Boo Cho - A Revisit Part I

*** Boo Cho is now Dae Jang Keum, and an updated post can be found here.

On a recent trip to Sammy's next door, I noticed that Boo Cho had changed owners again. This would make the third set of owners in the last three years. Though it's disheartening to see a revolving door of ownership for any restaurant location, a part of me was a bit happy. You see Boo Cho used to be one of our favorite Korean BBQ Restaurants in San Diego. But under the last set of Owners, I thought the food had gone steeply downhill. As fate would have it Ed from Yuma was making one of His trips down to San Diego. So we decided to give Boo Cho as shot. You can read Ed's Chowhound post on Boo Cho here.

As we entered on this evening there were only two other occupied tables in the restaurant. But it was only 6pm, and with the recent hot weather, people are eating at a much later time.

We were seated and given our menus, which did reflect on a few slight changes. Soon enough we placed our order. We decided on the Special BBQ for 2($49.99). Now we understood that there were 3 different types of meat, I'll try to remember what they are, but please forgive any inaccuracies, I usually don't take notes. In a few moments our sauces arrived.

As did the rice paper wrappers, mesclun, and thinly sliced daikon radish, for creating your own dumplings with the BBQ.

Our brazier was prepared, by first placing a container of charcoal into the receptacle built into the table, then laying the cast iron grill on the top.

One thing I quickly noticed was the very large amount of flaming charcoal being used, a very good sign.

We also had our first "surprise" of the evening. It seems that the special for two comes with a bottle of Soju, that mind numbing alcoholic beverage that brings to mind vodka. For some reason, the evening really started "brightening up".

Soon enough the banchan arrived.

To be perfectly honest, banchan had never been Boo Cho's strong suit, and I didn't expect this visit to be much different. How wrong I was. Not that the banchan was outstanding, but it was pretty good. I really enjoyed the Baechu Kimchee(Napa Cabbage), I mean I really enjoyed it. Things were really looking up, when our meat arrived:

Now if I recall, the 3 types of meat provided were; San Galbi(unmarinated beef ribs), Chadolbaegee(a thinly sliced fatty beef), and a nicely marbled, lightly marinated beef, I believe it was Joo Mool Luck. And we got cooking......

About this time we got our next "surprise", a boiling casserole was delivered to our table. The special came with a vegetable "soup":

The broth was quite beefy in flavor, and the soup was full of tofu, daikon, and other veggies.

By this time all of the flavors started to blur, with the banchan, the soup, the various meats, and of course, the Soju. I did think that the meat was a step up from the previous Boo Cho, though still a step down from Buga Korean BBQ. Still, there's nothing like the flavor of charcoal. At this point, the grill was soiled, and I was beginning to think that our next course would be the Fire Department.

Just then one of the Servers stepped in, and replaced our grill. Perfect timing!

In the end Ed and I devoured everything, and remarked how Boo Cho was back on our list. Ed enjoyed Himself so much, that He returned a few days later. Funny thing, the Missus and I returned a few days later as well. I'll post that in Part 2.

Some Notes: The main thing to remember is to not wear anything that you DON'T want smelling like charcoal. As Boo Cho fills up, even the heavy duty ventilation system can't quite keep up.

Part II tomorrow!

Boo Cho Restaurant
7905 Engineer Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Kathy]

Hey Kirk!
Ahh, the old charcoal smelling shirt tip - I always seem to forget that when it's most necessary! :)

[J Lo]

What sort of banchan do they serve? I think that's my favorite part of any Korean meal.....the waitresses always get mad at me for eating too much of it before my main course even arrives! Anyway, I love reading about Korean food just as much as I do eating it....great post!

[Rachel]

I loved all the extras they threw it! It really made the meal worth it I reckon and there is no service like changing your BBQ when it gets too charred.

LOL I am sure that Soju was what made the flavours seem to blur together in a night of food and merriment. This was a great post with yummy photos. I could only comfort myself by running to my fridge and getting out my little tub of kimchi and having a few pieces. Yes! Your post made me crave korean food that much :P Well if I can't be there to have that, I will have the next best thing!

[Passionate Eater]

I love your back-to-back BBQ posts! I couldn't agree with you more about the pleasures of having good banchan. If the banchan is good, it seems like the food comes out faster, the meal tastes more delicious, and the servers are even better!

[yoony]

hi kirk,

sounds like you had a delicious korean meal! the chadolbaeki is deckle, the connective tissue & fat above the rib-eye steak. this is my favorite meat for korean bbq.

[elmomonster]

Alcohol and FIRE! A great combo if there ever was one! Glad that the place is back in your good graces...Like the Indiana Jones' trilogy, looks like the second iteration was the worst and the third harkens back to greatness of the original.

[Kady]

Sounds like a nice place to go to meet friends. I've actually never been to a Korean restaurant...I'm embarassed to say.

[Ben]

That was a very nice meal, Kirk. I must say that it's pricey. $50 ... gosh!

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - I once had to go to a meeting, after having Korean BBQ for lunch.......

Hi J Lo - Thanks for dropping by and commenting. The usual napa cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, namul, fishcake, spinach, and a very good banchan made with hijiki. I agree, sometimes during the summer, I'll eat kimchi and rice for dinner. I enjoy your food blog BTW:

http://thefoodnazi.blogspot.com/

I'll make sure to link to it next time I update.

Hi Rachel - I'm sure it's all in the description of the specials, but we weren't able to read it, because it was in Korean. So they were nice surprises.

Hi PE - You are 100% right(as usual)! ;o)

Hi yoony - It was very good, kind of like a beef bacon!

Hi Elmo - Leave it to you, to come up with the Pop-Culture tie in. Yep alcohol and fire....don't breath on the grill!

Hi Kady - Korean BBQ with friends is a fun experience....plus you all come out smelling like BBQ!!!

Hi Ben - Actually, the prices aren't too bad at $25/pp for San Diego. At these type of restaurants an order of meat will run you $15-$20 easy, without the soju or soup.

[Trent]

Hey Kirk,
My Sister was in town for the 4th, and we lucked into the new Boo Cho despite previously shaky reviews. We came back the next day, and I was glad to just see our positive impression confirmed!

[Kirk]

Hi trent - I hope your Sister enjoyed Her visit. The one thing that struck me was the improved banchan.