know it's not rude service, and actually the service is pretty good in the evenings, I actually think it's pretty funny how they pull it off.

Hi Elmo - The Panchan is really never good with these inexpensive lunch specials. It's usually pretty good in the evening. But that blanched spinach panchan was terrible!

[Dylan]

That neng myeon looks really good. I'm gonna have to make some very soon. Nice post Kirk.

[Kirk]

Hi Dylan - I look forward to that post; along with Alan Wong's one of favorites!!!!

[clare eats]

LOL
Pooorrr Kiirrrkkkyyy
Service in America and Aus is soo different as tips aren't expected here , they do happen but not alot...
I don't think I have ever experienced wnything quite like that though!

[Jo]

Can we say "perfunctory"?

[Kirk]

Hi Clare - The second visit was more funny then anything else....Most people are too bust to really notice!

Hi Jo - There is a point where mechanized boredom becomes a bit funny! they enjoyed my reaction to the sour pickles, though!

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

That is too funny! Maybe they were training to be steward(esses, pr whatever they are called now).

[sarah]

lol!

i love this "dump and duck" thing

and by the way, i always find that galbee is always waaay too sweet in restaurants. everyewhere.

you should make it at home :)

[grace]

kirk, just wanna say i love the blog. (;

as a korean myself and having frequented many, many korean restaurants, it seems that none of them are too great on the whole service thing. a lot of them do the whole "dump and duck" thing, haha. it's weird because when i go into korean restaurants, i never expect to see the waiter after they drop off the food.

[Kirk]

Hi Mills - I think Flight-attendants, ahem...is the PC term nowadays!

Hi Sarah - Actually I usually do:
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/07/happy_4th_every.html

I've been meaning to make all those panchan that you posted earlier.

Hi Grace - Thanks so much, it's really the restaurant that does all the work, I just mostly sit there and eat. we actually get really good service from most of our Korean BBQ's here in San Diego, in fact the service at Seoul is much better during Dinner, which makes this even more funny. And it's not just Korean Restaurants that do this.....

[Green Turtle]

Was wondering if you tried the Korean $7 lunch buffet at Arirang (4681 Convoy)? How is the selection and quality?

[Kirk]

Hi Green Turtle - I went when they first started offering the Buffet, I didn't care much for it back then. It was a pretty small spread - the ribs served were more braised than BBQ, the pajun was really lousy, and the panchan wasn't that great either, that's about all I remember. I may check it out again soon, maybe they are better now?

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

AHHH Yes flight attendants...LOL I knew it was something along those lines, I have a short memory. ;P

I have had some Korean places do the dump and duck and have been lukcy to get excellent service in other Korean establishments.

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

Interesting that they would put the bento items in a Japanese lacquered box. I can look at the kalbi and tell that it's a bit too sweet. When I make that type of kalbi at the beach, I normally just use salt, pepper and garlic powder on them. I like the "king" kalbi marinated with the standard Korean-type marinade.

[ed]

This post brought back memories. Back in 97 and 98 when I was lucky enough to live in SD, The Seoul BBQ was one of my favorite spots - particularly for the lunch specials. They used to have a chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles that was outstanding. It was there that I first had soontofu as well. My favorite lunch (and it was still on the menu the last time I was there) was Hoe Dup Bap (sp?), a Bap made with raw fish and all kinds of veggies - including sliced raw garlic - served with sesame oil and hot sauce. I never liked their bulgogi as much and your description of it as soft brought a smile of recognition to my face.

But back in the days, the pan chan there was usually pretty good and plentiful and improved almost all the dishes. In fact, I'd sometimes eat all the sides and a waitress would appear suddenly and offer me more (though mostly your dump and duck was accurate back then). It is sad that they now serve the panchan as items in the bento box; that's a new development. I can remember going there in the past with a meat eater. I traded most of my meat for his sides and ended up very happy lunching on tempura, panchan etc.

Anyway, the last time I went there, I was so suprised to see how empty they were. In the old days, they were packed at lunch. But the Hoe dup bap was still good.

Like you I tried the Arirang buffet once.

Hope all is good.

[Kirk]

Hi Mills - Yes, got to be PC? Right?

Hi Reid - You can really tell by the aroma that the Kalbi was going to be on the sweet side. Also, because the cuts are so small, there's a greater ratio of surface area, thus making it even more sweet. On the traditional cut, there's a larger ratio of meet to surface area, thus making it less sweet.

Hi Ed - I don't recall seeing Hwe Dup Bop on the lunch menu - it's a new menu BTW. But I'm sure even if it's not on the lunch menu you can still get it. Also, Mabel posted a comment saying that Nozomi - in the same strip mall as Convoy Noodle House makes a good Hwe Dup Bop.