All kinds of golian
December 4th, 2005When I was still in college, word got out about this Chinese restaurant that had an all-you-can-eat buffet style chow line. You got a bowl and loaded it up with frozen beef, chicken and/or pork and then stacked it up with vegetables, noodles, sauces and toppings. It was a steal. You could go through as many times as you wanted for $5, no doggy bag. I’d never heard of Mongolian barbecue, but I dug on it from the first bite. The cooks had 30-inch bamboo sticks that they’d tap and scrape the food around on the circular grill. I probably ate there 3 or 4 times a week. The only problem was that you stood and waited while the cooks took your bowl and cooked it. It smelled fantastic. Driving by in the summer at dinner time was just asking for trouble.
Some people made the stacking into an art form. We’d stop in after practice and have a band lunch, comparing and contrasting our various stacking and bowl loading styles. All of our friends were forced to go at least once. Some took to it, some didn’t. My boy Patatomic, he LOVED it.
When I moved away, I never found a place that was clean enough to risk the Mongolian bbq. Even in San Francisco. I knew there had to be a place somewhere, but by the time I was willing to explore, a coworker introduced me to Korean barbecue (the best one was a pink building on the south side of Geary in the early avenues that I think was called, surprisingly, Korean BBQ). Plus, living so close to Haight Street meant a quick walk to Citrus Club, which had enough punked asian groove to make me lose interest in exploring.
I had made a few attempts to create my own Mongolian at home, substituting a wok for the large round cooking surface. I did not use the bamboo stick to cook with as my kitchens in SF were never large enough. Maybe if I would have opened a window….
When I moved to Los Angeles and started dating Heather, she made it known she wasn’t a big Chinese food fan, but I wanted to make her my version of Mongolian, which I had renamed Jongolian barbecue. I did and she loved it. I figured all the cabbage would solve some of her lower gastric issues and I wasn’t wrong. I’ve made it a dozen times or so since we’ve been together, even perfecting the recipe for serving up to four people and providing a community service for gastric systems everywhere.
Last Friday we went out for dinner. Going out is a big deal for us. We generally only get out a couple of times a month for food, and I suggested we try a Chinese place that used to be good, but it had moved and I hadn’t eaten there since well before moving to California in 1998. We met up with Patatomic and Mrs. Patatomic and before we could sit down, Pat busts out, “Yeah, so it’s pretty much the Mongolian barbecue, right?”
I thought he said Mongolian Beef. Then I Tivo’d the last sentence and replayed it, pausing it between each word. Pat. Just. Said. Mongolian. Bar. Be. Cue. The Matrix dissolved into vaguely Cyrillic green CRT characters and I saw both Keanu and Carrie Ann running sideways against all surfaces, totally wailing and throwing rice noodles into their bowls while whooping it up. Damn fine. While the cooks cooked with woks and without the bamboo, it was better than the college place. More sauces, more noodle choices more meat choices. More everything.
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve dined at a place that the moment I finish, I start plotting when I can make the next visit. The best part: Heather wants to go back as well.
I’d give the name of the place, but the nutburgers out there would totally yell “sell-out” because I’m not indie enough and I’ve got Christmas holiday shopping to do and I’m going to have to spend some time plotting about when I can get back there to eat again.
Actually. Fuck the nutburgers. o
December 4th, 2005 at 9:54 pm
man i miss that place. there is one here in sf but it’s not as good as the one in provo or the panda or pearl or whatever it was called in slc.
main food i miss from utah though is sensuous sandwich in provo.
December 4th, 2005 at 10:04 pm
Yep, CC has a pretty good spread. Just don’t eat the prepared food. I’ve done that twice and both times I’ve regretted not going the MBBQ route.
And I’m with merkely: Panda on 7th E. is pretty good. Cheaper than CC too. CC has a better selection, though.
December 4th, 2005 at 10:06 pm
There were several places like that when the big guy and I lived in Vancouver, before kids. We loved it like a religion. Big D learned to cook like this at home, and then I decided I should make him my hubby. Yes, I am very shallow and I not only married my man for Mongolian Beef and Monsterous Cock, I asked HIM. I’m a girl who know what she wants.
December 4th, 2005 at 11:02 pm
when i ask my boys where they want to go out to dinner, they tell me mongolian. all three of them. that means, 3 months our of four, we eat mongolian grill for our ‘fun’ night out. good thing i like it. but i love sushi more.
December 5th, 2005 at 1:32 am
I live so far away now from any asian food that is remotely edible. My one chance last year to go back to San Francisco, I was with someone who hated ‘all chinese food’ and dug in their heels, refusing to enter the Citrus Club. I could already taste the food and Saketinis. I was a bit heartbroken.
December 5th, 2005 at 4:49 am
I love Mongolian BBQ! First discovered it in Shanghai while on holiday in China 3 years ago and was very excited to find one back here in Sydney only 30mins away from where I live. Waiting in line for your food to be cooked can be a pain but it’s worth it!
December 5th, 2005 at 5:27 am
i’m a waitress at a mongolian grill that sounds VERY similar to your beloved. unfortunately none in utah yet, but if you’re ever visting a city with a HuHot Mongolian Grill, i would DEFINITELY recommend it. its v. good. check out http://www.huhot.com/locations.html for the locations.
mmmm mongolian!
