Smoke, Garlic, and meat -- Blue Ginger Korean BBQ

The long-longed feast

It's so difficult to find a good all-you-can-eat BBQ with a limited budget here in the United States. It easily costs you 40 dollars per person per meal. A week before, I realized that it's been over a year since the last time I had Asian style bbq, and I became very overwhelmed with the mood of having it. So, I went on a date at another Korean bbq place. Similar to the one I have my focus on today, but it was much bigger and with a better review. However, I have to admit that though the place did strike me with excitement, it was not as much as this one while my date was as amazing as usual. My friends are extraordinary foodie radars, and I hope that I can go on another date here with him after this visit. 

We arrived at around 6 p.m., and we were almost immediately seated right after we used the hand-sanitizer provided at the counter. 

The amount of dishes per round of order is unlimited, but be careful not to order too much at a time. They also have a bunch of choices of drinks, but is fine to just go with water as well.

We ordered the whole FRESH section and a beef bulgogi, shrimp, and baby octopus in addition to that. 

The Guest Star

iced water, the dipping sauces, and the sides came shortly after our order was taken.  They also have a salad for sharing with Japanese style dressing (I believe it is). The dipping sauce was the same as the place I went last week -- ponzu sauce and sea salt black pepper with sesame oil. 

Most of the sides are too common to take pictures of. The sliced jalapeño and the miso/soy bean paste were what to expect as well.

What really surprised me were the raw garlic cloves. In my home country, we eat garlic directly with grilled sausages, otherwise we put it into soy sauce or fry it with other ingredients. What's for sure is that we understand the music of raw garlic, but we have the chance to try it with bbq, and I was excited about this brilliant combination.

Starting to smoke

What came first was the beef brisket.
Jumping right on to the grill plate, starting the smoke of the night.

Another interesting thing about Korean bbq, it gives each person a bowl of rice if you did not tell them not to. Maybe it is because that it wants you to be easier to fill up, or it is because that bbq just go so well with rice (I finished mine pretty early, and it was lacking some flavor without it!)

A piece of nearly well-done brisket and a generous clove of garlic with the biggest ball of rice you can get with your chop sticks, adding a little miso paste as you are pleased. Make your best combination, with garlic, of course, and send them all at once into your mouth. 

Who dares to tell me it isn't good? 😤

If you want to see more...

Fine. The flavor bomb took me away. I almost finished all my rice and the garlic before the beef brisket is eaten up. The rest of the meal was not as impressive as that one, and I caught up with the conversation that I missed during my "absence". Now, enjoy the meal!

Bulgogi came next, it was the only marinated meat we ordered.
It was tender and flavorful, with a little bit of sweetness from the mari.  

Beef intestines. I think the texture fits pretty well with what can be imagined, but the flavor is not repulsive at all. Be ready for a bit of bitterness in it, it is all normal. 

Pork shoulder on the left and pork belly on the right. Both fatty and meaty.
Make sure you cut them into pieces when they are half-cooked to make sure that they cook thoroughly. 

Pork jowl, or "pig cheek meat". Looks like it is all made of fat,
but it is a luxury combination tender fat and juicy meat.
Actually a pretty expensive part of a pig in my home country.

Baby Octopus. Not sure if they are real babies, but they took longer than I thought to be cooked. If you feel bad for them, you can pass on this. There are other dishes more recommended.  

Beef tongue and shrimps. Beef tongue tastes just like beef, but BETTER! Strongly recommend it.
Skip the shrimp, not fresh.

That was pretty much it except we added another round of beef intestines and beef tongue. We were so full and the cost was right around budget. We probably wouldn't crave for it in a while, but would definitely come later when stomach call again.