December 5th, 2005 at 6:18 am
Mongolian BBQ rocks! On our first real date my husband took me to a Mongolian BBQ place. I was skeptical because I don’t generally groove on Chinese but it was true love. For lunch on the day of our wedding guess where my hubby took the guys? That’s right, Mongolian BBQ! We take all our out of town friends there and get them hooked so whenever they come to visit they want to go there (we are devious). In fact, the Mongolian BBQ place is one of the few places that we LOVE that actually takes reservations. We go there so much that when my husband calls to make a reservation he doesn’t even have to give our name, they just know it’s us!
December 5th, 2005 at 7:23 am
Ah yes…there’s the sellouty goodness again.
Mongolian BBQ sounds so good. I am seriously lacking in exposure to delish food right now. Ugh.
December 5th, 2005 at 7:34 am
There is a place directly across from where I work on Madison Avenue where they serve mongolian bbq. It’s never crowded because it’s way, way back inside a place that otherwise serves from the trough. (Something I stopped using right after that homeless fella was found pouring his own shit and piss into the containers all over mid-town. No, thank you!) But at this place, some guy stands back before his gigantic grill waiting for someone like me to have him cook me up something real nice. Every time I go in there I worry that it might be my last due to the fact that it’s such a well-kept secret. And so I am torn; while I love not ever having to wait, I need folks to discover this fella so I know it will be there for the duration of my employment here.
Unrelated note: Any DC or Virginia people ever eat at The Flat Top Grill? http://www.flattopgrill.com/about.htm
December 5th, 2005 at 7:46 am
I’ve eaten at Flattop with my husband, it’s okay. I’ve found the selection at Big Bowl to be a little better though (and cheaper)
The joy of being half-korean is that my mom makes Bulgogi and Kolbe everytime I go home. However the downside of this is that my husband and I can not go to a single Korean BBQ place in the entire DC/NOVA area because it isn’t as good as mom’s. Or my grandma’s for that matter.
December 5th, 2005 at 7:59 am
Laurie, I might have some suggestions for you, my dear. Email me if you want to chat. My best friend is korean. She still lives in DC (near Catholic University). My husband and I lived there for about 5 years (We’re in NYC now.) Send me an email. I have a few suggestions for ya. :]
December 5th, 2005 at 8:50 am
I’ve tried a lot of mongolian grills, but bd’s is by far my favorite (along with my wife’s). http://bdsmongolianbarbeque.com
They have the best sauces, spices, meats, etc… Flat Top tried to open up, but they were closed 6 months later. Wannabe.
December 5th, 2005 at 9:01 am
And to think I wasted all my lunch money on 5 Buck Pizza and the Wilkinson Center (AKA, The Center for the Advanced Study of Cockroach-Food interaction).
Actually, there was a restaurant on the main drag down there that was my first exposure to Korean food. I loved it, but can’t go back. I get a weeeeeird vibe in that neighborhood.
December 5th, 2005 at 9:05 am
Ah yes, Charlie Chows. Yummy… Never eat the prepared food, though, as their chicken is gristley.
December 5th, 2005 at 9:21 am
Is CC located in the former Cafe Sha Sha? (bottom of Fidelity Investment building?)I’m trying to place the location……
December 5th, 2005 at 9:37 am
WindyLou–
It’s on 4th South. By Stoneground. Between 2nd and 3rd East.
And it’s delicious.
December 5th, 2005 at 9:40 am
WindyLou–
It’s on 4th South. By Stoneground. Between 2nd and 3rd East.
And it’s delicious.
December 5th, 2005 at 10:08 am
Hey Jon,
I’m new to your site. I’ve been reading Dooce for awhile. Gotta question…nutburger???
December 5th, 2005 at 10:23 am
I am currently eating my left-overs from the Mongolian BBQ we went to last night. Doggie Bags are .50cents. QUITE the steal I think. ;0)
December 5th, 2005 at 11:09 am
Every time I go to SF, I go to the Citrus Club. If I have to meet someone, I tell them to meet me there. Awesome.
December 5th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
Here in Lincoln, NE we have a place called Hu Hot Mongolian Grill. It’s my new favourite addiction. I would eat there every damn day if I could. Too bad it’s so expensive - lunch is $8.99 and dinner is $10.99. All you can eat however. I never make it past one bowl.
December 5th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
SELLOUT!!!!
Selloutselloutselloutsellout
Mmmm, nutburgers…Gllaaaaaaaggggghhhh.
December 5th, 2005 at 1:45 pm
Parden my ignorance but what the hell does “fuck the nutburgers” mean?
December 5th, 2005 at 1:55 pm
hehehehehe…. nutburgers….
That totally reminds my of the crazy Australian guys that do the “Puppetry of the Penis” show. I’m pretty sure there was definitely a nutburger in there somewhere!!
Seriously… it was at once one of the most horrifying and most entertaining shows I’d ever seen. 2 Aussies coming out on stage in socks and shoes and a cape. And the cape does not stay on for too long, and then they are left in their socks and shoes, stretching Big Jim and the Twins into all kinds of crazy things!